I'm looking for a good 4g Maxima. I was a big Honda freak for a while but I want to get out of it and get something nice, big, and comfortable. I figured a 4g Maxima is exactly what I need.

I found a 96 GLE with 48k miles on it within my price range but it has a bad low end noise. I'm having it checked out but I don't think I'll end up getting it.

I have a few that I've found with 100+k miles on them and I'm wondering what the reliability and maintinance cost would be on something with that many miles on it.

What should I look for when inspecting a Maxima that I might buy? Anything that is notorious for going wrong with them? What kinda maintinance costs would I be looking at for something with over 100k miles on it? Any information for a new owner would be appreciated...

I found a 97 SE with 112k miles on it... It's supposedly very clean and it's a lot cheaper than what I was looking for. I'm particularly interested in the color, Dark Green exterrior, Black leather interrior... What would you guys do if you were looking for a Maxima to buy?

Thanks...

 

First off if the 96 doesn't have any problems I would go with that one because it has less miles and it is a lighter care the the 97. If you purchase the 97 with that many miles your looking at several things possibly going if has been raced hard. If it is a 5spd, you'll most likely have to replace the starter soon...also the water pump seems to be a notorious thing that seems to go around 80K but if it hasn't gone it might. Depending on how hard it has been driven if a 5spd...the clutch might be going and the best way to tell if it is starting to fade is put it in 5th gear on the high way and then floor it and see if the RPM needle hops up and then back down (but only if on a 5spd...of course how else would you put it into 5th gear). Possibly a CV joint but as long as they haven't gotten a hole in the boot you should be fine with that. And the Alternator might go. So, the three notorious things to go are starter, alternator, and water pump. And if you replace them all yourself your looking at like >$250.00 to replace all three of those...Alternator and starter are easy even if your not mechanically inclined you might want to get an mechanic to replace the water pump your you aren't mechanically inclined. But, that is what you might have to worry about down the road if they haven't already been replaced.

 

None of those fails often. The only real issue with the 4th gens was the 1995 starter, which was fixed by 1996. Other than that, failures are pretty uncommon, except for the oxygen sensors, but that is common for most cars.

 

This gentlemen named "medicsonic" is right, maximadriver.

 

One more quick note. 95-96 have very weak bumpers the crash test smashed the drivers left foot and the truck got smashed really good. I'd shoot for a 97-99 they have better bumpers. If you leaning towards the performance end I'd get the 5 speed. The Autos are no slouch but the 5's just a tad more fun to drive if you ask me.

Btw... 60,000+ miles keep an eye out for bad struts, tires etc... Just wear and tear stuff. Heck if you find them shot it I'd use that to bring the price down, then buy the tires, struts that "I" want. Maxima's are reliable.

I have a 95 and I've replaced the starter twice in it, but thats it. Very simple and easy to do. Other then that gas and go.

 

hi mamximadriver. i have a 95 gle i bought used in '98 - it had 60,000 miles then and now i'm up to 115,000. i just found a ripped cv boot 2 days ago, and a local garage replaced it for me for $98. other than that my mafs went 2 months ago - that was $200 for a remanufactured one at a local auto parts store. o2 sensor around 65,000. that's it. i've replaced spark plugs & air filter, fuel filter, oil etc. great car. i wouldn't be afraid of high-miles maximas - so long as i could have my mechanic's blessing before teh sale.
good luck & come back here for all your mods!!!

 

I haven't seen either of these cars... and the guy that has them is a friend of mine that owns a big dealership... But...

The 96 has "a bad low end noise"... He didn't elaborate other than to tell me that his mechanic is checking it out to see if it's serious or not. It has 48k miles on it. On a scale of 1-10 for looks... he says it's easily a 10. His words are, "The car looks absolutely mint, show room condition". I can probably get it for right under $10k.

The 97 is still available. He says on a scale of 1-10 for looks, it's a 9. It's dark green with black leather... Automatic. But that's okay, I'm pretty good with mechanical things and I would like to perform a manual swap after reading about it. It's got 112k miles on it. I can pick this car up for right over $6k.

What would you guys suggest? Should I get one of these 2 (if the 96 checks out okay), or should I wait and keep looking?

OH! And a big question I have... is it wise to change the oil in a car with over 100k miles to synthetic (Mobil 1), or am I asking for problems?

 

Find out what the mechanical problem is with the '96. While 110000 miles is not a lot for this car, the fact that you can get a car with 50000+ less miles on it is too good to pass up.
You can change to synthetic oil from dino,but there have been rumors of leaking around seals if synthetic is installed on higher milage vehicles. The theory is that the dino oil gets 'chunky' and seals of small leaks, why synthetic doesn't 'clump' like dino does.

 

I have a 1997 Maxima that I bought in '00 with 26,000 miles on it. It now has 64,000 miles and I have replaced the starter (which cost about $120 at AutoZONE). I also had to replace the front right strut and the strut bearing ($330 total). My left front strut is also going out, but I'm not prepared to replace it any time soon.

Overall the 97 has been a pretty reliable and maintenance free car. I have used Mobil 1 10W-30 synth in the engine since 28k miles with no problems. I usually change it after 4k miles.

I wouldn't put Mobil 1 in an older car with 100k+ miles on it. The detergents that are in the synthetic oil might wash away the existing 100k+ miles of sludge and cause problems inside the engine. In addition, any small cracks or leaks in the seals would become more of a problem with the synthetic oil (especially if the synthetic detergents start to clean off the sludge inside the engine).

Are you buying it from the original owner?? Do they have maintenance/oil change records? If you REALLY want to put synth oil in the engine, I would make sure the previous owner provides oil change records showing 3k oil changes with regular oil.

 

I don't know who the owner was before. Since the guy I'm buying it from owns a dealership, he's getting the car from another dealership. It could have been an auction purchase, trade-in, or repo for all I know. I should find out today (hopefully) what they found wrong with the 96. The only thing is, the 96 is a GLE that has a Champagne exterrior and tan leather interrior. I was looking for something darker exterrior/interrior wise, and that 97 is perfect. Hrm... decisions, decisions... If I were to pick up the 96, would it be okay to switch it to synthetic, or would there already be damage done to the seals that synthetic might "fix" and cause problems? Thanks for all your input guys...

 

The switching over to syntheitc thing is stil just a concept, I don't know if it is actually true, but I haven't found any support for it on the 'net. I switched over to synthetic at 90K miles without ANY problems.

 

Hi medicsonic,
What do you feel the difference after switching to synthetic? Smoother engine running (was told by my brother in law, for other car)? Did someone say that once synthetic is in, never switch back to regular oil because something bad will happen, is that so?
Thanks.

 

My engine was in excellent running condition before the switch. If your engine is in good running order, there shouldn't be ANY noticable difference in performance. As for switching back, you can do so safely without worrying about hurting your engine. Hell, you can even mix them if you want, but I personally wouldn't.

 

the only non-wear items that have went out on me is the clutch master and slave cylinder. nissan replaced it for $387.00. the starter seems to be making a funny noise lately and the front wheel bearings are shot. about 60-90.00 bucks in parts for parts other than that my max has never left me stranded.

 

Thanks Medicsonic.
So I'd not switch to synthetic since my 96 GXE auto has got only 37K miles and it's running just like the day I bough it new. BTW I think my Max is running close to perfect, except for the MPG (I think). It's consistantly 22 MPG with 60% hiway and 40% city.

 

Both of these are automatic, so I don't think I'll have to worry about the clutch . After reading lots of posts and the replies here... it looks like the things that are most progned to going out are the starter (in 95/96 models), the alternator (kinda rare), the axles/bearings (in 150k+ mile/raced on Maximas), and I've seen a lot of people that have to replace their transmission. What are signs that the transmission is on its last leg?

 

I had called Mobil Oil to ask whether there is any danger in using
Mobil 1 on my '97 max with 60k. I was referred to their Engineering
Department and told that as long as my engine dosen't leak or burn
oil and is in otherwise healthy shape, synthetic oil is ok to use.

That was honest enough for me, give them a call yourself.

If you don't know the history of the car use Carfax.com. It's worth the price.


Good luck