Thinking of buying an 89 - 94 Maxima - Opinions?

[djmattyd]

Hello, I am looking for opinions from owners (past or present) or informed individuals.

I am considering buying an 89 - 94 Nissan Maxima (not sure which year yet). I am looking for something to be a daily driver. I own an 87 300ZX Turbo, which is my summer toy. I am fairly familiar with it, and do ALL of my own work.

I am quite handy when it comes to fixing problems (Not JUST changing parts). I like the VG30 very much as its strong and durrable. I believe the VE30 would be a good engine as well.

How are these cars for durrability? Cost of owning and operating? I know these cars can be had for quite cheap in my area and I like my 300ZX (my second Nissan, first was an 86 200sx) very much

What are the Good things of the 89 - 94 Maxima? What are the not so good things?

Any comments / opinons / suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated


Thanks in advance


Matty

[Nahkapohjola]

No experience yet, but exhaust manifold bolt swap is its nastiest DIY job - w/o taking out engine (early models). VGE is cheaper to mainain, belt swap is cheaper but more frequent than VE chain replacement. Check how tranny oils have been maintained, A/T. Its a floatin computer platform, problems stay mainly at connector level - but can be nasty as on any other computerized vehicle (see p.14 link below)

[djmattyd]

Ya I have swapped out the exhaust studs one 2 SETS of VG30 heads from Z31's (84-89 300ZX Turbo) and you are EXTREMLY lucky if you can get all of the studs out without braking any. Some are just to worn. I heard Nissan switched to larger bolts/studs later on (atleast on the VG33)

I am familiar with the VG30E, its ins and outs, as well as the electrical things and the connecors etc. etc. Really good engine

I think it kinda sucks that the timing belts are supposed to be done every 2 years (50,000 kms) but thats part of the game so oh well.

I am use to the RWD lay out. Any idea how the FWD version is to work on?

As for the ATF fluid (since most are audo) I will deffinately check that. I had a 92 Ford Explorer 4X4 and I SWEAR the ATF fluid must have NEVER been changed.

I changed it at 250,000 kms and it smelled SOO NASTY and offensive. Like tranny fluid burnt, and then burnt again...

I have done a couple ATF changes on vehicles that had between 60,000 - 80,000 kms on the fluid and they smelt like roses by comparison, lol...

The Tranny in the Explorer Died about 6 months later (I think the Torque convertor or Tranny pump went)

[Nahkapohjola]

If I had to choose, I'd take VG over VE. Very easy to coach free horses via intake moddin.

I wouldnt take rwd - except just bought vw transporter fo camping... FWD is superior during winter and that counts more for me than the summer speedin. Theres no need for any works and if needed, tranny dropping isnt too bad.

Note that belt change is 5yrs or 100.000km/60k miles. I'll extend that to 6-7yrs because of low usage & cold climate, some can drive 15yrs 200.000miles before engine explodes...

[fuzzycrare]

i have a 93 maxima. 176k miles. i love this car. it's fast, it's fun to drive, seems like it'll run forever. has power everything. it gets good gas mileage. rides smooth. awesome visibility.

it has some problems (i wish i knew the first thing about cars so i could fix them instead of taking them to someone who's gonna charge me an arm and a leg). if i had the money i'd get it all fixed up.


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problems that i can think of:

-whining / "grinding" noise coming from the front of the vehicle when turning. i put grinding in quotes because that's the best word i could come up with at the moment. some of those parts are worn out, i was told. i forget exactly what (bushings, tie rod, shocks, struts, couple other things so i was told). car pulls a little bit to the right.

-has a bad oil leak (or so i was told). nothing drips on the ground, however.

-engine struggles a little bit when accelerating thru the low RPMs. kinda stutters or something. i put some fuel injector cleaner in and it seemed to help a lot, but it could've been placebo. stutter is mostly gone now. i will also get some stuttering when i am stopped and have my AC on... RPMs will drop down to like 500 or 600 every couple seconds and the entire car will shake.

-muffler is looking pretty shabby, rusting up and a layer of metal is flaking off

-rear passenger side window doesn't work or even stay up. it is held in place with suction cups. i haven't figured out how to get the whole door panel off, and i don't wanna just tug at it because i feel that i might destroy it by accident.

-bose stereo is dead, or so it seems. it still lights up but it won't power on. i tried changing fuses and it didn't work. i'm gonna probably take it out (if i can figure out where the power cord disconnects) and look inside.

-cruise control doesn't seem to work

-drivers side inside door handle came loose about a year ago and now there is a knack to opening it. it didn't come completely off, tho.

-funny problem with locks: if i try to unlock all doors from driver side with 2 twists there is a chance that only the driver door will unlock. no big deal, except that if i open the door the car alarm will go off. half the time i have to walk around to the passenger door to unlock (it works normally). i took most of the valuable things out of my car and leave it unlocked most of the time now.

-leather seats in some areas are badly sun damaged and cracking like... crackers, or potato chips or something. real brittle in some places. probably because there is no tint on the windows.

-front and rear bumper have large cracks in them. there are also a couple big scrapes and one big dent in the car's body. a little rust here and there.

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bottom line tho is that it has been a really good car to me, i've had it about a year and a half. the radiator broke one day and was expensive to get replaced but what can u do?

if anyone knows which of these things i can repair myself and what i should probably get done professionally, let me know. i'm not afraid to get my hands dirty. money is the real issue for me, unfortunately. i feel like i could maybe do something about the radio, window, doors, poke around here and there under the hood without getting too surgical. i don't really have a lot of tools either.

i wanna keep it going as long as possible. it's probably going to end up getting sold tho.

[Nahkapohjola]

- theres lots small rubber ctrl hoses. They are mostly cracked on engine side (=hot) attachments thus leakin air. Cut off ½" -or- replace all. Check correct all mentioned on page9 - if you have VGE SOHC engine (has distributor).
- No bad oil leak as/if no blk spots under. Do tighten valve cover screws.
- Check/replace?/tighten all 3 belts (see p23)
- open drivers door (easy), first raise pick the cover from handle well, also handlebar top has round cover to be plucked out, then theres phillips screws. Adjust lock switch... see http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/13