hey 6th gen peeps, im looking at a 6th gen 04 se and was wondering if the steering radius is supposed to feel wider and looser than my 4th gen. im not sure if anythings loose or if its supposed to feel much different cause of the year. other than the car smelling like a cheap air freshener and the seats being slippery like a 20 dollar ***** shes really clean and has 109,000 on her and im interested. any other issues i should look for??? o, she's a jersey car so im def looking for rust before i make final desicion, thanks>>>

 

04-06 maxima turning radius is like driving a semi truck....

 

^^

Seriously, I can cut tighter turns in my ambulance.

MR41, read through the transmission thread too. If her trans checks out and you have a good gut feeling about the car, go for it man. I retired my '95 for a 6gen too. My '95 will always hold a special place in my heart, but now that the 05 is running well, I can't look back

Other than the transmission, other issues to look for are:

Timing chain guide
Leaky AC hose
Leaky power steering fluid high pressure line
Oil consumption
Steering wheel "shimmy"
might be some more here and there, but those are the main ones that people tend to complain about over here.

4th gen issues that you shouldn't have to deal with, that we loved so much:
rotten radiator core support.

Come on over dude! We can use you on this side of the forum

 

The turn radius on the 6thgens are the worst.It's a nice car to drive but the turn radius sucks.Try making a u-turn on an intersection.You'll either have to do a 3point turn or you'll get curb rash.

 

yes, the force is strong with the 4th gens!!! here's the (possible) newer ride

 

Since she has 109K miles, the chain issue might be already fixed. Only way to check is to start up the car when its cold. If you hear a rattle like noise similar to a chain rubbing bare metal, you got chain issue.

 

hahahaha, dude, my 95's been doin that since i owned it. this thing sounds realll quiet and the price went up!!!! i thought it was 9,000 and it's now 10?? found an i35 i might go for and 7,000. back of the uim is dirty with oil??? anything to worry about? its the same motor as our 3.5's, runs great. damn injectors are friggin noisy as hell. the 3.5 max is quiet cpmpard to the i35?? is there a difference???

 

If the '04 condition is solid, see if they can work with you on the price. If they really want to make the sale, they should back off of that 10 pretty easily if you show some $$$.

As for the oil on the rear of the UIM, I dunno man. Only time I had oil back there was with my 4th gen. turned out to be a rear valve cover gasket leak. It's possible that the max was just better maintained than the i35, which is why it sounds better. To be honest, I would walk away from that i35 and keep looking.

 

no doubt on the i35, my instinct is to stick with the max or something else. i dont like the oil all over the rear uim and the dealer is on the cheesy side. im gonna see how low i can get the max for, if their willing to work with me i might still get it.

 

You're not alone. 2002-2006 Altimas does it too. I describe it like a 4x4 in low range. My Pathfinder turned better with the 4WD locked.

 

B -like that color. hell my wifes 01 can do, literally, circles around my 02 as far as steering goes. the '06 we had was just as bad-just a design issue i guess.

congrats and good luck on the hunt - i too am looking to replace the aging '01. found an 05 alti SE-R, 80k, 6spd in smoke metallic for 10k. so i'd fight that price.