I'm 17, my aunty and uncle handed down their 1997 Nissan Maxima GLE to me in May of Last year. I've put 10,000 km on the car since they gave it to me, and I've had 3 oil changes since then.

I recently had the brakes done (One new pad, and one got re-machined because it wasn't too bad).

I'm going to get the front ball joint replaced soon (About $400).

I'm seeing alot of posts on here about people flushing/changing certain fluids etc.

I've taken alot better care of the car then my aunty and uncle did (They had a piece of tape over the dashboard to cover the engine light), the last oil change was about 15,000 KM before they gave it to me, etc..

What fluids should I be changing/flushing/etc. What is some general maintenance I should be doing to the car?


I'm looking at some of the cars posted on here, and DAMN you guys have gorgeous cars. I'd be doing the same to mine (Rims, More aftermarket mods, Exhaust, etc) but I'm self concious about the minor rust on my car. I'll upload pictures later, but its around 3 of the wheel wells, it isn't too bad, I just feel like it wouldn't be worth putting rims, getting exhaust, etc on my car because of the high KM's and because of the rust.

Any tips for a newbie? I'm in the middle of Canada btw, Salty sandy roads in the winter. I wash my car very frequently and park it in a heated underground parking garage when it gets too cold.

Considering the KM's on your car, I would just keep up with the maintenance work on it, right now at this point. Once you get everything taken care of, then i'd move onto doing mods, such as wheels and exhaust. Since you have to deal with corrosion, I'd check into getting the rust spots properly repaired so they don't get worse.

Any idea how much rust repair costs?

Well, that can vary. The best way to find out is go to a couple of body shops and get estimates.

Cool thank you. Now about the fluids, which should I look into changing (Besides oil) and flushing, etc.

Run the engine till it blows up then swap in a 3.5!!!





Least that's what I want to do with mine...

Mine's getting up there in kilometeres as well (256k). Some small patches of rust are starting to set in around my wheel wells, but can be fixed easily enough with a lil bodywork. I plan on sanding and painting up my stock honeycomb rims white to match my paint this summer. If you're on a budget but want to have some nice wheels maybe this would be a good option for you as well

Where are you from? Saskatoon here.

Hey man, I was in your position with my first maxima, it was a real hoopty but i loved it.. I cant tell you what to do, but I suggest you spend as little as you can on this car and just drive it till it falls apart.

With the mileage, I wouldnt do any flushes, just keep doing your oil changes when you need to.

As for the balljoint, you can buy a whole Lower Control Arm on here for like $120, and install it yourself and save alot of money, but thats up to you.

As for the rust, its gonna cost more to fix than just buying a used rustfree, lower mileage 4th gen.

Use this car as a learning experience, dont fall in love with it and blow money like I did lol

I have the ugly blade rims (http://www.finishlinewheels.com/prodimg/ALY62319U.jpg) Which would NOT look good painted lol. And my car is dark navy blue, which wouldn't look nice on any type of rim anyway.

@ES_Kev - Thanks alot for that. Seriously, thanks. There are for sure cleaner and lower KM Maximas for sale locally, so I'll drive this till I dont want/need it anymore, then I'll move on. I appreciate your insight.

To answer your specific question, anytime you get a new used car there are certain things you should do:
- Replace oil and filter, air filter, fuel filter.
- Check belts and hoses.
- Check coolant level and quality. Drain and replace coolant if dirty or old; if in doubt, change it.
- Pull and check spark plugs; replace if necessary. Stick to NGK or Denso.
- Get codes read at auto parts store to find out why Check Engine light is on. Decide on repairs after undersanding codes.
- Replace transmission oil if manual transmission.
- Check auto transmission fluid; if red and no burnt smell leave alone. If looks/smells burnt, at least do drain and fill and filter replacement. Lots of disagreement re flushing old auto trannies - I believe in doing it; many people don't.
- Check brake system. You said you had one pad replaced and one machined - assume these were on front and you meant rotors, not pads. Rotors should always be replaced in pairs; they have gotten so cheap that it's generally not worth having them turned. I assume that you got new pads; if not, you should. Brakes are most critical system on car because they can kill you so easily if problems.
- Check CV boots on both ends of each front axle. If cracked or torn, axle needs to be replaced.
- Check struts front and rear; replace in pairs if any corner too bouncy.
- There are TWO front ball joints - one on each side. OK to only replace one if other is OK. Should also check all of the other rubber bushings throughout front and rear suspension. Crappy job in your neck of the woods due to rust caused by snow/salt.

I agree with advice not to fall in love with a car. This is a nice, comfortable and reliable ride if you take care of it. VQ engine is one of the best ever made; rest of vehicle pretty good. Good luck.

280,000km isn't that bad for a VQ30 that's been maintained. It's only 170k miles. I would say drive it till it falls apart and drop a VQ35 and 6 speed in it.

This. I spent close to a grand with all my aftermarket parts, and nearly 3X that amount repairing everything that came AFTER the mods were put on. Initially, I denied the fact that my driving and mods were the cause of it breaking down but after awhile I realized it was a bad move by me to work on this car with 196K miles on it. This is your first car as well, so you WILL drive the **** out of it. She's fixed NOW -knock on the wood- but has cost me a lot of money.

If you want to stay in the maxima, don't modify this car, save some money, and buy a better maxima, or yet, a better car. Don't be ignorant like I was and say "Oh look, people here have modded maximas with 150K+ miles, I can do it too!" No, you will regret it like me and think about how much money I could have saved by not spending on mods, repairs. That in addition to how much I could have sold the car for would have given me a much better car or even a manual maxima.

Listen to ES_Kev and me, seriously.

Good luck trying to tell someone not to love.

Agreed and with a VQ30 you still got a way to go if its been maintained well, Good Luck...

Ha I'm not saying he shouldn't appreciate the car, but that he shouldn't mod it considering the condition. I LOVE my car, but loved it equally when it was stock and reliable. Pouring money into it made me frustrated with it, and if he doesn't want to experience the same frustration he should adhere to me and what ES said

Those style of rims don't look ugly imo. My honeycombs look like **** cause they're all peeled and scratched. The ones in that pic look like they're in real good shape

sawblades arent that bad when i got my maxima it came with the gxe wheel covers with the mileage on your car id say you can do cosmetic mods to it(rims,tint,lighting,etc) id leave the performance stuff out though

Well...from my experience I don't regret any of the mods I've done to any cars in the past. And I've put out a bit of money doing it. Hell in my last cavalier I sunk 1k into just the audio on it, not to mention all the maintenance I did to it having got the car at 100k. I generally do my own work so I can pretty much return car to stock if I want to get rid of it. If op wants to learn to mod/fix cars, I would start on this car, can always transfer certain stuff to another char when ready to upgrade.

Of course this is assuming op wants to learn to work on his car or if he is just going to take it to someone to do the work for him. Working on a car isn't really that difficult as long as you have a resource to draw upon(internet) with a group of peers to ask questions(.org)

The VQ30 will outlast your car. I have close to 300K KM.

My VQ have nearly 470 km ón it. And still rund as a dream. There is only rust under my Right side turn signal. Ive put some 20" rims ón it. And next projekt is exhaust and lower it. I love my car. And Will USD All my savings ón it. But in Denmark the Cars prices are a hige load more expensive Then All other places.

I have over 241,000 miles, still pulls like a mother and does not even burn any oil!!! The engine purrs like a kitten, everything still works, including the air.