Hi guys! This is my first post, so please go easy on me...

I took my girlfriend car shopping earlier this week, and ended up driving home an 01' Maxima SE. (17' wheels, Bose w/ 6 CD changer, leather, dual power seats, auto climate control, fog lights, spoiler, power sunroof, 48K miles) I thought I got a good deal at $13,400 but my brother thinks I made a big mistake giving up my 01' Solara V6 convertible.

Anyway, I want to spruce this car up a bit before my husband gets home from an out of town trip on Aug. 10th, and want to know what the experts here would reccommend. I'm trying to keep my budget under $1K, and need to move on this QUICK. Thanks in advance for your help and sugestions.

 

First, I have to say, good choice. You made a good choice in your replacement. Secondly, you have to give us an idea of what you actually want done to your car. Do you want aesthetic changes to the exterior or perhaps the interior to make it look better? Do you want to enhance the engine or the handling dynamics. $1000 isn't too much but with the proper assistance you can have a much improved Max.

My suggestions going from what you have given us:

1.) Berk Technology Intake - Sound, performance.

2.) Some sort of lowering springs to give it an enhanced stance and better handling. Others can give proper suggestions as to what kind of drop you want.

3.) Change the headlight bulbs to something brighter.

4.) If it was a private seller you may want to detail it. Either yourself, with some Zaino, or take it to a pro. That way it's nice and shiny for his return.

Congrats, I hope you enjoy the car and the .org!

 

Welcome to the org Angie and congratulations on your new car! Not to discourage you, but for 13,400 + the extra 1k I would have gotten a 2002. Maybe not as loaded though, so there's a tradeoff. Any major cosmetic upgrades will take time since you have to order everything first.

The first thing that I got for my car was the chrome Maxima door sills, which you can get through courtesyparts.com. Another thing you'll hear is getting clear corners off of eBay, those are the cheapest mod you can get. Then I'd get the '02 HID headlights and lower it and it's all set. But for the latter 2 require professional installation, and will def exceed your budget....

Anyway, good luck with it

 

HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYY finally see someone from orlando..Winter Park here.. has the window tinted? I think you might want to check everything 's ok before any mods. i.e oil change spark plugs...air filter..battery things like that.

 

Nice choice, and sounds like you got a very good deal on the car - seriously. Your brother is just jealous

obviously it depends on what kind of things you want to do (performance, looks, etc.)

But for $1K here's what I'd do:

Rear sway bar (Stillen, Progress or Cattman) - $100-200. - really improves the car's handling and is easy to install.

For looks - get Anniversary Edition door sills...they look really nice. You can get them at www.courtesyparts.com . These are brushed aluminum door sills that came on the 01 Anniversary edition Maxima. less than $100

Then, spend about $200-300 and get the car tinted as dark as you legally can in your state (I would imagine that's pretty dark in Fla.)

And for a inexpensive engine "mod" get a Berk or Frankencar intake for under $200.

Spend other money on silly small stuff that's nice to have, like the "Mag-lite mod" or my personal favorite, the stealth first-aid kit

So for under $1000 you have now addressed looks, safety, handling, and engine performance.

of course everyone else here is gonna say "get it lowered" or "get rims" but those are harder to do within your "budget".

Check out mine and others' websites too for other ideas!!!

maglite mod:


1st aid kit (at top on inside of trunklid) and fire extinguisher

 

First off I read your name as Andie Taylor... and I started reading your post and everything seemed regular as you can see above... then I came to this part...

and I almost had a heart attack

You made an excellent choice from switching from a Solara. This car is good for moding up. For looks you could keep the rims you have, but get it lowered. You could also get the windows tinted. If you get lucky, you could possibly find some rims to your liking a cheap. If you just want to spruce up your car with performance, you could always get an Intake, Headers, and a Y-pipe. Goodluck with everything and Hope you become an active member of our maxima community.

 

Oh, if you want a noisy ride by all means, get an intake

Leave your factory rims, but do lower it, since you're not going to plow snow with it.

Oh, the MOST IMPORTANT thing to get for this car.... a Valentine 1!!!! I learned it the hard way

Irish, tint law here is AS1/28 front/15 rear, which is pretty

 

I don't wanna hear about it. Our tint here is 50 front/35 rear (I have 50 on all door windows, 35 in the back windshield....)

 

I'd suggest one of the first aesthetic mods you may want to consider (if it's not already done) would be to tint the windows.

Welcome to the .org and good choice with the car change. Sounds like you got a fairly decent deal.

 

Irish, your complaining? My law is in the 70s on the doors...

 

How about a AE body kit? I believe you can purchase one already painted to the 2001 colors. Not sure if you can get one for under 1K.

 

Probably 1 in 10 cars in Miami is untinted. My front windows are 25 and I hate how you can see everything inside.

Today I saw another 0% all around, it was a truck at school. The only thing you could see inside was the shine of the metal between the headrests and the seats. I couldn't tell if he had leather or cloth even through the windshield. I was sooooo jealous!

 

What type of tints do you have? Im playing on tinting.. I heard mirror Tints are the best.

 

Mirror might look ricey on certain cars, so I wouldn't personally get it. I have gray and I want to get titanium 10% all around if that's possible at all. But the only good tint shop I know just won't go below legal and they're ****ing me off big time.

 

I need to be slapped. I meant reflective...

 

excellent choice in getting away from the solara, i have spanked a few of those lately. as for performance follow what the other maxima homies have said and you will be ok.

 

ooooo and i forgot to say welcome to the .org, dont forget to register at the other org.......... www.maximaracing.org

 

ok this is the part that confused me. i started reading and assumed you were a guy since you took your girlfriend car shopping. then i get to the part at the end about your husband. so either you have a girlfriend and a husband or you took a friend of yours shopping. and that friend was also a girl. and you are doing stuff to yuor husbands car

ok as far as what you can do, here are some ideas -
apperance - tint, door sills (but contrary to what irish said they are not brushed aluminum), dash kit

performance - rear sway bar, lowering springs, y-pipe, intake

look at my website for pictures to give you ideas. i also have a page on there with a list of placed to purchase these things.

make sure and post a picture after you are done

 

It was a good thing getting rid of your 01' Solara V6 convertible for 01 Max. Welcome to the board.

 

HAha, Thats exactly what I said above!

 

LOL girlfriend = female acquaintence The car is definitely for me, as my husband idolizes his 04' GX 470 too much to ever switch to something smaller and more practical. The Maxima title and registration are in my name. I just allow him to think of it as his because the $$$ came from his (our) checking account.

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Thank you all for the thoughtful responses. I really appreciate it.

I'm probably not going to be racing this car (think 30 something soccer mom) but I do enjoy having a car that is responsive to my driving habits. I also prefer to have something that "looks appropriate" for my age bracket. The stock Maxima I have is wonderful for my needs, but I wanted to spruce it up so that my hubby doesn't TOTALLY flip out on me when he finds out I bought another car. (What can I say, I get bored when he's not home, so I go shopping) He's been pretty upset the last few times I bought cars without him present. (90' Corvette, 98' Accord Coupe, 99' Integra, and the 01' Solara)

For starters, I'm taking the car in to have the windows tinted this afternoon. I just need to find what's legal here in FL and in WA where we also own a home. I also ordered the door sills. As far as sway bars, Y pipes, intakes and lights, I may put that of until Dave gets home. I'll make those "projects" for him to work on to get him used to this car.

I wish I knew more about cars so that I could do more, but unfortunately, I'm "mechanically challenged" when it comes to stuff like that. Heck, it was hard enough for me to get the stupid leather thingy off the front of the car, and I broke a nail doing it! Grrrrrrrr.....

Anyway, thanks again for your help guys!

 

Hi.. Nice Max

There a meet in Orlando.. Here the Link;

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=325327

 

I hope your hubby knows he has a keeper. My girlfriend, and I'm sure most girlfriends/wifes of guys on the org, don't understand guys and their cars. Keep up the good work!

 

Huh?? I understand them. I care more about cars than any guy I've ever dated. I actually can only wish I had a b/f that was into cars like me. You guys just need to train your girlfriends/wives

 

I don't know where you guys are find these cheap Maximas.
If I plug her car into Edmunds appraisal I get $13,384 for trade-in, $15,212 for private party, & $17,159 for retail. I think she did just fine.

 

NADA, Edmunds, KBB & the like are used to a great extent by sellers in order to fool you that you're getting a deal. The market determines the price, not the depreciation method. It's called the invisible hand... I have noticed that due to the large amount of cars here in South Florida, there ARE many private party deals you can get on really nice cars. I'm not kidding, for $14k I can get a loaded '02 SE with decent miles here.

 

Go with an AE Bodykit...you can get it for under around 900 plus or minus shipped from Jerry Rome Nissan. www.jerryromenissan.com, org members get 12% discount...

 

You just have to look around or get really lucky.. Ive seen 2k2 SEs sell for as low as 12k with only 45k miles... but Base se. and as Maximadmoiselle, if theres a lot of maximas available, and less demand, your bound to get a good deal.. But Angie said shes not into racing so the 3.5 wouldnt have done anything for her.. and she did good like you said...

 

Id really just work on the looks for now. Then next time he leaves, you can take the car to the shop and have all the performance stuff done.

Id get clear side markers, tint, and lower it (get the eibach springs and tokico illumina shocks if you are looking for performance).

That will probably be a bit more than 1k if you have someone install for you, but shouldent be too much more.

 

The odd glances I receive from my dear wife as I obsess over my Max pale in comparison to the withering glare of doom i got when I told her I was considering trading it for a 2k3 Evo last week. Women that understand, much less support, our obsession with our rides are rare and should be treasured, so welcome to the .org!

$1000? Tint, high perf air filter (not intake), cat-back exhaust, lowering springs/struts or a set of 18s. Got money left over, upgrade fog bulbs and headlight bulbs, and maybe throw a set of clear corners.

 

Cars 50 miles from me

Around here, a 2k2/3 has no problem commanding an $18k-$20k retail asking price; a loaded 2k/2k1 will run between $16k-$18k.

I think the law of supply and demand has the upperhand here.

 

Dear god! And I was wondering why people shop for cars on eBay and think it's cheap. Here there are twice as many Maxes than in your area.

Cars 50 miles from me

 

Well, that explains it.

I bet I can pick up some used D-troit muscle for less than you.

Damn this city, no wonder our import scene is lacking.

 

WTF i dont have that carpet on my trunk and this the third max i have seen with it. Did you get that from the factory or was it an option. I WANT THAT

 

It also depends on where you get the car. I was looking for a 2k2 se for a few weeks until I found one that seemed decent. It was online for $15,999 while just about all of the other ones I was looking at between 30 and 35k miles were above $16k. I checked it out, about a half hour away from me. It was a honda dealer. Apparently someone traded in the max for an accord which is pretty stupid. Anyway, it wasn't all that loaded, just cd player. No sunroof which was a disappointment but a nice interior wood trim. I figured I could deal without the sunroof so I got the car. Talked the guy down to aking $500 off. When I got home I saw in the glove compartment a little lojack car. The honda place must not have known that the car had lojack otherwise there would have been no way they would have sold it for under $16k.

 

im single

 

but she's probably looking for a straight guy, so that rules you out.
and you are only single in a "technical" sense....

Jason, you care more about cars than any guy you've ever dated?

btw, why is everyone still talking about the price of the car? I mean, the girl who started the thread already BOUGHT the car......

 

Does everyone have that carpet on the trunk lid of their car, am i the only one with out it. I want mine, im about to give dave a call right now