Hey I might be looking into buying a 95-99 altima sometime soon for a daily driver, and I was wondering what everyone's opinions are of them, especially after the 100,000 mile mark?....any common problems?.....any problems with automatic tranny's?....anything I should avoid?....I'm not looking to mod it at all, just drive the fuck out of it up and down the interstate.

thanks.

 

My sister has a 99 with 80000 miles. We've only had it for a few months now. The only problems we've run into are normal maintenance issues. The valve cover gaskets on these engines regularly fail between 60-80k miles, we replaced hers with a 35 dollar felpro set because there was oil puddled in three of the spark plug wells. The engine mounts need to be replaced eventually and there's a small oil leak from the oil pressure sensor, we plan to have our mechanic fix both of those when we have a few hundred dollars to spare. The door seals need replacing on the driver's side where it was opened and closed a lot. For some reason the overhead light doesn't turn on when the doors are opened.. I think it's a burned bulb but I've been too lazy to check. Other than that it's been great. The engine is a bit buzzy but it has good torque and accelerates the car well in around town driving, and the gas mileage on the interstate is pretty good. Recently used about 3/4 of a tank from Temple Terrace to Cape Coral and back, 18 dollars of gas (about 8 gallons at 2.20 or so).

 

they're pretty reliable,alternators are a common problem for '93-'97 altimas but other than that the altima is pretty reliable.94 gxe here 156,000 and still running strong

 

I wouldn't know how they run after the 100,000 mark because mine has barely hit 60,000 but other than basic maintenance nothing big has had to have been done to mine.

Pretty good car.. just gets boring driving it after a while. Out of curiousity how much are you looking to spend on one? I'm planning to sell mine, probably not soon though because I need to save up some before I do.

 

The timing chain guide in some of the early models up to around 98-99 I believe have a tendency to mess up but all most people complain of that is just some racket from the valvetrain on top of the engine. I had mine up to 80,000 miles and the only problems that I had with it were replacing the head gasket and the right headlight harness went bad, thats it. Mine was a 2000, same as the 98-99 minus a couple of differences here and there.

 

Thanks for the input everyone.

I'd be looking to spend in the $3,500 - $4,500 range, which can be done if you look around...I'd prob have to sell the T/A first though, which would be mental battle by itself (which is why I still have the first car I ever owned sitting in the garage)

 

You should get a 95-96 maxima for that much. Not that Im biased or anything. Plus the VQ motor owns.

-Kevin

 

The Altima is a great beater. At 125,000 I've had no problems at all it pulls around 26 mpg (32 on the interstate), and while not a drag monster it pulls 16.6's @ 82 bone stock.


If you have the option pre 98 models have more much potential down the line if you ever change your mind on any performance mods.

For more info:

www.altimas.net