Faults:

I all honesty other than regular maintenance (clutch at 169,000miles, water pump at 140,000), all I do to this car is put gas and change the oil.

General Comments:

Well FYI Honda does not make a car to compete with the Maxima and the Avalon which are in the same class. The Altima is a non-compromising competitor to the Camry and the Accord, and Nissan did a great job at that. Yes previous models of the Altima were comparatively smaller and it was hard to tell if they were a competitor to the Corolla and Civic or the Camry and the Accord. Well this part of the story has now been settled.

I own a 1995 Max SE 5 spd... that joker is BAD, even without any upgrades. THAT JOKER IS BAD (PERIOD). For the record, the V6 Altima, is the fastest in its class, has one of the best transmissions, best styling and the most value options for the money. Remember the Nissan VQ (V6) engines have been rated the BEST V6 engine for 10 YEARS on a ROW (as of Jan 2004) by Ward's Auto World, No other Auto manufacturer, I mean NONE has this kind of a record. Nissan products in my humble opinion are one of, if not the best out of Japan (Category-wise). MAY GOD BLESS NISSAN. Peace out, enjoy those NISSANs & INFINITIs. The Germans are still viscous though.

Faults:

Radio LCD screen - It's all black, can 't read the station numbers, went bad around 100,000.

Brakes - replaced all 4 rotors 135,000.

Front strut mounts and all 4 struts - replaced at 145,000.

Starter - replaced 150,000.

Interior blower motor switch - 155,000.miles, still have not replaced, it only works on the high setting.

Coolant temperature sensor - have not replaced yet.

Front Oxygen sensor - have not replaced yet.

Crankshaft position sensor - have not replaced yet.

Resonator flange rotted- replaced with straight pipe at 185,000.

Exhaust leak up front somewhere - Have not replaced yet, may retire this one if it is too expensive to fix.

General Comments:

I can't complain too much with this car. I bought used for my wife in 1997 with 24,000 miles. Only normal maintenance was needed until 2002. The brake rotors were shot, struts went, and had to replace the starter.

Finally in the summer of 2003, the car would just stall while driving. It was infrequent, but having a baby in the car made us have the dealer check it out. They listed the above 3 sensors and wanted $900 to replace them. Yeah, right, the car had 165,000 miles at that time, I was not going to dump that kind of money into it for 3 sensors.

Having no car payments, we bought a 2001 Maxima with 53,000 miles and put the 1995 into storage while I drove my Honda prelude to 198,000 miles.

Finaly in 2004, I had to let go of my Honda and take the maxima out of storage. I was getting only 20mgp highway, so I changed the plugs for the first time since the 60,000 mile mark. I also added a K&N air filter, now I get 25MPG.

No regrets at all, this car has been to Montreal 3 times, Colorado 2 times, California once. We live in Massachusetts, so that is quite a bit of traveling.

The car has plenty of power for its size. It is stable at highway speeds, but the factory tire size (205/65R/15) seems too small for the weight of the car. This model does not have anti-lock brakes. Anytime you need to stop quick, all 4 wheels can lock up if you are not careful. Seems like more rubber on the road would help this.

I am at a point now where I may sink $1500- $2500 into this car to get it in great driving shape, I will be commuting 160 miles per day instead of 100 miles soon. I need new struts, new exhaust, and new wheels and tires. The motor and transmition are as strong as ever, the body is great, everything works, so I my just do it and shoot for 300,000 miles.