Hi everyone,

I have an A33 Maxima with the VQ30DE engine and automatic transmission... but I bought it in Germany and I live in France.

I love the car (from April 2001, I bought it used last month with 30.000 miles on it for one-third of the original list price). It has "everything": leather, satellite navigation, extra heating (called "Standheizung" in German - you can start it by remote control half an hour before you want to drive, and the motor is warm and ready to go), and above all, tons of room front and back (almost no car maker seems to appreciate that teenage kids are *big* !).

There are two issues: a problem with the radio (front right speakers dead, both of them, it's either a wiring or a head unit problem as the speakers themselves are tested and fine - I'm taking it to the local dealer !), and a simpler one: I can't get the wheels off to put my winter tyres on (I presume I didn't inherit a key of some kind) - again, I'm sure the Nissan dealer can come up with the goods.

My other car is a 2000 Mazda MX-5 (Miata) and I have found the similarities with the US model very helpful (there's a huge online Miata community), except for anything to do with the engine, as my Miata has a 1.6L engine not sold in North America.

So, my question is: how different are the North American and European 00-01 Maximas ? Will they have the same "issues" as each other ?

Thanks for any ideas !
Nick

 

your car is sold here in the US as an Infiniti I30 (see pic below)
everything is pretty much the same as your car so this is the best place to ask questions
European A33 Maxima (actually sold everywhere else but north amercia


the north american version of your car

 

those cars rock...
its great to see ppl outside of the U.S. come on here!

 

Very nice to have someone from outside of the US here on this forum. Welcome to the org. As far as what's compared to the U.S models, well mechanically they are identical. Interior wise is very far different with the Infiniti model here than the Euro Maxima. I've notice the dash board and the layout is a bit different.

 

about the radio, its deffinetly the headunit, alot of ppl here including myself had problems with the speaker sound cut out, (Factory defect),
the best way is to go aftermarket

and about your wheels check to see if one of your bolts is different from others, you might have a key bolt. would be a pain in the *** to take it off.
and Welcome to the ORG. nice to see people outside of US on here

 

wow im curious what the european maxima looks like... anybody got pics? i never even thought of a maxima in europe.

 

EU Maxima is a mix of US Maxima and I30. The dash is luminecent, like I30, inside looks more like US Maxima. Official name is MaximaQX, I believe.

 

I'ts a neon with nissan badge

 

Um, look up at Soonerfan's post.

 

Yes, the A33 was called MaximaQX over here. They stopped selling it this year, but apparently Infiniti is coming to Europe soon (given the state of the dollar compared to the Euro, this seems like a sensible move!).

 

Hmmm, sounds like that will be $$$ (€€€) to fix.

I bought the car off a dealer but he's sufficiently far away that it's not economic to go there for the repair! So I'm taking it to my local Nissan dealer. Nice people, but they had to wait a week to get the wiring diagram CD from a bigger branch... I doubt if there are 10 A33s in my region of a million people, as France doesn't have many Japanese cars of any size, and with gas at $4.00 a gallon, not many people are foolhardy enough to drive 3.0 V6 automatics

I don't like the head unit much: buttons are too fussy, can't fast-forward through CD tracks, other stuff. But I presume there aren't too many aftermarket units which can drive the CD changer. What are my options ?

Oh, and thanks for the replies, this board is cool.

Nick

 

I wonder if Renault does any servicing on Nissans.

 

Welcome, finally someone else with a max in Europe on the board. I have a US spec maxima here in Germany, and have seen many European maxima's around. Only thing about living over here is shipping get's expensive when your trying to get aftermarket parts.

 

I wouldn't allow Renault mechanics anywhere near my genuine Japanese Maxima. On the other hand the newer and smaller cars have a lot in common - including the sticker saying that they recommend Elf brand lubricants, and the same finance company!

Just got back from the dealer who had been looking at the radio problem. Apparently there's a relay between the head unit and the speakers, and the same relay controls both speakers (tweeter and main). It's a cheap item, so they will order it for me and if that isn't the problem, we (they) haven't lost much.

Here's another weird one: I found out why my wheel nuts wouldn't come off. They are 19mm nuts and the wrench in the trunk is 20mm. And I think the wheels are stock... oh well, another item for the shopping list.

 

hmmmm u said that there is no FF option on your Bose head unit? there is one in the US maximas, must be a euro max thing.

Anyway welcome to the Org, this place can help you out with your problem probably better than any dealer.

 

It's not a Bose, it's a Clarion badged by Nissan. There's an FF button but when you're on a CD it changes tracks (even if you lean on it).