I want to buy a maxima in 6 months, what should I get?

I think the fully equipped 3.5SE with leather and xenon is the best deal. (5 speed auto).

What do you guys think?

Is the 2004 a good bet?

Opinions?
Any problems I should be aware of?
How many miles can it get before problems start to happen?
Thx

 

you could buy mines thats what u could do )

 

dude, you gonna be buying a maxima not a Jetta. What kind of problems are you talkin about? Its a Maxima. Your are gonna be driving a $35000 car. Unless if the guy that youare buying the car from F'ed up the car there should not be any issues with it. I havent done anything thing to my 04 besides regular oil change.

 

My 04 has been fine, you will hear the common issues that people have had with the shimmy and the peeling grill. Just test drive it and check for the "shimmy" and pay close attention to the overall details, you will be able tio tell if it's been beaten up...
One thing I will say, down the road you will most likely want HID's so look for an SE with DPP or get an SL if you plan to lower it and get rid of the "softer" ride anyways..

 

What's the "shimmy" ???

Yeah, I want a fully equipped SE with leather and HID.

Can I easily convert an SL to a harder ride? Is the 4 speed automatic tranny of the SL less sportier than the SE 5 speed?

 

The 4-speed came with some sort of problem with hard shift. They were replaced with 5 speed autos.

 

Lucky you. I am on the opposite side of the scale. NO JOKE!

 

why not get the SL with 5sp? if you want a "harder" ride, just put on 18+" wheels. only real difference.

shimmy is usually present when over 50mph. make sure to test drive it to 70 and you'll notice if it is a problem.

 

Does the SL have a different suspension, or is the difference only because of the bigger wheel? Too bad wood trim doesn't come on SE models.

 

its just the wheel/tire combo thats different. Suspension is the same.

 

i have an inkling that in 6 months, you'll have a good selection to choose from

 

Smartest thing to do would be an extended test drive, also cars with OEM nav have lower resale value cause newer OEM Nav obsoletes the old versions and if you buy with OEM Nav the newest DVD out is 7.3 get that thrown in

 

If you go with an '05, the SE and SL have the same 5 speed tiptronic trannies.

If you go with an '04, I would look for a higher serial number (llast 6 digits of the VIN). The serial numbers for each 6th gen Maxima model year start at 800000. The '04s ran from 800000 to 932000. If you select an '04 with a serial number of 900000 or above, most initial problems had been solved by then, and the SLs had switched to the 5 speed tiptronic tranny a few months earlier (Feb 6 2004 to be exact).

The shimmy has nothing to do with braking. Any braking vibration is a rotor/wheel type of problem. To check for shimmy, hold the steering wheel loosely with your fingertips at the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions, accellerate slowly from around 40 MPH to at least 70 MPH, and notice if, at any speed, the steering wheel suddenly begins vibrating noticably from side to side. If the car has a bad case of shimmy, it will be fairly obvious during this test.

 

The newest Nav DVD version for a 2006-2008 is 7.3, if you own a 2004-2005, the latest version is 6.6 (2007 edition). I know I just installed mine today. Roads change yearly, so should the software, how does that lesson the resale???

 

high-tech options such as navigation systems, laser-guided cruise control and built-in cell phones. Used-car buyers aren't looking for cutting-edge technology, and by the time your car is three years old, better and cheaper systems will make old technology look obsolete and sap resale value.

 

they dont lower your resale, you simply dont get any extra kudos for having it.

 

The same goes for the aftermarket electronic gadgets which cancel themselves out yearly, most used car buyers don't want them because for one, you tapped into the vehicles electronic systems which means if you have a problem, you either have to replace it or get something else. Two, the more aftermarket electronics you drop in a vehicle only multiply potential electrical/electronic problems which in most cases are triple the cost to troubleshoot, repair, or replace.

For the last 4 years my NAVI system has gotten me where I need to go, that's the purpose and who cares if it looks like a map or virtual reality, getting from point A to B is what matters most and my NAVI is continually supported by the dealership with available software upgrades. The last time I checked, all blue books and dealer black books list OEM NAVI as a plus up in price.


Last, my OEM NAVI is integrated with the stereo so it sounds awesome!!!

 

Hope I missed the earlier problems. My serial number is just under your 900000. I'm at 898197. Only problem I noticed is my passengers side front door lock sticks after I hit the unlock, & lock switch after a few times in a row. Then after I stop for awhile it will work again.

 

WD-40.......

 

What part is the "shimmy"??? What causes the vibration?

Same suspension for SE or SL??? Just that it's 17 inches?
How can I know if it's a 5 speed or 4 speed?

Thanks!

Yeah in 6 months, the market will be flooded w 2004s. There are already alot, so I can imagine. I'm willing to pay approx 20 000$ CAN. I want it fully equipped, and black w00t. I cant wait, damn.

I have a 92 tercel right now so that will be a kickass upgrade

 

20K will definitely get you into an 04, I doubt the market will be flooded though, thats what Altimas are for!!!

 

Just a warning don't know why, but I was looking at cars this summer 2004 to 2005. I was originally interested in a black car. I payed for the carfax for 1 month. All the cars that I looked at, that were priced low/like a too good to be true deal were. They were involved in accidents. If I hadn't bought the carfax report I'm 100% sure I would have bought a car previously in a accident. Also, again don't know why, but practically all the black cars I looked at on cars.com and autotrader were in accidents. I changed my preference to blue instead, and actually prefer this color now. Alot of them had higher mileage too. I feel black cars are driven harder, and more often. Carfax prooved that. The safer colors seem to be the drabber colors unfortunatley. The silvers, and golds more old drivers like those colors.

 

well yeah carfax is a MUST.

Chris, I'm thinking when the 7th gen comes, he'll have quite a few 04s to look at.

Shimmy: many causes. mainly our super-sensitive car feels any imbalance others dampen.
Suspension: same (wheels different)
Tranny: 5sp has PRND-->+ and -
.......... 4sp PRND321

I would check if the struts were updated. And if RSA tires, if they're factory. If side cracks you should get replacements. Make sure it got the sub-frame recall if needed (tho free if u have to do it).

 

LandsEnd - Your observations on black cars are not only correct today; they have been correct for fifty years. I would never never buy a used black car.

Kryogen - If you are looking at an '04 SL with build date (on driver's door jamb) before Feb of '04, it is a 4 speed. All '04 SLs built after Feb 6 2004 (as well as all '04 SEs and all '05 and '06 Maximas) are 5 speed.

If you can't open the driver's door to see the little plate in the jamb, just look at the tranny area of the console; if there is a tiptronic (manual override) option, the tranny is a 5 speed.

 

Yeah but that's not till 2009 or 2010. By the way, good info^^^^^^

 

Pictures are always worth a thousand words, If the shifter looks like this, it's a 5AT, note the +/- to the right like NismoMax80 stated.

 

Where do you look to check for the strut numbers? Is this just on the front of the vehicle?
Never heard of subframe recall. How do you know, and where do you look to see if you have a bad 1?

 

are u asking about ur own car, or one ur looking at? i would askthe dealer either way. you can look at the recall online and check ur vin.

 

whats the subframe?

Is carfax good in quebec canada?


no used black car ??? I want mine black :P

 

How do I get WD-40 into the passengers side door switch to prevent it from sticking when I hit the lock/unlock button? Thats all it needs?

 

um this sticky: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=386691
will get u here: http://x.nissanhelp.com/forums/Knowl...html?catid=293

 

Wait for the 7th Gen...

 

im in this same boat but im looking at buying much sooner(like in the next couple weeks). The budget Ive set is 22,000, and Ive seen some nice 2005's already listed around 20-22k. But I also wanted the fully loaded SL w/NAV model.

 

Does the 2004 have full size spare and VDC ???
I think it was an option, right?

How can I make sure the car I get has VDC???? is there a switch somewhere?

Thx

 

Also, what are the option packages that I should make sure I get on an SL???

(for example, for an SE, if it has xenon, spoiler and leather, it's DPP) So I can quickly make sure.

What about the SL? How can I know it's fully equipped?

 

I am thinking of buying a SE fully loaded or a SL without navi. and buy an aftermarket nav (750-1000) like a pioneer unit i saw on amazon.