Hey guys, I recently purchased a 2K2 SE and am enjoying the hell out of it. I washed and detailed it yesterday and something stranged happened with my suspension this morning when I pulled out of my driveway. My driveway slopes sharply downhill about 5 feet from the curb. When I hit the slope backing down, the front suspension creaked loudly. I noticed nothing else wrong throughout the rest of my driving day. The only thing that I can think of that I did was use a pressure hose to spray out the wheel well. Any ideas on what the problem may be?

Another item: I've had my car for 10 days and after detailing it I noticed somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 spots that need touch up paint. I'm assuming if I take the car back to the dealer they will want to charge me all kinds of money to do the necessary work. Anyone else had a situation like this?

TIA,
Kerr

 

congrats on the new maxima and welcome

this may sound like a dumb question, but are you sure it was the suspension? .... Since you washed it, the rotors probably got rusted over and when you slowed down to back out of your steep driveway, the rotors could have made the noise.

 

Ah, the joys of weak Nissan paint. Sorry to say it, but Nissan has been using some very weak paint on the 5th gen Maximas. Pretty much everyone on this forum has a complaint about the chips and nicks on their paint. Get a bra or learn to live with it. You can take it back to the dealer since it's pretty new, not sure what kind of reception you'll get though. Good luck

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of Nissan Motors!
10 days, Huh? Oh, don't worry...you'll back!!!


ADMAN

 

Good point. I'm pretty sure it was the suspension though because the sound was definitely a creaking spring...

 

hmm... well then, I guess you can try the dealer.... your car is brand new, after all

 

Yeah, I intend to take it in since it happened again this morning. Bummer

 

my ftsb creaks when I turn really sharply going up hill...

 

This is exactly what is happening to me, only I'm reversing when it happens. Have you taken it in or just let it go?

 

I have also heard noises like you are referring to. Our SE springs are pretty damn stiff...and they are good for about the first 1" of travel, anything more than that they tend to make some noises.

It could also be the rotors though....they make a mean sound when you first get going if there is any rust on them.

 

It could be the rotors like MOBOY said, after a car wash the rotors tend to rust in like 10 seconds . It's the first time on the brakes after a wash, and assuming you haven't moved the car, that will make this crude sound. Oh, yeah, I quess the salesperon didn't tell you about the famous Nissan paint job. Nearly all of us have paint chip of sorts on the front, especially the hood. Despite the comestic faults, you'll like the engine much more, and with 260 on tap, mod it slightly and you'll be in the 280 to 300 range! Enjoy!

 

Wow, why on earth would Nissan (on their flagship car) use springs that squeak after a mere 1" of travel? I didn't know SE stood for "squeaky edition"