Hello all, didn't notice a newbie thread but wanted to say hi to all. Name's Donald and I'm in the process of purchasing an 09 3.5S Premium (49K). The pricing on the vehicle is @ 18.8k (very good deal I think). This is going to be the first car that I've purchased myself and wanted some insight on a few things. To start, I don't have the most perfect credit but I notice some old tricks the salesman was trying to sucker me into. First, before negotiating the price, he wanted to know "what I felt comfortable paying per/mo." I quickly replied in "lets figure the pricing with the applicable fees/ down payment/ trade-in and run it to the bank to see what the approval would look like" He gave me a bit of a side eye and left the cubicle for a bit. He comes back saying the finance terms would be: $18,870 w/ 1000 trade-in/ 2000 down payment = 369/mo @ 6.99 APR for 72 MOS. I've taken a few finance classes when I was an undergrad and doing some quick mental math it just didn't add up. So I called his bluff saying "the numbers aren't making sense" He leaves his cubicle again (not the most professional salesman) to come back with the manager. The manager assures me the numbers are accurate and I told him to show me. Long story short after breaking everything down it was really at a 13.xx APR with some additional fees meaning +4500 mark up (roughly). After getting things on paper I got in writing the $18,870 w/ 1000 trade/ 2000 dp @ 6.99 APR for 72 MOS for 299/mo, which made way more sense. Again, this will be my first car purchasing myself is there anything else I should watch for?

BTW they said the bank wanted to do like an interview type of thing over the phone with me. Is this typical of the procedures?

 

To avoid all the bull that salesman try to pull, it's better to get your own financing and sell the car yourself or at a different dealer. Their main goal is to make the most money as possible. So when they see you have a trade-in, that's money in their eyes. Before you make everything final, I would call up your bank and see if they can get you better financing.

 

^^will do. Thanks!

 

A simple loan calculator shows that the payment on 72 months at 6.99% should be around $270 per month. It looks like they are going to make you pay a down payment and trade-in, yet still factor those amounts in your loan amount.
Obviously I don't know what your credit score is, but 7% is absurd.

 

That's nothing. I know a first time buyer with bad credit that has 21% interest. Should be illegal.

 

I am curious what type of differential the 2012 has.
Is it a regular open differential?
Does it have a limited slip differential?
I have searched the 7th gen forums, and no one has really mentioned anything about it, just a few questions here and there and none really answered.
Perhaps my search terms were wrong, but I used "transmission" and then I tried "Limited SLip".

 

Ok, I stumbled on the solution to the "There is no song" on the Nissan navigation screen with the iphone plugged in and wanted to share. This is the solution from the state of having the car running and the iphone/ipod displaying the "There is no song" error (1) turn car off leaving Iphone plugged in (2) with foot off brake, turn car back on (3) turn car off leaving Iphone plugged in again (4) start car normally with foot on brake. Let me know if this works for anyone else, as I have no way to replicate the solution because I have no idea what caused the error to appear in the first place. I had the error on my screen for several months and was waiting in my car and decided to turn the car off, roll the windows down and turn the radio to wait for someone a while and then noticed the error was gone after I left the parking lot. Maybe my dumb luck and help someone else.

 

Hey guys,

I have noticed that some times when I put the cars in reverse, the mirrors tilt down, but then when i put it in drive, they dont come all the way up, i doesnt do it every time but i have noticed it on more than one occasion. Anyone notice this or know what could be causing it?

 

I remember seeing this exact problem posted somewhere here last year. I can't seem to find the post or remember the solution. But there are folks here who will remember this.

Lots of posters here do not regularly check this 'catch-all' thread, so, if nobody responds to this within a few days, you might try starting a new thread entitled something like 'mirrors don't come back up', which will catch the eyes of those folks who had this problem.

 

Thanks Lightonthehill

I am not very enlighted on this subject, but at first I was considering replacing my air filter with a K&N air filter and from what I have read on the other threads, it makes a difference. Now I am looking into a K&N cold air intake, so if I install the intake, would it make a difference whether or not I replace my air filter?

I have read some other threads that I could find about intakes and I am thinking about going with K&N, any one have any thoughts/advice/suggestions to that? Is there another one that's better?

 

I have never changed an intake ona car I have owned, so am not much help there. There are a lot of 'stickie' threads at the top of this board which have tons of info on many many subjects. For instance, here is one about K&N:

http://store.knfilters.com/search/pr...rod=69-7002TTK

Just as with your outside mirror question, you may have to make this question a new topic on the board if you cannot find the answer in the stickies, and nobody helps you with a good answer here in this thread.

 

Since no one has responded, I asked my dealer when I went in for the first oil change: It appears that our cars do have a limited slip differential, in case anyone was wondering. What type of limited slip, I don't know, but it has one.

 

How long has Nissan been using this 3.5L V6 thats in the 7th gen Maximas? Were there any major changes along the way?

 

hahahahahha. no it does not. hahahahahhahaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

 

Is there a specific place to ask 7th gen maint questons like CVT fluid change, Coolant Flush mileage /timetables and are people changing brake fluid ever ? I'm going to drive about 7K per year and was wondering if I should do the first oil change at 3 months or 3750 miles which will be about 6 months


Thanks

 

First, be aware you will get 20,000 different answers to each of these type questions. Everyone has their own opinion.

As for CVT fluid change, some have it changed at 30K, some at 45K and some at 60K. But some documentation says to just have the dealer inspect the fluid (they have special equipment to do this) and replace it only if it needs replacing.

If I drove the car very hard or pulled a trailer or regularly drove fairly fast on an unpaved dusty road or frequently drove in a very hilly area, I would consider changing at 30K. Otherwise, I would change at 45K. If I was a gentle driver and lived in an area where the roads were all paved and reasonably level, I would consider changing at 60K.

But it is also easy to simply let the dealer test the CVT fluid and determine if it is time for a fluid change.

Changing the CVT fluid is done by simply draining what gravity beings out when the drain plug is opened. This means that not all the fluid gets replaced each time, but this is the only safe way to change the fluid. We NEVER want to try something like flushing these CVTs.

Never flush the coolant system either. That can cause more problems by dislodging things that are not causing any problems, and they end up partially blocking a passageway somewhere inside the engine. Just let the fluid drain from the bottom of the radiator, then refill, checking frequently by running the engine, so that all cavities within the engine are filled. Add until the coolant level in the coolant overflow tank is above the 'full cold' line. If the engine is warm, bring the level up halfway to the 'full hot' line.

The manual specifies the coolant change interval, but my manual is currently in my car locked up in the garage, and it is curently nearing 1 AM, my wife is asleep, and turning off the alarm system to enter the garage will wake her up. I suspect the interval is long, because it is set at 105,000 miles in my wife's Ford trucks. I personally plan to change my coolant at around 60K miles.

I have never changed my brake fluid unless something happened that I suspect may have tainted the fluid. I did have to add fluid to my 7th gen Maxima after a year or two, as have most folks here on the board. The clue your brake fluid is low is the electronic stability system dash light flickering intermittently and the brake dash warning light coming on intermittently.

Simply add the proper brake fluid (type is listed in the manual - the type available at all convenience stores) till the level reaches the 'full' line in the transparent brake fluid tank. Be sure to clean around the tank cap before opening, and be very carefull to not get even one grain of dirt in the tank.

As to oil changes, many here on this board get their first change very early, even as early as 1Kmiles. That was a very good practice in olden days, as most vehicles coming off the lines at Detroit had fine metallic particles in the crankcase, and as the engine was run, more particles would drop into the crankcase during the first 1K or so.

But things are much different these days. Far more precision and much closer tolerances in today's engines means far less particles. Most folks simply change at 3750 miles or thereabouts. As that won't happen for six months for you, you could make the first change after just three months, then go to the every 3750 schedule.

With your very low mileage situation, I'm not sure synthetic would be a great benefit. Synthetic oil woul move your change interval to over a year. I like to have my dealer give my car his 'multi-point' check a little more often than that.

If you do go mobile, I would wait until at least the third oil change in order to allow the engine parts to gently fit themselves for maximum efficiency. Synthetic oil is so good it slows the part-fitting down considerably, leaving the engine slightly less efficient for a longer period of time. But most folks are not concerned with such details.

In all honesty, for most normal driving conditions, the 3750 interval wastes good oil. The truth of the matter is that, under normal driving conditions, regular oil is still functioning perfectly well for 5K miles and more. But neither the oil industry nor your dealer's service department wants to hear that.

If you check out the 'stickies' at the top of the 7th gen board, you will find gobs of info related to your questions. Also, there are general oil and maintenance boards that apply to all Maximas on the main (all generations) board.

Good luck with everything.

 

Thanks so much, one more question ( for now lol) the TPMS says in the manual that the display does not correspond to actual tire position. If I had to guess it's Driver front, Passenger front, driver rear, passenger rear . Is that correct ?

I'm just sticking with Dino oil

 

60K miles for me will be about 9 years and the car will be driven gently so I'm thinking CVT, coolant at that time.

I read a thread where someone said his dealer told him changing the in cabin filter might void the warranty so I think I'll let the dealer do it as part of the 15K maint (about 2 years) and then do it myself

Is not flushing the coolant Maxima specific or wil the dealer still try to push it on me as opposed to jst a fluid exchange.

My last car ( which I bought new) was 97 Infiniti I30T which besides looking a bit rough these days is still going strong and I never touched the tranny fluid, coolant, etc. I just changed the oil every 3K and the air filter when needed and it ran great. The CV boot just exploded at 200K miles so I figured it was time to trade it. Great car

 

I used nothing but dino in two 1985 Maximas back in the 1980s, running one of them over 206K miles commuting in Atlanta traffic with no problems. Four years after I let that Maxima go, I saw it tooling around town just fine.

The TPMS system changed for the 2012 model year. My 2009 just has one TPMS light, and all it tells me is that one tire somewhere is low. This TPMS question will need to be answered by someone with a 2012 or 2013 Maxima.

I personally have always felt the TPMS system should be designed in a manner that not only tells us which of the four tires is low, but also tells us if the spare tire is low. Because of the complex cargo system I have in my trunk, it is very difficult to unload and remove it, hence I never check my spare.

I understand that, because of tire rotation, etc, the location of each sensor (inside the valve stem) gets moved to different positions around the car. But each valve stem/sensor could have a number on it, and that number would be displayed on the screen. It would then be possible to check the number on the screen with the number on each valve stem and find the one that triggered the low psi light.

Another solution is to have the sensor in the tire with low psi simply check a small transponder on the car frame nearby, and be able to know its position on the car and communicate that location to the dash screen. There are several other ways to get the true location info to the dash screen, and we will eventually have one of those systems in all cars.

 

Despite rumors to the contrary from the true greaseheads here, changing the cabin filter on this car can get a little messy. I just let my dealer do it.

As to the coolant question, Nissan uses a 'long-life' coolant that is made for extended service. Their recommended change cycle for coolent in this Maxima is 60K, but 30K for Premium Service. Unless I was pulling a trailer or lived on a dusty desert road or had some other strenuous service situation, I would simply go with a change every 60K miles.

I'm sure the greaseheads here simply open the lid and check the coolant every ten K miles or so and do nothing until the coolant shows signs of deterioration. If doing this, do not be misled by a trace of rust floating on top of the coolant; this is normal. Look down into the coolant, and it should be a fairly bright color (most are green).

 

How often are you doing the in cabin filter ? It's included in my dealers 15K mile service ( along with oil/filter/wipers, tire rotation and air filter plus assorted inspections) for $189 plus tax

How about the throttle induction service, I noticed several of used g37X's had that done in their service history

Seems like I am on the right path with doing the major service at 60K miles unless something goes wrong. How about spark plugs/wires. I never changed them in 15 years 200k miles on my infiniti and it ran great

Not knowing which tire pressure reading is associated with what tire makes sense after the first rotation but you would think out of the factory they could tell you what is what. The car came with 40psi in each tire, had I thought of it before I set them all to 33 psi I could have figured it out easily as I decreased the pressure in each tire

 

I bought a cabin filter off ebay for about $20. My car had about about 20k (2 years old) miles on it.When the dealer changed it, they said it was very dirty. Not sure if the cabin filter is closed off when the car is off but my car wasn't garaged.

 

The car is garaged in some form all the time when it's not driven, my house and a parking garage at work.

How hard was it to change, seemed straight forward from what I read

 

I changed my cabin air filter a week or two ago. You have to remove somewhere around 8 screws and drop the glove box down. Then there's a little cover plate in the back left corner where the filter is. Getting the old one out takes a little bit of work just because its not an easy angle and the filter is a tight fit. But, it really isn't that bad. It can be done in 10-15 minutes if its the first time you've done it. After you've done it once I'd say its more of a 5-10 minute job. Not bad. I changed it at 27k miles, but I don't know for sure if it had been done before (I bought the car used at about 15k miles). It certainly needed a change though. I'll def do it again in 15-20k miles.

 

Is there a way to set the car to lock if the remote is taken xx feeet away fro the car without pushing a button ?

I found the spot on the left above the EBrake where the key goes if the remote is dead. I haven't tested it out yet but I guess the remote just slides in . Does the remote just have to make contact for the push button start to work when the remote is dead ?

How do you guys feel about using the EBrake when parked ? I heard it's good for the rear calipers but also heard either use it all the time or never. The car is always parked on a flat surface

Thanks

 

I don't know of any way to have the doors lock automatically if the remote senses that the remote is a certain distance away. If that is possible, it would have to be a short distance, as the system has no way of disecrning the distance the remote is from the car other than it is either within two or three feet or it is not within two or three feet.

As a side note, I have always appreciated that the remote on my 6th and 7th gen Maximas will lock the car from several hundred feet away, unless there are obstructions. I once locked my car from around 340 feet away. That is a real blessing in some situations, such as if, in the rush to get from the parking lot to the mall as a rain is beginning, I arrive at the mall realizing I'm not sure I locked the car. I can also lock my car from the 6th floor of a motel if I can see the car.

Yes, if our remote battery is dead, we can slide the remote into the opening you mentioned, at which point the START button will work. If the remote is dead and the car doors are locked, we must slide the tiny obscure little black tab on the back of the remote and hold it while we pull the key out of the remote. The key can then be used to unlock or lock the doors.

As to the parking brake (sometimes referred to as 'emergency brake'), I have never heard the 'always or never' thing, and I have been driving since the 1940s. I fail to see the logic in the 'always or never' approach. I use simple logic - If parking on a reasonably level surface, I let the tranny 'park' setting keep the car from moving. If I am parking on a clearly unlevel, but not steep surface, I apply the parking brake just enough to keep the car from moving. If I am parking on a steep surface, I apply the parking brake firmly, and turn the steering wheel in a way that will minimize damage to the car and surrounding objects should the parking brake fail and the car roll.

If parking next to a curb on an uphill or downhill slope, always turn the front wheels sharply in the direction that, if the car rolled downhill, the front tire would bump directly into the curb. Then carefully let the car roll just far enough till that tire is actually touching the curb, apply the parking brake and put the car in park. That way, you have given yourself triple protection - tranny in park, ebrake applied, and a curb blocking a front tire from moving.

 

I think the rationale is that if you don't use it consistently the components will rust into place and either not work or break trying to use it.

Consistent usage decreases the chance something will rust together.

Could be wrong about this but it was definitely the reason the e-brake stopped working (correctly) on one of my older cars.

 

I never used the Ebrake on my Infiniti, my GF put the Ebrake on one time and I had a rear caliper stick closed, she used the car the next day and didn't realize it for about 20 miles and needless to say everything on that brake side was shot

The Infiniti mechanic told me always use it ( or use it often) or don't ever use it or you might have the same situation again after years of non use. He said it was a good idea to use it often because it engages the rear calipers making them last longer


I think (for now) I am out of questions, thanks for all your help !

 

Hey gang, I'm a noobie to both this forum and the Maxima world. I just purchased an 09' with less than 35k miles and LOVE IT, but I am having a few minor (well hopefully minor) issues. Below is a list of a few things that I thought y'all might be able to help me out with:

1) While ideling my rmps surges from 700 to 500 then back to 700 again and the car gets a little shaky...any suggestions??

2) When breaking, once I remove my foot from the break the car seems to have a delayed reaction and keeps slowing down before realizing it needs to adjust to the proper gear...??

My vehicle is still under warranty for any issues with the transmission or whatever so I was hoping to get some insight before taking it to be professionally examined.

 

I have been hoping someone more knowledgeable about idle speed problems would post on this thread. The idle speed variation and the car shaking at 500 RPMs is something you will want to get fixed, as that will always be annoying. There are many possible causes.

If the braking problem you describe is happening after you remove your foot from the accellerator while moving downhill or coasting, it might be connected to Nissan's feature that automatically uses engine compression braking in those situations.

After a few seconds, this compression braking will release, letting the car coast nornmally. This is a very nice feature to have when driving aggressively on winding mountain roads, but sometimes confuses drivers who are just driving the car normally. But if you have doubts as to whether that is what you are experiencing, you could have the dealer determine if that is the case.

 

Ok, possible the dumbest question ever. Where is the light for when the parking brake is set ? I have the car running and keep setting and releasing the parking brake and I don't see anything

All the manual says is with the ignition switch ON the light will iluminate.

 

It's on the tach kind of like middle left of it

 

I'm assuming it should stay lit when the Ebrake is engaged ? The "brake" light comes on when I set the ignition to "on" but the car is not running. When I start the car the light goes off and nothing happens as I engage/ disengage the ebrake. 2013, 200 miles so I'm guessing it never worked or is not designed to ?

 

Hi, I have a 2009 Maxima, and I understand there were some updates to the Radio / Nav systems made for the 2010 or 2011 models.

I'm looking to update my bluetooth capabilty to stream music by purchasing a bluetooh gateway, as recommended on these forums (thanks!)

Other than that, I was just curious if there were any updates made to the Radio / Nav interface in the later versions of the 7th Gen Maximas. If so, can the 09' Maximas be brought up to date by some sort of firmware / software update?

Thanks in advance!

 

Hey I'm really sorry for asking a dumb question... But I can't find where I can make my own post... I need help with some stuff n I'm new here.. Haha sorry again just seen ur new too hoping someone will help

 

I think you are blocked by the '15 significant posts before starting a new thread' rule.

http://forums.maxima.org/faq.php#nothread

This is a rule that reduces the chance of this site beng hit by random spammers.

 

Going to look at an 06 Max. 28k miles asking price 16K

 

Didn't like the 06. Looking at an 08 51K $12K

 

DoubleD - You would be much more likely to get some good advice and a list of things to watch for if you posted this on the 6th generation Maxima board. The 6th generation covers Maxima model years 2004 through 2008. This board you are posting on is the 7th generation board, which covers Maxima model years 2009 through 2014 (although the 2014s are not out yet).

The 6th gens are nice cars. I enjoyed my 2004 SL for five years with no significant problems. Good luck with your search.

 

Thanks bro. Will do