Hi.. here comes the forum newbie.

Right now I drive a 1995 Chevy Beretta that has, to make a long story short, forever ruined my opinion of General Motors automobiles. $1100 in repairs divided by a 20-day period equals 'time for a better car.'

Besides, I'm not about to try to drive that POS a thousand miles to and from school every summer.

I like the Maxima - haven't had a chance to drive one yet, but I've been in a few, and I think I can afford a '00-'01. Definitely beats the Camry/Accord 4-cyl's, though ... and I need a manual trans.

Is there anything big I should know about these cars .. anything I should be checking for under the hood prior to purchase, maybe, or something else like that? It looks like the ignition coils run into problems a lot on those years... is there some sort of good aftermarket replacement ignition that would work better, maybe?

Thanks in advance

J.

 

if you can get a look at the ignition coils the new/better ones have a white dot on them. i just replaced four of mine for about $100 per coil (labor/parts/tax)

 

I would suggest you buy from a dealer and pay an extra $1k for Nissan Gold extended warranty...that way anything that pops up (coils, etc.) is covered under the warranty. I've gotten over $1200 in work done under my extended warranty in the first year (1 bad strut, bad clutch master cylinder, a couple other small things)....but overall very happy with my '00 5-speed. Nothing has gone wrong that would be considered a "breakdown", just some minor annoyances....I consider the car very reliable and any small problems are offset by how great the car is to drive.

A couple things:
-Find a maxima that DOES NOT have Potenza RE92 tires (the OEM tire)...these things are downright dangerous in the rain, and almost everyone here has replaced them with something else.
-Warped rotors are a common problem. They are NOT covered under extended warranties, so either find a car with good rotors (they almost all go bad though) or get a brake upgrade (the Blehmco brake upgrade is the most cost-effective answer - under $300) Ask us about the brake upgrades after you get the car.

The only other normal problems are the coils and MAF sensor (neither of which I personally have had any problems with).......

overall, a 00-01 maxima is a good buy - fast, reliable (and VERY safe in an accident) car that you can get with ALOT of options (heated seats/mirrors, power seats, Bose audio, etc...) for a relatively low price. Of course if you can swing a couple thousand $$ more get the 02, which has HID headlights and a bigger engine...but the 00-01 is a great car too (I have one and have no regrets, even though I could have scraped up extra $$ for an 02 when I bought mine).....

 

Okay.. wasn't aware of the brake rotor thing; something to look at, anyhow.

The newer ignition coils solve the problems, then, I imagine?

I don't think I can stretch it for an '02... I'm already stretching it for an '00 in the first place, heh.

The Nissan dealer a mile from my house has a 2000 Max that would be perfect except it's an automatic, and that just won't do ... the salesmen seemed doubtful that I would succeed in finding a manual, but I still have some optimism yet..

Thanks again, guys.

 

You people are scaring me. I've never had any issues with the rotors, coils, MAF, O2 sensors, tranny, etc etc... except for the MC that I have to replace now. In my case it's the stupid little things that break down and to me they're not worth fixing..

There's an orger down here who bought his 00 5spd fully loaded (with bose, leather, sunroof, etc) for $7k and some change... cash. So if you do a good search, I'm sure you will find what you're looking for.