My mother's 2000 Maxima has had the starter replaced twice.
She's on the second one.
The car has about 100K miles.
At cold start, there is a grinding noise.
Per this thread from 2003 https://maxima.org/forums/5th-genera...old-start.html .
it appears to be common and is the grease in the starter motor hardening.
is it safe to drive?
How long before the starter completely breaks?

 

what brand starter is it? might need to try a different brand.

 

I don't know.
It was put in a couple of years ago by the Nissan dealer.
This noise just started recently.