Hi,

I need some advice on what to do with my 91 Maxima. I like the car, which has about 100,000 mi. on it. But I recently discovered during an oil change that I have three major problems:

1. My CV boots are blown. 2. I need new struts front and rear and 3. I need new tires.

The other problems my car has are more chronic.

1. Often, my car will not start in Park. I have to shift to neutral before it will start. (It is an automatic, by the way.

2. Secondary to a parking injury, my side view mirror is rather banged up. It works, but eventually I suspect it will fall off.

3. And of course, the clock doesn't work!

The estimate I got for repairing the first three problems was about $450 for the CV boots, about $900 for the replacement of struts, and about $400 for tires. One question I have it is are these reasonable prices? (Forget about the tires, I can handle that.) If they are not reasonable, then what would be reasonable prices for having these things done by mechanic?. (I have absolutely no mechanical knowledge, and recognize my limitations.)

The second question is whether or not it is worth spending $1500 on this car? The engine seems fine, and I generally like the car, but I have had it for 13 years, and I'm wondering how much more life the car will give me? The timing chain was replaced around 60,000 mi., and I'm assuming will need to be redone in another 20,000 mi. at 120,000 mi. total mileage. That's probably another $400 or so.

If I were to buy another used Maxima, 91 or 92, that didn't need this work or had already had it done, would that be more cost efficient?

Other information that might be relevant: I drive only about 5 mi. to work round-trip, and don't do much long-distance driving except for road trips.

Anyway, I would like to decide over this weekend what to do, so all and any feedback other than flaming would be greatly appreciated. I have learned a lot from this forum, and I am always impressed at the utility of the opinions expressed.

Thanks in advance.

 

Eh, those costs seem a little high. But ave if you don't know a good mechanic. All of those things are normal things that all cars of this vintage need. Once you get these done, the car should be ready to run forever.

$1500 seems like alot but again, you are paying someone and not doing anything yourself. Most of us do our own maintainance to keep our ownership costs down. You could buy another maxima but then you have to sell your current one.

The start/Park/Neutral thing is probably the shifter mechanism start lockout. It's under the shift boot/console I believe. Do a search on this and read the explainations.

Best thing is to get 3-4 quotes and see what you get for the repair costs.

 

900 dollars for struts is insane. you could purchase a set of kyb gr2s for around 210 and pay maybe a 100 dollars at most to get them installed. as for the cv boots im assuming you would be getting new joints so for 450 dollars it isnt too bad of a orice installed. 13 years is a long time to have a maxima...i would suggest getting a newer car but if your finaancial situation wont allow it then you gotta do what you gotta do to repair it. oh and if your tires are so worn to the point of being dangerous i suggest you replace them and not deal with em. hope i was of some help!
Steve

 

If you find a 91 or 92 Max that doesn't need that much work, you will pay a lot more than $1500 for it. Check out ebay, for example. First of all, 100K for a 91 Max is just the break-in period. If you take care of that engine, you can easily get 200K plus out of it. I have 177K on my 90 GXE, and there's a ton of people on here that have a lot more than that. Yes, there are things that need to be fixed and replaced, but that is true on any car. My suggestion is that you find someone who will do the work for a lot less than you've been quoted, or better yet, try some things yourself. At least with this car, you know what you've got. Buying another one doesn't guarantee you won't have to do the same things to it at some point...just my .02

 

the cv boot price is high. Is it hte outer and inner on both sides. Look in the pennysaver or other places, you should be able to get ti done for about $300. If the axles need to be replaced (if you hear clicking), it will be a bit more

what sort of tires are you getting for $400?
1) Don't get performance tires if you don't need them - sounds like you don't
2) Get a lower warrenty on the tires - especially if you plan on getting rid of the car
3) Check costco or america's tire for prices

Also, you can get by with worn struts, it's not good, but you can do it. Just expect longer stopping distances and a crappy ride.

The other stuff is pretty simple. I'd keep the car and fix it.

Unless you can afford a new car, any used car you buy may cost you just as much/more since you don't know the previous history.

 

Thanks for all the helpful information, this is a great forum.

I am really curious if it is true that I can get by for a while with tired struts. But is it safe to drive with these struts. I don't really mind if the handling is slightly less than optimal, or braking takes slightly longer.

Is it true that I can drive with the broken CV boots for a while, like several months? Or should I have it fixed right away? (I have no idea how long the boots have been broken.)

My sense is that it makes sense to just do the repairs, as I really like my car, and there's no new car or even a reasonable use car that I can buy for $1500.

 

Once you get into that kind of money for repairs, it can be hard to decide what to do. When I had to replace the auto tranny in my GXE ($1800) I thought about it for a while before I did it. But it also had 175K on it at the time. I came to the same conclusion as you did, that it was probably better to fix the car.

As far as the repairs, it depends on how bad the struts are. If you are bottoming out over every little bump, then you'd better replace them sooner than later. Mine had original struts on it until 175K, and although they were pretty soft, they weren't totally dead. Still depends on how it has been driven. Tires i would do right away, same with brakes. Those 2 are major safety issues that you don't want to mess with. Struts can be too, if REALLY worn. CV Joints are not as bad- by the time most people discover the boots are torn, they have already been driving around like that for quite a while anyway. If they are starting to click real bad, then I'd speed up the time frame. If not, you could go a LITTLE while without replacing them. One point on those, though- a lot of times it costs just as much to replace the whole axle as it does to replace the joints, so go with the axle. Also, if one side is ripped, chances are the other will go soon too (mine did) so might as well do both of them.

 

Yeah, that estimate seems rather high. Instead of just replacing the CV Boots, I had a local shop replace the front axels with the CV boots with reman's & it cost $180 Parts & Labor. I purchased Front struts at the same time for $140/pair and the same mechanic said he would install for $30/side. And as for tires, just shop around but keep in mind that the prices that Tire shops advertise are just for the Rubber so you gotta add about $15-$20 per tire for installation.
As for the car not starting in park, you may have to replace the shift position sensor switch (shouldn't be expensive) The mirror, maybe you can find one at a junk yard. And the clock, mine didn't work for a long time till I finally had to take the dash apart to fix another problem, then while I had it appart, I took the clock out, resoldered it and put it back in (works fine now)...
Ball park estimate would be $965 for everything..

 

the huge pro of keeping the used car is that you have no car note. and you know the car and all of it's little ins-and-outs. and once you fix the bugs, they typically stay fixed and you have a reliable car again.

i agree with the others: the strut costs that you initially cited are way off the radar. go somewhere else.

 

One more question. I've done a search and everyone talks about getting kyb gr2's front and rear at Taylorautomotive.com for $175. When I look up the parts, they are total of $250. the front's are L3000-30829 and 30830 and are 70.71, and the rears are l3005-30835 and cost 54.05. Am I looking in the wrong place, or have the prices zoomed up since april of 2003?

Also, if I am going to have my local shop install them, are there any other parts I should buy or will need?

Also, while I am ordering parts does it make sense to buy the CV boots or a remanufactured axle online? Will a shop get annoyed if I bring in my own parts, and thus deprive them of the parts profits?

Thanks for the help finding these.

 

bump for help on final questions.