My 2000 Maxima is a piece of garbage. It has 69k miles and lately I am working on it weekly. Nissan quality is garbage, you can see it go downhill as the every generation progresses. Here is a list of the quality Nissan parts and systems that have failed within the last 2 months.

-MTX blew up. The differential wrist pin came out and caused an "explosion" in the casing. The car had 64k miles on it when this happened. Had the car looked at by my friend who builds race cars, the wrist pin was either machined improperly or not stamped in properly. Strike that one up to Nissan. I replaced the tranny with a boneyard one, 4 hours of fun.

-VIAS is broken once again- The Variable Intake system on the 5th gens was poorly designed and the rod breaks, which causes the system to not engage. I haven't fixed it, no big deal, I really don't care.

-A/C Compressor Clutch failed- This part wasn't built by Nissan but a supplier. I cannot remember the name that was stamped on the compressor. The A/C Compressor clutch started to make a bearing noise and was smoking. Turned out that the snap wring holding the bearing together came lose and lodged itself into the cluch itself. Replaced the compressor myself, about an 1 1/2 worth of fun. Nice quality part!

Today: Exhaust broke. Last week on a road trip, my exhaust hangar just behind the cat broke, which cause it to bang against the crossmember. Quite annoying so I fixed it. Looked like a very poor quality weld which snapped, rigged it back together...Easy fix. Today, my exhaust start leaking, GREAT. I was driving to school and got a hint of wheel hop because it was damp out. Suddenly my exhaust gets LOUD. Just took a look at it, the weld on the flange that connects the muffler and b-pipe snapped. The exhaust exits now after the b-pipe, not muffler. I'll have to weld it back together on Monday, yay! Great quality weld there Nissan

Sorry for the rant...I am going tomorrow to my local Ford dealer to buy an 05' Mustang. Might as well have a new car with a warranty.

 

sorry to hear your car hasn't treated you well. I do know there are many happy maxima owners here though. Good luck with the stang, if you get one. Maybe I'll catch you over on corral.net. I'm on there too.

 

the new stang is nice.. i almost gave my max in for something else when my tranny went. i feel your pain

 

I've heard a lot of good things about the new mustang, good luck. Too bad about the Max, I have over 111k on mine with virtually no problems at all. Knock sensor, O2 sensor, 2 torn cv boots, and that's it. Those things are going to happen on any car over time. Maybe yours was built on a monday.

 

Sorry to hear about that. Sound like the previous owner did some mods on the car. Doesn't sound like Nissan parts. Well good luck on the Mustang, they are indeed nice looking cars. Seem that American cars are making a comeback being a headtuner. I like the Chrysler 300C. Very beautiful.

 

bring on the stang i say...my maxima is running strong =D


Tony

 

My 96 tranny did the same thing but i rev my car super high. I have a 01 in now hope it will be fine

You make me want to cancel my plans and just put a replacment motor in.

 

I am the only owner. I have taken great care of the car, preventitive maintenence wise. The interior/exterior looks like new. The rest of the car hasn't aged so gracefully.

As for the Mustang, I am ordering a 05 Black GT 5 speed with red accent package. Im going to wait till spring and do some mods such as 18's with 275's all around, springs, sways, and exhaust. This is kinda a graduation present because I am done December 19th, then Im off to the business world.

 

Sorry to hear about all the problems with the maxima. I guess all of us can't really take pleasure in the maxima. But he!! you're getting a new mustang (5spd sweeeeet), good luck with the new car.

BTW my dad is looking for a newer maxima. If you don't mind me asking how much did you get your maxima for?

 

Ferrari=american made. Just don't get the V6.

 

also sorry to hear about all the problems.

was you exhaust the stock exhaust? nor sure if you have an aftermarket one, I'm assuming you have the stock one since its included in your "rant"

I wonder why you had so much trouble with your Max, I havent heard any other 5th gen have such problem as you do, epecially the trannies, us 4th gens are buying the 5th gen ones, and putting them in.

how long have you had the car?

I wouldnt trade it in for a Stang, the new one looks ok but I exmained it in person and it just cut it, it seems like a good try but thats all. I refuse to buy a car from a company that has so many recalls not simple ones, crazy one like brakes catching on fire, indash radios catching on fire (bad wiring, moistness can cause fire), and bad latches on the door causing them to randomly open at a turn, but thats just me.

 

speak for urself dude, and dont ever disrespect my baby ever again

 

Ha, a Ford.

Ecks Dee.

 

Ford = Found on road dead, or Fixed Or Repaired Daily. Ford quality is garbage, there interiors are crap, If you beat your car expect things like your tranny going bad early,

 

i very much agree, my 90 gxe had bout 130k on her and she still ran better than new, because i respected and treated her with love.

 

GT? Sounds like winter fun.

 

I will eventually get snow tires. I actually prefer RWD in the snow, it gives you better control.

 

If I were looking for a car with fewer problems, ford is the last place I would look.

 

umm. really?

 

Yes, think about what happens when you lose control of traction in a FWD car....you lose steering.

 

Actually, JD power rated Ford over Nissan in their latest intial quality survey. A lot of people have a preconcieved notion about Fords, oh well. It cannot get much worse than my Maxima.

 

I actually agree that RWD is easier to control than FWD - easier to control a fishtail than a front-wheel drift. Of course when you have a lightweight, powerful car like a GT, things might get a little hairier.

 

Welcome to 2004/5.

 

Before the Max, nobody in my immediate family ever owned anything but an American car, mostly Fords. I think that all this "found on road dead" and "fails on race day" stuff is all BS. If you treat the thing well, they will last just as long as any other car. My dad had a 1991 Econoline Cargo Van for his business...it lasted him 231,000 miles with the original engine and original transmission. The only "major" problem it ever had was an exhaust system that had to be replaced like 3 times in 2 years, and after that it was perfect. He's owned 5 Fords in the past 13 years, and none ever needed engines or transmissions, none ever had any major problems. Just don't beat it up and it will last.

I'll agree with you that many Ford interiors are built very cheaply, but they have very recently been making vast improvements in this category. Did you read anything about the new (2004 and above) F-150? The inside is described as suprisingly luxurious by about every magazine that reviewed it, and many gave it their "Truck of the Year" as well. The new Stang has been getting equally good reviews (though not long-term tested as of yet), and appears to be very nice.

One of my dad's Fords is a 2003 Mustang Cobra. (FUN AS HELL!) (Oh, and there's the explorer in the background.)



Another example of a Ford with less-than-desirable interior quality and ergonomics. Hence, the complete re-design for 2005. I'm sure you'll enjoy the car, they're very fun. (But do be careful in the snow.)

-Brian

 

Most if not all of these people claiming Ford is crap etc,, don't know enough about cars to even be commenting on it anyway.

 

My Max is the first foreign car I've owned that I like. I've always owned Fords and never had a problem with them. As a matter of fact my 95 Max (165K) has had multiple sensors go bad and has a pretty good oil leak, trans replaced and I own a 94 Ford Bronco (145K) that has never anything other than regular Maint. done on it. I keep the Max because it's fun to drive and keeps the miles off the Bronco.

 

ive never noticed any trouble. i actually think fwd in the snow is better cause you can "tell" which way your going to go. thats just my take on it.

 

Mainly Ford CARS are crap. Their Ecovans and Trucks are the best. You really can't beat the quality of a domestic truck but most domestic cars are crap. My parents owned a 89 Taurus and a 96 taurus. Both of which blew their trannies within the first two or three years of owner ship. I'm not certain on the stangs but their family sedans were and still are crap to me. I really don't care about JD power ratings unless I were to be looking for a car in a cerain manufacturer but I will never buy a Ford family sedan. Even if it has a better rating than a Nissan. Nissan has my heart. The only other manufacturer I can see me looking under is a Mazda. That has to be an RX-7.

 

Try losing control with RWD. The back end tends to want to lead. FWD is much better in the snow as the weight of the engine is over the drive wheels.

 

i agree in part. mazda would be my next in line if i ever left nissan. ive owned 2 mazda vehicles and i loved them both. even though ford and mazda do have a partnership.

 

WTF? You complain about build quality and THEN state you want a RX-7??!! How ironic is that??

 

Nice Cobra.

Nissan leaves much to be desired when it comes to interior quality:

"Overall, we applaud Nissan's effort to make the Quest's interior distinctive. Unfortunately, the flaws lie in the details, such as the button layout and iffy materials quality — most of the plastics in the cabin are several steps below those used in the Sienna and Odyssey. We expect that Nissan will continue to refine the Quest in order to address these and other quibbles. However, we sincerely hope the company won't blame the flaws (and sluggish sales) on the style, and simply scrap the distinctiveness in favor of a blander design."
Nissan Quest - Edmunds

"We were disappointed in the Quest's poor materials and build quality. The coating started to peel off of our instrument pod after just a few months in our care."


"Considering this is a premium-badged vehicle, we thought the cabin was a little bland and had too many hard plastic surfaces. We get the idea that Infiniti is going for a high-tech look here — using brushed aluminum trim rather than wood grain — but the net effect is that we felt like we were sitting in a Nissan rather than a product of the company's luxury division. And there were several ergonomic no-nos, such as the signature Infiniti analog clock being mounted too low to be easily read, the way-busy center stack with too many identical buttons (that one driver likened to a scientific calculator) and a lack of storage space that's annoying in this day of garage door openers, cell phones and Power Bars"
Infiniti FX45 - Edmunds

 

Maybe he should try out the Volvo.

 

Well this guy just got the butt end of the deal. Unfortunately not all cars come out the same. So for this guy he happened to get a bad Maxima, that just sucks.

 

Hmmm...interesting, b/c I hear about an awful lot of problems with Maxima automatic trannies, and at far less than 100k miles.


Thanks, though it's really a bad picture.

 

Ever have the back end swing out on you in a FWD car?

 

Uhh FWD is way easier to control then a RWD car in the winter. You may not have the same control as a RWD car but FWD is much more predictable and much easier to correct than oversteer.

You go accelerate in a turn in a FWD, the car starts to understeer, you slowly let off the throttle the car gets back in line as you get more traction. If you ever get in a situation in a FWD car where you are oversteering (rare), don't brake!, steadily start accelerating and trying to straightening out by steering. The acceleration will put the weight in the back giving the rear tires more traction, and straightening it out.

You accelerate in a turn with a RWD car, the car starts to over steer, with the front end pointing at a ditch and light poles. If you let off the gas or brake more weight gets taken off the rear wheels resulting in even less traction in the rear and more oversteer. Now this will be a little harder to correct.

As long you're careful with a RWD car you should be fine. Just be easy with the accelerator during turns. Avoid accelerating in turns during very slippery conditions if you're not sure how the car will react. The mustang has a lot of torque so be gentle with the throttle in the winter.

 

I have had plenty experience in high powered RWD cars in the snow. Heck my mom drove her 330i sport with Max performance tires all year round. I prefer RWD because I know how to drive it and it give me much greater control. Oversteer is often caused by too much throttle, which can be corrected by reducing the throttle and adding steering correction. FWD is much easier for a inexperience driver, but IF you can drive, RWD is much better in the snow control wise.

 

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Well Buddy what you hear did not contain to my auto tranny. Trust me for the last 50k I dogged it to a replacement. Did I mention that I had over 220K on my dash before the replacement? Many of our auto's place over 150k before going. Some people convert others replace. What's really interesting is that these numbers are far more than 100k. So all I have to say now is the has been

 

yes, i love my max but next year its lex for me , was looking at 02 altima, max, is300, need 4 doors i jsut cant stand our suspension y not double wishbone??

but im still gonna keep the max for the winter car