[cumminspuller]

My family and I were recently in volved in an accident on Easter. The car was totaled. The car was a 92' Honda Accord EX Coupe, 180,000. We paid $6,000 for the car in 99' with 108,000 miles on it. So what I was hoping to accomplish here is learn a bit about the Maxima. I am pretty confident we can find a Camry, Accord or Maxima for roughly the same price with 100,000+ miles on it and still very reliable. I am familiar with the Honda's and what to look for, but I am here to learn some about the Maxima's.

What years can I/we expect to be looking at in the $6,000 range and with what kind of mileage? What are some years to stay away from? Any particular years with lots of problems, or recalls that might cause them to be some kind of lemon?

Any insight that you guys and gals can give us would be greatly appreciated. If you have any questions for us to help you help us with what to look for, please feel free to ask.

My wife may have found a 98' Maxima, auto, 130,000 for $5900. I told here we need to wait until I can get some feedback from this forum on what to look for and what to stay away from.

Thank you for your time,

Jason

 

[Matt93SE]

the '98 maxima for $5900 sounds about right.
I was talking to a friend about a year ago and his loaded 2000 model was appraised at $10,500 after he was in a fender bender.. So I'd say something in the 97-99 range should be about right for $6000.

These cars depreciate incredibly quickly, but I'm not sure why... they're GREAT cars and the engines in these things will run forever.

The main things to watch for are the transmissions in them. the automatics shoudl shift quickly and smoothly. if they lurch from 1st to 2nd, then the fluid wasn't changed on time and the remaining life of the tranny can't be too certain.

on the 5 spd models, the output shaft/differential bearings had problems, but generally only on cars that were driven hard. the daily driver types don't have too many issues. basically listen for noises in the tranny at higher speeds and play on the axles right when they come out of the tranny. (often the seals will be leaking there as well).

another common problem is the rear crank seal leaks on them. it's a $30 part, but you have to pull the tranny to replace it. minor problem that makes a big mess. doesn't really hurt the car, but makes them look like a POS.

there were some minor issues other than that with the cars, but nothing major like exploding transmissions or wheels that fall off while you're cruising at 70mph or anything. I've seen many of these cars turbo or supercharged with over 150k miles on them and still running stong. (I'm about to turbo my '93 with 220,000 miles!!!)

They're great cars, even though the resale value doesn't really show it.

 

[cumminspuller]

Thank you Matt93SE.......I appreciate it.

Jason