Bought my first car a few months back, 2001 Maxima SE for $2000.

Immediate work that it needs:
All 4 struts
Front Radiator support will need to be fixed before winter
ABS sensor light is on for some reason
Some catalytic converter engine light is on not too sure what it is yet but will likely be expensive .

Other than mechanical work the interior is in perfect condition, the car has 122k miles, but the exterior also isn't in the greatest shape. 3 of the four doors have dents, one of them with a large noticeable one. The paint isnt in very good shape either, and the rear wheel wells have rusting. I'll attach some pictures. So is it worth fixing up?

 

More pics:

 

Worth keeping in my opinion! Find out what code the engine light is and hope it's nothing serious, otherwise the rest are easy fix. Not a bad 'first' car.

 

Whats wrong with the rad support?

 

Radiator support is rusting out

 

I'd keep it if you plan to do DIY on them. Maxima is the best value for the money

 

Yeah, I think I'd keep it as well. For the $2000 that you paid, you really can't lose as long as you can put a little into it and have it run well afterwards for some years.

If you can give it some TLC and spend even another $1000 on it to have a car that's gonna run for another 100k+ miles, easily I would do it. That's still a nice car that just needs some love, the paint is fine (use some caranuba wax on it regularly, you'd be surprised how good it starts looking again after a few weeks) and the dents I wouldn't worry bout much @ that price. Dents are dents, long as the engine is good is what I'd care about here.

Now the rust, that's a different story. Rust is like cancer that's just gonna keep spreading and eating your car alive, I would start searching for junkyard Maximas in your color to find some replacement fenders, have a shop install them, done. BTW, things such as fenders, doors, hoods, etc. are actually quite easy to find w/ so many 5th gens in the junkyard these days, I was actually considering buying a nice looking 5th gen hood (off of a black 2k1 maxima) to put on my sterling mist since my hood has some ****ty paint chips on it, the hood was $100 ($250 listed price) and was in perfect shape (garage kept car most likely). So body parts like that, you can find for cheap just FIY especially if you know a mechanic personally and he has good parts accounts and is willing to help you out.

Other than that, keep the car and invest another bit of cash $$ = come out with a nice max with a reliable engine. Good luck dude! And when you're done with the "restoration" if you will, then maybe time for mods?

EDIT: BTW just noticed you're from New Hampshire. Grew up in Warren, NH until I was 10years old, then moved to NYC. But I love it out there, still have family there, and my best friend is from Woodsville. I still miss those NH license plates, IMHO the BEST PLATES in the whole country, you simply can't beat "Live Free or Die"! Lots has changed since then, those were the days when I was growing up there, everyone had guns and "Live Free or Die" really meant EXACTLY that if you were from NH. Nowadays, it got soft and things aren't the same anymore, people there are changing. Anyways just wanted to say hello to a fellow New Hampshire neighbor, not many of us around here!

 

I'm from NH. There are actually quite a few people on here from NH.

 

I concur.

2K is a pretty solid base. This forum is an outstanding resource for parts ect so be smart with your money and you'll have a quality car on your hands.

I've went with Aluminum and or Stainless Steel on projects requiring bracket/support replacements. You can find stuff on Ebay for cheap that can be your donor for said materials.

 

Thanks for all the kind words guys! Can't wait to start putting work into this baby

Wow you're from Rollinsford..I'm in Dover!