I just got it about a month ago with 145,000 miles. My loan is for 3 years and since Im stuck with it I want to make sure it keeps running. I dont know much about upkeeping a car, its my first one. I had a nissan dealership check it out and gave me a pretty extensive list of flaws, most covered by warranty. It still runs like a champ though. I considered trading it in after a year, but Id be upside down. So Im guessing itd be best to pay it off. I just want it to run through the whole loan. I know I sound lame but what should I do to keep it running?

 

Use mid grade - premium gas all of the time for maximas, and use GOOD oil. This means don't go to the cheapie jifffy lube spots and pay them $30 to give you some crappy pennzeoil type stuff. learn how to do things on your own.

 

Read, research. Tune up. MINIMUM PREMIUM GAS imo. Oil change on time. DONT BEAT IT EVERY TIME YOU STOP. Do some researching, you'll find alot on here and learn how to start becoming a diy'r

 

I was wondering if I should use premium. I know the previous owner didnt use premium. Is there any way I can "clean" it out? Ive seen these new additech things at the gas station that are supposed to clean out the "gunk"

 

You can try seafoam stuff through the intake manifold and some in the oil. Or have the dealer do a decarb service.

i don't see why it wouldn't last for a long time. What sorta problems did the Nissan dealer find? Maybe list them and we can help you out putting them into priorities.

 

Do not add anything to the fuel. Regular gas isn't "dirty" it just doesn't have enough octane. Use premium from now on, it will eventually dilute all the regular to nothing.

Change your oil with synthetic and do it every 5k miles. DO NOT use any FRAM product in your car. Use a K&N air filter.

Follow your maintenance schedule.

 

You do realize Fram makes Nissan factory air filters lol? Its not a bad filter, there's just better out there.

 

Mine is at 149k and runs perfect....no problems so far

our cars are also pretty easy to work on so get a haynes manual and start learning how to do things yourself, things really aren't hard. 2 years ago i couldn't even change my oil and to date I've changed everything interior/exterior of my car! well...almost...

 

I bought my car about 4 months ago when it had 123k miles. Currently at 131k miles, and the list of stuff I've done...that are listed as "repair" vs. regular maintenance:
- Seized rear calipers
- EVAP canister & control valve replacement
- New gas cap
- VIAS control valve replaced
- Swaybar endlinks replaced
- Radiator fan replaced
- Driver's side inner tie rod replaced
- Leaking oil pan ... to be replaced
- Fuel filler neck rusted

I use only 93 octane gas, do oil changes myself every 2k (since I drive alot), not to mention the leaking oil pan probably makes me have fresh oil at all times anyways.

Since I just got the car months ago, I'm gonna make it last. The worst thing I think to do would be to "sit" on problems if you have it set in your mind you're keeping the car. So that's my advice - if you notice something wrong, don't just "let it be" 'cause it might get worse until you're really SOL. Yeah money's always tight butaAcquire parts yourself & do the jobs you think you can do yourself, and go to professionals for the others.

Now, you mention that this is your first car. Congratulations, and you're off to a good start by locating this forum. I didn't know crap about cars when I got my first car and I had problems left & right, but when you don't know anything, the only question you ask yourself is, "do I have the money to get this fixed"...and if that answer was no, you "sat" on the problem. So I would recommend you do a lot of browsing on the forum & rest of the internet just to get a good feel typical problems & solutions....so that if later down the road you run into something, you can say, "I remember reading about this at max.org" and already be a step ahead of the game.

Knowledge is power!

 

it all depends on how often the regular maintenance is done on the car.I change my oil at 3,000 miles or sooner, use 87 octane gas(all chevron w/ techron), and my car still runs like a champ. It is also getting closer and closer to the 200K mile mark, without any major problems(i believe I am at 180k+)

 

Thanks guys. I test drove a prelude the day I bought the max. I couldnt deny the vq power I guess. Anyway heres what the service manager told me was wrong with it. BTW I did have a mechanic inspect it before buying, with nothing serious to note except oil pans or something like that.

Battery-failed
Positive Terminal-corroded
Negative Cable-corroded
Belts-cracks
Valve Covers-leaking
Valve cover gaskets-leaking
plenum gasket?
cooler o-ring-leaking
RF mount-busted
Front Mount-Busted
Rear Mount-busted
Left outer C.U boot-leaking
Rear Member-torn bushings
Struts x2
Strut Boots x2
Shocks x2
Shock Boots x2
Alignment

Looking at the price for parts and labor, Im not too happy. Im 18 in college, just moved 2 days ago, and havent gotten a job here yet. My car payment is priority, but this is stuff I want to take care of. Maybe after I take care of these things, I could buy a new engine after a while so the car would last longer? Thanks bros

 

WOW thats alot of stuff to fix man... how much do you have to pay? is it too late to return the car? how much did you pay for that?

 

Wow, thats pretty extensive. How much did you pay for this car, if I may ask?

I see from your previous posts you want to mod it too. Well, that should probably be put on the back burner until you take care of the necessary repairs.

You shouldnt need to buy a new engine. They are pretty bulletproof if you take care of them and its likely everything else on the car will fail before the engine does.

 

Lets just say, i got got. I took it to a mechanic and he told me it was a decent car. The used car lot I bought it from is a joke. I had no credit so couldnt be too picky, but theyre still a joke. I was promised new tires. They were so bald you could see the metal. A month later, I have 2 newER tires and 2 still bald ones. The key they gave me was deformed, and the chip fell out. I paid 140 out of pocket for it. And Im pretty sure theres no law giving me the right to return it.

 

Thats not really too bad. Easy for me to say cuz i could prob do all that before lunch time at work but honestly i'd just do the real important stuff first.

Definately get a good battery, and some aftermarket battery cable ends $100
Get some new belts on there $50-100

Then when you get some more money get new struts all around, you don't really need the boots as long as the bump stops are intact. Make sure the front strut mounts aren't noisy/broken. Get some KYBs from tirerack for best prices $200 plus installation $300-400 total with install

Your oil cooler gasket leak is a pretty simple fix, the oring itself is like $5 i think from nissan and all you need is like a 21mm deep socket, easy.

Valve cover gaskets are a bit tough especially the rear one. May wanna let a shop do these as removing the intake plenum can be a tough job for the average guy. $300-400

Motor mounts can be important is they're completely broken, they're not too hard to do if you take your time. $75-100 each aftermarket.

 

The price was around 7500 plus a high interest rate. I was planning on lowering it after I made payments and got some credit.

Yeah, I do want to mod in the future, but the repairs are priority. I like to think about what I can do funwise to get my mind off the repairs that need to be done

Are the problems I listed considered maintanance or repairs? Because I think my warranty doesnt cover mantanance.

 

Thanks a lot bro. Which of these could a newbie do on his own?

 

Well i pretty much explained what you can do and what you should have done at a shop. Would be a good idea to pick up a service manual just to get familiar with the car but you can also search on here im sure there's tons of help on how to do some of this stuff.

 

You got owned on the price dude. Sorry but it's the truth. If I was you I would try to take it back and shop around for something else. My .02

 

Take care of your battery and belt problems ASAP, those are the two most likely to leave you stranded.

Just like with any car, regular maintenance is the key to long life.

 

And I would get on the leaking CV boot. If it's torn then you are headed for a new axle.

You want to get that replaced before it's too bad and breaks at a bad time.

 

+1
all o2 maximas valve covers leak most just dont find it until they change theri plugs (they find oil at bank 5). you would have to do it anyway. get the 04 cover when you replace it might as well replace the plenum gaskets with a nwp set while your in there so thats a done deal.

when replacing the struts keep an eye out in the for sale section i saw some illuminas pass by in there a few weeks back for a steal.
I know it looks like alot but half of what you see are the first mods anyone does anyway. dont think of it as alot of fixing think of it as motivation to get your mods done!

 

Buying a car with 140k miles on it, I hope you kept in mind the maintenance costs. There will be little things, such as suspension components, maybe an alternator or a starter, etc. that will go wrong with high mileage cars that you need to keep in mind. My mom's 2000 maxima went to 240k with absolutely no maintenance put into it from 60-240k miles, but that is extremely rare. All you can do is to keep up with the maintenance on the car and use good fluids...

 

i agree on the price, seems way high for the mileage and for the work that needs to be done. I highly doubt they will take it back, but its a good time to upgrade to a better suspension, solid mounts, ect ect...

 

Yeah its high, and theres no way a used car dealer is gonna take it back. I could trade it in and be upside down or I could take care of it and pay it off.

 

Not all 02 valve covers leak. I just changed my spark plugs at 100K and there is no sign of oil leaking. Spark plug boots were bone dry. Maybe you coudl search for some Max.org members in your area that could help you do the repairs and save you some money.... Just an idea.

 

You can do most of those yourself. Buy a haynes manual and a socket/ratchet set and go at it...

 

Most of these are basically maintenance issues.
U did pay too much. Your "mechanic" should of advised you to get the dealer to fix at least some of the problems before purchase.

Oh well, lesson learned.

It's money we all will have to spend over time. Just sucks that u have it all at once.
No matter what it's still a nice car. U will wanna buy a cheap OBD2 scanner.
Good luck

 

half of the things dealers tell you are BS things that don't need attention. Like my infiniti dealer told me my front control arms and rear wheel bushings needed replacing because they were cracked.

i crawled under the car and have yet to find this "problem." In fact it wasn't really a problem at all because the service manager didn't bring it up, i only saw it on the "multi-point inspection" report, so hey, if it really needed attention, they'd tell me to fix it themselves.

 

Werd on the stealership being....a stealership. You're going to have to check the stuff for yourself.

Clean the batt terminals and put some grease over them when done (easiest fix ever, why no one does it, idk). Check the boot (significant) def replace if bad, replace the belts (small cracks you've got a while) and replace the O-ring (check as well). If the car doesn't drive straight with good tires, then get an alignment (unless the old tires were worn uneven from off camber).

That other crap isn't serious. Bad suspension just sucks around corners and bad roads. Valve covers don't matter at all (fix it when you change the plugs). Motor mounts aren't serious unless the engine looks like it wants to fly away.

 

I dont know about you guys but when my front valve cover seal was leaking it was leaking oil all over the alternator. Let that go long enough and that will definitely shorten its life.

Not a huge thing but these things tend to snowball sometimes.

 

no leaking on my 03

 

Im a "stealership" tech and i must say i like people like you who neglect their cars, thats prob what happened to him. Then they wanna cry to me "oh why is it soo much to fix my car, its not that old, yada yada" im like ok you never bring it in for service... nothing lasts forever. Keeping you car well maintained hurts less than a huge bill all at once. Thats my take on it

 

Well im at 204000 miles with nothing more than a clutch change at 154000 and 5k mile servicing,
Routine wear and tear, ie brakes, 3 sets so far, shocks changed last year.
Still pulls like a train even though its only a 2 liter. only thing that has given up the fight is the front demister button on my cc
Reckon i will get 250000 out of it easy

 

WTF are you talking about I told him to fix the important stuff. That other crap is minor. As long as he's driving normal the suspension doesn't matter. The mounts are worn out, I'm sure, but driving normal it'll be fine. And he's probably getting a dribble out of the valve cover. I would never waste the time to fix a leaking valve cover unless it was leaving oil blotches. His probably drips a couple times on the HWY and just makes the rear of the block nice and oily. Big deal.

How's any of that going to cost more money to fix later? That's right, it won't.

And it's "so much" to fix a car b/c stealerships charge RIDICULOUS prices and LIE through their teeth. Thanks.

 

what he said haha

 

throw some amsoil in it..........really good oil guranteed 25,000 miles but just change it every 5 or so its like 100 with shipping and air filter.........

 

Thanks guys I appreciate all the input. I just got a decent job so Ill be jumping on it soon. So the haynes manual is detailed enough for me to know what Im doing? Because as of now I dont even know where stuff is under my hood. Im stoked about moving forward with taking care of my max so I can do some appearance mods then focus on more hp.

 

It's a 200K engine. I'm at 239K because I've treated it like a baby since day one. I'll probably get a 2K6 or 2K7 as my DD when this puppy goes out. Great engine but, prepare to either replace the engine or the car in the near future. I bought my 2K6 G35 coupe several years ago when my Max. hit 200K, it started burning oil and really freaked me out. My Max. is great but, it has a lot of little problems that I don't think I'd want to spend money on fixing on a ten year old car. It still pulls strong and I drive it like I stole it every now and then.

 

Find an autozone near by. They can test your battery (charging system) for you. If its bad, you can buy one there and in most cases they can install it for you.

Did you get your headlight issues resolved? (I think i remember reading this in another thread)

Follow the FSM link in my signaature. Download all the PDFS for your car. You may or may not need a haynes manual after you get these pdf's