Was wondering is there anything i should look for.

its an 03 6spd for $14500 with 41K on it.

Should i look for anything that tends to go bad on these that is a pain to fix, or expensive to fix?

 

coils will probly start to go bad around 50K $95ish a piece, theres one for each cylinder. Thats a good price. Listen for suspension noises and rattle from tranny below 1500 rpm, youd really only be that low at the most 3rd gear. Min speed for 5th is 36, 6th is 48 mph. I wish i didn't buy it. If youre worries about money and repairs, dont buy it, get a mazda 6 or 3, they handle better anyway which is more usefull than power, my opinion.

 

If the owner can't tell you if the coils have been replaced or not, for whatever reason, you can tell if the coils are the newer version if they have a gray dot on them. On an 03 Max you have to take the engine cover off to see the coils. It should be pretty easy to do.

I've got an 00 Max and I love it. In the 70,000 plus miles I've put on mine, it has 93k on it, bought it with 21k, the rotors, shift solenoid and coils were replaced for common, well documented problems of 00 Max. The shift solenoid was covered by my powertrain warranty at the time.

Each model, every model year and each manufacturer has it's own problems. That includes Mazda which isn't up there with Honda or Toyota in terms of building HIGH quality cars.

Make an informed decision.

 

i have it home right now on a 24hr test drive

 

Pics? . . . . . . Mine has 81k, no problems as of yet.

 

wow. 24hr test drive?....when they start doing that?...

honestly,my 6spd was the best investment ive made in a whip. love the car! evryday i get in it, it fells like the day i bought it. every car is gonna have its problems! ive put 40k on my max in the last yr. yea, i do alot of driving but my max still purrs and tears up the streets STOCK. in the past year, ive only have to buy tires and just now i will be buying rotors and pads as the rotors on this car DO SUCK. i had them cut about 15k ago and their warped again. i just wont buy OEM rotors. might go with 6th gen rotors. its on YOU to make the call tho man! G' Luck!

BTW, i bought the car with 43k around this time last yr! i paid 14k with EVERYTHING out the door.

 

ill take some in a minute, just eating dinner

 

I took a 24 hour test drive when looking for my A32. Not unusual.

It's a good price and a rare 6MT. I would take it ASAP.

 

Make sure all warning lights work when the key is turned to the "on" position and the engine has not been started yet. Check the owner's manual on which lights should be on.

The 2 warning lights that you really need to pay attention to is the MIL (Check Engine Soon) and the Airbag warning light during this test. Both should be on before the engine is running.

Check for any shudder or pulling under braking. If you can check the rotors and pads.
Check the belts.
Original battery? If, so, replace it.
Are the fluids clean?
Check the air filter. Usually a good indication on how well a car is maintained.

Run a Carfax.

 

did a carfax, and it was regularly maintained at mossy nissan. i would be the 2nd owner.
here are some pics i just took

 

Low miles for an '03. Do a couple high speed stops 80-30mph on the highway (make sure no one is around) to get the brakes heated up...if the steering wheel starts to shake when you brake, have them replace the rotors. Check to see if the clutch slips...go about 20mph, put it in 4th, let the clutch out and see if it slips or grabs. If it slips, needs a clutch $$$. Play the Bose stereo and use balance & fader so you can listen to each of the speakers by themselves...sometimes they cut out. If so, ask for new head unit as that is where the problem is. Obviously, check all electrical items too. Call the Mossy Nissan, give them the VIN and ask what service they have done to the car...they should give you the info.

A decent price for those miles with Meridian package (heated seats, steering wheel, side view mirrors) & leather. The other options on the '03 that it doesn't have is HLSD, Titanium package and Navigation.

Have a mechanic check it out...ask mechanic if it looks like fluids have been changed (coolant, brake, power steering, tranny). Good sign if it has...

I'd probaby make an offer around $13.5K to see if you can get it for around $14K...good luck.

 

Assume a $1K allowance for work that you will eventually need to have done within the first 3 months. If your can afford 14.5K total, I will not go beyond $13.5K

GL

 

what are u smoking? either that or your car is a POS, that someone abused the crap out of and sold to you

the coils on the 5.5 are better then early 5th gens
look at the reports, or owners reviews, maxima is alot more reliable then mazda 6, even though mazda 6 is a decent car

 

nice, black interior ftw
black on black is hot
carfax wont tell you everything bout the car, have someone go over the car to make sure the panels are original and there the paint is original

 

That's interesting...I've never seen a fully loaded 2003 without the titanium package before? The first poster in this thread was on crack. Don't listen to him. I've had my car for 35k miles and have only had to replace an o2 sensor and the transmission under warranty (3rd gear was grinding due to a synchro failure. Not really necessary to replace transmission it was just sort of an annoyance). At 64k it runs like new, and I ran a 14.3 @ 99 at the track just 2k miles ago, so I know it's still running right.

The only issue I have right now is a low idle which causes the engine to shake but, again, that's just more of an annoyance than an actual issue...

 

I too had the low idle shake and the high oil consumption and decided to replace the PCV valve just for the heck of it. It was a three minute job. The old one (and I assume that it was the original one too) was open on both sides. It's suppose to have positive flow in one direction only. After the replacement, I immedeately noticed that the low idle shake was gone. After driving the car for over one week, I also noticed that the oil level is pretty steady now.

 

I've changed my PCV valve twice since it's been doing it now (once for regular maintenence and once when I replaced my rear valve cover because I *thought* it was cracked) so I'm pretty sure it's not that. Thanks for the suggestion, though! Also my car doesn't consume any oil.

 

get it - thats a great deal and the car looks imaculate. Im looking for a 02/03 and you've got exactly what I am looking for. Everyone else is correct regarding the rotors..as far as the coils - they should be fine..like NMEX MAX said his are ok and he has 80K+ on his ride.

awesome ride man - I have to be patient since they are so hard to find. especially the manual.

 

well, im gonna go back to the dealer and ask if i can keep it for another day so i can have a mechanic check it out since they are closed sundays.

 

i just called the dealer, and they are letting me keep the car one more day so i can have a mechanic check it out tomorrow since everything is closed today.

 

Sounds like a great deal. It looks exactly like my car I purchased a few years ago. Good luck with the buy. It would be awesome if you were closer, I would sell you mine thats all modded up.

 

i do have that 3rd gear grind when i shift hard into 3rd, but soft shifts have no grind. and i thought i was imagining things last night, but one side of the sound system did cut out on me, and it sounds like the rear speakers arent that loud at all.

 

The car is still under powertrain warranty, so if it bothers you get the transmission replaced before buying it. The BOSE you're just going to have to deal with since the bumper to bumper warranty ended at 36k unless you go aftermarket.

 

the bose really isnt anything special in the max. if you can go afterwarket that really the way to go rather than worrying about the bose. that being said, if you want your bose fixed now is the time since its pretty expensive otherwise, so if you plan on keeping the bose alert the dealer and ask them to fix it

 

I dont have any problems with my stereo... I threw it away a month after I got the car, and installed a navigation deck.

 

im on 53k and no problems except replaced the bose about twice and its gone bad again, so im thinkin of just buying an after market HU. maximas are solid cars.

 

well, im looking for ANYTHING that i can use to talk the price down a lil bit. im hoping to get it down into the $12-13K range depending on what i find. plus i will have another 24/24 warranty

 

Shawn, like I mentioned on OhioNissans...offer them what you think is a decent deal for both parties and see if they bite.

 

luckily, they dont know i have a trade in yet, or that im putting money down with it. so i should only have to finance maybe $10-11K of the total price.

 

Let me know if you all think this is a good deal.

02 Maxima SE 3.5V6 6MT
Blk/blk leather
power everything
46K miles
brand new bottom end (had oil consumption problem) motor replaced 5K miles ago. so i guess the motor only has 5K on it.
car drives pretty good overall. but here is my dilema

with tax/title/fees car comes from $14k to $17.5K. With a 7.45% apr if i take the entire 6yrs of the loan, it will be almost $20K total at $300 per mth for 72 mths. Now i already figured i can pay it off within 4-5yrs.

so what do you think? good deal? bad deal? Jump on it?
__________________

 

$3.5K in tax and fees? Something is getting hidden in there.

 

Oh yeah, thats $1450 for a 48/48 warranty, and $597 gap insurance

 

not a good deal IMO.

 

Ill sell you mine for that price! Where did all that excess money come from??

 

i bought my 2k3 maxima about a month and a half ago...i bought it with 33k on it for 12,800...your price sounds very good for being fully loaded...mines pretty much loaded but without leather and heated seats...ive been very happy with my car since ive gotten it. Try getting yours for 13,500. Hit low...that will give you some room to work up... Good luck with the car

 

not getting it. i think i can find a 6th gen for under 20K, so im looking that route

 

get a g35 instead...

 

He's already got a coupe.

 

actually, ive been looking for a sedan to go with the coupe, its just hard to find them in the price and with a stick that i want

 

well, i might be getting either a 3.5SE altima 5spd or a Altima SE-R. found a dealer that has quite a few in stock matching what i want in my price range, so i think im gonna take a look tomorrow morning before the Super bowl