Got a car

N

nerdyrcdriver

AC Members
Sep 1, 2011
1,156
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USA
Real Name
Nick
hey everyone, I finally got a car! It is a 2001 nissan maxima. It is pretty clean other than some surface rust in the wheel wells. The interior is nice other than what seems to be a coffee stain in the back (covered by a new floor mat now).

I love it! I got an air freshener and let it kind of vent out and make the car smell nice. I got new floor mats (idk what happened to the old ones). I also got one of those casette adapters so I can hook my phone up. I am pretty pleased with the stock audio set up, and I dont think I will end up changing it out.

Is there anything that you guys find helpful to have in your car? I dont need a steering wheel cover (I like the way mine is). I dont know what people really put in their cars. There are all sorts of things that plug into the 12v ports. I will probably just put a 1a usb adapter in there for my phone if I need to charge it.

It does have a sun roof, and I am pretty sure it doesnt leak. But I havent tested that yet. It kind of rained earlier but not hard enough to notice anything. I might lay some towels down on the seats and simulate normal rain with a garden hose set to 'shower' tomorrow just to be sure.

We took it to a mechanic and he found very little wrong with the car. It needed normal maintanence, but that is to be expected. The only thing really wrong with it is the solenoid for the gas cap door is broken. So I just have to push on the door instead of press a button (that I would forget to press anyway). The car drives really well, rides smooth, and can get up and go with a 3.0L v6 engine. Good for those times that there isnt a huge gap trying to get across traffic (there is a street that I need to take to get out of my neighborhood that has lights at both ends. They are timed exactly opposite so there is almost always traffic from one direction or the other). But I normally try to be smart and take a slightly different way about that. I already have tricks for areas that I know are like that around here. Most involve a longer detour but are safer in the end.
 
Jumper cables
extra quart of oil
towel
few tools like wrench, socket set, screwdrivers
extra gallon of antifreeze or at least something you can carry and pour water with
make sure you have a good spare tire and working jack
 
Also you should get one of those little red gas tanks. You never know when your going to need it.
 
Yea, run through all your fluids, make sure they're topped off or replaced as needed. Jack'r up and check all your control arm bushings etc, look for leaks and if you see any trace'm back to where they came from. Pull a spark plug and see how it looks, replace as needed along with the wires. I don't know right off hand if you have coils on that janke or not so play that by ear. And keep track of your mileage for your maintainence an all'at... and cruise for hotties. Welcome to freedom. P.s. cars are bottomless pits for money - N
 
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add wiper fluid to ices list

not having it when you need it really sucks and it comes in extra handy for quick clean up if you ever need those tools

and make sure you only use premium gas in that nissan. it will eventually run like crap without it.
 
They did an oil change, transmission fluid change, and a few other liquid changes. There were two my parents didnt do bc they are making me pay half of those. The power steering fluid and the antifreeze.

I am pretty sure my dad has changed out antifreeze before, but if not, we can have a shop do that. The air filter needs to be changed somewhat soon. That is not a big deal, my dad and I can easily change that out.

The trunk in this thing is HUGE (well, for a car of its size). There is already a spare tire and a jack. I havent pulled either to inspect them yet, but I am pretty sure the spare has never been used. The jack looked a little wimpy though.

I will probably put some tools and stuff in a box in the trunk. And some rope, bungie cords, and duck tape. That stuff isnt necessarily for the car, you just never know when you will need any of those items. Towels and jumper cables will probably end up there too. I think we have one of those usaa tool kits my mom got once for some inspection that her car passed. That has some tools and jumper cables. I will probably just put that in the back as well.

thanks for the input guys! Anything else?
 
When you do filter changes you also have an in-cabin filter that helps with interior odors. Those often get missed on services. Don't bother with the spark plugs as they get changed once every 60,000 miles. Some are once every 100,000 miles. The most common problem on those is the O2 sensors. Not likely the sunroof will leak unless it has been in a wreck. The antifreeze used in those is the extended life. Check your brake fluid reservoir and if the fluid is black have it changed. I don't remember, but if its a manual I believe the brakes and the clutch use a shared reservoir.

They are very durable cars as it is Nissan's flagship. They will hit 80 before you realize it so watch your speed. Don't try to hop it up as it will last longer as it sits. The stereo used to be made by Alpine (I don't know what they use now) and the amplifier is under one of the front seats. So is the body control module. If you decide to use "add-ons" or non-stock items, be aware you can screw up the body control module and/or the engine control module.
 
excuzzzeme said:
When you do filter changes you also have an in-cabin filter that helps with interior odors. Those often get missed on services. Don't bother with the spark plugs as they get changed once every 60,000 miles. Some are once every 100,000 miles. The most common problem on those is the O2 sensors. Not likely the sunroof will leak unless it has been in a wreck. The antifreeze used in those is the extended life. Check your brake fluid reservoir and if the fluid is black have it changed. I don't remember, but if its a manual I believe the brakes and the clutch use a shared reservoir.

They are very durable cars as it is Nissan's flagship. They will hit 80 before you realize it so watch your speed. Don't try to hop it up as it will last longer as it sits. The stereo used to be made by Alpine (I don't know what they use now) and the amplifier is under one of the front seats. So is the body control module. If you decide to use "add-ons" or non-stock items, be aware you can screw up the body control module and/or the engine control module.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input! It does have 130,000 miles, but this car is known for over 200,000 and for the price we paid, if it makes it that far (and it should in its condition) then we def got our monies worth.

I just want to check the sun roof because my grandpa's bmw z3 is in almost perfect condition for its age (about my age) but the seal for the top deteriorated and started leaking. My car is like 6 years newer, but the rubber could still deteriorate. It seems pretty solid though.

I dont think I will be changing anything with the audio. It sounds good, and has some bass to it. I kind of wish there was treble and bass control settings that I could easily change. But there isnt (unless it is under the seat like you said).

We would change out the cabin filter as well. I think we just had the break fluid changed yesterday, but I am not sure. I have the slip saying what we had done and what we didnt have done in the car. I will have to look at it and see what they had changed. When I test drove it before we bought it, the breaks worked great. I am so used to my dads car and my moms suv, I am slowing down earlier than I need to. The previous owner really took care of it. He put 4k miles on it in the past 2 or 4 years (I dont remember how long he said he had it) he had it.
 
Just got back in from wiping it down inside. It was a little dusty (it was his put around town car) so he didnt use it much. Now it looks even better.

I didnt find the audio control stuff unless it is actually in the bottom of the seat itself. There was a panel that is removable below and to the right of the head unit. But I didnt take it off.
 
my buddies old maxima had those modules. think they were mounted under the rear deck in the trunk. almost couldn't tell they were there. the controls are on the head unit if anywhere.
 
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