I'm shopping for a 97-03 maxima manual transmission but having a hard time deciding which year I want more! I am so torn. I hear 4th gen is built to last and 98 seems to be the favorite year(I had a great experience with my 97). 2001 seems to also be a favorite but not as indestructible as 4th gen(my 2001 has never let me down). I LOVE 02-03 style and bigger motor but I've read that they have a lot of problems. Please share your experience and help me decide! Thanks

 

I'm pretty sure the 02/03 6 speed manual is the most sought after transmission. Seems people find it the most reliable, as it handles any sort of power, and people like the extra gear. Then people always seem to want the HLSD or LSD model for it, which are rare and seem to mostly be a Canadian thing.

 

The 2001 is the best since I have pretty rock solid reliability and nearly bullet proof. However in the 2001 there's a 20th Anniversary SE which is even rare and with manual. Kind of hard to find manual now days. With the 02/03 are nice, but notorious 3.5 for burning quart of oil every 1k miles from what people on the forum have experiencing.

 

Any of those are great especially in manual, I've only had fourth gens and have been getting the itch to pick up a dek. If you did decide to get the 3.5 just do the 5.7 swap if you can

 

The 4th gen was known for legendary Japanese reliability on the level of Honda and Toyota at the time.

The VQ35, while a beastly engine, is a known oil burner and you don't want to get stuck with one that drinks a quart every 700 miles.

 

Thanks for your comments guys, I should probably not be so picky and just see what I can find with manual transmission lol in a perfect world I could just go out and pick one off the shelf lol but who the hell in their right mind wants to sell their mint 4th-5th gen maxima? I surely wouldn't!

 

WHATEVER YOU DO!! dont just settle. if the 97-99 body is what you like, then look for the power. if the 2000-2001 power is good but the 2002-2003 is TOO much power, get ready to swap, and vice versa. take your time.

 

No such thing as too much power in my book

 

This is what I REALLY want but I have to be realistic lol

 

I have a 2000 GLE and it's bulletproof, fast enough for what it is, and doesn't burn/ leak a drop of oil. I've even got my fuel economy down to 11.43L/100km!

 

I had a '97 SE and and '97 I30 which were great! I just recently replaced with '02 Maxima GLE and '03 Maxima SE. Both of my 5.5 gens burn no oil, but they both have less than 100K, so it may be a little early yet. Anyway, I love the power of the 5.5 gen, but the overall ride of the 4th gen was way better in my opinion.

 

Yea I know what you mean, my old rusty 97 was such a smooth nice ride and i think my fav car yet, I got comments all the time. Compared to my slightly faster and better condition 01 which I love her dearly but she's a rough ride. I'm still torn on what to get (I want them all) but I have my eye on a beautiful 02 that seems too perfect to be true...

 

I think I'm gunna go for it, low miles, manual, no rust

 

MaxLvr21, I am the former owner of both of these Maxima's. I had a Super Black 97 SE , 5 speed that I bought used and kept for 11 yrs until I sold it to a friend and got my 2003. It had a cloth interior and after 11 yrs no tears and the only things I replaced were the starter, O2 sensor and the oil sending unit. It gave me back 5 qts of oil every 7500 miles, and I drove it until 148k miles.

My next Maxima was a Sterling Mist 2003 SE, 6 speed that I bought off lease. It was fully loaded and ran great as well. It did have the oil consumption problem where it lost about a qt every 1500 miles but with careful monitoring it was very manageable and the car ran great. Another area that you may have to address is the #6 sparkplug cylinder filling up with oil, but the fix for that was to have the head from a 2004 engine installed.

A cool mod, (and free) was the short throw shifter mod which you can find by doing a search on this site. If I could I would get both of those cars back but if I had to choose I would definitely get the 2003 back because of the power it had and it was fun to drive as well. Hope this helps you.

One last thing, both cars used the same model of Thule roof rack, so if you bike or do any other activity which requires a rack, that comes in very handy. In fact I used the same roof rack on my 97 Maxima, 03 Maxima and my 10 Murano. It's the one option I truly miss with my 2010 full glass roof Maxima.

 

Thanks Maxgig, that is very helpful

 

2002 won my attention 111k miles, manual of course, LOVE HER!