At a glance, what are the differences between 2001 Maxima and Maxima SE?

[Turkish]

The title + which engine is preffered more? The 4-banger or V6?

Thanks a lot.

 

[Turkish]

Nissan Club members, why won't you enlighten me?

 

[bigd480]

There has never been a "4-banger" Maxima - they're all V6

SE usually means a sportier suspension

www.edmunds.com and www.maxima.org should give you more information than I can....

<~~~~ 97 Maxima GLE and 94 300ZX TT

 

[SuperTool]

There is no 4 banger on the Maxima. SE's have stiffer suspension, spoiler, and white background gauges. I think 2001 anniversary edition had a couple more horsepower and side skirts too.

 

[Turkish]

Hmmmm stupid me. Was it the Altima that had 4-cylinder?
Oh well, I know Maximas are extremely reliable but how reliable are SEs?

 

[SuperTool]

Originally posted by: Xiety
Hmmmm stupid me. Was it the Altima that had 4-cylinder?
Oh well, I know Maximas are extremely reliable but how reliable are SEs?

Extremely unreliable. The spoiler and the white faced speedometer make those cars fall apart after you leave the dealer lot.

 

[Turkish]

Originally posted by: SuperTool

Originally posted by: Xiety
Hmmmm stupid me. Was it the Altima that had 4-cylinder?
Oh well, I know Maximas are extremely reliable but how reliable are SEs?

Extremely unreliable. The spoiler and the white faced speedometer make those cars fall apart after you leave the dealer lot.

well, since they have different suspension and everything, i thought they may differ. no need for a rolling eyes icon, obviously i am a nissan/maxima noob

 

[Xionide]

/runs into thread
GET A CAMRY!
/runs away

 

[Squisher]

It's about as reliable as any GM product.

Text

 

[StageLeft]

Altimas have a 4 cylinder as an option. Not until the 2002 was a 6 an option in an altima. Since the maximas all have the same engine across the board (2001 anniversary edition having 227, though some 2001s that are not AE will still have 222), their reliability from a powertrain point of view will be the same regardless of model (SE, GLE, GXE), as long as you take into account the fact that the GXE and SE both had 5 speeds as an option in that year (good fvcking luck finding a manual gxe though). The stiffer suspension shouldn't influence reliability to a significant degree. I'm sure there is some difference, but I've never heard of one.

- Happy owner of a 2k se.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Squisher
It's about as reliable as any GM product.

Text

That article doesn't say that JD power and consumer reports still give a nod to Nissan over GM for long term reliability.

 

[Squisher]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Squisher
It's about as reliable as any GM product.

Text

That article doesn't say that JD power and consumer reports still give a nod to Nissan over GM for long term reliability.

See the chart at the bottom from J. D. Power

 

[SuperTool]

I guess you might get some rattles if you hit too many large bumps with the stiff suspension. I have a 96 SE with 126K miles doing OK, but I do have a squeek or rattle once in a while on rough surfaces.

 

[SuperTool]

Maxima Pros:
Very good smooth engine
Very cavernous cabin, largest overall front seat space of any sedan, if I remember including Lexus LS and MB S class
Very reliable drivetrain.
Handles very well on smooth surfaces if you add a front strut brace and rear sway bar ($200 for both)
Bose is a good OEM stereo
Available with manual.
Low resale if you are buying one used.

Maxima cons:
Premium gas
Beam rear suspension not so great when turning on rough surfaces
Squeaks may develop
Ride quality not as good as camry
torque steer because the engine puts a lot of torque down
Low resale if you bought new and are selling one used

 

[Turkish]

Thanks for all the input people

Well, I am currently thinking of getting a Maxima, but I am not sure what year / trim / etc. will be the most reliable...

Reliability is my most important issue since my Audi gets it up the a$$ way too much and parts are even more expensive than BMW and MB...

Which would compare to be more reliable a 2000 SE or 2001 SE?

And is manual transmission more reliable than auto?

I currently drive a manual and I am sick of it since traffic gets jammed up a lot where I live.

 

[SuperTool]

2000 and 2001 are the same, I believe.
If you are sick of shifting, get the auto. It's not the smoothest unit out there partly because it has to deal with a lot of torque from the engine, but it's fairly reliable. You can install an extra tranny cooler for about $30 to give yourself an extra layer of peace of mind.
I got a front strut brace, rear sway bar, and the tranny cooler installed, and those are cheap and worthwhile upgrades.
I also have a cone intake, but it hurts the low end IMO I would put the old one back but I am too lazy. I had a modded valvebody, and while it was faster and supposedly prolonged tranny life, it shifted a lot harder from 1-2, so I sold it.

 

[bigd480]

2000 would be the first year of the 5th Gen Maxima so theoretically latter years should have some of the initial "bugs" worked out if there were any...

Manuals are always cheaper to replace/repair than auto's, butif there were no known flaws with the auto I wouldn't make that my #1 criteria...

 

[Turkish]

Alright thanks guys i mean thanks again
Hopefuly I'll get what I want: 2001 Maxima SE with AT
Any further comments are welcome

Xiety

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Squisher

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Squisher
It's about as reliable as any GM product.

Text

That article doesn't say that JD power and consumer reports still give a nod to Nissan over GM for long term reliability.

See the chart at the bottom from J. D. Power

Well, long term the Nissan is better. But you said "about", which is general, so I'll give you that

The maxima has one of the best v6s ever built in it and has won numerous awards year after year, so from that standpoint it's a very solid engine.

Get a manual. It's faster, less maintenance, less costs associated with repairs/replacement.

If you get a 2000 realize that the ignition coils often go bad on these (the ones they were using at the time sucked). It's a $300 repair if done yourself (easy), or $600ish if done at Nissan. You may want to find out if the car has ever had the ignition coils replaced. They are not a wear item technically, but the factory ones on the 2000s sucked.

Otherwise the rotors sometimes give problems, the O2 sensors sometimes do, and dito on the mass air flow sensor. I've had only a single O2 go bad and my coils (but now I have the newer updated set), so I'm just letting you know of the problems with these. Basically though it's a fast, inexpensive, reliable car. Check out forums.maxima.org for more info. I love mine

 

[RKS]

Originally posted by: Xiety
Alright thanks guys i mean thanks again
Hopefuly I'll get what I want: 2001 Maxima SE with AT
Any further comments are welcome

Xiety

save a few more dollars and get a 2K2, all the extras are MORE than worth the $.

available 6speed/xenon/3.5vq/more hp/more torque

edit: I have a 95 SE with 200K miles and still running strong. I also have a 2k2 SE which will probably run forever too.