Hi Everybody!

After 3 years in driving a 1986 maxima wagon - sophomore through senior year at Lehigh University, I finally landed a nice job, and yesterday bought my dad's 03 SE from him. It's in PERFECT condition, bone stock, and still has a new car smell (literally).





you can also go to http://www.cardomain.com/id/kiker14 to see more pix of the new Maxima, my old Maxima, and my old RX-7 which I have sold :-(

oh, and don't worry, I'm not gonna rice out this Maxima like I did the last - if you're gonna be driving a 1986 wagon around in college, you might as well have some fun with it!

 

Nice one! I just got a new to me 02' se myself. So what color is that? Gunmetal?

 

welcome to the 5.5 gen world, and props to keepin the 2nd gens alive!

 

6spd?

.

 

5 including reverse.

 

haha, I wish it was a manual - my dad bought it as a commuter car in the DC metro area (terrible traffic around the beltway), and didn't want to deal with shifting... But oh well...

My next car will be a manual for sure, but this was the economical choice for me. There's a story behind all of this involving me getting a 350Z... but that's for another day.

Maybe I'll even do a manual swap some time - I haven't searched this forum at all so I don't know if anybody else has done it or if it's even feasable. I'll be on the forum a lot in the next few weeks reading up on all of this stuff though. Thanks for the welcome :-)

 

yep, its been done.

g/l

 

I hope your Dad gave you a great deal cause he should have gave to you as your graduation gift. Congrats on your car.

 

yeah i just bought a 03 max se a week ago, first max iv ever owned

 

Well, 03 still has the same steering wheel mounted buttons as 01 model I have and it's been causing me problem. When I press the buttons sometimes there's no response, especially on cold days, not sure why. Not just one button, all of them (up down volume, change tracks, etc...) The new 05 & 06 now has audio control similar to Infiniti G35's and does not have that problem. Anyone encounter this problem and how to fix it?

 

Congrats on the purchase, always nice to get a car you know the complete history of!

 

beautiful car

<<jealous

 

Welcome to the 5th gen club! You will be very happy with your purchase.

 

damn, very nice!!
I hpe my deal doesnt fall through and I will have a nice maxima soon!!

 

Congrats! Props for keepin the older max goin for long.

 

2003 the best year by far should love it as much as I love mine.

 

Hey all, thx for the comments

I plan on giving her a good wash and wax this weekend and then I'll get plenty of more pix - the ones on the cardomain really don't do her justice.

as far as how much I paid - I got a SUPER great deal. I'm not sure how much you all know about Lehigh University, but it's approximately $40k/year - and my parents/grandparents paid for almost all of it for me (I had NO scholarship of any kind). My dad tacked on a few more $k to what I owed him for college, but is being incredibly flexible with my "pay back program" including making no payments until January 07 (as long as I bump my 401k WAY up).

I love the car so far, I am reminded how much fun driving can be. It's ::almost:: as fun as my 84 RX-7 GSL-SE was - but that little car was basically my dream car...

I do plan on doing some tasteful mods on this car, but I need to save up, and do my research (I don't want to hurt her!) I don't want to ask any stupid questions like: "what should I do to make it faster?" or "how do I make it sound better" or "what size rims fit" etc etc etc. I know all this stuff can be found by searching, so I intend to do so, and I'll ask other questions when I can't find an answer. I am no stranger to cars, I practically re-built two RX-7's and did a fair amount of work on the 86 max.

again thanks for the comments, and you can expect some more pictures soon!

 

Hey, Sorry to post on this thread but i have no idea what to do. Just bought a 2002 maxima GLE with the Bose HU, The buttons on the HU dont glow, is this the way it was made, or is it broken and can i fix it if it is.

Thanks a lot

 

Nice Ride! Welcome to the 5th Gen Forum. I am on my third Max, started with a 94, moved to a 2000 and now love my 2003. In my opinion, the 03 is the best Max of the bunch. I could have bought an 04 or 05 when I found my 03, but I didn't like the new body style, so I went with the 5.5 gen. No regrets! I plan on keeping it...forever!

 

Welcome to the club. I am also a former RX-7 owner, I had an 88 GTU with a few things done to it. That thing handled absolutely amazing. Good luck with the max. What mods do you have planned? I think my first mod was the AE pedals and Z dead pedal, they look great.

 

as far as mods right now - none. She will have to stay stock till I pay off college and the car, and then I will start to tinker with some things. I might add a high-end audio system around x-mas time if I get a big enough bonus, but we'll see what happens.

 

Congrats, Sounds like just the car I'm looking for. Keep your head in the books plenty of time to tinker when you get out of school.

 

Actually, I got my head out of the books since I did graduate in May (B.S. in Computer Science and Business) - but I still owe pleny of money...

 

sorry to ask a question on this thread but i want to see if anyone has changed the chrome trim around the windows on they're 03 se and put the black trim on instead?

 

grats on the new ride and welcome to the 5.5 family

 

Ah yes, excellent car. Love your car and it will love you.

 

Read a lot of the old posts for ideas. there is a wealth of wisdom hidden among the flames. Once you learn what a FSB, RSB, etc. are.....then post your question.



You may get flamed for asking a question that has been asked many times before and is listed at the top of the forum. Besides that little detail, the people here are glad you joined us.

Don't forget to participate in the local clubs and meetings that happen on an occasional basis.

Thanks!

 

Hey Everybody,

I took a few more pictures:



There are more at the cardomain page http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2413919/2

I washed her today - tomorrow I'll add some daytime clean car pix :-)

 

The 2003 will be your friend. Excellent car...

 

Congrats! Mine has about 55k miles on it. Had it since it was brand new...it still had the plastic on it when I test drove it.

 

sweet - i already managed to scuff her up a bit in my stupid garage - long story... but nothing a little touch-up paint won't fix (basically i scraped it against a pole while turning into the garage and it rubbed the passenger side valance - I didn't even realize it till it was too late - it made no sound and I didn't feel it although it's only like 2mm deep). d'oh.

But I still love the car, it's nice being able to pass on the highway with ease - my 86 maxima didn't really have ANY passing power... heh...

 

What kind of mileage are you getting around the "beltway"

 

i'm hitting 22.5 - 23mpg with a combo of city/highway/"spirited" driving - note i am not in DC anymore so I don't drive the beltway - but my dad got identical numbers when he drove around the beltway

 

Congrats. I recently purchased a 2003 as well. ENJOY!

 

wicked nice, love that grey luster color!