A few years ago, my 1995 Maxima began sputtering and stalling when initially accelerating from a dead stop. After reading the forums on the issue, I replaced the Mass Air Flow Sensor and it fixed the problem immediately. I had gone on ebay and purchased the cheapest new one I could find (under $35 including shipping).
I’m now having the same issue again and I suspect it’s the cheap Mass Air Flow Sensor I replaced several years ago for under $35. I’ve noticed online prices are between $40 and $500. Do I need to spend big $$$ for the Nissan OEM part, or can I spend around $150 and get a replacement at place like from AutoZone (for a Duralast brand)? Any suggestions are appreciated.

are you getting a check engine/service engine soon light? if so get the code read to see and go from there.

Most people believe the factory originals can't be beat , me too , and I have gotten 2 spares from those
pick ya part salvage . A few years back , $20 and $15 .I go and find all cars w/part from like autozone "fitment guide", locate at least two or three in the "yard" - take the best looking (part condition & consider where car's damage was) and remove the 2nd best and hide it They usually have some sort of Ltd warranty to try another over a bad one.
And if bad ,you know where the others are , if good , you go back and buy another. Everyone's talkin how
finniky this componant is and me, I keep ea. blasted with CRC MAF cleaner ,and just rotate them - knowing all's well , AND it'll be VERY easy to eliminate wasting time or money what may involve/mimic a bad MAF. I HAVE THREE .........macgiver the K 'niver

I owed a 1998 I30 for 9yrs, from 230k to 385. I never changed the Nissan oem part. My mechanic cleaned it once 5 yrs ago, and I cleaned it a 4 months ago. Cold start was perfect after I cleaned it. Make sure to use a good quality MAF cleaner and let it dry 100% before you plug it back in. If you do anything other than spraying it with cleaner you will probably ruin it. Get one from a yard like macgiver said, if yours is really bad. I really think the oem ones are pretty reliable.

To be safe let it air out for 30 minutes before you plug it back in after cleaning. Also spray the cleaning into the throttle body and work the butterfly open and close.wipe out the throttle body with lint free shop towel until all dirt is gone. Let the throttle body air dry for 30 minutes also.