By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
Turn the climate control system off completely. Hit the mode switch which will allow air to flow through the car but leaves the fan and compressor off. This only works (keeps the car comfortable) in the spring and fall for me but does significantly impact mileage.
FYI my 2000 SE auto has turned in (over 105k miles) an average of 24.2mpg with a low of 16.5 and a high of 30.1. I almost always use premium and about 90% of my miles are at 75-85 on the highway.
I also check the air pressure in the tires regularly (especially when the weather is changing like it is now).
kyle: i bought the Kumho's from tire rack about 2 years ago. Are you buying rims from tirerack too? if so, then the tires will come balanced and ready for mounting. You can have them ship to an installer or do it yourself (I did it myself, however it takes a while to install 4 tires without a lift). It's a good idea to get an alignment because you don't want premature wear on brand new tires. You'll be amazed at the wet traction of the kumhos, but they are not for the snow or ice. Let me know if you have any questions.
There's your solution until the radio pool fills back up I guess...
Warranty items replaced so far include:
HVAC fan motor=Twice (this is a weak spot on my particular car, probably related to the high mileage and the fact that it sits on the lowest fan speed for roughly 3 hours per day, my commute)
Both front Struts=early failure <30,000
Windshield=it had a small crack coming up from the bottom, below the hood line.
Map Light fixture=diagnosed as a short circuit
Stuff I had to pay for:
Brakes= at 90,000 miles, $315
New Tires (Pilot Sport A/S from Tire Rack, they're great in my opinion)$800
I also switched to Mobile One full synthetic and change it every 5k.
One tail light bulb and windshield wiper blades a couple of times.
IMHO, If you do the normal scheduled maintenance on these cars and don't abuse them, they'll last a long, long time and cost you relatively little to operate per mile! (I've got nearly 200k on the 95 GLE and it still looks and runs great!)
2 ecu reprograms
ignition coils
one strut
2 steering racks
rear brakes, then front brakes
spark plugs (at under 12K)
then there are the problems that "cannot be duplicated" such as fuel cutoff, clutch slippage, water leaking through the driver's A pillar, car pulling, lack of acceleration, etc.
Finally, there are the dealers who write up one repair when in fact they did something else.
fuel economy is a minor issue. this car has been a dog for quite some time and continues to be one. the only good thing about the car is the radio and cd changer - oh yeah, they are aftermarket.
I think you shouldn't make ridiculous comments like learn to drive. If these cars were what Nissan claims them to be, there wouldn't be 31 discussions about problems, some with 5500 posts.
I am certainly glad that you like your maxima, but I keep hoping that a tree will crush it in the parking lot. It is worth more totalled then operating - and that is a fact.
hit and sell it. I doubt seriously that the value of the vehicle
has dropped 50 % as you have said. Did you have an
accident ??
lt's only money. Life's too short to be driving around in a car
you don't like.
I got under the car yesterday and took a look. I think I understand why it is different from other rear beam suspensions, but I just want to see if I am correct. From what I saw, it is very, VERY close to looking like an independant suspension.
Makes me happy! :-)
Obi
my question is.... should I order the tires, have them shipped to me.. then bring it to a tire place to install the tires onto my rims (what is balancing and mounting??... does this equate to just putting the tires on the wheel? and then putting it on the car? sorry if this seems to be a lot of dumb questions.. just trying to understand the whole process) ... then have them do an alignment?
I could go to the junk yard and have them put my tires on my rims then on my car for probably $15... that is why Im trying to figure out if I should bring it to a tire shop or the junkyard is good enough...
-Kyle
I assume the Pilot Sport A/S are higher grade than the SP Sport A2s i might be getting... i assume you didn't get rims with it... did u bring it to a tire shop ..how much did you pay to get them mounted/balanced?
Tirerack lists approved installers, found based on your zip code. Many of them accept drop shipping, so you just tell tirerack to send them straight there (no big boxes at your house). Just tell the shop they are coming.
mounting and balancing costs are listed on the tirerack site. Mounting is putting the tire on the rim, balancing is the little weights to keep them from shaking.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
The service writer at the dealer did suggest that something had hit the windshield but the crack was clearly starting (and ending) below the hoodline. By the time I got an appointment and they got the windshield to the dealer, the crack had moved slightly above the hoodline.
The replacement windshield was $700 and was covered under warranty.
Re: Tirerack, I paid $100 to the local installer to mount and balance the Michlein Pilot Sport A/S but that also included the installation of the 4 "Smart Tire" wireless tire pressure sending units around the stock rims first. (That part alone took the guys over an hour since it was the forst time they had installed the sensors.)
The tires and or wheels are send via UPS normally and don't come in boxes (at least neither of my shipments did). They just wrap the tires with a protective plastic and in the case of wheels, they had a slip sheet of heavy cardboard protecting each side of the wheel/tire combination.
Just mounting and balancing tires should run you somewhere around $10 per wheel (from my experience).
to Maximas.The vast majority of Max. buyers buy
for performance. The Max. engine is more than twice the size of the Civic. Of course you will get fewer mpg with the Max. DUHHHHHHH !!
Btw, I recently got 26.7 mpg on a recent trip with
my '00 GLE. I'm not complaining ! Zoom - Zoom !!
A $700 windshield? Was that the "insurance" price? I've had several windshields replaced, most recently a 2000 Dodge Dakota, and have never had to pay more than $300, with no insurance claim filed.
I would expect to find $700 windshield replacements on BMW's, Audi's, and Lexuses (Lexi?), but not on a Nissan Maxima.
Please excuse me!!!!! I LOVE my Maxima, just taking some getting used to on the gas part from a 4 cyl. to a 6.
Seeya
If you're just looking at replacing your tires, then you may want to go to a reputable nationally recognized tire shop. The thing with tirerack is they don't offer a roadhazard warranty (I think they don't).
A roadhazard warranty means that the tire retailer will offer free flat repairs, free balancing, and pro-rated replacement should a tire fail (blow out, etc).
Tire rotations usually cost around $20, balancing unusually $40 or so, and flat repairs $25-30$ (because a proper flat repair includes re-balancing the tire).
So as ccermak indicated, paying an extra $40 or so more, but getting roadhazard will pay off in the long run.
Drex
PS: You're correct, mounting means placing the tire on the rim (this requires a special machine) and balancing is attaching weights to the rim to reduce vibration. Alignment (for lack of better words) is synchronizing all 4 wheels so that they roll straight. Cars out of alignment tend to drift left or right. When this happens, you're turning the steering wheel in the opposite direction of the "drift" to compensate. Eventually, this wears out your tires.
A rule of thumb for testing alignment is to find a flat, straight road, safely let go of the steering wheel, and see if the car drifts left or right. If your car drifts, then you may need to get an alignment...but since your getting new tires, its a safe bet to get an alignment anyway.
Goodluck!
Thanks in advance for the help!
How many of you out there have had a similar problem? Is this just one more reason to dump today's high technology cars before 120k miles? I can't wait until I need a new ABS control unit or, in the current crop of high end cars, a new navigation system, brake assist control unit, anti-skid control unit, etc, etc,.
Maybe Dell should get into the automotive business, Dude!
I recently had a problem with my fasten seatbelt light on my 92. Everytime I hit a bump, my seatbelt light would come on with that annoying "ding-dong" sound would follow. It was a loose contact switch in my seatbelt fastener and the dealer covered that repair.
Goodluck.
PS: Don't EVEN get me started on Dell. I'm on my 2nd monitor, 2nd hard drive (which I had to replace myself), and had noisy fan (bad bearing) in the past year and a half. Hopefully I'll have better luck!
Also, when driving the 03 Max in excess of 70 mph, I notice the hood shakes very slightly. That has never happened to my two other Max. I recall this Board mentioning hood shaking in prior posts. Is this a common problem?
I know these are minor problems or maybe I am just overly sensitive or maybe the car needs to be broken in. I want to find out if anyone out there has similar experiences.
And the reason I got an aftermarket sunroof was because Mazda doesn't offer this option on the DX model.
system which will occasionally produce a slight lag. Rather than
having a mechanical cable linkage to the throttle like most cars,
the new Max's have an electrical wire.
My '02 Max. will occasionally produce a lag but it doesn't
bother me. IF your car lags EVERY time then I would certainly
have it checked. When you take it to the dealer you can also
have them perform TSB # 01-042 for the hood vibration. This
TSB came out in Jan 02 so I would have thought that Nissan would
have incorporated this fix into the ' 03's by now !!
Btw, these are awesome cars don't you think ? All you need
to do is depress the accelerator a 1/4 of an inch and they
flat move out. Extremely responsive engine . I was very concerned
when I pulled my car up on my ramps to change the oil. I had to
REALLY concentrate and pretend that I had an egg between the
accelerator pedal and my foot and give it as little gas as possible
or else I'd fly off the ramps like the space shuttle. Hey, sounds like
this could be a new Nissan TV commercial. ;-)
These cars seem to always be " chomping at the bit ". Like
a race bred horse, they just wanna run !!
I agree. What's up with all these expensive control units that require hardly any processing power for the small tasks they perform.
Put in a central processor and don't even think of charging more than $200 for it, considering how little processing power you actually need. Then load the right software for each function and run everything off your single processor. Simple!
Thanks again,
m
i've heard they're real good tires and can find them at Sam's Club at 125/tire...
i was considering the Dunlop A2's... figured i would get your input.. thanks again guys
i saw websites saying 6.7 secs, and others saying over 7.... I'm not sure which to believe... 6.7 seems FAST... compared to like a 2003 maxima se going 6.3 secs... 0.4 seconds is almost nothing! so yaab asically can soemone tell me the 0-60 on the 95 max SE! thanks~