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When looking to buy a 200k maxima what to be afraid for.
Hey y’all I’m looking to buy a new Maxima this week, well new to me. I found a 2003 with finally a manual transmission and a 3.5 motor!!! Been looking for one that the body and interior is clean for a while now. It has 207,000 miles on it and I was wondering if I should be worried it will be my daily but I would also like to do work to it to make sure it’s strong so I can play with it as well. What should I look for and what should I be afraid of I’m mechanically savvy so I’m capable of combing through the car. If ud like i can drop my phone number to speak on the phone to make it easier. Im looking to buy asap within the next few days i have the money now so im just waiting to make sure im not wasting my time with this car at 207k. Its listed for 1600obo. What should i be concerned about and could tell by looking at it and driving it.
It looks pretty decent and that dent on the front bumper can easily be pushed out. Might have some paint cracking but it would look better than that.
Mine has 250k miles on it and I take it on road trips fairly often. It's an old car, though, so it really depends on what's been replaced so far. As far as things that can leave you stranded: alternator could go out without warning, clutch, radiator can develop leaks between the plastic end caps and aluminum fins, shifter cable bracket could snap not allowing you to shift gears, and the water pump/timing chain tensioners are fairly common. The water pump is under the timing cover and it's not a fun job. Also, just make sure you keep it filled with oil. These 02-03's are known to burn some oil.
Other things you'll need to check just for maintenance are going to be control arm bushings, motor mounts, front lower radiator support (they rust out), rear trailing arm bushings, shifter bushings, valve cover gaskets, and of course the usual suite of fluids, filters, brakes, etc. I've kept up well with mine, but the one thing I haven't touched is the A/C and it still blows ice cold. Hopefully yours will be the same.
great points LA02MAX, some extra preventative measures to add are cps sensors ,gutting precats or replacing with headers, evap canister or any of its sensors (more if you get any issues, in rusty areas the sensor connected to the canister rust out,
My 2002 is at 284k daily driven. somethings that went in the later are alternator a 2nd time , starter went (original) ,
i would flush and change all the fluids on the car to know they are done and fresh.
my 02 6 speed has 305,000 miles and I got it back in December of 2012 with 175,000 miles.
when I got it the mounts were shot and rotors were warped. these cars come with weak brakes which is why I upgraded to 6th gen front brakes asap when I got it and went with energy suspension mount bushings.
a month in the throw-out bearing went bad and when the tow truck dropped it off the oil pan ends somehow sprung a leak from what they call on here the half moon seals. one thing I will have to warn you is that these cars are notorious for throw-out bearings going bad.
my car has had timing chain startup noise from the start but it hasn't been an issue.
oil consumption, even though I have no oil leaks I think I have to add a quart a week. I check the oil every Sunday and add if needed. it takes 1 quart to get it from the low line of the dipstick to the full line, so when your at the bottom line your still safe. when it gets too low you will get an engine light code for cam timing.
biggest drive train issue i had was when the Duralast axle didn't fit the OEM seal right and gear oil only leaked while driving, eventually i ended up needing 4 new bearings in the transmission. 2 of the 6 main bearings in the transmission are sealed and they shouldn't go bad if fluid is low. at the moment I'm having issues with only the driver side axle so I check the gear oil once a week.
rear trail arm bushings, nisan trials to sell you a whole rear axle when the rear trail arm bushings go bad but i installed energy suspension trail arm bushings on them. I also put energy suspension bushings on my front control arms.
valve covers had to be changed. you can use the cheap eBay ones but don't use the included gaskets. they get hard and brittle fast and leak in like a month.
cam sensor seals had to be replaced, they are o-rings that get rock hard over time and leak which get to the connector and can make you car run poorly or not at all. good cleaning and new o-rings took care of that.
shift cables went bad and so I had to use 04 - 06 Maxima shift cables since the 02 - 03 ones are discontinued.
Dual mass flywheel went bad eventually so the tranny had to be pulled for that
power steering pump had to be replaced. when I flushed all the old fluid out I guess it raised the pressure a bit and it blew out the shaft seal behind the pulley.
I have replaced the radiator fans twice since owning the car and occasionally an ignition coil may go out since I don't buy OEM ones.
I had to replace the MAF sensor but that was my fault, I over oiled the K&N drop in. now I just use dry high performance air filters.
front window motors have also been replaced once as well as the A/C blower motor.
it sounds like a lot but over the course of 9 years and not having a car payment it's definitely worth it. the only thing my interior needs is new carpet (have 2 kids) and a dash cover, Florida sun is brutal.
last thing I will like to add is that I have had my transmission pulled 7 times over the course of 9 years. 4 times for throw out bearings, 1 for dual mass flywheel, 1 time for internal bearings and the latest was for upgrades. I installed a Spec V helical LSD, JWT flywheel and 350Z clutch.
Last edited by uptownsamcv; 12-07-2021 at 01:15 PM.
oh yea if you do spark plugs, make sure you use the newest valve covers, i believe the newest ones are now revised but at the time like 3-5 years ago it used to be use 6th gen valve covers that already had the revision
(original rear valve covers tended to leak)
last thing I will like to add is that I have had my transmission pulled 7 times over the course of 9 years. 4 times for throw out bearings, 1 for dual mass flywheel, 1 time for internal bearings and the latest was for upgrades. I installed a Spec V helical LSD, JWT flywheel and 350Z clutch.
I'm surprised to hear about your throwout bearing problem... I hadn't heard of that being an issue with these cars. I changed my original clutch at 180k just as preventative maintenance. Nothing wrong with it and honestly even the clutch had plenty of life left in it. I now have 70k on the new clutch/TOB with no issues.
I'd offer a grand. The rust on the radiator brackets says rust belt to me. Get a good look underneath it and as LA02MAX mentioned, the core support is a common issue, especially anywhere it snows. I wouldn't bother with a car that had a rusted out core support, to me that just indicates widespread rust I don't want to deal with.
Conversely, if the unibody and chassis were rust-free or relatively decent, I could really care less what the rest of the car looks like, I can fix all that myself pretty inexpensively. Just depends on what kind of work you can/want to do. Safety and performance depends on the chassis, not the body.
As far as 200k, it kinda goes both ways. Could be so old now that it could croak any moment. On the other hand, it made it to 200k, so maybe regular maintenance and a component here and there will keep it going til 300k? Really depends on how you feel after inspection and drive.
I'd offer a grand. The rust on the radiator brackets says rust belt to me. Get a good look underneath it and as LA02MAX mentioned, the core support is a common issue, especially anywhere it snows. I wouldn't bother with a car that had a rusted out core support, to me that just indicates widespread rust I don't want to deal with.
Conversely, if the unibody and chassis were rust-free or relatively decent, I could really care less what the rest of the car looks like, I can fix all that myself pretty inexpensively. Just depends on what kind of work you can/want to do. Safety and performance depends on the chassis, not the body.
As far as 200k, it kinda goes both ways. Could be so old now that it could croak any moment. On the other hand, it made it to 200k, so maybe regular maintenance and a component here and there will keep it going til 300k? Really depends on how you feel after inspection and drive.
Let us know.
I totally agree regarding the rust. Get a quote regarding how much you can get that stuff sorted for so that you know what you are dealing with. I have owned my car since 2004 and I had the lower radiator support replaced and have been battling salt/snow for years going to local body shops. If the car was not looked after the body work can start adding up quickly. The uptownsamcv post regarding maintenance is also a good list of what you can expect after several years of ownership but spread out over time.
12-07-2021, 01:58 AM
