altima and maxima owners : check your driver and passenger side floorboards for rust through. Both of my floorboards have huge rust holes in them and have heard other complaints. i have 75k and garaged since new, even undercoated. need to push nissan for solution!

 

Checked mine. They are fine.

 

The main reason I traded in my 2001 Maxima. I had the radiator support fixed by a 'rust repair specialist' a few mos. before finding out it had 'terminal cancer'. The rear fenders were rotted, when I went to see about getting them fixed. The body shop showed me that the floorboards & trunk were in bad shape too. Rot hiding under the heat shields.

 

Northern cars.
Bought a 4th gen Max years ago from northern Ohio and it has rust all over it, but it still runs and drives good. Recently picked up an 03 Infiniti from the south and I has no visible rust any where.
The south east is not as good as the south west, but the cars I have seen from the north east suffer from rust.

 

Flaws of human engineering

 

I had the 2006 Altima for only 6 Years when I read about the floorboards on another website. i checked and sure enough it was rusted though, not a small hole ,but a bowling bowl size hole. This had been going on for a long time. Estmate of $500 per side to weld metal. So if your car is still in rust warranty be sure to inspect before it is to late.

 

The floorboards are constructed of two thin sheets of metal instead of one thicker sheet. Somehow moisture gets in between the sheets and starts rusting. there are plastic plugs that go into the floorboards and can dislodge and let the moisture in. if you see those it would be a good idea to coat them or otherwise reinforce them.

 

And if these cars are ever left out in the rain with a window cracked, the water ends up under the floor mats, but cannot get out, so simply sits there in the carpet padding against the metal, eventually rusting through.

This internal moisture problem is not limited to the Maxima. Most cars are in this same situation. I am a little dissapointed to hear that there is also a way water can get in from below in the Maxima and cause rust-through.

 

check for stuck leaves between fenders and doors.

 

So there's a chance I could be riding down the highway and fall thru the floor?

 

Not really. Back in the 1940s and 1950s, before manufacturers were good with rustproofing, I recall driving vehicles in which I could see right through the floor to the road below. The seats have always been anchored in such a way that the frame keeps them from falling through the floor.

 

lightonthehill lord you been around that long? I don't know about these cars anymore man!

 

The 1940s were the 'good old days.' When working on the engine in those days, if we dropped a wrench, it would fall straight to the ground without touching anything else in the engine bay on the way down. No air conditioning compressor (arrived in the 1950s), no alternator (electricity was generated by 'generators' until the 1960s), no emissions stuff of any kind, no power steering, no power brakes, no heated seats, no radial tires - in fact, all tires required inner tubes in those days, and the lowest profile tire available was 84. Even basic heaters were an add-on option.

Time passes and things change.

 

The flaws and drawbacks of road salt and living up north.

 

Reading this and thinking of what was said by Chris Alexander, reminds me of fred flintstone and his mobile and him hanging thru the floor and running the car down the road... LOL

 

you people and northern problems....

 

Rusted floorboards don't make sense who designed these cars Mama June and Honey Boo Boo.

 

+1.

 

I have a 3rd gen and decided to strip the interior after having my wheel wells done and after the sand blasting i wanted to make sure everyting was clean. Pulling the carpet out was a good oppotunity to clean it with some warm water, powdered tide and oxy clean then power washed and hung to completely dry over a couple sunny days. Being as old as the car is i only had a couple holes but not too bad. I patched them well and coated the entire floor with por15 while the carpet was out. Now just gotta get everything re assembled.