My 1999 Maxima with manual shift finally hit the big junkyard in the sky at close to 400K miles. It was basically falling apart. I'm in the hunt for a new Maxima. I was looking at a used 2012 Maxima S with 110K miles. Vehicle is aggressively priced. About $1500-$2000 less than other 2012 Maximas for sale. I had one of those mobile car inspections look at the car. They reported for the most part that the car is in excellent condition. We are allowed to request things that we want them to focus on. I told them OBD Codes and Timing Chain issues. The mobile technician wrote the following:

"It threw a code for a camshaft position sensor when I got here"
"this Maxima did throw a code P0014 for a camshaft position sensor and sometimes that can be the timing chain or the timing chain tensioner"

The technician did not confirm that it was the problem. He wrote it could be the problem. This private dealership has great ratings online. However, I asked the salesman before the mobile inspection if the check engine light was ever on. He said no. He did say they routinely drive these vehicles around 30-40 miles when they first arrive at the dealership before to make sure the CEL does not come on.

I'm looking for opinions. Should I move on? Request that they fix the P0014?

Thanks

 

Are the other models that are higher priced higher trim models? This thing is priced well below the others if they are not, for a reason they are not telling you. If they wont tell you why its priced so low I would be very wary and probably move on.
You didn't say anything about mileage and maintenance records availability and that is a factor.

 

At this point, CVT and rust are the 2 main things I would personally be worried about. If these 2 factors checkout well, most of worries are gone.
As Richard66 wrote, of course a 175k miles maxima would be priced "well-below" other maximas at dealerships.
You don't need a "mobile technician" for scanning codes, all you need is a BAFX, torque app (or OBD fusion) and an android or iphone.

 

Thanks for the reply. Mileage is 110,000. The mobile technician stated he saw no maintenance records. The Carfax I ran was somewhat clean with maintenance records:

1/2012 - 8/2014: Routine maintenance & oil change every 3K miles
9/2014 - Vehicle serviced & sold. Warrantech service contract was issued.
10/2014 - 2/2018: There is a gap. No service records.
2/2018: Vehicle sold to Auto Auction House on 2/2018 and the following was performed under service contract:
- Suspension
- Maintenance inspection completed
- Four wheel alignment performed
- Steering/suspension checked
- Drivability/performance checked
- Alignment performed

9/2019: Vehicle purchased from Auction House by current dealer.

 

Did you test drive the car yourself? That's obviously the first thing you should do!

 

Mahanddeem: Yea, I did all that. My primary concern is the P0014

 

That rust will look uglier sooner than later, unless you can get a good and an affordable body work, I'd skip a rusty car (fenders).

 

I am also looking at purchasing a 2012 S and have concerns about the TC giudes. The one I am looking at has 104K on it. No CEL light when I test drove it and no issues that I can tell. Clean title, two owner car and spent its whole lie in Georgia. I got the guy down to $5,500. Not sure where you are on the price. Just giving you an idea of what I have found. Speaking about P0014 code, "what if" there actually was an issue and the P0014 (or other code) and the owner kept it cleared off? So when a would-be purchaser came and drove\inpsected the car, there was no code or CEL illuminated. Then after the purchase is made a few days later the light comes on and the code shows up. I am, by no means saying the person you are purchasing the car from would do such a thing, but buyer beware.

I have a BAFX OBDII reader and I can read and clear the codes on just about any car. Of course, if the issue is not fixed, it will just come back after the correct number of cycles. I know that depending on what the fault is, it may not set a code until the proper number of heat ups or engine starts, but then again some codes will set immediately when the fault occurs, which I think that is the way a mis-fire would do.

Would be nice if we could see a running history of ALL cleared codes.

 

Certain mid range(and higher grade) bluetooth adaptors/scan tools with more advanced/professional apps have the feature of showing time and mileage since last cleared codes. They don't exactly show history codes (some can) but they show if codes were reset recently.
That's exactly why inspection stations will reject clearing cars with very recent CEL reset. They need car ecu to go through driving cycles to validate results.
Research Scantool OBDLink products or Bluedriver. These are relatively expensive ($70 plus compared to the mainstream ones which sell for $10s to $20s) but the hardware and accompanying apps are priceless especially if you're in the market for a used car.

 

Thanks KArthur. The vehicle I'm looking at is $7K. I'm going to pass. The P0014 code may be a problem. In reality, they should not allow customers to test drive cars with codes if you are ethical. It may not be the timing chain...who knows...I can't be bothered with that. When I test drove the car, I asked him directly, are you aware of any CEL. He said no. He stated that they typically drive new cars they receive for 30-50 miles to make sure CEL do not come on...huh??? I personally think he knew about the codes, cleared them and hoping they would not come back on again during test drive. A lot of these rinky dink po dunk mom & pop dealers are dirty. Some are good. I looked at a 2012 Super Black SV with Black Leather several days ago. WOW!! It was nice. The leather basically engulfed me. Unfortunately, I had to walk away. The owner of the po dunk dealership was a complete jack***; not to mention he was asking close to $10K. Such a shame. I was going to pay cash too!! Basically told him to shove it.

You mentioned $5500. Your seller private or dealer? How did you get him down to that? Avg price for these vehicles range from $7500-$12K. Need to figure out the best strategy/gain leverage how to negotiate/deal with these small mom & pop dealerships. They most likely are getting their inventory from Auctions or bottom of a river...lol

 

The dealer I am buying from is a private dealer, licensed in Georgia. He was asking 6,500 to begin with but after i trst drove it, i told him I would only give him 5k. We settled on 5500, and he has to fix a couple issue with the car. One is the airbag light, but he said he would take care of it and get that fixed.
I am supposed to look at it again Monday.

 

FYI:
I bought a 2 owner 2012 "S" model yesterday. Has 101k on it. Spent its whole life down south(no salt damage). Checked out mechanically, clean title. Cracked windshield that I can get replaced. Paid $5k cash. Private seller that just bought herself a new truck.

Been looking/waiting about 6 mo tying to find this one. I will probably let the other one go that i have pd money down on.

 

KArthur: Congrats on your purchase!!

Everyone else: I test drove a 2012 S 90K miles several days ago. Very nice. Appears to be no mechanical issues even though I plan to have a mechanic inspect. The problem is there are slight imperfections from minor accidents. You will see from pics. The front fender has a small crack. The car overall is beautiful in very nice condition. The weird thing is that there is no other damage to the entire front fender. It looks perfect except for this crack. On the passenger side of the car, it looks like there was a "light" side swipe from another vehicle above the passenger side wheel well and passenger side door . There are no dents. Just slight scrapes. They are asking $8K. I'm thinking more like $5K - $6K. Can anyone here give me a rough estimate how much it will cost to replace front fender and fix the side swipe scrapes on passenger side. I assume the scrapes can be buffed out since there are no serious dents that I could see. VIN check shows no frame damage.

Thanks

 

Finally got the vehicle I want. Just picked up my 2012 SV today with 50K miles in Metallic Slate color. An awesome car in excellent condition!! When I first got in the vehicle, it still had that new car smell to it. Decided not to get the Black S with slight damage from accident. Now, I need to figure out what the best Full Synthetic Oil for these vehicles take. I assuming 5W30.

 

Don't assume, you have a car manual for a reason.
5w30 is best for wide range weather temperature.
10w30 can be used if weather never gets below 32 to 20F
Use Pennzoil ultra platinum 5w30(and a Nissan oil filter)

 

Yea...I use to run GC in my 99 for years back in the day until I started to use Maxlife 5w30 Full Synthetic High Mileage as it was getting up there in mileage before it finally croaked at 400K miles. General consensus over on Bob Is The Oil Guy confirms that many recommend the Pennzoil Ultra for 2012.