The 3.5L VQ engines (not sure what year they introduced them) are prone to burning oil but it's not too bad. It's a manual so you should be fine in terms of avoiding transmission issues (the 6 speed auto on the 04-06 models is literally a ticking time bomb). VQs have a tendency to have the timing chain need servicing somewhat prematurely so make sure to have that checked out.
Other than that they make reliable cars even if the paint quality of Nissan cars isn't the greatest. Electrics for that gen are usually rock solid as well. Crappy on gas but what would you expect from a heavy FWD V6? Good luck.
too big for my taste, but will be comfy if youre fat, i really always liked the back seats, the turning radius is atrocious tho
Lucas Perez
I'm lanky as fuck and would prefer to cop a Prelude or a 240SX (but lol ricetax), but I've heard good things about these and the price is undeniably attractive. Never heard about the turning though, I thought these were relatively sporty handling cars for the size?
Thanks for the info, my dude. What's the average MPGs on them? I'd expect low-mid 20s but I'm not looking for a Prius so that's fine.
Aiden Green
I don't know about the VQ25DE but fuck the QR25DE
all im gonna say
Easton Butler
Check the radiator support. On this gen they're prone to rusting out entirely.
Jonathan Walker
>cop a Prelude or a 240SX you might just start a shit-throwing fest here, be careful.
Gabriel Fisher
Also.
>NJ Plates
Bewary of niggers, they treat their cars like shit.
They are ok cars, but they handle horrible. I'm a NYC fag and after Civics, sand niggers and niggers rice them, thinking they are high performance racecars. Also they get stolen a lot so bewary user.
Godspeed user.
Ethan Rivera
2k is an ungodly steal for that car.
Something isnt right. Or, the owner is retarded. Bring a code scanner to see what codes it has. It will have at least one O2 related code, knock sensor code also likely but *everything* triggers that code. Watch out for other emissions codes. EGR is easy to deal with/troubleshoot, EVAP is a living hell to diagnose and fix.
Since its a 2001 itll have the VQ30DEK, rather than the 3.5. Upside is that the 3.5s all burn oil, some a little, some alot - no way to know unless you own it. The 3.0s are also god tier for their time and even today as far as reliability goes. On the downside, 3.5 is obviously more power. That engine has some serious balls for what it is - IIRC stock they make more torque than HP (both around ~200). With an aftermarket ypipe you open up about 18hp. Yes, 18hp from that alone.
Things to look for - tranny is #1. Basically the achilles heal on what is pretty much a bulletproof car. They arnt shit or anything but if something breaks over time, thats going to be it. However with that low mileage i wouldnt worry about that; just listen for unusual noises while accelerating, and see if it has any trouble shifting/staying in gear/etc.
Another common issue is coilpacks going bad. But they are easy to replace and cheap. Just make sure you get the right brand.
As a previous user said, check the lower radiator support, its the metal bar the radiator sits on, and where the engine cradle bolts to in the front. Nissan FUCKED UP with the design and ALL maximas 95-01 will wind up with a rotted out rad support, conviently where the engine cradle bolts to. Failure to replace this will result in the engine sagging forward, and obvious resulting consequences. Surface rust is expected, hell expect it to be fucked even - just make sure the seller is aware you know and chew him down because that job is a PITA.
>pic related, 4th gen max rad support
Max owner btw so feel free to ask me anything.
Grayson Butler
That gen is truly the best maxima. 3100lbs and still considered a mid size, 255hp with the vq35de, no massive reliability problems
Kayden Reyes
2001 is 3.0 though, not 3.5.
The 5th gen body ran from 2000-2003, but had two completely different engines. Probably because nissan rushed the car out for the new millenium but the intended engine wasnt ready (and considering the oil burning issues, its argueable the 3.5 never was ready)
00-01 have the VQ30DEK, which is the same as the 95-99s VQ30DE except it has variable intake porting for about 20hp more up top. Theres some other minor changes but basically the engines are interchangable.
On the other hand, the 02-03s have the 3.5. Which is obviously more fun but comes with its own set of teething issues as mentioned above. People also swap these into 4th gens all the time with (relatively) minor headache.
Both are great engines. The 3.0 however simply will not fucking die, it really is a solid motor.
Jaxson James
>NJ plates >dark colored arm in that first picture
This is definitely a Nigger-owned maxima, beware.
Jason Gutierrez
The 00-01 Maxima has a VQ30DE-K. No oil burning problems here. Smooth as fuck, yet can still scream when you need it to. Don't know why they abandoned the VQ30 immediately, it's much better than the VQ35. Most of their early-mid 00's racecars used VQ30DETTs, even the ones based off of the 350Z.
Dylan Martin
Serious red flag here. The nigger maxima owner meme is absolutely true. Niggers love maximas, and they beat the living fuck out of them while doing no maintainance.
Biggie mentioned them in a song once, its been downhill for them ever since.
Joshua Gray
you're missing one important piece: the in-frame black finger covering the license plate
makes me think we might have found a rare non-black nissan
As a white Maxima owner this is very true. Nigs beat the living hell out of these cars and I admire them [the Maximas] for being able to take the abuse without falling apart immediately like other cars would.
However abusing a car always catches up to you; and like any car they break down massively due to lack of maintenance by the nigger owners - at which point they sell them. Thankfully I bought mine used from a white guy and it has been nothing but reliable ever since with only minor maintenance needed. Worst thing was a high pressure power steering pump that needed to be replaced. All other money has been for brakes, tires, and oil.
James Cooper
Don't forget about that broken driver's side mirror.
VQ35DE
Samuel Wood
Saw that but for 2K I could give a fart about it, I'll just grab a replacement from a U-Pull or online.
Yeah that's why I thought this was too good to be true. That plus it's in Rahway, which isn't Camden but is still a bit too culturally enriched for my tastes.
Thanks for the help my dude, I'll bring my dad's scanner with me if/when I check it out. How easy is the rad support to DIY and is it pricey? I know dickall with cars but want to learn, and my dad used to wrench a fair bit, plus mechanic friends etc.
Still really surprised that this car handles like ass, for some reason I thought it was better at it for the class. Would suspension mods make it OK? I want a DD but I'd like a fun DD.
Christian Hughes
Nissans in general seem to be the preferred ride of the melatonin-enriched. Any Altima or Maxima being driven dangerously usually means theyre behind the wheel. And yeah, I don't know what it is, but they seem to think these things are sports cars (hell even the latest maxima commercial plays this up in their community).
I would avoid.
Parker Mitchell
I owned an i30 in the past, which is just the luxobarge version of the Maxima. The '01 MY for both the Maxima and the i30 had an issue with the right rear strut being incorrectly installed at factory. Tell-tale sign of this, and that the strut has never been replaced is the right rear corner of the car creaking like an old fucking boat. The coil packs that were used in that model year are also known to be shitty, and have been updated with a "grey dot" coil pack design. If they have grey dots on them, they've been changed since the update was rolled out, and will likely not be an issue. On my particular i30, the rear valve cover gasket leaked a good bit of oil. Cheap fix if you're DIY, probably kind of expensive if you're not. The VQ30DEK really is a fucking solid engine, though. The car I had would spin the front wheels like it was nobody's fucking business, which I always thought was fucking hilarious in a full-sized old lady sedan. I loved that goddamn car. If that Maxima is in any kind of decent shape for $2000 buy the fuck out of it. Good luck, user.
Robert Diaz
Melatonin would be the sleepy hormone, friend.
Melanin is the word you're looking for.
Jayden Perez
Rad support goes for like $140 i think, putting it in is a piece of cake. However getting the old one out is an absolute living hell with something like ~30 tap welds you have to grind/dremel/cut, many in very frustrating places and angles. Probably would be like 400ish in labor to have a shop do it. If you know your tools and have worked on stuff before you can do it in a day but more likely a weekend project.
People mod the fuck out of maximas all the time. Theres absolutely suspension work you can do to improve the handling. Infact id highly recomend getting struts and springs at the very least if you wanna have fun with it, its not that expensive at all.
Theres a retarded amount of info on these cars too, especially 4th and 5th gens. If you type maxima forum into google and take the first result itll bring you to an awesome website with everything youll ever need to know. If you read the stickies and use the search bar you can basically find a how-to for any job. Really helpful community overall for figuring shit out for the first time.
Evan Carter
if its a 2001 it should have the 3.0 vq30, which should go upwards of 200k with basic maintenance
t. infiniti i30 driver with 230k
Daniel Lee
I'd definitely want to hire someone for that support then, because I've never done more than an oil change/changing tires. And I was hoping to get springs and maybe lower it a bit (I want to add 350Z Touring V2 rims to it to spurce it up without dumping money on cosmetics). That with the exhaust swap that an user suggested above sounds like it'd be some real cheap hooning.
