ericdwong

well today I had another thought of trading in the Maxima for somethin else. Namely a 1997 Poontiac Trans Am WS6 Ram air, that had 22,000 miles. 6 speed, 17" alloys (with 275 40 17s), leather. I even went as far as callin the insurance company for rates and doing a Carfax report. The seller lives in my town and is asking $18,900. The car was spotless, said it was parked in garage under a cover. Quite frankly Im sick of the front wheelie drive car, that understeers.

Anyway, after doing more research online, slowly I started to fade away from this. First, if I got rid of the Max now with 61,000 miles, even with my leather, sunroof, etc etc it would only get me about $11K trade in, or maybe up to $13.5 if I sold privately. This would be quite a loss. Im not gonna mention how much I paid for my car cause looking back I got kinda ripped at Carmax (this was my first car I bought).

Then, I researched further. Consumer Reports labels this car very unreliable, and then I realized that GM is going to be dropping the F body pretty soon anyway. I also read what edmunds, carpoint and KBB had to say. The cons included cheap plastic. I shoulda known. Typical GM interior. And I thought Nissan's was bad (I'm used to Toyotas, which has probably the best).

Ontop of this, being a 97 model it uses the old LT1 engine. This one produces 305 HP with the ram air. The 98s +use the LS1 engine, which is more advanced, producing the 305 HP without the ram air.

I then decided to look on the enthusiasts site for the F bodys (www.F-body.net) and their FAQ section pretty much shut the door. ALOT of the FAQs included (whats this leaking, whats this smoking, whats this rattle, whats this scraping). Wow and this was in a FAQ! What really got me, is to change the spark plugs, the Y pipe, cat and alternator ALL had to be removed! What a pain the ***. And I thought the Maxima v6 engine was a pain after I was used to a 4 cyl inline camry.

Needless to say, if I spent the difference in money I'd be loosing from going from a Maxima (not to mention the tires are proably $1000+, and wont last more then 20K miles), I could have a supercharger AND coilovers with a car that is probably a hell of a lot more reliable.

I've also noticed many iron heads who are used to domestic v8s have turned the import boat. Dave B is one example who comes to mind.

I used to think "I drive an old person's car". Well I thought about it again, I eventually want a BMW, Lexus or something along those lines, and on those cars, older people drive those too. What kids drive are Civics, Cavaliers and Neons. I think I'd rather be in the "older" person's car now...Maybe I should be a little more humble and be happy that I am fortunate enough to even have a car that was fully paid for, with free insurance provided.

I am also very glad I'm actually doing my homework instead of just walking out on the lot and pointing adt the prettiest car I see (like I did with the Max). As for speed, I'm getting a motorcycle soon, so that will be my impractical "fun" ride. So once again, those cattman coilovers gen 2 are looking very appealing.

Green 2kSE

Eric, I'm glad to hear the voice of reason in you.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Check out the consumer reports for the reliabilty on those cars. Off the chart bad. ie... solid black dot.

Glad you see the whole picture in the car purchasing deceisions.

Slim

On top of all that they handle like s h i t!

89GXE

Yea keep your Japanese Maxima not some american
enginered and built piece of crap.( Especialy GM
I've owned two GM products stay away)You don't want
anything built by UAW slobs.

bert

The only reason that I would swap my Max is so that I could easily boost the crap out of it. (500% = + 60HP in a S4)

mmmmmmm SSSSSSKKKKKKYYYYYYYYYyyyyllllliiiiiiiinnnneeeeeeee ee


Talk is the stock bottom end of a Skyline can take 600-700HP ***EASY***

Did anyone see the Skyline spot on Speedvision this weekend (I think sunday around 2-3 Eatern, 11-12 Pacific.)