I have been seeing all of these GXE's on the road from local rental places and I began to wonder if they are telling the people that are renting the car that it is supposed to have 91 octane gas in it? I would figure that most rental places would not want a car like the maxima because people are not going to put the 91 octane in it and neither is Alamo, or Hertz. Do you think that nissan would void their warranty because of this? I have heard people on the board say that they will get a check engine light or the car will run like **** if 87 octane is used.....are the rental places not hearing complaints from the renters?

Just wondering....because these gas prices blow!

 

I thought about this before too, and I definitely would not want to buy a former rental. If I rented one, there would be no way I would put in premium.

I put 87 in my car a couple of times and it pinged both times. When it pings, there is definitely a noticeable shortage of power. I usually try to mix between 89 and 93, and every now and then it pings.

I figure pinging can't be good for the engine, so a rental that pings for two straight years...I don't want to think about it.

If there is someone out there using nothing but 87, and the car runs great, let us know.

 

Your car should not ping, period! Your ECM has the ability to match engine timing to the octane you're running. The reason you're experiencing a shortage of power is because the knock sensor is picking up the detonation and sending a message to the ECM to retard your ignition.

My wife runs 89 octane exclusively in her 2K GXE and it hasn't pinged once in almost 30,000 miles. I, on the other hand, run nothing but 91 octane in my SE and I experienced an intermittent detonation problem that required a new set of coils to correct.

I suspect that detonation and hesitation in 2K Maximas and the coil problem that causes them are more widespread than Nissan cares to admit. Unfortunately, Nissan corrected the problem in parts and production but never issued a TSB. So if you're experiencing intermittent detonation or hesitation and you're not getting a Check Engine Light, you've got an uphill fight on your hands to get Nissan to correct the condition.

 

Years ago I purchased ex-rental cars for my wife on two occasions, a Dodge Aries and a Nissan Stanza. Both were disasters, having engine and suspension problems. Rental cars are just not well cared for, being driven by people who don't treat them like their own. I would never recommend buying one to anyone.