I'm thinking of selling my 08 Max and getting a low mileage 03 cuz I like the styling better, it's got really low miles and I think I can get it for a good price. It's a GLE with leather and all options except for heated steering wheel, nav, and rear spoiler.....but I think I can add a factory spoiler if I can find one.

About 45,000 miles and I think I can get it for around 8K....

Pros and cons (known mechanical issues) with an '03???

What to expect or look for? I've not looked at it yet....

TIA

 

Excessive oil consumption, faulty design of the rear valve cover which leaks oil. Some 02/03 have bad piston rings and are oil burners (up to a quart every 400 miles or so) pre-catalytic converters tend to go bad easily. Lots of rattling/clunking noises. I'm sure there is more to add, but these are the most common problems...

 

Lets trade

 

pretty much what Gizmo mentioned and an issue with the bose CD player skipping.

 

Oh yeah, not only it skips, but the sub tends to cut out (it can be fixed with a piece of folded piece of paper though...), and the left side speakers tend to cut off too while reading CDs...

Do you still want an 03?

 

the bose f'in blows, when i was under warantee, i went thru 7...yes 7 radios, and guess what, the one in the car dont work either...

besides the blose, my car has none of those other issues

 

Just keep in mind that not all of the 03's are going to have these problems being mentioned here. They're the most common ones, but not universal. My car doesn't burn any oil and doesn't have any rattling or other weird noises as well. Knock on wood, but I'm at 125k miles and in the time I've owned this car, it's been free of any major problems.

The only thing I have wrong with my car is the Bose issue, but I don't think anyone clarified yet that this ONLY happens with CDs. And that doesn't even affect me because I soldered an aux in wire to the back of the head unit for an iPod input. I highly recommend doing that, it's one of the best things I ever did with this car.

The only thing I would suggest is going for a 6MT instead of an auto. The 4-speed auto on these cars is crap and really is not fun at all. It really feels like the transmission holds the car back and highway mileage suffers because of the poor gear ratios.

 

The turning circle is the biggest pet peeve of this car, that's the thing you have to deal with every day no matter what.

Test drive it, pull u-turns, park it a bunch of times, and if you can deal with the turning circle, then you should consider this car.

 

I drove a Maxima with the 4 speed auto... Not for me. If you just want to go from A to B and aren't a "spirited" driver, then it will be o.k. for you. My opinions on an automatic Maxima? Well....

 

Totally forgot about that and that's a good one Tuner. The turning radius absolutely sucks. By far one of the things I hate the most about this car. What's even worse is that it's one of those things that's just how it is. There's really nothing you can do to change it.

 

Correct. Known issues are amplified here as some kind of inevitability. So be educated, but not paranoid.

I was thinking that, too. Although the 6.5 gen's CVT is garbage (from an enthusiast POV), the 5th gen's 4AT leaves a lot to be desired as well.

However, the OP found a ridiculously low-mile car, that's loaded; although no Meridian Package. Finding a fully-loaded, SE 6MT is unlikely with miles that low.

 

This... When I first bought my car, it aggrivated the crap outta me that it has the turning radius of a full size truck. Since I used to own a 4wd F-250, I had to re-adapt my swing wide tactics making tight turns to park. And if you live/work where you have to parallel park, well... practice

 

Oil burning isn't remotely a guaranteed problem, my 02 has 125k on it and doesn't burn any. Easy solution to the BOSE is a real head unit and problem solved. I will attest to "clunking" sounds on less than ideal pavement but it's probably something I am neglecting like motor mounts.

The turning radius thing, while I admit it's not what it should be for a car I still feel like people blow this way out of proportion on here...I've lived in Boston and I still work there, parallel parking has never ever been an issue or parking in general, u turns on the tighter streets you do have to think about in advance but it's not impossible...

 

However, the OP found a ridiculously low-mile car, that's loaded; although no Meridian Package. Finding a fully-loaded, SE 6MT is unlikely with miles that low.[/quote]


Lol i found a fully loaded(leather) 03 6mt se Titanium edition ME w stock navi. 41,989miles. Picking it up today :3

 

Go for it if you can get some extra money out of the deal. If not I would just hold onto your current max (unless its giving you problems) and save up for a newer/better vehicle that you may really want within the next 1-2yrs.

 

The oil burning issue tends to happen more to the MT maximas for some reason... AT maximas don't seem to be affect as much...

 

You haven't drove my AT thats why!

 

Is your AT modded? Shift kit, or different gear ratios?

 

Top-of-the-line 5.5 gen. You're going to love that car.

Excellent find!

 

Thanks so much man, its in my driveway now! and it only took getting ripped off on my old maxima to find this one lol =/

 

Nope, no mods at all

On a serious note yea, there's probably not too much more mods I can do without tearing into the engine (cams, etc) or going FI.

 

Post up some pics for us. If it has aluminum pedals it has HLSD

 

No, no, no, no, no, no... No.

If it has HLSD, then it has aluminum pedals. You got that backwards.

 

Lmao you guys are crazy, i dont wanna thread jack anymore than i have so i will make a new thread for it a bit later. Be on the look out!

 

Thanks for the correction, good sir.

 

OMG. You took it back with that one.

the auto robs so much power from the VQ they should be ashamed!!! Honestly, the 02/03 aren't that expensive you could keep your current ride and save up and just buy one.....you could find a nice used one for around $6k.

 

Good call. We try to keep thread jacking to a minimum around here

 

Except I'm on my first Bose that only works in warm weather.

 

Says all the MT guys

 

Watch yourself



But pretty true, especially after 80mph.

 

From my old dyno:

 

Yeah that's the biggest part, you can't change it! Everything else can be fixed or modified pretty much, but the turning circle you're stuck with.

All due respect, but I see no correlation between parallel parking and a large turning circle. I have no problem parallel parking this car, it's all the other forms of parking, and U-Turns, that are frustrating to the point of no end.

Have you changed the gear ratios and governors? Cause if you haven't, and I assume you haven't, then yours is just like everyone elses isn't it?

The issue with this automatic isn't that it "robs power", it's that it is very poorly mated to the engine. By that I mean that it doesn't "match". The Tranny's gear ratios just don't properly mate the engines torque curves and power band. In addition, the governors in the Auto trans are far too conservative for such a spirited engine, and they lack the higher end electronic controls that make or break a transmission, especially on a perforance engine.

It's also short a few gears, out dated, and overall, shouldn't be used on anything but a 4cylinder altima or something of the like. Nissan blew it on this one, plain and simple, they should have farmed the tranny out if they couldn't do it right.

The 6 speed will suit you well, any other tranny is just wrong on this car. The 5speed manual is a distant second, and the Auto is just a complete fail IMO.

 

I never had a problem with Bose.. but in my brothers 6th gen, it was experiencing the problems that's posted here

Also, there was a recall for the camshaft position sensor so make sure that's done or make sure you know how to do it if it ever occurs.. easy fix though

 

Nice, don't worry I copy your mods as much as I can. I even got rid of the helmholtz and got 3" tubing.

 

Oh gawd, not another dyno image from Manny...

 

I think I might make it a habit every time I dyno to get a 2nd gear run in for the heck of if to do the sorta thing I did there.

I had the Helmholtz on the car for a long time for that nice smooth power band, albeit a smidgen less amplified and of course for sound purposes.

BUT after I got the 3" exhaust, I thought to myself, who the hell am I kidding, this car is done with being "quiet/tamed/modest".

 

they are only common because everyone complains, not many people will post a "great job". We often change what we aren't satisfied with first, ride height, power, sound. Tint and Stereo where my first mods.

I have had none of the issues mentioned above and I'm sure I'm not the minority. Um yeah I know what you mean when it comes to lines that you like sometimes you're just not happy until you have them. I miss my 3G sooooo much. But I love my 5.5

FWIW

 

Tuner, I won't argue your point. However, the 4AT in my car seems pretty aggressive. It downshifts quickly at part throttle, and snaps WOT upshifts at approx 6K. The 1->2<-3 shift is firm and will chirp the tires in 2nd at WOT. I'm the 3rd owner, it may have been modified in the past. I know the CarFax shows it had transmission work at one point. Maybe, it was done right with a TransGo re-programing kit! Or is this behavior symptoms of impending failure? Since I've owned the car the fluid has been changed at recommended intervals and always looks clean.

 

So your saying nothing can help the turning radius I feel its much better after being lowered

I don't agree with you at all about the AT trans. This thing can handle alot that other ATs from the same era can't, lots of Maximas up there around 200k with their original AT including mine.

And no my tranny isnt stock but even when it was it shifted better then other ATs from the same era and it can take a good beating. Now yes it did have that stupid flare between shifts at WOT where you it sucks but you have to remember they built the ATs for daily driving not performance but at WOT I was still able to get to 5-6k rpms.

Now I'm a transmission newb so I have no idea what your talking about when you say governors with regards to the AT trans but I can tell you that now it shifts much stronger and precise, no flare and it basically shifts depending on throttle position.

 

That's how mine was shifting when I first got it but it did start to have that 2nd to 3rd flare and that's why I threw in the Transgo Shift Kit and trust me you would know if you had the kit the car shifts so hard and precise unlike any AT I've driven before, unless maybe yours has the basic shift kit I installed the hd2 in mine. Heres my review on it if your interested http://forums.maxima.org/all-motor/6...kit-today.html