Asav

iTrader: (2)

She served me well and I have had no issues until the last month. The transmission has been starting to slip as of late. I have done drain and fill 4 times over the life of the car. I'm at 101k miles right now, and it has been getting worse over just a one week period. It is frustrating because i had the engine rebuild done under warranty and have been on top of maintenance from day 1. Other than this major item the car has absolutely no issues.

I have been testing the waters, and dealers want to give me wholesale pricing at about 10k with Nav/Levinson and in very clean condition mind you. That was not ok with me since I see these cars retailing for 13-15k. One Lexus dealer out in NJ is asking 12k for one with the same mileage and an accident on the carfax.

Oddly enough, Carmax offered me 12k. I am going to take that ASAP and put 8-9k into a 2011/2012 fully loaded maxima and have no car note and a car with 15-20k miles on it. I want the 4th gen GS, but i need to wait based on where I am right now. The APR would be more expensive than I want to pay for it right now. I will find a cream puff 2013-2014 in 2016 and have about 15-20k to put down when money is cheap again.

Anyway, I have some typical replacement parts like new rear struts, stabilizer bushings, rear strut hardware and a used F/R sage 30mm RCA kit that I will be putting up for sale since I ahve to dump the car.

GS350Lexus

iTrader: (5)

Why a Maxima? Why not jump into a 2010 Lexus GS350 possibly with some warranty left on it?

BinaryJay

To be fair they are very similar cars at the end of the day, I like that model of Maxima I almost bought one instead of the GS. The main thing is you are stuck with FWD but if you're okay with that and aren't overly sensitive about the brand logo I don't see any problem with saving some money going with the Nissan.

iGS430

Aaaaw man, transmission slipping at 101K, that sounds suspect. my 2007 GS430 has 151K and no slippage at all. never changed the tranny fluid as recommended by the service manual. The only time i experience a bit of slippage was when my girlfriend put cheap *** 87 octane in the tank.
I was mad as hell, I dumped her right after that argument. Anyway I'm thinking of getting rid of mine too but I'll change out the worn suspension parts so i can get top dollar. good luck with the Max they are notorious with transmission problems.

Asav

iTrader: (2)

Good point. I considered this option too because I love the 3GS. This is basically because I can get a really good car fully loaded with 20-30k miles for cash. With my trade in, I don't need to finance the Maxima at all. My business took a hit, and I had to put some of my own cash into the situation to save it which pushed my credit. I rather have no car note and ride a pretty nice car fully loaded, rather than borrow money at 9-10% APR right now. I will come back in a couple years and get the 4GS when I am more liquid and money is very cheap to me again.

Asav

iTrader: (2)

I'm going to miss the AWD for sure. Not a big deal until you really need it, then you thank the stars you have it. Brand means nothing to me. I will have the L back on the steering wheel in a couple years.

Asav

iTrader: (2)

Great reason to dump her. The car is cert used so the tranny is on them. I will be out of it before the warranty ends regardless, but luckily I have never had a problem with nissan transmissions on 3 maximas 5th and 6th gen. Very pissed about the GS tranny because I redid the front end of that car so it was riding like new. Struts, endlinks, bushings tie rods, all ball joints, etc.

LexusLive

That's pretty funny, but I assume there were more issues than just her putting 87 octane in the tank.

L8Apex

Sorry to hear about the tranny issues. Nothings makes your heart sink quite like the feeling of your transmission going.

Do your research upfront on that generation of maxima. I like the Z and the Max but I turned away from Nissan altogether based on reliability. Hit the forums, research common problems and TSBs as Nissian issues a lot of them. Many Maxs can be found dirt cheap but are plagued with issues (I'm not speaking on 2011 n 12 models) There's a reason that the Lex resale value is where it is.

crombie92

if you have black floor mats...want to sell them?

LexusLive

You say you had the engine rebuild, did you experience excessive oil consumption, rough idling etc?

Asav

iTrader: (2)

Already sold the black Fsport mats bro. I still have the Lexus OEM all weather rubber ones if you want to PM me..

Asav

iTrader: (2)

Yes on all counts to at 55k a few years back. Warranty claim went smooth as silk with my local dealer. They made sure things were right and I had a loaner for about 7 days during the process.