esmilualus

Hello all, I'm currently looking at purchasing a 2005 maxima 3.5 SE with 110,000 miles on it. private owner looking for 3800 on it. I checked the carfax and it came out ok. one accident on passenger side door and car was used for the last 5 years by elderly woman to run around town errands. I'm looking to use it for a daily 70 mile commute for work, 1/2 highway, 1/2 backroads. I owned a 92 maxima as my first car and ran great and my father had 2003 maxima we had until 190k.

I'm wondering what mecahnical issues i should be looking for in this vehicle at this mileage. thanks in advance!
Andy

Tarzan

Is it rusted? There are two coolant pipes which lead to the oil cooler, if both are rusted, the rear one is very hard to replace.

Have the chain tensioners been replaced? Does the engine whine?

I presume spark plug replacement is not as difficult on a Maxima as on a Quest, but still good to find out if spark plugs have been replaced at 100k. Intake has to be pulled for that and it's a lot of work.

04BlackMaxx

Don't do it buddy, my 6th gen was a piece of ****...and that was years ago.

follyburr

it would also be a good idea to check for any codes, pending or not.

NIKV69

Depends on how they maintained it. I have 250k on mine. No tensioner issues or any of that. If they changed the fluids properly you should be ok. If not take a pass. The coolant hoses are a little tricky but not impossible. At that mileage if they haven't been changed you need to do them. All of them.

MiaRaider81

I bought a garage kept 04 SE maxima 5 years ago with 67k and now i have 122k but if i could do it over again i probably would not have purchased due to all the money i have put into it over the years. (Catalytic converter was my most expensive repair)

My biggest complaint is i hate having to add oil every few weeks, these maximas are known to consume/leak oil so you have to keep a close eye on you're oil level at all times. My maxima currently burns about a half a quart every 1500 miles.

I also owned a 1985, 1990 and a 1995 which never gave me near as many problems as this 04 maxima has, i hear the quality of maximas diminished when Renault took control.

esmilualus

Thanks all for the responses. i really appreciate it. I passed on the car and most likely purchasing a camry because i'm educated in toyotas.

ray_charles77

Since I rarely used my 2004 SE in the first few years when I got it new, it's at a relatively low mileage now, about 72k, and every year it costs me $1k or more to maintain and it constantly has problems (but I love this car), I wouldn't touch a used one with that many miles for that price, or any for that matter.