From: boyle@cactus.org (Craig Boyle)
Subject: Re: New break pads & exhausts after 96K km (60K mi) on '90 Maxima?
Organization: Capital Area Central Texas UNIX Society, Austin, Tx
Lines: 78

In article <1993Apr16.000601.14223@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu> rkim@eecg.toronto.edu (Ryan Kim) writes:
>
>Hi, maybe someone can help me here...
>I am looking to buy this 1990 Nissan Maxima GXE for CDN$14000 right now.

So its an automatic? Don't know if US spec=CDN spec. for Maximas.

>The car has 96000 km (or about 60000 miles) on it.
>A typical mileage for 1990 cars seem to be about 70000 km (or about 43K mi).
>The seller just informed me that when he brought the car in for certification
>he was told that the front break pads and the exhausts had to be replaced
>to meet the legal standards.  (He said he will replace the components before
>selling the car to me.)
>
>Being copmletely ignorant to the technical stuff on cars, I don't know
>what this could mean...
>Is 96K km about the time typical for replacing the above mentioned items?
>Or is this an indication that the car was abused?

If it is the first set of brake pads on front, then this is fine. My car
eats a set every 15k miles or so. The fact that he is replacing the
muffler too is also ok.

>Would other things break down or have to be replaced soon?

The mileage is fairly low - but typical fwd stuff is CV joints. Check
the maintenance records with the manufacturers requirements for valve
adjustments, timing belt changes and so on.

The 60k mile service is often expensive, so make sure he has done everything.


>The seller told me that he used the car on the highway a lot, but,
>I don't know how to verify this...  I've seen the paint chipped away
>in tiny dots in the front edge of the hood, though.
>
Well, this is one of the commonly cited methods for identifying a
car with highway miles. 
Might check the gas pedal wear too. Ask him how many sets of tires he
has been through. A highway car might have squeezed by on 2 sets,
a hard driven car 6-10 sets.


>Although the Maxima is an excellent car and the car is very clean and
>well kept, it's currently out of warranty
>(a similarly priced '90 Accord with 70K km will have 2 years or 30K km
>worth of warranty left) and I don't want to worry about paying for
>any repair bills...

Well, the Maxima should be pretty reliable - but if its out of warranty
you should get it checked out by someone knowledgeable first. Stuff
for Japanese cars can be expensive.

>But, I also need a car for 5 people...  
>
>When will the new Maxima come out, by the way?

1995 model year, I believe. 
>
>I would very much appreciate your input in this.
>Please reply by e-mail (preferred) or post in this newsgroup.

Craig
>Thanks!
>
>Ryan
>
>
>
>========
>Ryan Kim
>University of Toronto, EECG, Computer Graphics    rkim@eecg.toronto.edu
>"Do not weave between traffic cones at road works."
>                                    - from the new British Highway Code
>                                           (Toronto Star April 3, 1993)
>


