Hey all,
I am a noob here on this forum, and would like to see the general consensus regarding a 2002 Maxima I am looking at. I have never had a Max, but always wanted one as a trip/daily driver. Here are the details of the car, and I wonder if its a good deal, and what to look for?

2002 Silver Maxima SE, 6 spd, dove gray leather, heated seats, sunroof, HIDs, etc. I do not think it has the HLSD. One owner, purchased new locally (ordered) and lady owned. 100% stock, 35k miles, and looks very good cosmetically. She is asking $15300 on the autotrader, but is somewhat flexible in price. I am thinking of offering her $14k....is this a good price? What should I look for, and be on the lookout for on a test drive?

thanks all,
Jeff

 

If you can get it for $14,500 I think you got a good deal...

Do you have a link to the car?

 

If you can get them down to $14000, that would be good. I bought mine for $14000 from a nissan dealer and it has everything you got plus HLSD...and it was certified pre-owned w/ 100,000 mile warranty. i have 45,000 miles on it and bought it @ 43,000 mi. i use mine as a daily driver and love it. plus both the exterior and interior were in TOP NOTCH condition. go for it man....ULL LOVE IT!!!!....

 

man, i wish that lady lived here lol, i would get that car instantly...
next time when i look for my new car, i will be looking for that perfect maxima... not like how i did it with this maxima....I saw it and it looked nice, couldnt find MT so i went with AT, biggest mistake in my whole life that i ever made...
btw: if you like the car go for it, since you'll be the one driving it every day, and if u dont like it than thats not good at alll.
good luck

 

Yeah that’s a great deal, considering I got mine for $18,000 6 months ago. You better snag that soon, or ill drive down to K-Falls myself and buy it on principle

Funny you live in Klamath, I went to OIT there

 

I definitely agree, $14K would be an awesome deal for that car.

 

sounds like a good deal to me.
i have the exact same car (besides color) and paid around $16,500 about 10 months ago. had 33K on in at the time

 

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...en&cardist=129

Here is the car. Yep, in Kfalls, home of the Hustlin Owls (OIT). I went to school in the midwest (Iowa State), but call Kfalls my home......I am just looking for a nice MT max, as I would like a nice daily driver. I have a 91 300zx tt, Mitsubishi Galant VR4, Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX, Ford truck, and a bike....no real good daily sedan though. The Galant is ok, but has 160k miles and is not a very big car, or real comfortable.

Thanks for the input guys....I will call her and feel more about the price, and see if I can get up to see the car in the next few days.

Jeff

 

I saw that ad and it says the car was located in bend....

 

car looks sweet man...not as HOT as my GLACIER PEARL but still sweet...

 

Yes, the car is in Bend. Local to me in this small town is in a 300 mile radius! I searched for a 2000 and up silver max with a manual tranny, and this one stood out! Seems like a good deal....I better get my finances together, and give this lady a call....

 

How do I know, or how do I find out if the car has the HLSD? The lady doesnt know, and cant find the original window sticker.....just wondering.

thanks,
Jeff

 

There are a couple of ways, but the easiest is to see if it has silver pedals. If the pedals are black then you dont have a HLSD.

The other is pop open your hood...there is a silver metal plate on your firewall...it will say ENGINE VQ35DE....then below it is the transmission code....at the end of the code, if it says A, then its an open diff....if it says H then its a locking diff (HLSD)

There is a picture of the pedals in this thread.
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....&highlight=lsd

 

what is HLSD is this something to do with slip differential? does it just stop the wheels from losing traction

 

Jeff - that car will not last long at that price. Don't low-ball it and blow the deal.

 

Lady Owned? No way lol oils probly never been changed

 

Good deal.

 

and the clutch has probably been ridden

 

Thanks to DaveB (David Burnettte, from South Point Nissan), I found out the following about the car, for sure:

1. It does not have the HLSD (bummer!)
2. The car was built in 10-01, sold in 2-02
3. All the recalls have been done (lower control arms, sensors replaced too)
4. Has side airbags, cold weather package
5. Sterling Mist color, with grey interior
6. Has had the clutch disc replaced, some original ones made noise...

Thanks to Dave for his help, and everyone's responses. It does not bother me to purchase from a woman, as she requested a manual tranny (giving her the benefit of the doubt of rowing it properly, if she ordered the car this way!). I need to make a decision on the car, and offer once I drive and see that its in the shape she described. Wish me luck guys...sounds like a pretty good car, and a good price!

Jeff

 

GREAT! For the record, this looks to me as a clean car, but since I like to know if there's a catch involved, think of the worst.

1) Has this car's millage been turnd back?
2) How often was it in for service?
3) Theres something fishy to me that a women bought a "stick" maxima ! Or am I wrong?

 

Buy it. Don't try and low ball. price seems good

 

BTW any accidents?

 

Before I brought my 03 speed, I found a 03 6 speed loaded except navi and HLSD with only 18,000 miles on it. They were asking 19,500 and the car sold in 3 days. I wasn't willing to pay that much so they let me walk. I got my 03 loaded with everything including hlsd but no navi for 17,000 w/ 40,000 miles. For that price i say go for it..................6 speeds don't last long and don't let people tell you that because most of these cars are coming off lease so there will be plenty of 6 speeds avail. B.S. They are still rare....

 

Every car my wife has purchased (2 Maximas and VW Pissant) have been m/t except for her Armada. I guess she finally figured out that bump drafting is easier than down-shifting when negotiating traffic.

 

looking at the car tonight, and test drive. Thanks for all the help and advice guys......wish me luck.

Jeff

 

I just ran a vehicle history report and everything is clean.

 

Lol, I was looking at that car myself and thinking it was a great price! The only problem is I'm many states away so don't worry, I won't buy it out from underneath you.

I'm still kicking myself for the one that got away from me this week. It was a one owner '02 6-speed with 19,500 miles on it. It sold for $15,300! Why didn't I buy it? I balked at first because I didn't like the color, Merlot. Now I'm trying to decide between an '02 with 40,000 miles on it or an '03 with 22,000 miles. The '02 I can get for $16,000. The '03 for $17,000. Both cars have all options but nav. Is it me or do these prices seem too high?

PS, ou812...Did you buy the Max?

 

Hey all....looked at the car, drove it last night. The lady selling did not have time to wash it, so it was pretty dirty, with some snow and frost on it. I took the car for a drive, and my gf used to work at a bodyshop went with. We went to a well lit (it was after 9pm) gas station to examine the body and see what we could see. The car has a couple minor dings (one in the hood, the rear quarter, and one dent in the side moulding), and some decent sized chips and gouges in the bumpers. The car was not as nice as I would want to buy, so I think I am going to pass on it. The lady has not had a lot of interest in the car, so maybe she will call me back if she is more flexible on the price. I would pay $13500 for it, probably no more....I have a couple questions for all here, regarding the MT Maximas too:

1. Engines are so smooth that they dont feel very powerful?
2. Clutch takeup is way high...is this normal?
3. Road and wind noise was not any better than a new Accord...is this normal?
4. Heated steering wheel gets really hot?

Just a few things I noted from the test drive....

Jeff

 

Sorry to hear the car is not up to par. Hopefully she will come down in price. As far as your questions go.

1. You should really feel the power especially in a stick. First couple of gears should put you back in the seat pretty good. If this is not the case then there is something wrong with the car.
2. No idea.
3. No idea.
4. My heated wheel gets really hot too....uncomfortably hot. I usually turn it off after a few minutes. Not sure if it's normal...just letting you know that mine does it.

 

wow, you guys are getting STEALS on low mi. 5.5 gens. they simply do not exist here in MI/OH. The manuals are even more rare. I just picked up a 5th gen 2001 5sp with 49K in exc cond from IN for 11K, and that was a very, very good deal. I have been looking for a year now and this one popped up so I snagged it. I'd give 14K for an '02 w/35K on it ANY day. It would retail here for 19K...if you could even find one at a dealer.

 

1. The car is a beast in every gear except first so you should feel the power. Yes the VQ is smooth
2. Yes clutch take up is kinda high but you will get use to it.
3. Wind noise isn't Lexus quiet but it's average, plus you may need to have the TSB done for the rear windows which have a problem letting in to much wind noise, very easy fix.
4. And yes the heated steering wheel gets ridiculous hot, but it feels great on very cold Boston mornings.

P.S the 6 speed is a beast. Once you get use to driving it you will be amazed by the power. I love merging on the highway in the moring and punching it. The car just takes off leave other drivers looking like what the hell just flew by me. Plus most women suck at driving stick and she probably rode the clutch if you don't think car is fast

 

I have AT and the wind noise can be bad at times :\ From what I have read this seems to be a common issue

Mine also gets really hot (sometimes I fry an egg up on it for breakfast on the way to work) *Now if only the heated seat got that hot I would be good.

Did she come down on price anymore? On the bright side you could probably have your gf get those dents & dings out for ya

 

Well, I would guess the lack of power to my backside is due to the smooth nature of the VQ35, plus the other vehicles I drive on a regular basis (stage X twin turbo 300zx, Galant VR4 with bolt ons, Kawasaki ZX12R). I probably made the car sound bad, especially with my picky nature.....I wish it didnt have the cosmetic issues, but 90% of those could be fixed easily.....I may still make her a low offer, and see what happens....if its meant to be, its meant to be...

Jeff

 

I came thisclose to driving down to Texas today to pick up an '03 6-speed with 23k miles on it. The car looks great except that the interior is kind of messed up. Whoever owned it before must have been a slob because there are stains all over the carpet. There's one on the passenger side that covers half the footwell. It looks like coffee and the dealer said they can't get it out The thing that's holding me back is they won't take less than $17,200 for it. If it wasn't stained to the point that it needed to be redyed I'd have jumped on it.

I've never had such bad luck trying to find a car. I've been looking for over 3 months now.

 

I was in Grand rapids MI 2 years back, and i had to look for 4 months before i found a max with stick shift. I got a 2003 max 6sp, FULLY LOADED, for 20k in march 2003. And i also feel that Road and wind noise is slightly high in max. i think camary is the best in this regard....