Hi guys. I'm from Malaysia and late last year I bought myself a Nissan Cefiro A33 with VQ20DE engine, 4 speed Auto transmission, RHD.
I wanted to create this thread to share some experience (*story :P) and info on this Asian counterpart of Maxima year 2000. Even in my country, A31-A33 are pretty rare to see vehicles. The only reliable source of information is Maxima 2000 related threads or sites.
Hard to even find a mechanic that's willing or knowledgeable to repair this vehicle. In fact, so far I have only seen 1 exact same unit as mine - my neighbor's friend, such a coincidence! Almost mistaken for my car as it looked 100% same except for the car license plate. Seen other 3 units of prefacelift A33 and that's it. Even A32 and A31 is also like non-existent anymore.
Decided to buy this car as I love it from first look, and it is a V6 (hehe xD), plus I don't really like Toyotas. Nearly bought a Peugeot 408 1.6L Turbo instead (man, the brakes are excellent! but the turbo feels non-existent LOL)
I'm 23, and this is my second car, also my first big car (my first car is a Daihatsu Mira L200-based kei car). I'm lucky to have another car on hand, or else I'm stuck with no transportation at all. Have gone through so much things with this Maxima (uh Cefiro)
Total on-the-road cost is ~$2700.
Now is May 2024. My total driving time in this vehicle is 2 months or little over 2 months. Other times are spent on repairs and sitting waiting for replacement parts. Which is so sad.

Pictures:






Specifications of my Cefiro A33:
- Model: Cefiro A33, Excimo 2.0 G (final facelift version)
- year 2005, locally assembled (Malaysia) - as per vehicle legal documents. Not entirely sure.
- Right Hand Drive (RHD)
- ODO 101k during purchase - not accurate anymore (due to engine and gearbox change) or pretty much is fake
- VQ20DE, cable throttle (not electronic throttle)
- 4 speed Auto transmission with Sport mode switch, ABS, no traction control
- full leather seats + electronic seats, no seat memory, full leather-like interior with wood trims (actually plastic, with wood printing)
- normal halogen lamps, facelift type- 4 speaker system with front tweeters in the pillars (unsure if speakers are originally Bose, previous owner has changed the speakers)
- front passenger and driver airbags
- normal non-ghost version instrument cluster- Auto climate control with heating function (in Malaysia usually we do not have A/C heating in cars unless it's an import. )- central locking with auto lock after 25km/h
- No cruise control, no steering wheel player controls
- Does have ash tray lamp!!! (hell man, this is so cool! But never going to benefit from it haha)
- interior lighting lights up on door open, plus door lamps
- all door power windows with driver side auto power window- folding side mirrors with electronic control of side mirrors, no heating feature- IT HAS POWER ANTENNA MANNNN!!!! BUT unfortunately broken.- 16 inches Nissan stock rims, with spare tyre that also has the same 16 inch rims. front and back disc brakes.
- emergency equipment included: emergency sign. first aid kit, jack, tools.

Work Done by Previous Owner (around year 2022):




Work Done by Mechanic (since bought this car on December 2023):




Work Done by Me (since bough this car on December 2023)




Known issues as of now:




Overall comment:
This is a good car. I have no further comments.
I hate that the dealer or the previous owner being dishonest. They didn't tell me the engine was changed until I realized the engine number is different when checking the legal documents.
They probably did some magic to make the gearbox works temporarily. And The dealer might have swapped the throttle body with other units. Tons of mystery with this car.
Nevertheless, I think this investment is worth it as I do not mind tinkering around with cars. Luckily I have another car - this is extremely important.
Fuel consumption is high but actual consumption remains to be seen as previously facing vacuum leaks and faulty MAF. Previously around 250km for 34liters of RON95. Pure city driving.
Suspension stiffer than other cars. In simpler terms - not suitable for Malaysia roads. Malaysia road conditions is bad as hell. I hope our state government cancel the LRT project and spend the budget on repairing all roads.
Outside looks extremely nice especially with the stock side skirts and the original rims, plus the Excimo emblem.
Interior looks modern and old school at the same time - very perfect mix, with premium taste.
Thanks to FSM available online, can do repairs on your own. Interior stuffs are easy to deal with. Such as door trims and center player console surprisingly easy to remove.
Remember not to drop your screw when removing your ECU :cries: have to cut the carpet to get the screw out. I still remember I once accidentally dropped a Mentos into my dad's 190E automatic gear shifter hole...... and it disappeared in it. Didn't tell my dad about it, could have beaten to hell back then.
Make sure your MAF is *100%* good.......... and no vacuum leaks..................... TT
Felt like I have gone thru the worst... extremely exhausted and countless of sleepless nights. Luckily I'm into cars and I do tinker with my cars, so I really don't mind fixing it.
And spare cash + spare car is very important..... and most importantly being single (oof)
Yeah, I have no further comments now. XD

 

Welcome to the forums!

Please post some pictures. I follow few Cefiro owners from Thailand on Instagram and they do some great work with their cars!

 

oh very pretty

 

Hey there, thanks! It seems the Thais have a liking on this car too. They have plenty of videos on YouTube.
You can check the main post, I put all the pictures under a spoiler tag labeled Pictures. Let me know if the pictures are not displaying.

Little update on my Cefiro:
Changed some vacuum pipes last friday:
- "blow-by hose" connecting from front valve cover to intake resonator
- small hose connecting from power steering metal vacuum line near front plug coils to the intake resonator
- PCV pipe (valve already replaced earlier, but the old pipe is leaking)

Not much difference after the vacuum hose change:
- during warm start, no longer surge to 2000-2500rpm the moment the engine is starting like when cold start (now will surge up to 1500rpm only)
- idling not much difference, almost same as after MAF replacement at around 890rpm to 1100rpm.
- little more responsive during low speed driving, however acceleration still lacking when driving at 3rd gear (reluctant to downshift)

Overall, I can't complain much, current state is extremely satisfactory to me already. Able to idle around 1000rpm is good enough. Fuel consumption decreased to about 1.7 liters/hour from 1.9 liters/hour after MAF replacement, as per readings from Consult II.
Coolant seems like not leaking anymore. Probably air pockets inside due to radiator removal during alternator replacement last time. As it has been overhauled in 2022, it is less likely to have a blown head gasket.
Now major issue remains only A/C not cold enough. Every thing else is satisfactory for now. Happy as a lark now.

Latest side view photo, taken after changing vacuum pipes and gave her a wash.



Changed 3 vacuum pipes, the one from the valve cover to intake resonator (the one with cable tie) is hard to insert. Can consider +1mm when choosing the hose size.
And also the S shape is pretty difficult to bend for a stiff hose. I was worry it might damage the intake rubber hose at the throttle body there, as the pipe is trying to straighten itself, exerting a lot pressure to push the resonator box towards the firewall. Hopefully over time the pipe will form the S shape by itself.


Idling around 1000rpm. Can't complain much for now. Attempted idle relearn just now after about 2 hours city driving, unfortunately relearn still can't work (NOT CMPLT after about 30 seconds). Not going to waste further time on this anymore. It's good enough for now. Probably some other stuffs at the engine bay yet to be fixed. (I'm using EconTool app to perform the relearn, as the manual procedure never worked for me, can't get the check engine light to blink).


Seal back broken intake resonator hose connector tube using RTV gasket - holds up pretty well so far.
Glad I try to fix it. Almost bought entire new intake resonator from Nissan for about $50, as unable to find a second hand unit locally, as well as from online.

 

It's been a while. I thought to provide some updates for future reference.
During late August, my Cefiro became sluggish when I'm driving out of multistory carpark after late nigh work. The car works perfectly during daytime with no issues at all.
Initial inspection shows the gearbox is running in Limp Mode (D/2/1 stuck in 3rd gear) and diagnostic lamp not working at all.
No MIL, checked using ODB (Consult II protocol) no DTC, O/D switch working, vehicle still can be driven but stuck gear 3 so extremely hard to move from full stop or on slope (almost impossible).

TCM (Transmission Control Module) is located under Climate Control panel. You must remove the center console including the gear shifter side to access it. Fairly easy process.
Checked TCM looking good as new no burnt marks or anything. Follow FSM troubleshoot but FSM suggests wiring harness issue. Then arranged send to workshop for further diagnosis.

Workshop use ODB port check, unable to communicate with gearbox TCM (but no DTC at all! - same as my findings)
Workshop send both ECU and TCM to specialist for checking. TCM confirmed faulty and performed repair, but still not working.
Workshop proceed to replace TCM with second hand unit and immediately able to communicate with TCM. After clear TCM DTC code (code from previous car), gearbox working flawlessly. Diagnostic light came back on normal with no error indication.
I just went to pickup the car earlier this morning and I am as happy as a lark. Shifting between gears (P/R/N/D) is smooth (no jerking anymore). I have asked, the workshop didn't touch the gearbox at all, confirmed with my visual inspection.

So A33 owners, please take note if you have transmission problem stuck in limp mode and there's no DTC/no diagnostic lamp at all. It could be your TCM faulty. It is really weird as TCM communication error should throw a code.
I was glad I didn't try to play around with my properly-adjusted TPS sensor to see if that's the issue.

 

Nice car ~ my family bought one 2.0 last year as well, but the car is currently not driven anymore ~ having some of the itchy issues ~ might need some & cash to restore it