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thinking of buying used maxima

Hello to the group.

I'm thinking of buying a used Maxima. Everybody I know who has one is thrilled with their Maxima, which is a great PR for a used car purchase.

I'm going tonight to check out a Maxima GLE, 1997, 110,000 miles, on sale for $6400.

Any thoughts about things I should look for, or ask about? The car has been owned by 5 people, the last 2 each had the car for about a year, which is mildly suspicious. The used car people tell me the car is in great shape, even though the number of owners is higher than usual. I'm going to have the car checked by a mechanic. Should I tell them to focus on something?

Thanks in advance, Looking to Buy in Missouri

Reply to
lokkeheiss
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Body seams.

The seams around the doors, the trunk and the hood should all line up and be a consistent spacing. Anything out of place and the car was in an accident.

As I sit in mine and look back along the side of the car through the outside mirror, I see a slight jog in the rubber at the bottom of the window on the front door and the rubber at the bottom of the window on the rear door. As I look at the rubber surround on the rear window, it looks right but is slightly lower on one side. AHA. The rear door and panel was hit in an accident and the body shop that repaired the car did a great job, but, this is a sign, the gas cover hinge is stiff and the gas cover sticks out from the body slightly and the rust patch on the lower panel of the rear door reveals where it was repaired and colour is off, ever so slightly.

You should have someone drive behind you on a test drive and ensure the car goes straight.

I can live with the car having been in a mild accident and will be getting the rust patch fixed this year, but if my car were to run sideways down the road, I'd be unloading it real quick.

rtt

Reply to
Richard Tomkins

If it's a 5 speed, have the mechanic look for play in the diff carrier bearings. They can shake the axle and see if the diff carrier moves with it. If there is enough play it will cause oil to leak.

Also, look for rust under the front support for the radiator. That's kinda common and will put you back several hundred $$.

Dave

Reply to
David Geesaman

Price is TOO HIGH, 97 with 110K you should be able to get for 1500 to 2K less than that asking price. I have a 97 and mine has a few more miles now, but when I bought it I paid 6G and that was 3 years ago with less than 100K on the clock...... Keep looking, go to maxima.org. You will find some really good Maximas there for less, or ebay would be a good place to look... just my 2 cents worth.. Bits

Reply to
Bitsbucket

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