2000 Nissan Maxima SE VQ30 from North America

Summary:

I think Nissan should've really upgraded the suspension and brakes on the 2000-2003 Maxima

Faults:

This car is my life.. I only replaced the transmission due to high speed racing and all that stupid stuff.

Oil changed every 2500 miles; Mobil 1 fully synthetic.

I never had a problem with my CAT or anything else.

General Comments:

Perfect, it's a four door Nissan Skyline.

The acceleration is amazing since the first day I drove it from the dealer, and it has the same feeling.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 29th January, 2010

2000 Nissan Maxima GXE from North America

Summary:

Not recommended

Faults:

At 30000, miles replaced all 4 tires.

Replaced many items in the last 8 yrs.

The SES light is always on. Dealer says bad coils and it costs $800 for replacements.

Almost on average of $1500 every year.

Air sensors, battery etc. Most recent, at 70000 miles, 2 new tires and alignment and tie-rod replacements costs - $600.

Firestone mechanic says - Axle needs replacement also which is additional $300... the list goes on and on... I would never advise anyone to buy a Nissan.

General Comments:

High maintenance.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 18th November, 2009

2000 Nissan Maxima GLE 3.0 from North America

Summary:

I want to buy an upgrade!!!

Faults:

Engine light came on. I took it to the mechanic and he hooked it to the computer. Diagnosis - Engine coil. Which one? Don't know, (dealership would have you replace all 6), my mechanic said to drive it til the engine misfired badly. That way the computer will diagnose which engine coil is misfiring and I won't need to replace all 6.

I did this twice. First with coil #6, then coil #2.

The car is again running rough. I imagine #4, don't know.

Did not know this was a problem. I have 170,000 miles on the car.

General Comments:

I have 170,000 miles on the car.

There are other mechanical problems, but otherwise, this is a great running car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 6th November, 2009

2000 Nissan Maxima from North America

Summary:

Sounds like a horrible car. Nissan should pull up their big boy pants and take responsibility

Faults:

I'm writing about my Dad's Maxima. He bought it from the dealer in 2000. Takes it in like clockwork to the same dealer for routine maintenance.. always.

Never had major problems. Two days ago, he calls and tells me his car won't start. (Apparently it turned but did not start).

Next day, Nissan changes out the starter for about $500. The car is knocking and apparently sounds terrible! Nissan tells him he needs a new engine because it's shot. They tell him they'll give him $1000 for a trade.

General Comments:

My feeling is after reading all about this models problems is that he may need a second opinion.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 4th October, 2009

2000 Nissan Maxima GSE from North America

Summary:

Car has been great for 8 years; year 9 has been rough

Faults:

Almost 10 years, 135,000 miles; within the last year:

Alternator went - replaced with Nissan part through dealership / cost was around $400.

Cracked radiator - replaced with aftermarket Nissan since a new one would run around $1,000 / cost was around $700.

Muffler / Cracked rear exhaust pipe - forget how much, but the car was making a rattling sound that was scary.

Spark plugs - they are up next since my car's performance has been off and the gas mileage is dropping. When I brought the car in for the radiator issue, the guy told me the plugs should have been done at 120,000 miles, but I was already at 130,000.

When I first got the car, it was so quiet I loved it; over the past few years it has gotten steadily louder in the cabin.

General Comments:

For the most part my 2000 Maxima has run well, which is different from many of the posts here. The past year it has become more and more unreliable, and I'm putting more and more money into it. Shopping around, but hope to get another year out of it... the verbal quote I got for the spark plugs was high so I started poking around and found this site.

The guy at the dealership told me it was so expensive because the rear plugs are not easily accessible (remove part of the engine), but from what I saw in my manual and on this site, I think he was lying to me on the degree of difficulty. If I can have a garage do the work and save some money I'll do it... just to get another year or two.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 22nd September, 2009

23rd Sep 2009, 09:14

I think you got a lot of car for 8 years. The muffler you replaced was probably the original.

Service advisers are not really that reliable. If you think about it, who else would the dealer use to make money for them. Once your car's in the shop, the mechanic will find 10 other things that need to be replaced. I firmly believe that a car under warranty isn't a money maker for the manufacturer, but once the coverage is over, you'll notice the advisers are more nicer and accommodating for your cash.

4th Oct 2010, 14:36

Regarding replacing the spark plugs: you don't need anything but a long socket extension and maybe some tape (tape the extension to the spark plug socket) to get at the rear plugs. Takes just a little time and patience.

As noted, don't listen to the "service advisers". They're just salesmen, and they don't actually work on cars in most shops.

If only more people tried a few of the common repair tasks on their own, they'd find that none of them are terribly difficult. I replaced my own radiator myself for less than $200 for new coolant, radiator and the upper and lower hoses plus clamps. Sure, it was a junky made in China radiator, but two years later, it's still holding water (and coolant).

10th Nov 2014, 18:51

I see a lot of bad reviews for this year of Maxima, and as a former owner myself, I just don't get it.

I had some issues with mine, but once out of warranty I never understand why people go back to the dealer. $400 for an alternator?! That's madness! The dumb part only costs maybe $120 for a new one, and less for a rebuild. The work isn't THAT hard (did my own) so I'm not sure how they're justifying four hours of labor if at $70/hr. Takes about a hour.

Simple lesson for everyone out there, find an independent mechanic or better yet, try to fix some of this stuff yourself. It's REALLY not that awful. Not to disrespect good mechanics, but when you think about it, most of these guys have a high school diploma and they're fixing much harder issues than a commodity Japanese sedan's alternator!