HI Everyone,

I'm new to this forum. Lots of information here! However, I've owned only Honda/Acuras in the past and still currently own an 01 Prelude. I recently bought a 96 SE (auto.) Wondering if people w/ more experience w/ Maximas could give me an idea of what common problems these 4th Gens are prone to.

 

welcome to the forum, im no expert but from what i know off hand, knock sensors, o2 sensors are common in 4th gen's, coil packs in the post 96 maximas are prone to failure. a small % of the 95 96 timing chain tensioners are bad. crapload of squeaks and rattles, read the sticky and read the FAQ on top of the forums in red, itll give you a LOAD of information, the Technical service bulletins are also posted TSB's you should check those out first as well. post up some pics, not like i've posted any myself but ill eventually get to it when i buy a camera

 

Well i've got about 220K on my 95, only stuff i've replaced is starter, CV axles, and alternator. Everyone says knock sensor but i've not expierenced it, so you may not either.

 

most stuff I read about is just standard maintenance stuff. With you being auto though, you want to make sure that you flush at 60k and keep up with maintenance of it. I don't think that Nissan has bad auto tranny but all auto tranny cannot last very long.

 

Thanks mansurxk and dmplus for the replies. My Maxima will be used as a "family" vehicle rather sports-tuned. I've spent too much money to fine tune the Prelude and it'll serve as my somewhat "sports" car. Besides, I just got a new sports bike and it'll replace the Prelude's role as the "fun vehicle." So with that in mind, I'll keep this Maxima bone stock. What kind of reasonable gas mileage can I expect driven moderately?

 

I get about 24-25 mpg on my 5 speed. Auto's are another mpg higher I believe.

 

You're absolutely right. Living in Cal, traffic is bad. I'll be putting in an aux. tranny cooler pretty soon. Mainly stuff to prolong the life of the car...nothing for performance.