my friend saw this 2k1 maxima special edition
that he likes that's selling for only $14k and
it has only 2k miles..it's fully loaded, silver on black leather, which is the best color combinatoin for the max in my opinion...anyway...i told him something's gotta be wrong
with it...so what should he look for??
he says the engine sounds real quiet and is very smooth

Sounds fishy..Look up the car by VIN# on www.carfax.com and take it to a good body shop to inspect for repairs. The book value on that car is over $20k!

It's probably been rebuilt, most likely it has a rebuild title.

Ask the owner why is he selling it. If someone got a huge Christmas bonus at work that allows him to get a brand new car, he'll sell you his Max just to get rid of it. On the other hand, bring mechanic with you. Not all things may come up on www.carfax.com. Some ppl prefer not to file claims w/insurance company, so there'll be nothing there.
Check the body panels, their alignment towards each other, open/close each door, trunk, hood. Paint-the tone of the paint should be the same everwhere, touch the paint to feel the texture.

I'd not be worried about the powertrain since 2k1 is still under wtty. Hey, it may be a great f***ing deal!

Open the hood, if its been in a wreck the fender bolts with look like they've been removed, also sometimes you can see the pait bunched up where the bolts were, be careful,take it to a dealer have them look at it, have them run the VIN, they usually wouln't take it if its been wrecked.