Hey, next year im going to be college full time, and working part time... work and school are on opposite sides of town, and im going to be putting a lot of miles on my maxima.

I own a 96 Nissan Maxima 5 speed with, Cat back, Y pipe, and Intake. I was just wondering how reliable is the maxima? Ive never had any problems what so ever with it, and I pound on her a lot when I have my occasional street races and take her to the track. I love moding and I had future plans of doing more, but now im puzzled if I should or not. Does moding reduce the relyability of the car? you think its a good idea to be using the maxima for college and work, when its boosted?

Please leave some feed back and opinions on weather I should just leave her alone, or if I should just drive her boosted/modded till she dies.

Thanks
Chris

My opinion is that the Max has a lot of annoying things that need attn--I guess my latest is the leaking power steering rack because the fluid is now low. But the Max probably isn't gonna leave you stranded either. As long as you keep your grades up and meet lots of women, imho you are entitled to have any car you can reasonably afford. The most important thing is to enjoy yourself in college but to also set yourself up for a good career 4 years later. Remember, grades and women should be the top priorities. If you get those under control then you can focus on other stuff too. Just remember to have fun. Good luck.

i personally thinks its a great car, i've had the max for 3 years while at college and haven't ran into any problems. Its a good car to go clubbin with too ....we piled about 12 people in my max from birmingham all the way to tuscaloosa (our other ride left, that bastard)

anu

damn, 12 people?! and i thought i had a lot with 7

Maintain the car well and it will last 4ever. We have a member here with 140K miles on his 97 5spd and he runs 13.9 NA. Fock ye the maxima is reliable. I look at a maxima with 100K miles the same way I do at one with 20K.

yeah i feel the maxima is a good running car too, whats yalls opinon with putting miles on it, with boost?

let's see. i am a college student. i drive my maxima to college and back home everyday. so in conclusion, the maxima is a good college car.

yea, reliable, fun, roomy and cheap transportation..

what else can you want in a college car?



I got mine in august with 115k miles, from sept to december, i drove 800-1,000 miles a week. 180 mile round trip to school, and a lot of driving to work and back. It was my work vehicle, my primary transportation to work, school, hang out, have fun, my closet, my bookshelf and even my moving car.. I hauled a trunk and interior full of stuff 95 miles to my new apartment and i managed to fit in everything i needed short of a bed..

and it didn't give a single problem during the course of the semester.


I wouldn't even think of owning anything else unless i tripped over a large bag of cash.

I'm not boosted, so I can't really answer the question about the reliability of a boosted Maxima, but I can give you my impressions of the Maxima as a college car...

I went from a 93 Corolla to the Maxima, and the maxima has been better in that it has a lot more room for stuff, it impresses the ladies (not talking like oooh look at his 350Z impress but some dig the maxima, and it looks classy anyways) and it's generally better to drive long distance as compared to the Corolla, which was so buzzy on those long trips, and the bass rattled every part of the car - without a sub.

But still (after 1 1/2 years with the max in college) reliability wise, it hasn't held up as well as the corolla, it also sucks a lot more fuel, which bugs me because all my paychecks go to either food, gas, mods, or the Nissan dealer. Which brings me to another point - I was never tempted to mod the corolla, thus saving money. I've dumped more money than I can count into modding the Maxima.

I still like it as my college car though.

i've taken 10 numerous times but most of them are girls.
im in college and people love the max and especially the leather. its a great college car except when people steal 1 windshield wiper.

Im in college and got another max...personally I think its a great college car!

college student here also...no big problems so far, jus a lot of money on gas.
problem i had was blown rear struts

btw, i have a 99 with 52k miles..bought used 2 yrs ago

only old ladies are allowed to drive maxima's, not college students!

i drive mine to school and work, got hella door dings tho

the maxima is an unbelievably reliable car, aside from a-holes that hit your car in the parking lots. Grrr...

cant say im a true college guy yet (still in high school, senior), but i do take college classes. I bought the car because of its rock solid (engine wise) reputation. Ive onwed it since december and it hasnt had any problems, save for a loose alternator belt. That aside shes been great. Oh yeah, and the fuel economy isnt bad, i get about 22mpg. Not to shabby for a car which gets floored alot. If i choose to baby it to save gas, ive reached as high as 25mpg.

This car is bigger in every way over my last two cars (weight, motor size, etc etc) and still gets better mpg....


eric

yea its a good college car but be prepared for it to transform into a backpack/file cabinet on wheels

I think Maxima's are great cars. I'm in the Navy and do a lot of driving - I've taken my car on many long trips and haven't had any major problems. I've driven from Chicago, IL to Pensacola, Fl (once) from P-cola to Virginia beach, Va (about 8 times now). The biggest problem so far is the one I have now and that's changing the Engine coolant temp sensor. My maxima's been very reliable (107,000 miles)

It's a great college car... low cost, tons of space inside, pretty much completely reliable, and good mileage on the highway. The downside is the less-than-great mileage in the city. My Max has moved me into apartments, handled the nastiest roads I could throw at it, and has never left me stranded (dead battery doesn't count) or with any kind of repair bill over $250. I don't think I could recommend another car... no, really, I don't recommend anything else. For the money these cars can't be beat.

great college car! i love mine. they're nice looking, reliable, comfortably fits 5 people...and with the low resale value, affordable and a great deal.

You forgot to mention it is the car your friends beat on as well.

For all you college students:

If you're in college and have a Max, consider yourself very lucky. I can only wish that I could have been in your shoes while I was in school. I'm 2 years out of school and I consider myself lucky to be driving one now.

For the record, my college cars were some size 10 timbos and a $150 mountain bike.

Hell yeah, the Max ia a great college car. Its a great car period.

IMO it is because it's great for moving stuff, it's spacious on long drives. It's reliable. Chicks dig it

I had my 93 se back in college. I beat the **** out of it and drove about 130 miles a day from school to home to work and back home every day. Man full time student and full time 2nd shift killed me but it all payed off

College = sex
Maxima = big back seat
sex + big back seat = Maxima + College

I think Maxima is an "OK" car for a college student, the two main disadvantages is that it needs premium gas and if something goes wrong it's pretty expensive to fix (as far as OE parts go at least).

The advantages are it's large comfortable car that is fun to drive...

well I admit I used 87 octane in my 93 but that was before I cared about anything but loud stereo. Now I'm more into performance and handling so i'm still stuck with the bose

hell yeah.

Thats why i dont wanna take mine to college. My car has maybe one ding in the body molding and a veeery small dent in the roof from the neighborhood kids who like to kick their ball in the air and not care where it lands . Those 2 dings are enough for me and i dont really want anymore, but yet im forced to take it to college since it would be pretty impractical to purchase another car just for college. So this summer may be the last few months of being ding free......


-Steve

heh are your parents going to be paying your gas bills? The max isn't the greatest for gas mileage.

With age, all cars will have some sort of problems but to fix your problem, I bet the hose that runs from the reservoir to the rack is a bit loose. I had the same problem and I tightened the clamp and had no more issues to date with it.

sex + tan cloth seats = unwanted mystery stain

now that gives you another reason to get leather.

i got stuck somewhere cause the car wouldnt start...great car!

The Maxima fockin sux for a college car.

1) its supposed to be reliable, but theres certain ones that are unreliable. And the repairs can be expensive. Namely the differential carrier bearings in a 5 speed transmission. A few other crippling potentials include the crankshaft position sensor (mine failed). Stuff that can break and is expensive to repair: coil packs (bout $80-100), leaky rear main seal (rare, but it happened to mine), transmission. Oh yea and the darn Bose radio's CD player tends to be a bit flakey.

2) Since you are in college, you arent yet a family man, so dont buy a family car. Get something thats more suited for your age= 2 doors, removeable top, etc. This may or may not be a consideration, but you arent gonna pick up too many women with a Maxima. Personally, I dont want a girl to date me because of what kinda car I drive, but its a consideration.

3) Check the insurance rates out. For me, the maxima was expensive as ***** to insure. To put it in perspective I now have a C5 Corvette. I am 21, young male and not married. With the same coverage, the only variables being the car and the addition of a good grades discount, the maxima ran $1500 /year, and the Corvette is $1600/year. Go figure. So either a) a C5 corvette (one of the most deadly cars) is relatively cheap to insure, or b) the maxima is expensive to insure.

4) if you get a 95-96, since you are in college theres a high probability you will crash. Be forewarned that the 95-96's are flimsy as ***** and did really poor in crash test ratings, high and low speed.

5) if you do alot of night driving which I'm sure you will as a student, save the $ to get a HID kit, or a better car. The 9004 headlights are horrible. They are so dim that you cant see a thing.

your exaggerating about certain things. Insurance is purely based on company, state, etc etc. Mine is $1282/every 6months. Yes the 95-96s didnt score well in crash tests, but they arent flimsy. You can also just get an HID kit for the maxima. The 9004s arent THAT bad, get aftermarket brighter bulbs. If you think the max is expensive to repair, wait till something on the C5 goes


eric

By your logic eric, *nobody* should own a max. Sounds more like you're describing a Trabant than a Max. Jeez.

Anyways, I'm not sure the max makes for an ideal college car (insurance, mileage), but if you happened to have one in college, then you should be pretty pleased. Treat the car decent and you should have great reliability. If you have friends, the back seats come in handy. If you don't have friends, you can lavish attention on the intake manifold. Nothing can beat a max for a roadtrip. Play your cards right and the max *will* get you chicks. Keep the appearance stock and save money on speeding tickets. Wear your baseball cap with the bill facing *forwards*. Spend your money on beer rather than mods, and your max should hold up just fine. Assuming you don't mix the beer with, um, the max

theLoon

hauled 2 kegs into the back seat this past weekend

Does a bear **** in the woods?