Looks like the time is getting near for my max and I to go our seperate ways. here is the story why I arrived at this decision......

This morning i was thinking of getting some rims for the car so I did some shopping before I headed off to uni and had to drop off the car for a major service at my mechanic.

Found some rims I liked, and I told my friend that I will pay and get them installed later this week...

Came back from uni and picked up my car. Now the only problem I had to think about this morning was whether or not I should get the rims because I am sick of the stock alloys but now I have a whole list of stuff to fix...

Top Radiator bypass hose needs to be replaced
Rocker Cover gasket leaking
Brakes to be replaced next service
Steering rack leaking
Power steering pump leaking
3x Seiged Spark Plugs
Slightly Noisy lifters

Estimated cost: $2000 - $3000+

I know that my car is worth around $8000 (or maybe around $7000 with the slight body damage), but I find it not to be worth repairing these and finding out later on down the track there are more problems.

Over the past few months I have been tossing over whether to get another car and sell the maxima or keep it, do it up, and purchase an investment property.

Don't get me wrong... I love my car, I enjoy driving it everywhere. It's pretty well maintained and also runs really well / nice to drive. But know I'm just frustrated that I have to repair so many things just to get it ok again.

As for the next car, I'm looking at the following cars (i'm not sure what you guys call them up there), an 1990-1993 Silvia (I think these are S13s) or a 180sx, a R33 GTST Skyline (I'm too poor to buy a GTR!!), or a Supra (probably a NA version).

At the moment I'm swaying towards the supra... yeah I know its non turbo but the turbo version costs another 10K but if you install the turbo yourself (or a mechiee) you can get it done for around $3-5K depending on the setup

If I do sell the max, it will probably be in November, but I would like to say that over the past year of being a member in this great club (even though its based in the US!), I have found the advice that you have given me and even the other members on the board useful!

I'll keep you updated on what car i getnext and how much I sold the max for.

NOTE: All prices are quoted in Australian Dollars not US!

 

2 - 3K ?? damn are they putting in a whole new motor ? doing all that stuff yourself is not hard at all ! the valve cover gasket, bypass hose, brakes, power steering pump and hose, ect... oh wait thats not in american dollars. so whats that in american dollars it cant be that much different, or can it? neway save yourself a ton of cash and do those yourself, dont pay all that labor to a mechanic when you can easily fix those things yourself. the only time my car ever goes to a mechanic would be for something MAJOR that you may need a special tool that i dont have and even then i look into the price of the tool before i send it to the mechanic.

 

I'd love to do it all myself but there aren't really alot of 3rd gens running around... and also there aren't alot of 3rd Gen wrecks down here... hence it being alot of money to get replacement parts! The aftermarket parts that I have been buying for the max (ie FSTB) have been from the US.

 

oh wow diddnt realize you werent in the good old USA. so i assume just going to a parts store and getting regular OEM replacements is hard to get ? cause the things your describing that need to be fixed dont need to be aftermarket. OEM will be ok.

 

LOL.... sorry bout the misunderstanding... my bad...

Basically parts in general are pretty hard to get for the Maxima down here... we have a OEM parts store called Repco down here, and I'll try to see how much the parts are that i can get over the counter.

I'm not very mechanically inclined but I do know how to replace hoses and minor stuff... looks like I'll have to drain my coolant (its just new)... I'll pop it in a bucket and reuse it... save the environment!

Rocker covers and seiged spark plugs I don't know how to do... I'll leave that to the pros.

Brakes.... will cost around $200-$250 front and back installed.

Or I can sell the car, get a personal loan of around another $12K and buy the supra! which pumps out waaaayyy more power and its rear wheel drive!

I know that its toyota but can i say SHIFT_Drift?!

I'll be taking the supra for a test drive on Tuesday... I'll pop some pics up when I do

 

8k for a 1990 maxima

where'd you come up with that?

 

australian$

 

yeah i noticed that after i posted and didn't feel like deleting it...

 

chris your friends with binh lee right? im also good friends with him, i was with him this weekend and he said he knew you... ok that was off the subject... how much is 8k in us dollars?

 

8,000.00 AUD
Australia Dollars = 5,515.89 USD
United States Dollars
1 AUD = 0.689487 USD 1 USD = 1.45035 AUD

Used cars fetch a fair bit down here... cause a lot of people like to buy new cars instead of buying a used one.

 

That would seem counter-intuitive to me. usually a lot of new car purchases means more used cars for sale. meaning supply is greater than demand and prices should go down not up.
Guess standard economics don't apply "down there"

 

The government, doesn't charge much stamp on newer cars hence the older generation and large companies buying fleets of new cars (I know my neighbour drives a brand new V6 Commodore for around $25K), and also alot of young people are at this time of year wanting to purchase a vehicle because they are now allowed to drive (Drivers Permit on 18 - Unlike in the US when you can drive when your are 15 or something).

The common cars we have down here are either a Ford Falcon or a Holden Commodore (also known as a Lumina). The Japanese imports are starting to gain in popularity hense some imports such as an old R32 raching prices at around $15K (which is around the same price as an R33).

I also need to remind you that we also get charged a **** load of tax! (our cigarettes have a 75% tax charge on top of the cost price)

 

sorry to hear that you and your max may be heading your seperate ways...I'll be in that situation come December and January. I'll either get another Maxima (5spd VQ30DE is preferred) or a 240SX (the S14 chassis, preferrably a 97-98) and work on that. I love maximas, and I'm gonna hate getting rid of mine.

 

So you would rather sell the max, spend an additional $12K AUD not including any mods for another car as opposed to $2-3K AUD and just fixing what is wrong. Am I missing something other than the whole RWD and drift thing???

 

you really cant compare a vg auto max to a supra "hope its a 5spd" i know which one id take

 

haven't really caught up with him lately....guess he's back at school...

 

If you can fix some of the problem and send it in for the rest, you can probably save $1000AUS, and still keep your maxima!
Supra? It's a totally different thing. Just like compare kangaroo with zebra. I won't give up my maxima as long as it runs. My black beauty has 240k on it, and still runs great! Just bought a junk yard spindle to replace mine for $45. Oh, by the way, that 240k miles equals to 386k kilometers.

 

Hey chavez, i'd shop around on those repairs! Even in aussie dollars, thats still bloody expensive! Even buying new parts through repco here in NZ would cost under $500, and a good mechanic wouldn't take more than a day to do everything.. Although i've heard aussies like to charge like wounded bulls.. hehe..

Good luck dude!

BTW: We're gonna kick your butt at the world cup!!

 

Aussie Aussie Aussie... oi oi oi!!!!

:P

I've gotten the loan approved today and basically will need to sign the paper work. I also have a few cars already lined up to check out this week.

Yeah i know that repairs will be a bit better, but the way its going, it seems to be slowly breaking down (I have to repair something minor every month), so a newer car will be a good option, even though I know that there will still be problems and stuff that will need to be fixed.

I've been planning to purchase another car for a while now so its not really an impulse thing.

 

Well, you gotta do what you gotta do, bro!

 

Will selling the max bring a tear to your eye b/c i am in tears right now.

 

Here are some pics of the new car... I have been hauled off to the 'other' dark side... lol

More pictures here
http://www.freakgamer.com/album_cat.php?cat_id=8

 

turbo? cant really tell from the pic, im assuming not since I can't see a turbo from that angle.

 

Non turbo... too expensive for twin turbo (both maintenance and initial costs!)... I'll be getting a single turbo kit for it later next year, easier to maintain and has more potential to it.

 

ack!! I've always hated the wing on the supra...and the exhaust is wannabe turbo setup it looks like...pretty nice though

 

Hey its how i got it... i'm not complaining lol

Saves me some mulah on purchasing aftermarket mods for a while.