1993 Nissan Maxima GXE review from North America
"This is a very nice performance family sedan with some electrical and tranny issues"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Both rear windows regulators have been replaced (by myself) for less than $100 (for both.)
Had new shocks (all 4) and tires replaced for little over $2,000.
Power door locks quit working a while back, but I don't care. Key still let me in every time.
Digital clock comes on when it wants to. - big deal...
Quite a bit of noticeable road and wind noise at speed >50 mph.
Only get between 20-22 mpg on mixed city/highway commute.
Radio system still works with only front speakers. Every now and then all speakers will come on for about a minute or two then the rear goes out again. It sounds like the wiring is shorted out somewhere. The radio is mainly used for news, weather and traffic so this is sufficient.
Speedometer doesn't work sometimes. Quite a few times it showed 0 mph while I was driving > 65 mph. This doesn't bother me so I'm not going to have it fixed.
Steering wheel fluid started to leak a little (about 1 drop a week.) I put in a little bit of the stuff that's supposed to fill in the crack and fix the leak. It may take a few days for this to work, I guess. Will update this later.
Intermittent problem with transmission right now. It drives as if it got stuck on the 4th or 5th gear the whole time. Possible problem with the speed sensor that tells the trans. to shift improperly. This problem's been continuous for the last 2 weeks so I'm dropping it off with local Nissan dealer to have this diagnosed and fixed as necessary.
General comments?
I've had 4 other Nissan's ('79 Datsun station wagon, '87 Sentra, '99 Max, and '01 Frontier Supercharged) and loved every one of them. All except the '93 Max. have been either sold or traded in.
I'm keeping this one as my daily commute. I've spent almost $4,000 on it for the last 12 months. I could spend up to $2,000 more this weekend depending on dealer's diagnostic. I plan to drive this baby til at least 200k miles. I figure it's still cheaper than making $300/mo car payment on a new car that I may not like as much as I do this one.
I like features such as heated rear view mirrors and selectable modes for transmission (comfort and power.)
Seats are comfortable and hug body well.
This '93 Max hasn't disappointed me at all since I bought it about 10 years ago.
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Yes |
| Model Year | 1993 |
| First year of ownership | 1997 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2008 |
| Engine and transmission | Automatic |
| Performance marks | 8/10 |
| Reliability marks | 9/10 |
| Comfort marks | 8/10 |
| Dealer Service marks | |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 5/10 |
| Distance when acquired | 50000 miles |
| Most recent distance | 104000 miles |
| Previous car | Toyota Paseo |
| Date of Entry | 5th February, 2008 |

