1st Gen Newbie - maybe. and sort of...

dtholmanmax · 03-31-2009, 10:13 PM

Hello all. First of all, I'm not a total maxima newbie. I've had 3: 83 when I was in HS, a 98 & a 02. Why I got rid of the 98 is beyond me. But here I am. I think I've come across a good deal. An 84 wagon that appears (in the one picture) and sounds like from the description to be in great shape for the years. Problems: split seam in driver's seat, cracked dash (shocker) leaky rear brake cylinder. Thats about it. Is lowered with suspension techniques & has a performance muffler. I've not seen it yet in person. Guy says it's good enough to be a daily driver.
$1500 obo. My dad has agreed to put up the cash so I don't put myself into a bind. My wife is not really on board - she's afraid it may cost us a vacation! QUESTION: How reliable are these cars/engines, given the age, etc, and how easy/hard is it to find parts & how easy/hard is it to work on? Any info to help me justify this car would be great! Thanks. Hope to be back in the mix soon.

82maxtx · 04-01-2009, 11:06 AM

well, sounds pretty good I guess, rather than give you advice, I'll tell you about mine and maybe you can gauge from that....

I was needing a daily driver for less than $1200, and I came across my maxima just right down the road from me. it's an 82' with the l24 + auto trans with 110k thousand original miles. the only problem I've had reliability wise is the old fuel injection lines under the hood, along the intake and such. I'd advise you check or replace every peice of rubber hose under the hood, you'd be surprised..... oh and my suspension front and back is about junk, but yours is probly better, be sure to check your rack, mine is super poor condition, you can hear the little washers and such clanging around when driving slowly through parking lots and such....

thats my .02

82maxtx · 04-01-2009, 11:13 AM

is 85' still RWD? if it is, it's JUST like the 240/280z cars, L series motors are really good mechanical wise.... many many many performance / replacement parts made for those Z cars WILL work with ours... for instance, I'm saving up to buy a full coilover / strut / swaybar kit for a 280z for my max, i've been told the only mod to make the kit fit on a max of the same era is to cut down the bump stops by 1'' - 2'' ....

81Max · 04-02-2009, 04:25 PM

Are they reliable? Yes...but....it is 26 years old. Problems are going to happen just because of age.

I have owned my '81 for a decade and it has been very reliable. It's been in the shop, but not too bad. In '04, I asked my mechanic which car we should get rid of....my '81 Max with 110K miles or her '00 Dodge Stratus with 65K miles. He said it was a no-brainer to dump the Dodge. He feels the motor will last forever if taken care of. Most parts are easy to find. Occasionally I cannot find a part off the shelf, but a quick hunt on-line will usually produce that needed part at a good price. I cannot find these in junkyards anymore in the Midwest, so all used parts have to be shipped.

Good luck. Can't wait to see photos.

Donny G · 04-28-2009, 07:49 PM

Well, did you Buy the wagon?