Good car, but watch for a few things

I bought this Nissan Maxima GLE (Single Cam) when it had 140,000 miles on it from its second owner. The body and interior were (still are) in good shape. Wind noise is higher than an 89 Cressida, but the same as 89 Honda Accord. The sunroof works, but its design was so-so. Unlike many cars it has no one touch operation button. You have to hold the power button until the sunroof is in the position you want it. Trying to position the sunroof while driving is not a very good thing. Cressida's had easy one touch sunroof positioning.

Looking over the maintenance records from the previous owners I found no major problems. The same cannot be said for me. I had to replace a cracked engine mount and do a major tune up on the car, which included a transmission flush because the automatic transmission would not always go into drive. I would have to drop it into 2nd then back to drive to engage the transmission.

The car would cut the engine at slow speeds and has been struggling to start in the afternoon. A loose fuse box under the hood was part of the problem. Still have not solved the hard starts and still cuts the engine randomly at slow speeds.

My temperature gauge will randomly jump to Hot and then back down to normal. It would appear that Nissan has some electrical gremlins in the 89 Maxima that appear on high mileage Maxima's.

Handling is so-so my today's standards. The GXE is the Maxima with the best handling package, mine is the GLE. So if you like sliding through the turns I would say stick with GXE only. The GXE also has the dual cam engine, which is exactly what the 300Z had in 1989.

Braking is average at best. My GLE is front disc and rear drums with no ABS. Only if I am easy on the gas pedal does my Maxima get more than 20 miles to the gallon.

The automatic seat belts can be pain sometimes. If you like cup holders this is not the car for you. The Maxima has one-cup holder and it is in an awkward place for a driver to use.

Nissan used Bose Speakers in my Maxima. The front speakers died on me. I don't know if that is common for Bose speakers or not. As far as the interior trim it is good. The black plastic column sticks (wipers, etc) have turned white.

The ride is semi-stiff in my GLE and the GXE has a stiffer suspension. If your just looking for comfortable ride go with 89 Cressida. It may cost more, but it is a solid car. If you want a sedan with some guts then the Maxima is good one. If I had it to over again, I would of stretch my money for a 92 Maxima or gone a Toyota Cressida.