Hi, im new here and in the market for a 5th gen maxima. I'm looking g at a 2000 Maxima SE v6 5 speed. Says it has a new clutch but may need a motor mount. It has 200,000 miles on it and im wondering what kind of life I can expect out of it and if its worth the 2200 bucks? I've heard good things about these 3.0 v6 engines but I am new to them.

 

Completely depends, 200k easy miles is better than 50k miles of being bagged on. There's plenty of high mileage Maxima on here past 350k miles, there's no inherent issues really that hit these at high mileage and engines to swap in are plentiful

 

If there is no rust, I'd say $2k is a fair price if taken care of.

Once they start rusting, you know your time is limited

 

All depends on how it's maintained. I put an engine in a 28k mile Murano a few weeks ago because they never changed the oil.

 

It has rust on the rear fenders not horrible but its there.

 

1k, they're crazy. You can bet it needs all kinds of stuff. No one fixes anything. And that's if you know how.
Otherwise, it's going to the scrap yard if a sucker doesn't buy it.

 

That's a deal killer. There are enough TX and AZ rust free examples that buying a Maxima with rust should be out of the question. Almost anything except rust can be fixed.

 

What do you mean it MAY need a motor mount?? Look at it. It will be clear. I would also be very skeptical if they say new clutch. But anyway, No way with rust.

I have a 00 5spd with 300k. Almost certainly you will have to deal with all of the typical maxima issues.

 

Take a good look at the lower radiator support for rust issues. I had mine replaced several years ago.

Get some quotes from a body shop on the price to replace it so that you know what you need to spend.

 

My 2003 Maxima SE 3.5 has 260K and a slight blown head gasket but is still driven. I'm about to do a 5.8 swap and use that 1st Gen 3.5 for my 1998 Maxima SE with 426k and a possible leaking galley gasket. there's nothing such as too much mileage when it comes to these 1st thru 5th Maxima(s)...IMO!

 

Very interesting... I have a 2002 i35 with 260K-ish miles on it and am also experiencing the mild head "gasket" issue. I say "gasket," but it could just as well be a warped head or crack somewhere. Cooling system is getting pressurized and pushes out maybe 8 oz of water into the overflow tank during a 20 minute drive. However, this problem didn't appear until my otherwise stellar repair shop somehow managed to pinch the rear-main seal during a recent transmission swap (rotten luck). End result was that the car got driven a good number of interstate miles after expelling most of its oil through the rear main seal. There might have been 1qt left in the system, but probably less. Amazingly, other than the over pressurizing issue, the engine runs beautifully.

To the post-originator's point though, every single one of these higher mileage VQ35s will be consuming a lot of oil and that's just par for the course. As long as you don't mind keeping up with adding oil frequently and can handle drippiness from the rear main seal, the engines just keep on going. They like the 93 octane though.

And yes, engine replacements are not hard to find, but unless you do your own work, it gets expensive, fast. 3 to 5K easily, depending on the level of re-conditioning on the donor engine. The bigger problem for me is that the interior materials are simply "dying" at this age. Fabric, leather, and vinyl are tearing, drying and cracking. Seat covers are "meh" at best, and any kind of custom upholstery re-work gets super expensive. BUT if you can look past all that, these make solid driving cars. Don't go into it with the idea that $2200 is going to buy you a car that you can just drive for another 60K miles. Instead, think $2200 purchase, and another possible $3000 maintenance over the next 3 years (much less if you do your own work) for the routine issues that can and do pop up.

 

That 2022 engine I found has 17,000 miles on it and cost me $1K....I'll be prepping it and purchasing a 5th Gen VQ35DE upper oil pan and all the necessary parts from NISFORMANCE and ARP. I already purchased my Billet oil pump assembly for the 5.8 swap.
As for the original 260K mile VQ35 the oil consumption is due to worn, hardened Valve stem seals that are petrified crystals not from worn piston rings! This engine will be placed on the engine stand and built possibly for the 4th gen or placed back in the original car. Nothing wrong other than minor stuff. I just don't have the time to try to pull and fix the Original engine. A swap will be faster and more economical, power wise with all the bolt-ons I have and the 45 hp increase due to the later design.

 

good stuff CMax . pretty epic. i still worry about part availability / scarcity which has already started becoming an issue, especially for quality OEM replacements., yes these engines can last forever, but can you do when you need a part that isn't available..

 

There's always a way around it by creating custom parts, Saudi Arabia and Singapore usually have a massive NOS parts supply for Japanese vehicles but in the off chance they don't theres plenty of shops that will do something custom to make it happen. The shop that built one of my chassis can literally do anything from making different chassis control arms fit to custom shocks to using a different chassis brake setup etc. Enough Maxima parts are similar enough that it can be done