Buying advice please

theyre a nice car, but nothing depreciates like a maxima,plenty of go, fuel economy not bad for big car, comfy, reliable,

looks like a lot of car for not a lot of money

Guees if you can get it for 9k it's just about done most of it's depreciation by then.
Surprises me on thefuel economy i imagined it would be very high,

Any known faults with the Maxima!.

they break manifold studs,,quite often the manifolds need machineing becaause of warping,it can be a very costly job,a lot were replaced under warranty by Nissan and that seemed to fix,The problem will show up as an exhaust leak at W.O.F inspection.just get someone to check.

Your on to it. I don't follow Maxima's that much but in general cars with really high initial depreciation are fantastic buying once the go below 10K at that age point. So long as they are a good car of course.

Take my Multipla for example, I bought it 5 years ago for 9K and if it were in the same condition and km's now it would be worth about $7500. I have had very little depreciation at all yet the first owners would have lost a bomb.

I don't often say this about Japanese cars but that Maxima lines up pretty well on the value for money stakes. Incidentally, a good yard stick in terms of bang for buck is to compare that type of car to a VW Passat.

The Passat has represented really good value for money in that segment for a while now so if you are paying similar money for those km's and year (which you are) then you are likely doing pretty well. You just have to remember that the Passat is a really good quality high spec car so obviously don't compare anything too basic.

The Maxima does depreciate really quickly for a start but at $9k its started to slow down. No more seroius problems than any other car. If you like it, buy it.
Cheers Stevo

Hi Siobahn,
The Mk5 Golf is phenomenal but more money than your budget. The MK4 is a really lovely car but the engines in the standard models let them down. The cars itself is really advanced, lovely to travel in etc but the engine is a very old style design and while its reliable it dosn't deliver much performance for the fuel it uses.

However, if you can find a MK4 (thats the model in your link) that is a GT or GTI (GT is the wagon GTI is the hatch) thats the way to go. Those often have the better 5 speed auto (depending on year) but most importantly the 1.8 Turbo engine. That motor is an absolute gem, it has plenty of go but is great on fuel. Its reliable and very popular so parts are easy and cheap.

The only other thing to be wary of with the Golf is some have the odd electrical issue. Not end of the world stuff but well worth getting one put on a diagnostic scanner and checked before purchase.

Also, if you can get a Passat with the face-lifted front (Starts about 2001) they are a real cracker as well. Any engine choice except the 2.0 works well in those. The 1.8T has best power/economy, the V6's are lovely and smooth and reliable and good to work on. The V5 (2.3 litre) is timing chain driven and offers adequate performance/economy but super low maintenance.

The Passat's have gone up a bit in value of late so its harder to get a super bargain but there are still a few good buys around.

VW's in general are good for reliability and to work on. Parts are super competitive and as a vehicle they all handle exceptionally well and are lovely to travel in. Well worth checking out.

Sit in a Maxima of that same model, and have a go at reversing.

The rear pillars are very wide and block a lot of the view.

They always seem to make me nervous when I have had to maneuver one in a tight space. LOL,

I'd make it a condition of purchasing, even if its not due on mileage (seems to change a lot depending on market) its due on time.

The thing with cambelts is they are required to be changed every so many years or so many km's whichever comes first. Many people forget about the age bit. So with that in mind check the age of the belt as well as km's on any car you are looking at.

The age and km factor both vary from car to car, with the 1.8T off hand its about 100'000km or 4 years whichever comes first.

The Timing belt service is basically the major service on those engines, other than that you really just do oil changes filters and plugs as and when due. Although a transmission flush around the 100K mark is a good idea with any automatic car even if they are supposedly "sealed for life".

If the belt is due and you are buying it for a good price it can actually be a good thing as then you can make sure its done properly and not just the belt only replaced which is a cheap shortcut that can end in tears. For this reason if you are getting it done by the dealer upon sale, stipulate that the job is done by the likes of "Qualitat" they are still going to be really good on price but you know genuine parts have been used and the job has been done properly. It is actually possible to "bodge" the job quickly but there is a chance you will lose a little economy and performance.

What I would advise you do is to change the belt, tensioners, thermostat and waterpump. Allow around $800 to do that properly with genuine parts and then you are all sorted.

If you find that you have had the car 4 years, not done a lot of km's and its due again at that point you can get away with just a belt and tensioners if you wish.

As a side note, VW's are generally exceptionally well built and very reliable. However they do have a couple of issues which let them down now and then and should be pre-empted. One of those issues is that a number of VW's around the year 2000 era were produces with a waterpump that had plastic blades (called an impellar).

This seemed like a great idea at the time as the blades would not corrode. However in time it proved to be a mistake as those blades got brittle, could snap and when they snapped they would often jam and break the cambelt which is disastrous.

For that reason its very important to check that any VW of that era has had its waterpump changed for a steel impellear one. The vast majority have been changed by now as it was a known issue and standard practice. However there are still one or two around.

Don't let any of that put you off, they are great cars. Just make sure you allow for the service in your budget. Some people get really excited about timing chain driven cars but in the scheme of things you often only swap one set of drawbacks for another so don't let that be too much of a deciding factor. Timing belt cars are usually a little better on fuel and because you service the tensioner's and waterpump regually there is not really any other major maintenance that needs catching up on.

Hope that helps!

snap! sorry vtec I left my window open and didn't realise you already explained about time.

Well you did go into considerably more detail.

BTW they said it was a 105,000 mile interval in the States but everything I've read online suggests that is asking for trouble

LOL, thats cool. I had a phone call in the middle anyway.
I havn't looked hard at whats been said lately, you are probably bang on and I would agree at not risking that long. Also, I have struck in past the Americans getting confused over 100'000km and 100'000 miles when they look online. Given its 105'000 as opposed to 100'000 I wouldn't be surprised if thats confusing them (as technically I remembered it as a 60'000 mile service) but I could be wrong.

Either way, age is likely to be what gets it first as you said so the rest is academic unless the OP does really high milage.