Papamonty

I purchased my 03 Maxima in April 03 thinking that there would be no problems with it. My Max rolled off the assembly line in Oppama, Japan in December 02. Was I wrong. It was almost as if the Nissan techs built my car somewhat half *ss. Problems:

1) Hood vibration
2) Driver side outside mirror flutter
3) Nav and radio misaligned
4) Creak noise from driver side front suspension
5) Headlamp aim was off
6) Front end alignment off
7) Possible ECM upgrade

Just want to thank all of you out there who respond to problems with solutions; 95% of the problems listed above I was able to fix because of your help and expertise. All are fixed as of this evening.

1) Hood vibration – fixed using TSB from forum and a small amount of thinking
2) Driver side outside mirror flutter – fixed; used service manual provided on forum
3) Nav and radio misaligned – fixed, used service manual provided on forum
4) Creak noise from driver side front suspension – dealer fix, recommended by forum
5) Headlamp aim off - forum member wrote "how to" fix
6) Front end alignment off – dealer fix, recommended by forum
7) ECM upgrade – informed by forum however not applicable

Many thanks to all of you who make this forum the best one to belong to.

jay beede

I know what you mean. I think I have solved my '03 SEs hood shudder. My driver side mirror has flutter... how did you fix this?

Its hot where I live and it takes a good 10 minutes for the Maxima a/c to output cold air. When you have a 7 mile commute and it's 102° outside that's a problem. I don't even want to think about chipping paint!

I got my SE during the $6000 below MSRP period between Apr and May '03. If I had paid full retail i would be very unhappy. As it is I am not too pleased that I have to keep reminding myself that I got a great deal.

My wife wants a new Sienna and I have bn asking her to wait to see the new Quest. At this point I am not sure that I want to add another Nissan to the garage.

Off topic: We recently drove a Murano with CVT. You have got to be kidding... the CVT is NOISY and it feels like a slipping automatic.

Again I'm glad I didn't pay $28,000--$30,000 for my Maxima. I can't believe that '04 buyers will be happy after spending even more.

My old Audi has 150,000 miles on it and is virtually rattle/flutter/shudder free.

MONTE 01&97 SE

iTrader: (1)

Man enjoy that car the paint problems are occuring with lots of cars nowadays including my 35Z, and TLS etc. The 02/03 Max is a great bang for the buck and if you have a good dealer he will take care of those little issues for you. 10 mins for the air to get cold isnt normal, mine takes 2-3 mins and it has been in the high 90's here. It is great to have 2 Nissans in the garage especially with the 3.5 I dont get mad when I gt left with either the 350 or the Max.

Papamonty

In reviewing the Body & Trim section of the '02 service manual I downloaded from the following website, http://members.lycos.co.uk/LucyLu112/, you would pry out the bottom of the actual mirror then just unhook the top two hooks. If you have the heated mirrors, there will be two wires running to the back of the mirror. I then proceeded to tighten any screw I saw in the mirror housing and placed electrical tape in two areas where the white "plastic piece" rested on the motor so the fit was snug. I put the mirror back in place being careful not to scratch it and voila, no more vibration. Thank goodness.

Looks like you had more of a discount on your Max than what Mossy Nissan gave me on mine. But I'm still very happy with the purchase.

The new Siennas are very nice but expensive. The Quest body style will grow on me but its VQ35DE is a VERY nice touch. When not in the 03 Max, I'm driving in the 02 Odyssey with the family.

Hope you can fix your mirror vibration.