Thread: Thoughts on 2000 Nissan Maxima?

I was searching CL and came across this gem since I got rid of the GP and need some cheap wheels.

2000 Nissan Maxima GLE Low Miles only 67593 - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive sale

Needs some work, but nothing major. Shouldn't cost more than a couple hundred to get it all squared away as long as the guy is being honest.

Anybody have any experience with this gen Maxima? Seems to be a solid, dependable car from what I've read. Sucks it's only got the 3L vs the 3.5 though.

Seems to have a lot of problems fort only 67k miles. Looks to me like the car has had a hard life straight out of the box.

If it's only CV's and a small exhaust leak that's not too bad. I don't care much about the dents or rip on the seat tbh. Gonna call this guy and hopefully go check it out.

Be cooler if it was a vq35 and a 6 speed manual.

Originally Posted by mars5l

Be cooler if it was a vq35 and a 6 speed manual.

True. The guy I sold my GTP to had one of them in gold. Sounded pretty good.

Hard pass on this one. The transmission bangs into gears and it looks a lot worse in person than the pics.

I had a buddy who moved out near Lancaster a few years back. I wanna say Elizabethtown or somewhere around it. Pretty nice area if I remember correctly, but it was too quiet for him so he moved back lol.

I'm in the same boat as you, just sold mine about a month ago. Kinda regret it tbh.

Lol, the guy said it was owned by his elderly aunt for church and grocery runs. I'm seriously thinking about buying this thing and getting a turbo kit for it

2400 lbs + turbo + wagon = Fun?

That Saturn turned out to be a complete rust bucket hoopty. Pics were deceiving and the guy was full of **** too. I asked if everything worked inside, he says yeah so I put down the windows. 3 out of 4 didn't go back up and he had this dumbfounded look on his face lol.

Need some input here. What would you choose out of these 3 whips. IMy heart is leaning toward the 2000 Z28, but my brain is thinking Crown Vic. It would be a DD also weekend fun car. Are the Camaros past their prime? Can the Crown Vic be made into a fun car?

2000 Z28
2000 Camaro Z28 - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive sale


2001 Z28
2001 Chevy Camaro Z28 - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive sale


2004 Crown Vic
ford crown victoria - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive sale

The 2000 Z28 doesn't look bad, but are the dumps legal? I thought that any exhaust that exists under the passenger compartment will not pass inspection. Unless NJ doesn't care about that. I got busted for that on my old Crown Vic so I had to put the tails back on it to pass safety. They're both modded so you're buying someone else's project, just sayin.

The only thing that sucks about the 01 is the rear main leak. I'd have to price that out and have it repaired.

As far as the Vic being made "fun", well that depends on what you are after. If you're looking for a 11 sec. daily then it's going to take some $$ to do it and likely require forced induction. At 71K miles that motor isn't even broken in yet. I've got 192K on my 03 LX Sport and it still runs like a top. That Vic also looks like it has the Sport 17" wheels on it. You can add the Marauder zip tube, J-mod the transmission, change the rear control arms and Watts link arms (Metco, Heinous, CHE Performance), an Addco front and rear swaybar, KYB Police Spec Gas-A-just shocks to help it handle much better. There are also some longtube header options out there depending on your wallet.

I've got the CHE rear arms, J-modded trans., KYB shocks and police specs pads at all 4 corners currently on my 03 Sport and it's a night and day difference, but in the end it's still a heavy car with a grossly underpowered V8. But on the other hand I can seat 5 people and still fill the trunk with enough luggage for a week's vacation. And the Vic is much easier to work on when needed vs. an F-body. I still have nightmares about working on my buddies 95 TA with the LT1, lol.

The Crown wasn't designed to be fast or even handle like an F-body. It can be modded (there are some out there with manual trans. swaps too) but for the same money an LS car would likely be miles ahead.

Thanks Fordman. I'm pretty sure that dumps and EGR delete are both illegal in my state (PA). I can't even get in touch with the owner so that one might be out.

The 2001 Z28 owner emailed me back and that car needs some work. Rear main, struts, tie rods and some underbody rust (he's not sure of the severity). He also says there's quite a bit of damage to the body that's not easily seen in the pictures (dents, cracks, scratches, etc). He said the price is very negotiable and he'll take $4400.

I checked out the Crown Vic yesterday and the body is pretty much perfect minus a few small rock chips and it drives great. The owner said he'll give me another set of wheels with brand new snow tires and an aluminum drive shaft for free if I buy it. I'm getting it inspected on Monday and I'm probably gonna get it as long as there isn't a hidden problem I didn't see.

As far as the mods the ones you listed are probably what I'll wind up doing if I get it. Not looking for a drag racer or canyon carver, just something that's not totally boring to drive. The owner is a decent dude and he seems like he's being upfront about everything. I think I'm gonna offer him like $3200 cash and see if he goes for it. You think that's a fair price for a car in that condition? I know next to nothing about Crown Vics but have been researching the past day or two.

I can't see what the original asking price was, but if he takes $3200 for it then grab it. Average private price for something like that is in the 3400-4900 range, some a bit higher if they are super clean. I've been a CV junkie for years so if you have questions I can likely answer them, or at least point you in the right direction on where to get said answer.

Word of advice, if you get it and want to install that aluminum driveshaft do some good research beforehand, as depending on what year/type of car that came out of it may not be a direct swap into the 04. Even if it came from a another Crown there are some differences. I have a link to the install and fitment guide on those and it pretty much is a how-to on it, from identifying the driveshaft all the way to install.

Picked up the Crown Vic today for $3500. His original asking price was $4000. He threw in the new snow tires and a set of wheels along with the driveshaft so I'm pretty happy with the price. He said the driveshaft will need some sort of adapter in order to work with the '04 model.

What's the most bang for your buck mod for more power? Tune, exhaust or something else?