Greetings 5th gen folks! I am from the 3d gen crowd, shopping for a 5th gen Max. Strangely, where I live (Ontario, Canada) Maximas with about the same mileage cost the same for 2001 and 2003. What's so special about 2003 that makes them cost like a 2 year older car? Thanks for all the info!

My 3d gen AC died and the repair cost is close to what's the car worth, so I decided to keep her as a winter car and drive a 5th gen in the summer.

 

I am not sure why they are around the same in Canada. But if they are go with an 02 or 03. The newer 5 gen's have HID lights and also have 55 more HP stock. Also the tail lights are chrome which round out the car. I am sure there are other cosmetics but here are some for starters.

go with 02 or an 03 and go with the 6spd.

Cheers

Tippy Toes

 

It probably has a 3.0L engine vs a 3.5L engine (not many are inclined to buy V6 these days with the gas prices, 3.0L V6 is plenty) and also 2K1 models are know to have fewer bugs (atleast that is what the consumer reports detail).

Just a guess, I could be flatly wrong too as it has happened few times..

 

What????????????

 

Fully loaded 01 (AE) and base no option 03...

 

depending on how you drive, you can get pretty close gas mileage between the 3.0 and the 3.5... at least comparing the manual trannies of both. the 3.5 does take a little bit more, but its worth it considering how much more power you have readily available.

and its rated to have 33 more hp than the 3.0 engine, not 55.

 

I drive like an old lady (should not actually say that - they drive like devils). 200+ HP is an overkill for me, but I love Maximas and want only them.

 

my 3.5 6 spd gets better MPG than my dads old 01 auto got.....

and yes the HP increase is 33 between these years, (28 if youre comparing to an AE)
222 or 227 hp VS 255 HP

 

I have come across a number of threads lately where people who have the 3.5L engine burn oil. I have a 2001 that I bought new and I have never burned a single drop of oil.

 

Could be a million reasons, but you won't know until you check them out. If the conditions, options, and sellers are all equal, then it's a mystery to me.

 

wow...newbies dropping incorrect information

 

wat people dont realize is the 3.5 gets better gas mileage from what i read

 

the 3.0L VQ30DEK is a V6 just like the 3.5L VQ35DE

 

I saw 2001's as at the same price as 2003's. The 03's though had alot more miles and were bare bone while the 01's where fully loaded with low miles. When I bought I did not care about the year as much as I cared about condition and mileage. I would rather have a fully loaded 01 (what I bought), over a barebone 5.5...

 

Even if you look on KBB, they are about the same because of oil burning issues with the VQ35DE, and problems with people stealing the HID's, the VQ30 has way less reported issues.

 

KBB doesnt take oil burning and HID theft in to account when determining the price.

 

VG's are back in style

 

fixed...i was sleepy

 

a number of things can contribute to the cars price... mileage, overall condition of the car, how long the car's been on the lot, need to get rid of it.. anything.. plus different dealers can just see it fit to charge different prices for the same car in the same condition, so that might be it as well.. but if the 2003 checks out ok with good mileage then i say go for that if you dont mind a little oil burning

 

and there you have it.....

 

I echo what soonerfan said. But I also plugged some numbers into KBB. For a good condition 2003 private party with 60k mi and default options, I got $12.6k. Same spec 2001 nets $10.4k. That's about expected. The difference in resale grows smaller and smaller as the cars get older.

 

meaning, their pricing reflects market values (i.e. what they ARE selling for), which ARE affected by factors such as high theft rate, recalls, known mechanical issues, etc.

to say that they don't take well-known issues like oil burning and HID theft into account is a bit unbelievable....

we all know that insurance on an 02-03 in certain areas will skyrocket because of the probability of the lights getting stolen......kbb uses the same kind of marketing and claims research, I would imagine.

 

Though it doesn't burn oil yet:
I check my 03's oil 3x more often than I check my 95's. My 95 has 235k miles and is 12 years old. My 03 has 86k and is 3 years old.

 

Survey says.... 83% of VQ35DEs on the org do not have oil burning problems.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=438989

 

But when you buy one, you never know, you just never know.

99.999998% of3.0L DE's/DEK's don't have oil burning problems.

 

it's sad that 17% DO, though.....

I'm betting VQ30s would be in the low single digits as to who is burning oil, and the VQ30s collectively have ALOT more miles on them....

 

We have a collective 34,000 posts and 10 years on the org. Nobody can counter our argument.

 

Fact is, no matter what ANYONE says, there is always a better chance of getting an oil guzzler vs an 01.

Although the most abused VQ35 on here is not an oil guzzler, much more VQ30's have more, collectively, severe abuse than most VQ35's.

But, since my VQ35 is not a scorcher in the oil market, it's nice to have some of that extra power.

 

I think that's a bit backwards. People steal parts from desirable cars, but desirable cars also command the highest resales. The two factors move in synchrony, not opposition. Integras used to get their HIDs boosted way before the Max made headlines. Dubs were stolen off SUVs/trucks. Both used to command the highest resale values in their days. In contrast, Buicks and other anonymous GM sedans have the lowest theft rates, but that hasn't done jack for their resale.

 

Go





suck





an






egg.






Yeah, that's right, I went there...

 

You can't argue with me, because I also have an old, raggedy asz VQ30DE, as well as my VQ35DE. So, I'm not biased.

I'll keep the eggs in the basket for now, and keep to the facts.

 

i can also argue both sides
VQ30DEK for 90K miles
VQ35DE for 40K.

yes the VQ30 is bulletproof but i would take a good VQ35 any day of the week.

 

Yup, I forgot about that.

 

uh...you had a VQ30DEK for 90k miles with no oil problems.

and last I checked, you HAVE had oil problems with your 40k VQ35, so much so that you wanted the engine replaced

sure, we'd all take that extra power (who wouldn't)....but there is (according to the poll) a 17% that you'll get one with oil problems. You were lucky and yours was still under warranty when the problem started.

Plus, VQ30 oil pans don't rust

 

I can argue both sides too.

I have a 120k VQ30DEK
















































now, I have never owned a VQ35, but............















































I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night

 

End of discussion.

 

I stayed at the Holidae Inn. Sipped on some Gin, coulda been Hen. So, I don't think there's much else to do in this thread?

 

Looked at both 2001 and 2003 yesterday. Both are rusted at the rear wheel arches. On top of that, some parts of the body are protruding further out than in 3d gen and are chipped. Overall the cars look like my 3d gen was when it was 10 year old. And 2003 was worse than 2001, alhough it had lower mileage. Looking at more today, but overall I am unimpressed with both years.

 

Most cars depend on the previous owner, if they didn't take care of it then almost no car will still look good after a few years. For me all 2000-2001 max's looked junky and the steering wheel looked old school so I went with another 5.5gen. BTW I got my SE for $9,500 with 75,000miles and similar 2000-2001's was going for far less all with clean carfaxs and in good condition.

 

KBB doesnt determine the price, they collect market data from what cars actually sell for, and informed buyers do take in to account the chance of getting a ****ty motor and having headlights that grow legs when determining how much they will pay for the car.

keep jerkin it

Part of the reason that it affects the resale value is because your comparing a maxima, with theft issues, to say an Avalon, or a Sonata, or any other mid level car that the maxima competes with. So the Maxima has issues, the Avalon doesnt. When you compare high end cars to high end cars, they all have issues and the people that buy them dont care because they can afford that Ferrari 430 in the first place, theyll just buy another one