Lions

Hey all, I'm looking to buy a new-to-me vehicle in the next 6 months. A Maxima is at the top of my list, but I'm unsure about which generation.

I don't want to start a flame war between fans of different generations, I just have a few questions. And yes, I've searched and done a bit of reading. It answered some of my questions, but also created others.

Oh, and not that it really makes a difference in regards to these questions, but I'm only interested in manual transmissions. So if there are issues with automatics during certain years it's of no concern to me.

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4th/5th gen:
Any way to get decent power out of them other than a VQ35 swap or forced induction? 190 horsepower seems a bit on the slow side. I'm not expecting crazy gains, but with basic bolt ons, what can I expect?

5.5 gen:
Oil consumption. I've read like a dozen threads and previous discussions and the information seems all over the place.

"It only affects 10% of cars". vs "It affects 1/3 of all cars."
"It's the piston rings." vs "It's the pre-cat." vs "It's the PCV system."
"Mine burns 1 qt every fill-up." vs "Mine burns 1 qt every 1000 miles." vs "Mine burns 1 qt every oil change."

Realistically, I just want to know what I would be getting into here. A quart every oil change is perfectly acceptable to me. A quart every 1000 miles is something I can deal with. A quart (or more) every time I visit a gas station seems a little more iffy.

6th gen:
Is the VQ35 in these cars the exact same as the 5th gen? Or is oil consumption less of an issue on the 6th gens? Most of the threads I am reading are in the 5th gen subsection of this forum, not as much information on the '04-up models.

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From what I have gathered, the 4th gen or 5th gen with the 3.0 seems like the way to go purely from a reliability standpoint. But as an enthusiast, I'm far more interested in the 250+ horsepower and 6MT of the 3.5 motor.

For reference, I am pretty **** about maintenance. I've owned Audis prior to this, and as most German car owners will tell you, they are complete money pits if you aren't on top of them. Reliability wise I expect ANY of these Maximas will be an upgrade.

I have no issues taking care of a car, and I recognize that ANY 15 year old vehicle is a crapshoot. Nonetheless, I'd like to learn as much as I can before shelling out cash.

viking89

I had both a 5th gen and a 5.5

5th gen still pulls well with the 3.0L. Reliability is better and the looks are basically the same. It's not a slow car with a manual trans. Y-Pipe and headers with a catback +tune will give you some more power, and sh*t ton more noise lol. Mine sounded like a garbage truck tbh

My 5.5 burned a quart of oil every week. Was a pain in the *** and I was constantly worried the motor would deteriorate because of it. 90% of these cars will burn oil to some degree, and chances are if you're getting a good deal on a 5.5gen it's cause its a heavy oil burner and someone wants it gone. I'd say judging by feel the 3.5 pulls about 20% harder than the 3.0. Not a massive difference but definitely nice.

Stay away from the 6th gen. lol. The newer model years (2006+) had an updated VQ35 that fixes the oil burning but the build quality on everything else started to go in the toilet with this generation. Also ugly

4th gens are nice cars but getting kind of old at this point. If you can find a mint one without rust tho, by all means

george__

iTrader: (1)

6th gen are a piece of sh8t

5.5 gen gen are decent daily driver and with some bolt on mods can be very quick. I was shocked at how picky these cars were with aftermarket parts and the required maintenance though. In my opinion all gen 5.5 are plagued with oil burning woes and the consumption vary wildly. There's also the VQ35DE timing chain rattle that affects some motors.

4th gen would be my pick for 3.0L but good luck finding one for a fair price without major major woes (exterior work)

Lions

LOL at the 6th gen hate. To be honest I don't mind the looks, my bigger concern was with the added weight. When I looked it up it was something like 300 pounds heavier than the previous gen.

That's a bit disturbing about the 3.5 though, definitely makes me reconsider. Appreciate the responses guys.

jspagna

We had a 2003 Maxima SE Titanium Edition since new and with 126,000 gave it to my nephew and still going strong and looking good. Never had a problem with oil consumption. Love the 5.5 Gen.

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

Then that rules out the 6th gens AT issues.

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Don’t let that number fool you. The A32 is fast/quick, actually faster than the 00/01 due to weight. Bolt ons and you can easily add at least 30hp. It’s losing its quickness compared to all the newer cars coming out very quick out of the factory, but it can and will still surprise you. Few bolt ons and you’re on your way.

Seems to vary fairly extensively from car to car, mine has 171k hard miles and consumes about a quart every 3-5k.

Nope, seems as if they fixed that (oil consumption) issue, but the newer 6th gen units had timing tensioner problems, not to mention fairly terrible automatic transmission issues but that wont affect you.

FWIW, I have a 95 and an 03, best of both gens I think. To this point (171k) on my 5.5gen, it's been more reliable than my 95 at this point in time/mileage. But nonetheless, they're both solid cars, no major issues with either.

saig

Vote for 4g. Fond memory of my 97: light weight, feature touch steering, very quick steering response, sensitive gas pedal, effortless cruising at 75, straight away acceleration. When new, I was too impatient to see car ahead of me leave a car length in front that it urged me to overtake him and slide in between. It gave so much desire and confidence to execute that. No newer car gives me that feeling again. Of course, there are ones out there but out of reach financially I guess.

sebastian2041

Someone was sellingn a 02 maxima boosted for 8k or 7k don't remember but it had 143k miles still a good deal

BlackoutSE

I have a 5.5 gen. If you treat it right, it will bring a smile to your face even at half gas sadly i was an idiot and beat on it when i first got the car, being 17 with a license and all, and i destroyed the transmission (100% my fault) but since it was replaced I havnt had any issues. Mine personally has no issue with oil consumption and is running very strong at 110k. Aftermarket parts are near impossible to find though unless you're looking to spend big bucks. Most exhaust systems will run you $450+ and a simple air intake is most likely going to exceed $200. If I could have a 4th gen I'd consider trading this one. Hope you find a good one! The VQ35DE is a very strong motor and would never give you a problem.

FanaticMadMax

I would stay away from the 6th gen since there was load of issues especially when they went to 5spd auto then switched to CVT in 2007 which is a ticking time bomb cost more than the car itself worth. I can't say about the 5.5 gen since I heard a lot about the oil burning issues. I have a 2001 20th Anniversary and I haven't had any problems, I love it and still have her since I bought it new. Those are sought after, but if you're looking for a manual, that will be very very difficult to find

Lions

Shopping around it's a lot more difficult than I thought to find a 4th-gen without rust issues. Such is life in the northeast.

As far as the 5.5 goes... A quart every 3-5k is perfectly reasonable to me, I just wish it wasn't such a shot in the dark. I have no desire to be "that guy" topping off his oil every week when getting gas. If the VQ35 didn't have this hanging over it I'd be all over a 5.5 with a 6MT. As it stands I only want to buy one if I can find extensive maintenance records, which is difficult for a 15 year old car. But I'm patient.

Well like I said I am only shopping for manual transmissions, so any issues with the AT are of little concern to me. That being said it seems there are other issues unique to the 6th gen.