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I've had my 4th gen going on 17 years now, its turned into a rusted out Sbox, but it still runs, kinda.. Having what seems to be an injector issue now with only 227,xxx miles on it.
I wouldn't feel bad since you have been running it for 17 years. I bought a 99 SE a few years back that lost two injectors at roughly 160,000 miles and only a few months of ownership. All I can say is the injector problem was misdiagnosed by a dealer and an indy mechanic. The whole ordeal literally cost me thousands of dollars to straighten out the mess.
First one: Jan 2001 to Nov 2004 (wrecked)
Second one: Nov 2004-current
Third one: Dec-2004 to Jul-2009 (scrapped)
Fourth one: Jul-2009 to April-2015 (though the timing chain broke in Sept-2014 and it sat from from then til I gave it to my buddy in April-2015).
Bought mine brand new at the dealer..1998 I paid $32,000..18 years later, I still have it and I pamper it. It has 180,000 miles. Wash and wax regularly....little rust. Have been suffering bad mpg lately
I also have a 97 max, bought used 14 years ago, and has 135,000 miles
17 years Nissan Maxima 1997 SE with 324,000 all original engine and transmission just changed my back struts this week for the first time ever and my front ones as well for the first time about a month ago. Still runs like new. Only use 91 octane and used 100 octane once and made notable difference in performance and it should have because it was 8.00 a gallon.
I've owned my 1996 for almost ten years and 105 k miles of driving. The car had 100k on it when I bought it from a dealer. They had done a lot of reconditioning.
The car drives the same at 205 k miles as it did at 100 k miles.
It's been the most reliable car I've ever had. No plans to sell it or replace it.
where the heck do you get 100 octane? $8 a gallon is pretty steep.. but would probably try it anyway, I only have used 93 octane for the past 2 years.. $2 a gallon here for 93.
going on 11 years next march 29th. 2 tranny's and 2 replacement exhaust setups, hid retro's, 3 stereo's, (current one is the best) 4 sets of wheels, one suspension setup, ( complete ) picture time....
Last edited by max ride 41; 12-30-2015 at 04:42 PM.
where the heck do you get 100 octane? $8 a gallon is pretty steep.. but would probably try it anyway, I only have used 93 octane for the past 2 years.. $2 a gallon here for 93.
Only one gas station in my area which sells Sunoco 100 octane unleaded.
born on date is Jan 1995 at the Yokosuka City Nissan Oppama plant.
I took it home from the stealership in April of that Year. Now a tad over 88K miles.
so I guess my car can Legally drink now.
Mine was also produce in Japan, Ive had mine brand new with only 10 miles on it. The Black Lions been great to me over the years then I boosted it in Aug of 2013 took it to a tuner (was running EMU) that blew the head gasket. Do your research before taking it to a tuner guys.
Anyhow, I swapped to a 3.5 engine from a 2006 Maxima. I had new pistons, rods, Rev ups cams, 3angle valve job and a bunch of other goodies. Im running a V1 SC ( 3.0 timing ) on Nistune and will have it tuned by Chris Miller once its all done.
Got to pay to play but If it wasn't for me boosting it that 3.0 ran like the day I bought it.
I've had my 4th gen going on 17 years now, its turned into a rusted out Sbox, but it still runs, kinda.. Having what seems to be an injector issue now with only 227,xxx miles on it.
Me too, will be 18 years in March. I was a different person when I got it, a kid.
Still a DD, got a 2007 BMW 335i coupe new--thanks to the Max the BMW has relatively low miles @ 49k.
It's a real shame Nissan didn't build the vehicles to stand up to rust, because my parents still have a 2000 Hyundai Elantra, and it has zero, I mean zero, rust, and it is very tinny. But it never had a front subframe drop out etc.
Motor still smooth as silk, much smoother than the BMW, but of course by today's standards, not enough HP or torque.
Hey, I don't have a big ego--yesterday, in my Max, I got smoked by a brand new Honda Fit. I just said it's ok, my car is 17 yrs. older, no biggie....
edit: p.s. I was in 5th and too lazy to drop it into 3rd, so that had to be a big factor....
Last edited by Frank Fontaine; 01-15-2016 at 06:20 AM.
The car won't benefit from a higher octane than it was built for. Nissan gave us 10 to 1 compression. 93 is good enough for that.
For whatever reason, this is impossible to explain to many people....
But I've used regular 87 for 17+ yrs. on mine....even when premium was only 20 cents more than regular. Today, it's roughly 50-80 cents more--my theory is demand due to the number of turbo cars these days...when the max was new, if premium were more than 20 cents, people just substituted to regular.
I remember a case when there was a new federal tax @ 6 cents. Regular went up 6 cents, premium like 4. ECON 101
Me too, will be 18 years in March. I was a different person when I got it, a kid.
Still a DD, got a 2007 BMW 335i coupe new--thanks to the Max the BMW has relatively low miles @ 49k.
It's a real shame Nissan didn't build the vehicles to stand up to rust, because my parents still have a 2000 Hyundai Elantra, and it has zero, I mean zero, rust, and it is very tinny. But it never had a front subframe drop out etc.
Motor still smooth as silk, much smoother than the BMW, but of course by today's standards, not enough HP or torque.
Hey, I don't have a big ego--yesterday, in my Max, I got smoked by a brand new Honda Fit. I just said it's ok, my car is 17 yrs. older, no biggie....
edit: p.s. I was in 5th and too lazy to drop it into 3rd, so that had to be a big factor....
Yea it sucks about the subframe and radiator brackets rotting away. But best thing to do is have one custom made by the shop so it doesnt happen again.
I also have rear wheel fender Rust that I had cut out and repaired. Those are common rust areas for 4th and 5th generation Maximas. 17 plus years with mine and still going.
5 years for my i30. I 3.5 swapped it 4 years before that when it was my buddy's. When he was over it, I bought it off him for $1500. It had a new clutch but leaked everything, barely started, was stolen, and in a few accidents..
Granted at some point over the past 5 years I replaced more or less everything but it's in decent shape for having 220k and being old enough to vote. 30 mpg highway and it's no slouch either.
I have had mine for 10 years now and have changed a lot of things with factory parts and upgraded suspension and other minor things, it is almost at 350k Miles on it original engine and trans, still runs great. love it and never want to part with it. I bought it from the original owner who had 144k on it at the time. Been rear ended and totaled then rebuilt but still going strong. the interior is in Mint condition as I am usually the only one ever in it. Leather has no rips in it. Here are some pics from this past summer
I retro fitted the projectors myself and those are the infiniti headlights for the i30 with some mods to get them to fit but by far the best lighting upgrade ever and I have had HID's for 10 years on it. TRS was the best place for the projectors.
One month short of 20 years, own since new, 230k miles, just replaced rusty radiator support, still going strong!
Wow, congrats! Unfortunately I don't think we can find the next "Maxima," just don't think vehicles will last as long nowadays....
I toy with Mazda 3 being a hopeful, then I say just get a GTI which you would love to drive daily (but a loaded one is $35,700, and not an R)...on the other hand, I don't even want to think about being 20 yrs. older than today!
I just parted with mine. Has it 2 1/2 years. Put 15k on it, sold it with around 210k. Replaced the trans (input shaft bearing). Was on the 2nd trans when I got it. The diff bearings are going on the third on in there now. Rust was the main reason I parted with it. My rocker panels were gone. Side skirts hid it all. There was carpeting showing through the rocker panels when I bought it. I had to jack on the LCA mounts because the frame rail would crush in and the pinch weld the manual tells you to jack on was plain gone.
Mechanical besides the tranny issues were good. Exhaust was rusted through when I got it and the brake lines were not far behind.
We bought our '96 GXE in 2000, at about 80000 miles. I still use it as my daily driver 19 years later. It's got over 273000 miles on the original engine and transmission. It's a little banged up, especially due to the hail storm of 2016, but it's still going strong. Trying to decide wether to get it fixed up, retire it, or run it into the ground.
Original owner 5 speed SE now with 72k miles and I remember when this site was started. All original, rust free and no modifications. Great car. Sales guys at dealership all make a big deal over it when I pull up to pick up an oil filter or other part. Biggest repair to date has been one failed fuel injector.
Original owner 5 speed SE now with 72k miles and I remember when this site was started. All original, rust free and no modifications. Great car. Sales guys at dealership all make a big deal over it when I pull up to pick up an oil filter or other part. Biggest repair to date has been one failed fuel injector.
Got mine on Aug. 27, 1998, and it now have 118,000 miles. Biggest failure repair has been the CV joints, which I replaced both axle-shafts to fix.
Yep - I remember the days of Andi Baritchi, when he was still in High School. He went on to be the youngest graduate of UT-Arlington, I believe.
I got my I30 in February 2012. It had 103K on the clock and I recently turned 168K. Last month was the first time I sunk a significant amount of money into it. I had the wheel bearings replaced, cv axles replaced, the valve covers replaced and various coolant and vacuum hoses replaced while the manifolds were off. It all cost me $900.00 as I did not have the time or a place to do it myself. I plan on keeping the car another 8-10 years. It is in great shape with no rust. It purrs like a kitten.
My 4th gen was given to me 8 yrs ago...After another org member had an accident, fixed the car and 2 weeks later someone hit it while it was parked outside on the street...The original owner decided it had bad luck and decided to give it to me and I fixed the mashed in driver's front fender, the water pump, the O2 sensor codes and installed a new MES 2.5" exhaust system, 2003 Titanium SE wheels wrapped in 235/45/17 BF Goodrich G-Sport tires. It's my DD work car for traveling the Texas highways fixing aircraft.
Had my 1995 Maxima SE for 25 years this month. All original, no mods.
Bought it brand new in late 1994. Made at the Oppama Japan plant in 1994. Bought it through a car broker from my credit union. Has 275,075 miles on it writing this. Has some rust on the lower panels and trying to figure a way to reattach the rear factory mud guards since they came off. Have and only ever run on premium fuel (tried regular 15 years ago and she did not like it). Gets 310-320 miles on one tank of gas. Biggest repair was replacing the fuel injectors and the entire exhaust system (rust and road salt). I bought a house 5 years ago and I keep it in the garage but she has lived most of her life outside in the elements. Factory radio died, clock died, but most of the original OEM including engine and transmission are still going. This is one car that I take care of, put money into it to keep her running and she is still going. Every mechanic I bring her into has respect for 4th Gen Maximas as the cars that perform and still keep going. Also big thanks to this website for all the tips in repairs and other stuff
12-29-2015, 04:11 PM
