1999 Nissan Maxima SE 3.0 V6 from North America
Summary:
Good 4 door sports car by Nissan!
Faults:
Optional interior wood trim accents "melted" under the sun.
General Comments:
I read over and over again that 1997 to 2001 was the worst years for Nissan. They had record number of quality issues, recalls, and management crisis. Despite all the bad, I think Nissan did a pretty good job on this Maxima SE.
This Maxima SE was a great 4 door sports car. I purchased it with the winter package. The black leather seats were supportive and comfortable. The 5-speed manual transmission was acceptable, but I think Nissan could have done much better. The shifts are quite long and the clutch pedal goes too deep. The Bose stereo system was excellent. Suspension was solid, but not overwhelmingly stiff. Overall, this car performed very well for a 4 door sedan.
Reliability? I did have some minor issues, but repairs were covered under the warranty. The optional interior wood trim accents were a nightmare. They changed shape and color just after 5,000 miles. It was obvious that it was faux wood. After 4 angry letters and photographs to Nissan, they finally agreed to replace them. This process took 2 months time. After dealer received the new parts, the installer didn't line them up correctly, causing more headaches.
Tires? I went through 3 tire changes during the 72,000 miles of ownership. I installed only the best, but none would hold. I could blame my driving, but my 2010 911 is holding the OEM at 48,000 miles now.
Good, fun, reliable 4 door sports car!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 12th July, 2013
27th May 2018, 07:16
This is a very old post I'm responding to, but I'm looking for feedback since this person seemed to have luck maintaining their car.
I have a 1999 Maxima SE, manual 5 speed. It just turned 83,000 miles. I love this car and have kept it maintained regularly, and it has always been garage kept. I am now having issues with it. I just replaced the mass air flow sensor, the 6 coils, and the O2 sensor. Now I'm getting a reading that it needs a knock sensor too. Last summer I put a new A/C compressor in it and a new master & slave clutch. Since my car has very low miles, I am just now experiencing many of the same issues many Maxima owners of this era have had mostly after much higher miles than mine. A common complaint is a knocking, coughing, and just stalling in the middle of the road. Mine is now doing that. It will restart, but then I have had to give it a lot of gas, gain speed and then put the clutch in and coast until I got home. I'm concerned I have done most of what the diagnosis says and it is still not fixed. Although it runs very smooth now, it still just has this misfire type thing and I see many Maxima owners did all of the above and never got the car to run well again. Is there any advice or something you did to fix this issue? Thanks.