paulfromchicago

whoa, i can finally start a thread!

hey, just wanted to say that i recently got myself a 2001 infiniti i30 (i think 2 weeks ago).
i actually read this forum a week or two before i bought it (i was undecided between the i30 or the 2002 maxima) but after reading a lot of threads, i made my choice. plus, the car only came with 24k miles on it.
anyway, so far i'm extremely happy with that car. it's black with black leather and full options minus the navi.
anyway, i've been dying to ask a couple of questions (i checked the 4th/5th generation forum and i don't think these have been asked before; if they have, sorry).
okay, i finally passed the 26k mark on my car. are there any problems that i'll start to notice? i remember everyone i knew that had the lancer said at the 30k mark, their brakes died.
this may sound stupid but..how do i know what kind of headlights i have? i think my eyes are bad but i can't tell if they're xenons
i haven't made any changes to my car yet. the first two things on my list are tints and rims.
okay, thanks so far to everyone that have given me awesome hints and advice.

sweets_green

I bought my 01 last year with 25k miles on it and it runs the same today as it did a year ago. Also I don't have Xenons, they're not a standard option, and you'd know if you do since the light is brighter and whiter.

Did you buy the car from a person or dealer.
A good dealer will usually replace tires/brake pads and do any required engine maintenece.

skeetch

Congrats man!

According to the '01 FSM the Xenon bulbs have a cover that you have to remove (the bolts are tamper proof torx) before you can get to the bulb connector. The conventional ones don't have a cover so you can twist and disconnect the bulb connector right off the bat.

I bought my I30 late Feb. and it had 27K on the odometer. First thing I noticed is the trans fluid was way too dirty for such low miles (remember to replace the trans fluid every 30K like the owners manual says). The trannys on these guys don't have a filter but rather two screens. One screen is located in the valve body (VB) and the other is at the bottom of the tranny (kinda looks like a trans filter but it's not). Since they don't have a filter I installed an in-line filter at the trans return line as an added precaution. From what I have read, the trans is the weakest part of the car (the wheel bearings seem to prone to failure as well) and that some people have complained of slippage during shifting and/or irregular shifting. There's a TSB on the valve body (VB) control solenoids for this. There are 5 in all and I posted the specs here

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=392369

The best way to check them is to take them out and apply 12 volts to them and see if they click. Last week I installed a transgo VB shift to make the shifting firmer and quicker. My next task is to install an aux trans oil cooler to bring the tranny temps down. Here a nice little chart which shows miles to trans failure vs temperature which is kinda scary.

http://www.txchange.com/heatchrt.htm

Another problem I noticed was wind noise coming from the rear passenger windows. There is a TSB on this one as well. The fix is easy and can be found here

http://www.innerbean.com/housecor/wi...ind_noise.html


Other than that I have had no problems...knock on wood.---Actually, I forgot to mention the dealership I bought the car from changed all four tires to Toyos. The orginal Goodyears were worn out and at 27K no less.



Here are some links to other sites that you might find interesting.

(rating of the '01 I30 with other cars..at least it's not dead last)
http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/compa...age6photo.html

(contains TSB info and wealth of other info on the I30s from late 90s to 2001)
http://www.infinitihelp.com/Ownershi...0/Diagnose.htm

(manufacturer and distributor of an interior wood trim kit, if you decide to go that way)
http://www.bitrim.com/entry.htm
http://infiniti-parts.com/wood_information.htm#I30

leeI35

I have a question for you and nothing against I30 owners. Why did you buy the VQ3.0 I30 over the VQ3.5 02 Maxima? Did you mean VQ3.0 2k1 maxima? If you are not into power and handling, then I can see why you chose the I30 over the Maxima. Was the maxima a GLE, SE or GXE?

paulfromchicago

the 2k2 maxima i was looking at was the a black SE. i KNOW it's an awesome car with more power; it was such a hard choice believe me (i even looked at an i35 but it was beige and i wanted black).
to be honest, when it came down to it though, two things swayed my decision. 1 is a decent reason and the other is a selfish reason :
1. after weeks of comparing, it basically came down to which car had the lesser mileage. as much as i really wanted the 255HP, it had over 40K on it (compared to the 24 on the i30). also, i was coming from a 2k2 lancer LS (yeah, i don't know what i was thinking when i got it; i was young and needed a cheap car) which only had 120HP so the i30's horsepower was still an impressive improvement.
2. the selfish reason is that a lot of my friends have maximas. they range from 1st to 5th generations. i guess i wanted a car that none of my friends had.
plus, the infiniti came with leather seats while the maxima had cloth, i think.

yes, i bought it at a dealer. i was kind of paranoid about it but i PMed another member on here and asked for a carfax report which they supplied. my car only had one owner that lived in indiana (haha, i was SO nervous opening up that e-mail attachment).

by the way, this forum is amazing how helpful everyone is. and almost everyone is so knowledgeable.

paulfromchicago

by the way, whenever i go up a big bump (like a speed bump or a bump into my parking lot) i hear a creak (but the sound only happens when i'm turning into the bump). when i took it to the dealer (because of my warranty) of course they couldn't hear anything; i even went on a drive with them and, sure enough, it was a perfect ride (i hate when that happens).
my friends and family (that have been in the car when the noise happens) tell me that it's normal and i'm just being paranoid but i just wanted to hear it from fellow i30 owners.

sweets_green

[QUOTE=paulfromchicago]when i took it to the dealer (because of my warranty) of course they couldn't hear anything; i even went on a drive with them and, sure enough, it was a perfect ride (i hate when that happens).
/QUOTE]

That always happens, then the all the mechanics look at you like you're crazy and the service guy goes thru his patronizing speech about how he's sure theres a problem but they can't fix it if they don't see it.

leeI35

It seems like the noise happens when there are people in the car besides you. Do you have people in the back seats when the noise happens? If so, then i would bring a couple of friends with you to the dealer next time and when the the tech goes out for a ride with you, you will have a full load and you may here the sound again. If I was you, test the scenarios, people in the car vs you by yourself driving over a speed hump, check when the noise happens and take notes.

paulfromchicago

it happens regardless of whether or not i have passengers.
it used to happen only when making a right onto a semi-large bump and when i turned my steering wheel sharply to the right. but last night, i made a left onto the same semi-large bump and i heard the noise.
the noise is like a hollow metal creak.
my brother said it might be the springs and the only thing the dealer might do is put oil on it ('cuz remember, he also believes that the noise is normal).
the sound is the same sound i hear when my fat friend gets into his '96 civic.

skeetch

Hey Paul, not sure if this is your problem but check to see if the plastic isolators which separates the bottom of the strut spring from the strut is sitting correctly. Mine were sticking out and the plastic would rub against the tire while taking a sharp turn (first noticed it while taking hard turns testing my new rear sway bar) or hitting a bump during a turn. I had to pry them back into place by jacking up the car from the frame, taking off the wheel, and using a pry bar to force the spring up and away from the strut. This allowed me to slide the plastic back into position. I am wondering if my front struts are bad cause I don't know what else would let the plastic creep out like that.

paulfromchicago

i guess i'll have to have my mechanic take a look at it.
sad to say but i'm not very garage-friendly; in fact, i learned how to changed flat tires just two years ago (although, i think i forgot already).
it kinda sucks 'cuz whenever i want to change anything on my car (even headlights and turn signals) i have to ask them to do it for me.

p.s. i was washing my car today at one of those self-service cleaners and i scratched my car. i'm a doofus.
but after it was clean, i noticed more scratches that i didn't notice before.

did i mention how much i love this car?


by the way, skeetch, where do you go for your parts? do you shop online or do you shop someplace near where we live?
usually i go to evolution (i think that's the name) in arlington heights but their hours are weird and i'm not sure if their prices are reasonable.

skeetch

I usually get parts on-line, unless it's something I need ASAP. Then I usually go to the Schaumburg Napa (the guys at the local Murray's, Pep Boys and Autozone always seem to give me the wrong part or don't have the one I need in stock). I know a couple of guys there so I sometimes get a service shop discount. The Nearest infiniti dealer to us is Motor Werks of Barrington, but their prices are almost double what Infiniti of Libertyville charges. There's a Nissan dealership just down the road from me but in order to get parts from them you have to say it's for an 01 Maxima....how degrading (just kidding).

flthere

iTrader: (2)

did you go into those brushes auto wash or what ?!?

in the worst case, go into those touchless pressure washes, which may not wash your completely but only when the weather is tooo cold outside ...

anyways, do post the pics or else ...

paulfromchicago

i promise i'll post pics tomorrow after i get off work. it won't be that good of quality cuz i'll be using my camera phone (my ex stole my canon digicam).

to those that live around me and you have tints, where did you guys go to get them? i called up car boutique in schaumburg and they wanted $330 for all the windows and lifetime warranty.

the car wash i went to was those places where you pull your car in and they have a hose and a giant brush. the hose is connected to this dial that says "rinse, soap, wash, etc" and you turn the ****.

flthere, what are touchless pressure washes?

I30tMikeD

iTrader: (8)

Congrats on the new car.

I use those do it yourself washes sometimes, but never use that brush. There is all kinds of stuff stuck on the brush that will scratch your paint

You sure you want to ge the front windows tinted in IL....I got pulled over twice for mine before I finally took it off the front windows

paulfromchicago

when i talked to the guy at car boutique, he said that the back would be fully dark but the fronts would be light smoke (he said the cops don't care as long as they can see into the car).
thanks for looking out, much appreciated.

anyway, i'm trying to find a better deal 'cuz i don't think $330 is a good price.

there's several members on here that have i30/i35s but i never see them on the road. i keep thinking i'll see a modded version but i only see old people driving them; i think they look at me and think "look at that kid with his parents' car"

Vrs818

I have limo tint in the back and 5% tint on the front windows, but never got pulled over. It's been close to 7 months since I got it.

Maybe that i'm in CA. They don't really care.

paulfromchicago

as promised :



i have a spider-man figure guarding my car and a nintendo controller just in case i want to play with power.

Dust N Bones

iTrader: (1)

Congrats on the new car. I had a 2001 Blue I30 that we traded in back in december and got my wife an '02 Maxima GLE. The only thing that I didn't like about the 2000 and 2001 I30's is the wheels. Those things look like hubcaps. I knew I wasn't going to keep the car very long so I didn't bother buying new wheels. It used to drive me crazy!! The touring models came with sweet wheels! Anyway other than that I kind of miss my 2001 I30.