hey fellas. I own a 96 accord sedan ex 5spd and i love my baby, but at the same time I am tired of looking over my shoulder everytime and beig worried about her. i was looking at a 02 maxima SE manual as my next car but I don't know too much about nissan's. My boy has a spec-v and he loves it and I figure I wanted to change in my life. Other then accords being easy as hel to brake into, my year accord has no problems. I was trying to find out as much info as I can with the max's before I make my descion. A few other people I have talked to owho had max's said they had some serious problems with them ranging from 89 up too 2k so I want to see if they got most of the bugs out of the 2k2. I am about to hit up the search button and see what I can find but if you guys can lead me in the right way I would appreciate it. Thanks for your help.

 

If you can swing it, get a 2k2+ manual. Big jump in power/engine size. If you like the older maxima styling, the 2k2-2k3 have the older body but newer engine. The 2k4s have new body/engine.

You will love the power of the 2k2 and the size. Handling might be another story. Wife had a 94 Accord LX. Slow as rocks but I was very impressed with the handling. Especially with the 14" tires it had. Definately drive one and see. Used Nissans go deep in discounts so be sure to look around for a good deal.

 

see that's the other thing. i have a few connections to either do a motor swap or turbo install but a part of me figures why do that when i can get something newer.

 

For about the same money you can get a:

97-99: turbo
00-01: turbo/SC
02-03: leave stock

 

With the Accord's weight, I would say you would need about 240-ish hp to match the heavier 255hp maxima. I would think you would need a modded H22 or stuff a V6 in there. Turbo will work for sure but you really lose the reliablity factor.

 

I see you live in NJ... watch out for 2k2-2k3 Maximas since they come stock with HIDs, and they get stolen a lot around the NJ/NYC area... that could be a "gotcha" with buying a maxima.

 

The Maxima has always been at or near the top of the reliability rankings from both JD Power & Associates and Consumer Reports. They do have little problems - they tend to eat up sensors/coils way more often than Hondas - but that's either under warranty or very cheap/easy to DIY replace and not really a big deal, IMO. As a whole, Nissans are not quite as reliable as Toyota and Honda, but the Maxima has always been their best product and a cut above the corporate average and right up there.

I am a former Honda owner also and my 99 Max has been a great car. Only two minor issues (one coil and one sensor) in 82k miles. The VQ engine rocks - it can lay some serious smack down even in 190hp form. My Max is a zillion times more fun to drive than my 01 Accord V6 was.

 

yea I was thinking that also. Doing the h22 swap would be cheap but of course I would work the motor up. The h22 is 200hp. with basic bolt ons it's 215-220hp. If I do allmotor app then i am starting to look at some good levels. The v6 motor that can in the 5th gen accord94-97 are ***. The custom turbo kit would run me about 2200 and would range from 10-22psi. my boy had it on his accord and at 10 or 12psi he was putting 287 at the wheel. of course the internals were worked though. So there are a few options and the HID thing is realy big in NJ/NYC area.

 

If the security of your honda worries you, how will you feel knowing that the HID headlights of the 2k2-2k3 are prime targets?

 

need torque in your life- VQ35

 

he can get torque with a turbo, why get a VQ35 to get torque, he can just turbo his and he is fine