It has two large dents on the drivers side doors. Both doors should probably be replaced, although both open and close fine, the drivers door is loose and needs some adjustment. Other than that the body has some minor dings and the spoiler is loose, but that's it. Mechanically it's in superb condition and the interior is pretty decent for the year. The AC blows cold and the sunroof is in good shape too. A paint job would probably be put on it within a year or two. Do you all think it's worth it?

 

Well it's hard to tell, make sure there isn't a lot of rust around the motor mounts, try running it a little bit if you can, watch the rpm (make sure they the needle is not going crazy, sometimes this is an indicator of trans problems). Other than that, I would try to go 1500, which is a fair price, also it's a 5 spd which is a bit harder to find than automatic, so yeah if you're willing to go through with the replacement and have the time to do the work, or the money to do it; then yeah i would buy it.

 

mileage ?

 

It's at a dealer, so the total outcome is 1800. They're giving the car to me for 1500, but with the title/insurance/tax/tag, it comes out to be 1800. It has 170,000 miles on it. The engine bay looks dirty, but like I said the car starts fine and runs fast. I don't believe it has any leaks, either. I can usually tell when a car has messed up motor mounts, and this one seems fine. The shifting was butter smooth and it didn't have any jerks or play in the engine bay. No clunks or anything. I want it, but the body work might cost around 500 bucks, plus paint. I'd have to drive the car around as is for now and put money into it slowly. My main concern is that it is a 5 speed maxima. I've been searching for one for months and it's almost impossible to find one that actually runs without any issues.

 

have you tried offering them any less ?

 

They had it at 2000, I talked down to 1500 and they waive the dealer fee.

Maybe I can talk them down to less. What do you think would be a good price?

 

Whatever you feel comfortable paying.

 

just keep shooting numbers at them until they say yes. if you can get it for less than 1800, you did good.

 

1500 out the door, hammer home the fact of needing paint and body work...

 

I just got a quote from a body shop saying the to repair the doors it could run from 800-2000 dollars. WTF. I could just buy two doors from the JY for maybe 75 bucks each and paint them for 200 bucks. Is that absurd or what? Did body shop prices get inflated or something? If that's how much it's going to run me to get the doors fixed the car isn't even worth 1grand.

 

Shops is all about money....buy the two from junkyard and have a shop paint them but if you can live with the dents just wait till you paint the whole car...Good Luck on the purchase...

 

Just paid $1300 for my 96SE 5mt fully loaded w/ 212k miles.

It has a scrape in the passenger 1/4 panel, could be buffed out....

So far i've spent...
$400
-Replacing the rad support
-Welding the subframe to the chassis because the studs broke

$450
-Replacement motor
-Random new stuff needed (clutch, fluids, sensors, gaskets, etc)

That's just the tip of the ice berg, but the car runs like champ now, better than when I first brought it.

 

Hmm.. I hope I don't run into any issues like that. This car runs great. It was extremely fast. Faster than I thought maximas would be. I've driven RX7s, MR2s, 300zxs, and this Maxima was FAST. I'm not sure whether it's just the chassis that is very light or maybe the car just has a lot of torque, but it hauls.

Anyhow, I think I'm going to buy it. I talked them down to 1700. I wouldn't go through the trouble of having to put bodywork into ANY other car. But since it's a 5 speed 4th gen SE, I can't resist the purchase. It's near impossible to find them around here. I've seen 3 cars that needed "motor mounts" but who knows what else will come with that. Once motor mounts get messed up, more things can come with it. At least this car is mechanically sound. That's the way I figure.

 

the body dents suck but ehhh its a used car.

You can find doors at the JY easy and paint reinstall yurself

 

Most important thing is radiator core support. Is it rusted through?

http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...port-rust.html

http://forums.maxima.org/7756830-post430.html

http://forums.maxima.org/7821076-post480.html

I saw some chick driving down the highway last week with a rusted radiator core support. How did I know? I saw her entire subframe/crossmember hanging down and almost scraping the roadsurface.

 

I've heard about this issue. I don't think it's worth it actually, to buy this maxima. Even though it's a rare 5 speed SE, both the paint and the door damage are in pretty bad shape. The only good thing is that you can tell it's an original car, no mods or anything. But the paint and body work are going to cost me at least 2 grand. I'd be buying a 4000 dollar car in the long run. For that matter I'll go buy a 300zx or a Max with better paint for less money.

 

Unless you're gonna buy a TT Z32, don't bother. The N/A's are slow as *****.

Find another A32.

 

I kinda just said that without really meaning it. I want a 4th gen Maxima. It kills me to not buy this car, but I always fear the next day after buying it I'm going to check on CL and there's gonna be a black on black SE 5spd for 2500 and I'm going to have missed it, while having one that I paid 1700 for and it's paint is old and it needs bodywork.

 

170k is right in the middle for this year IMO. Not really high but not low either. It sounds like its just cosmetic and thats why the dealer bought it. Cosmetic issues aren't a big deal, if you think the engine has been cared for and the clutch is still in shape then I wouldnt pass that up man you will probably wait even longer to find a better one

 

After getting quoted 2.5K for the bodywork and paint, I'd say cosmetic is an issue. It almost seems like I'm better off buying an automatic in really good shape (there are tons out there) and swapping in a manual tranny for less money than it would cost to get the car painted well. Bodywork and paint prices are really inflated.

 

I bought my 97 SE 5 speed with 245k miles for $2300?

 

For real! I'd buy that one out the door for 1700. I would much rather spend 1700 for a 5 spd mechanically sound with dents on it and work up to the aesthetic stuff than fork over 150-300 a month bank note. Or wait another 6-12 months finding the "right one"

Sounds like a good buy for a daily driver or project car in my oppinion. 2k for All around color is normal. Expect that for every car out there. Just sayin.

 

Honestly, id personally keep looking. If u have some mechanical knowledge and dont mind swapping a motor, u can get one for 700 or less and swap a dek in. Thats what im doing at the moment. When its all said and done im only spending around 1800 and getting a nice 5spd de-k 4thgen. But also u can look on craisglist especially because with 1800 u can possibly even find a 4th gen with some type of mods and even bid the owner down and prob get it for 1500. The only way i see it truly being worth your while to invest in that is if they are giving you some type of warranty if thats even possible due to the age of the car.

 

I don't really have much mechanical knowledge, or tools for that matter. I was mainly looking for a fun daily driver and I love the way 4th gen maximas look, so that is why I want this car. Maximas with manual transmission are really hard to find and it upsets me to have to let a 5 speed SE slip away due to the doors being messed up. But the fact is I'm going to have to put a lot of money into body work and I can probably just get myself a Maxima that's in much better shape for less money if I wait. It's a tough decision. I'm also getting a lot of mixed reactions on in this thread lol. Some are telling me "go for it, it's going to be hard to find an SE that runs well, and you can take care of cosmetics later" but then I get those who say "wait and find one in better shape." It's just annoying when I search the forums and see threads where people boast about having bought black on black SE 5spds in great shape for 2500. It's going to be really hard to get that lucky and the 4th gens with manual transmissions are slowly starting to dwindle.