Faults:

I had to replace the clutch right after I bought it.

The Transmission was rebuilt right before I bought it.

I fixed my door lock timer, which activated the power locks.

I bought and installed a new column stock switch, which controls the headlights.

General Comments:

For being 11 years old, this is one great car. The 3.0 190 HP engine pulls HARD and surprises me when I shift hard from 1st to 2nd that my tires regularly break free and squeal until I let up on the gas. I recently took a 3,300 mile road trip to Colorado and Yellowstone... the max handled like a dream and had ample power for some fun mountain driving. The cloth seats are very comfortable, much better than newer maxima's. I love my car.

Faults:

The problem that pisses me off the most is the fuel injectors. The car runs rough then misfires with the check engine light on. If I wiggle the injectors on the engine, the car goes back to normal. It's junk. $700 to fix. Maybe next paycheck?

At 199,000 miles my transmission went out and cost $1,100.

At 195,000 miles the radiator blew and cost $120 to fix.

At 200,000 miles my front shocks bottomed out and cost $150. I put them on myself.

My wheel bearings and axles were bad and cost $400 to fix.

The water pump went out at 204,000 miles.

Most of the interior electrical components have problems!

The electric window switches, back window regulators and lumbar seat switches have all almost gone out. Cost is more than $300.

The turn signal switch turns on my high beams when I make a turn!! Cost was about $80 to fix.

Alternator went out at 224,000 miles.

My car is gray and the bumpers were faded to a bumble bee yellow. I repainted it myself, but I have seen this problem on many other Maxima's.

General Comments:

These cars have a lot of problems with the injectors. They should have a recall. My friend and some co-workers have these cars with the same exact problems and even less miles. Maybe I am lucky.

Overall the car is comfortable and most of the problems are small so the car is reliable. Costs lots of $$ to maintain.

Faults:

Front right axle needed replacing after 11 years, but only 54000 miles.

All four power windows broke within 6 months of each other and were very expensive to fix. Car was parked 50/50 indoors/outdoors, but mainly outdoors for last 7 years.

Rear spoiler rusted out on one side, came loose, and needed to be replaced after 6 years.

"Premium" Bose stereo is a piece of junk. The speakers failed one by one after only 3 years. It is a non-standard installation with amplifiers next to each speaker and is difficult to replace. Tape deck failed to operate shortly after speakers.

General Comments:

Overall, the car is very responsive and sporty, yet handles 5 passengers easily.

Has plenty of power and the manual transmission shifts like butter - smooth and easy.

All dash controls are excellent - easy to reach and placed logically, with the more used controls in easy to reach places. I really liked the simple cruise control controls mounted in the steering wheel (3-buttons - Cancel, Set, Resume - who needs any more?)

The "reversing" lighted speed and RPM dials are a nice feature - black on white during the day, back-lit white on black at night.

My only complaint is that in the last few years, the car seems to have been falling apart rather quickly. I only have 55000 miles on it, yet the front axle had to be replaced and all four power windows went out within 6 months! What's up with that? It seemed that just as I fixed one, another would go out! Very frustrating!

Also, I will never buy another car with a BOSE stereo in it. What an utter piece of junk! Mine quit in about 3 years, but not only that - I have 2 other friends that had Maximas of varying years with the BOSE system, both of which had similar experiences - failure within a few years.