I'm Still looking for a 5th gen maxima. After test driving an 01 in comparison to 02 and 03, it seeems to me that the 255hp ones have a much better transmission. Is that just me or that's the way it is? I'm looking at a 2002 gle gray with heated seats and steering wheel with 6,600 miles being sold by a private owner. Someone has offered 19k for it already do you think it is worth bidding a 19.5 to buy it is reasonable? Thanks everyone.
Do you guys think I should save money by purchasing an 00 or 01 because it is cheaper? Thanks again.

 

02 is a much sweeter car..................one word HID

 

Umm... how about one word: 3.5

 

thats a number.... haha

but depends on what you like...if you like a nicer car get the 3.5 if you want to save money.....might go with the 01 or a civic.......

i just want to be happy with what i buy and knowing that i could have had one but saved the money would haunt me forever....just my $.02

P.S. most of the saved money would go towards modding the car anyways

 

If it worth it to you. I bought a 2003 se in january for 17500 shop around \ Patience i wish i waiteid for 2004 6th generation, but you know what i am happy with what i have . Well maybe 20 rims . lol

 

Get a 02/03 6 speed... options don't really matter if you're gonna mod it anyway... although I have everything (HIDs, heated leather seats, sunroof, climate control, etc), except the HLSD, so I guess I can't say... just get the 02 or 03 6 speed...

 

i've got 3 words for you guys 2000/SC'ed/with 02 HIDS

 

best of both worlds

 

Can't ya just SC an 02 then? You'd get a 6 spd tranny and all the trims too...

 

An 02' w/ only 6.6K is a good find. Re: $19.5K, go run the numbers via KBB & Edmunds (and other resources you may have access to) to help you determine a reasonable offer.

 

Yeah 02-03 if you want to change tranny every 30k.

Get a 01 AE edition and buy 02-03 hids for like 400 on ebay.
Much more worth it!

 

Are ya saying all 02/03s or just autos? I have a 6 spd and haven't had any tranny probs yet....

 

02-03s have tranny problems. Trans can't hold up to all the power, its designed for a 4th gen. No U cant add any Ez forced induction (turbo or SC) to a 02 or 03 Maxima. No one makes a kit. I suppose if U where hard core you would get a set of cheap OBX headers- shorties, and run a custom reversed Y pipe for a turbo, then its all down hill from there. There are a few turbo kits out there for the 95-01 Max, and a Supercharger. 02 Max for 20K bux, yeah its low miles... but a 00 with 50K miles for 11K with a 5spd I found few weeks ago in the paper... 5K dollars for a Turbo kit, 1K bux for JICs, 2K for brakes and you will come out with a monster vehicle. It just depends on what you feel is right for you. Don't forget the HID theft in NJ/NY area.

 

its the autos. Autos are anyway

 

i have alot of respect for the 02/03's. I rode in one last night and that thing was quick. But it still doesn't come close to the feel of my car. If i had to make the choice between the two i would say go with 02/03 for looks but 00/01 for performance potential

 

Gotcha... thanks for the info man, that's good to know. I doubt I'm gonna get that far anyways... limited by time, knowledge, and money... headers are probably as far as I'd go right now...

A SCed 01 does sound awfully nice though....

 

are you supercharged? dont forget SR20DEN ran a 13.1 @107 NA in an 02 6spd. Not many S/C guys are running that quick. with the 3.5 in almost every damn nissan vehicle, the aftermarket will only get better...

 

Find a 3.5L long block, and go down n dirty on the internals, high compression pistons, head work, custom intake manifold, cams, valve springs, VTC eliminator.... Nothing beats a NA VQ in terms of reliability and response ! Then again I'm nuts, and wanna turbo my moms 00 Altima automatic

 

yea i am supercharged with a 3.125 pulley. I am deffinetly not saying that my car is faster than all of the 3.5's out there, all i was comparing was my car to his. And yes that dudes car is a freak, i wish i could get that damn intake manifold mod he has

 

Haha... thanks for all the knowledge-sharing and keep up with the good work man... I was just looking through your webpage... awesome stuff there...

 

Gotcha. Have you dyno'd the car yet? his car is quick no doubt!

 

Nah not yet hopefully within the next month. I want to get my upgraded injectors headers and walboro so i can do some tunning while on the dyno. Plus i am still trying to figure out how to work this safc

 

S-AFCII is EZ to work... just make sure you have the right type of air flow meter in the settings. And then just go HIGH and LOW throttle settings by RPM Make sure to adjust when you want the AFC to go from LOW to HIGH throttle maps- it ask ya for procentage of throttle application. Then you make your base run, using the wide band analyze the A/F, and then add or remove fuel from your power band Make sure to use a good wideband, and not one of them tail pipe sniffer ones. Those throw off readings like a ****. I use a 94 Honda Civic VX 5 wire wideband 02 sensor with my wideband controller. Its one of the most accurate 02 sensors in the world.

 

I got a 2k 5spd with 60K mi that I will sell for 10 grand..

 

hmm I'll pass the info along to my friend, hes thinking of selling his 200SX SE-R for a Maxima, I told him you can find a Max for 10K nowa days. Is it moded ?

 

No, I kept it bone stock on purpose. You dont count OEM fogs, OEM spoiler, intake, and aftermarket stereo as mods, do you?

 

Get the 3.5 more power, HID, low miles.. etc.. I have an 01 and love it, don't need to worry about the HID to get stolen etc. You can get an 01 fully loaded and add the body kit, the HID and SC and bye bye 3.5. That's what I'm going to do very soon....... I alrady added the side skirts form an 03 to mine.. so next are the HID from an 02-03 and the SC, my problem is that my car is an auto so I will have to change to a 5 speed and do the whole conversion............

But go with your feelings, remember if you treat your car Good it won't give you any major problems, if you take a 3.5 and race all all the time well, of course you are going to have problems. Have fun your quest.........

 

The car at kbb private party value is at 18700 and someone has offered 19000 should i still go for it? I can save money if I want to buy a car with more mileage on it but I would have a lot of trouble selling it at the end. Let's say i get one with 30k miles after another 30k or so no one will buy it. Because I'm planning to stick with this until the release of the Skyline. So what do you guys think? What should I do? My most ideal would be a car under 30k miles at a cheaper price. So confusing don't know what to do. Thanks for the feedback in advance.

 

What do you mean nobody will buy a car with 60k? I've bought 4 cars before. Three of them had more than 60k. I simply can't be bothered to get into the math of it, but it's easy enough to argue that the older and cheaper the car you buy, in almost all cases, the less the total cost of ownership will be down the line.

That price on the 02 is ok, but not fantastic. Two years ago I saw a fully loaded 2002 for $20,500 with 10k miles. Now, yours is $1000-1500 cheaper, with 4 less miles (not significant), but it's two years later. I personally would want to pay in the 18s for it tops

 

the main difference between the 2000/2001 and the 2002/2003, is that the 2000/2001 maximas are usually driven by younger, better looking, smarter, more viril men with abnormally large penises.

 

this friggn topic comes up every week.... can someone make it a STICKY ? outline the differences between the 00 and 01s, and then 02 and 03s ?

 

...Sounds like someone has displacement envy to me...

My pistons have more travel than yours

 

My boy has a 2k2 6 speed where 3-4th gear has died 3rd time. This is his 4th tranny on stick. This guy really takes care of his ride, so wth????

im sticking with 5th gen 00-01. I still think AE is best maxima ever made.

 

Yo, no doubt, no doubt! :P