I have a 1999 maxima. it was sold to me last year as an SE. it has the SE wheels and spoiler. It has BOSE, climate control, auto, leather, dual power seats, and homelink. It does not have a sunroof or fog lights. Also, the guages are black-faced, not white like SE's should be. My guess is that my car was a GLE, but the previous owner added a spoiler and se wheels. Anyone have any ideas? i thought white faced guages were always in SE's.

 

your right, its a GLE. all se's have white faces. You can also run the VIN, that will also tell you what model it is.

 

i ran the vin through carfax before i bought it. carfax groups them all together gxe, se, gle, so i could not tell. it said all three on the carfax report.

 

I may be misremembering but don't the GLEs have the chrome bar across the grill? I know that SEs have a body color bar across the grill. Also the GLEs have chrome window frames, I think.

 

thanks, i think you are right about the grill. And mine does have chrome, so that is two things that would indicate it is a GLE. Now that that has been established, is there a huge difference in handling/suspension between GLE and SE? mine handles fine as i just drive it from a to b and don't race. i was just wondering if i am missing out on anything the SE has to offer.

 

GLE has softer suspension compared to the stiffer, sportier suspension on the SE.

 

can't tell by the chrome guys, i have a gxe and im all crome too. SE will have better susupension.

 

It's a GLE alright! The previous owner probably swapped the GLE sawblades and added SE wheels and a spoiler to make it look like an SE ... did you also check the rear of the car for a GLE badge or was it shaved off?

Yes, SE does have white-faced gauges. and the SE has a sportier suspension compared to the GLE's softer ride.

 

One other way to tell (though not always) is that all SEs came from the factory with the rear spoiler, which has the third brakelight built in and no third light in the back window. If your Max has a third brakelight in the rear window (though it might also have one in the spoiler), it isn't an SE.

 

The other tipoff that it is a GLE is that it is loaded with options like bose and leather and does not have a sunroof. SE's required a sunroof to have leather, among other options...

 

under the VIN, there is like a number has to do with the specs on the car dont remember but someone else could prolly fill u in, one of those letters represents the model

 

no gle badge but i do have the brake light in the window. gle it is. which has higher resale value (all options considered)?

 

I think the SE could net you more money just for the SE wheels, spoiler, fog lights, sport-tuned suspension etc.
The Kelly Blue Book values the GLE slighter higher than a loaded SE though, but the price difference is like $600.