its a long story but my beutiful 96 black se is totaled, and im thinkin of the newer style, but is there a particular year that is most reliable fromthe 97-99 models??
any input is appreciated

 

Sorry to hear of your wheels, man!
I bought a '98 SE auto in August '97 and the only thing that went bad on it was the driver's side headlight bulb exploded. Lucky it happened a month I got it so it was covered by the warranty. So far I'm very pleased with the reliability.

 

97 all the way

still OBD I

good all around max

 

Is the car in your custody? Are you selling parts off of it?
I am looking for parts of the 96....

 

no the insurance is going to take it, it got towed to a shop.

 

I have a 97 GLE and havn't had a problem yet. I bought it new and it has 50k on it. Love it.

 

If you can, find a 98 SEL, know thats a sweet looking maxima!!!

 

Damn, same thing just happened to me last week and it was the driver's side one too. Unfortunetly I'm at 40k and way past the factory warranty. I went to replace the halogen bulb today and ended up buying some HS9007 Xenon halogen bulbs.
As for which car you should get, the 97SE is the fastest, but the cool thing about the 99 is the Vehicle Immobilizer that became standard that year.

 

Takes to mods better, less weight, and less emission controlling items compared to the 96, 97-99 models. 96's had moree weight added on them due to Crash testing. Then in 97 the car was redone and had more emission blocking things added on and more safety stuff for crash tests. So if youre going for Safety and emissions, 97-99. Speed, 95-96's

 

The Max SE-Limited is a 99 model. Many dealers consider it a 99n1/2 and it is a very sweet looking car. I own one.

 

The Max SE-Limited is a 99 model. Many dealers consider it a 99n1/2 and it is a very sweet looking car. I own one.

 

All maximas from 95+ have On Board Diagnostics II (OBDII)

 

is this what gives the ecu readings? please explain

 

How is a 97 faster than a 98 or 99?

 

the best year to get is 95 the reson is because that year the max cme with no restriction not like the 96-99 look t pics from a 95 engine and a 96-99 engine u will se the diffrence look around intake manifold u will see what i mean.

 

I like the 97. Less smog control than 98 and 99, but has the updated look from the 95 and 95. However, 95 is going to be the fastest.

 

97

 

Lots of them coming off 3 year leases. '99's are harder to find.

Bob

 

Yeah, I got my 98 SE coming off a 3 year lease. I definately like the front end look better on the 97+'s, but that's just me. If you don't care about insignificant (IMO) performance differences, try to get as new as possible so you can still have some warranty...and lower miles...just my opinion.

 

That one guy is right, 98 SE Limited is the SH*T. I think the 98 comes with leather, htd seats, bose system and the 99 doesn't. i like it so much that I'm changing my 99 GLE into an SE-Limited. I'm changing badging, floormats, gauges, wheels, everything. SE-Limited is the way to go.

 

I have a '97 SE 5sp. All stock, all original. Has 133,000 miles. Will need a clutch soon, and MIL light is on indicating it needs an o2 sensor. Just changed the original battery last month. Besides that, it's great.

The '95 models had ecu's that weren't completely OBD II compliant. '96+ were OBDII compliant. 99+ had a different front exhaust manifold with the cat attached, hence it needs a different y-pipe. I believe '95 had an 8 bit ecu and '96 and up had 16bit ecu's.

If you're getting a Max with automatic climate control, the '95-'97 have the same looking control unit (which I think looks better, but that's my opinion), while the '98-99.5 had the newer looking unit with ambient temperature (nice feature).

The '97+ has in my opinion a better looking steering wheel, more sporty looking and meatier. The '97+ has a flap that can close over the cup holder, while the '95 and '96 didn't (no biggie, mine is always open anyway and the tabs are broken, so might as well have one from '96). The 95 and 96 cup holders are similar except that the '96 has a divider flap and an additional big gulp cup holder in the center console.

If you're getting power seats, '95-'96 only had driver's power seat, while 97+ could be had with dual power seats. The '97+ is also easier to add the factory fog lights if it didn't already have them (you had to cut into the bumper opening on the '95-'96). I believe the SE gauges on the '97+ had a red needle vs a black/white/clear needle on the '95/96 SE. The '97+ SE alloy wheels were 16" while the '95/96 SE alloys were 15".

The Bose Headunit changed in '97 as well, I personally like the one from the '95/96 better with the smaller volume ****. I think the buttons are arranged better and the volume **** feels more quality. The '97+ also had the clear lensed headlights while the '95/96 had the fluted lens. The '97+ looks better and resists rock breakage better, but I think the '95/96 are clearer because they are glass and not plastic (my headlights are all fogged up, not with condensation, but because of rock damage).

The '95/96 also had cornering lamps, which were removed starting from '97+. They are the lights that turn on when your headlights are on and you're signalling to light up the area you're turning into.

The tweeters were different too if you had the bose. On the '95/96 with the bose, the tweets were in the a pillar. On the '97+ it was on the door (i think they looked better on the pillar).

Finally, the keyless entry remote changed slightly. Though they all looked the same, the remotes from the '95 had lock, unlock, trunk release, and dome light on. The '96+ didn't have the dome light on button, but had a panic button (the '95 had panic, you just had to hold down the lock button).

But I'm biased because I have a '97 SE and that's what I like!

-V