...can you Maxima experts offer any opinions on this car and/or inform me of known mechanical problems? It's silver with light gray leather and seems pretty flawless. Also, is there something in the VIN number that indicates it has a HSLD?

Thanks.

 

Better watch out for the Grey ones they tend to have lots of mechanical issues unless of course it's got the black leather interior. The mechanical issues were fixed with the production switch to black leather interior.

Mr. P

 

i don't know, that particular one senses that it might come with a salvage title, other wise it looks like they did a great job fixing it.........and every third digit on the vin spells out HSLD......good luck with the purchase........lol......

on a real note, look for the drilled medal pedals, usually a quick give away that it has HSLD, unless it was added on by previous owner. fo real though.....good luck with it, you shouldn't be sorry.

 

Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean. Here's the VIN...JN1DA31A03T402744. What can you tell me?

 

Clutch howl and grind!

 

To find out if it has HLSD, look under the hood. On the firewall on the driver's side is a plate. On the plate is printed the transaxle code. If the code has an 'H' in it, you have HLSD. If it doesn't have the 'H', you're SOOL.

 

Okay, another question. I know 2003 were offered with a 4-speed auto or a 6-speed manual. I haven't actually seen the car yet (I'll see it tomorrow), but my wife went to test it. She swears it was a 5-speed. Plus, the salesman said, "We sometimes get these in a 6-speed too." Was a 5-speed ever offered in the 2003 SE?

 

No. .

 

Are you 100% sure it's a 2003? I am 100% sure of one of two things:

I wouldn't buy a car from that salesman, or
Your wife is in need of remedial automotive training.

General stuff:
You were being crapped upon for asking for detailed info about a car and only letting us know "it's silver"

2002/2003 only had auto or 6-speed

Drilled pedals might also tell you someone spent $40 on pedals. Look at the plate like 6spmax said.

Go here (http://maxima.theowensfamily.com/tsb/) and read about the TSBs for 'common problems' and thank theowensfamily.com while you're at it.

 

No; the dealer is ignorant. When I bought my 00 SE cloth the dealer said that it was actually suede, but it wasn't - it was just a very nice cloth. If it is indeed a 2003 and does indeed have a manual and it hasn't been swapped, then it's a 6 speed.

Nice car. Buy it

It goes without saying that you need to drop the small fee to get a VIN check done on the car, before signing anything. Carfax has it pretty cheap.

 

Good point, but don't pay. My sister just bought a car and I told her "negotiate the price you want, THEN tell the salesman 'find a computer and run a carfax and I'll buy it'."

She did, salesman/dealer paid for it, everything looked good, she bought it. Carfax isn't the end-all answer, but it's another tool worth checking.

 

Okay, thanks for your thoughts. I am a car-nut, but the time for me to do my own detailed research prior to actually acquiring the car isn't sufficient. So, I thought I'd ask those who already know. Sorry I couldn't offer more info about the car than what I did. My exposure to it has been nothing more than seeing its photo on the dealer's website and my wife's test drive impressions. I was just hoping for some general pointers that might have a bearing on my decision after testing it myself.

I'm pretty excited about this car if it is, in fact, what I'm hoping it to be.

 

My car is a 2002 6-speed with about 24k miles and it's been a very good car for me.

I've had the recall done on the front control arm (not sure if it's also an issue on 2003) and had a TSB done for hood flutter (some welds broke on a cross-brace so part of the hood fluttered at high speed). I also had to have the wind deflector replaced, but they fixed that before 2003 came out so shouldn't be an issue with you. There were other TSBs that didn't apply to my car because they were before or after my car's build-date, but nothing serious.

The general answer here is going to be "if you and your wife like the car, buy it and you won't be sorry."

 

5 speed 2003, r u sure it's a Maxima?

Andrei

 

Or you could just go to my post in the Maxima's for sale and buy mine, without having to worry about what it has or doesn't have.