maxima never even made it home from the dealer

[Holty]

Well, needless to say, i'm pretty bummed out. I bought a '96 Maxima last night with 148k for $3600. The car is pristine and ran good during the test drive. Not spot of rust on the exterior or mark on the leather. I bought it from a little rinky dink used car dealer about 1hr from where i live. They are going out of business in about 2 weeks or so and was having a big sale. I let my wife drive it home and about 3/4 of the way down the interstate the car just died. Engine shutdown on it and won't start at all, just cranks. All lights/electrical work fine. She said the check engine light did come on but she dosn't know if it happened before or after the motor died. I have no idea what is wrong with it as i know nothing about these foreign cars. We did get a 90day/3k mile warranty that came with the car for free. It is through an aftermarket warranty company called "Cars". I hope they come through...The worst part about all this is i just sold my bike (pride and joy) to pay for this "beater" car. My truck is not the greatest on gas (12mpg) and we needed something with 4 doors. This is the first car i've ever bought that i could pay cash for besides the first couple junkers i had when i was in high school. This sucks.....

[MinisterofDOOM]

Ugh, sorry to hear that.

Glad you had the foresight to buy the warranty, though.

Welcome to NICO!

[lowblocks]

you paid what for a 96 max can you take that max back i can hook you up with a guy and get you a newer max like like 97-02 for that price I'm real serious if you are interested post something and i will give you my email and we can hook up

[Holty]

i'm good, but thanks.

[dan96max]

sounds like a cam or crank sensor. Some times you can just wiggle the wires on the cam sensor while somones trying to start it (if theres a short in the wires). Crank sensors a pretty common thing on 4th gens also and both can make the car do what you just described. Usually the car will start up again after some time.

Sucks that it happened though. I kinda know the feeling. I bought an 04 pathfinder a few weeks back, got it home to find out the rear hatch leaked like crazy, I was lucky to have a similar 90 day warranty and they put a brand new hatch from nissan on for me free of charge. Good luck with it

- Dan

[Holty]

just got a call from my mechanic, the car is not acting up today, it fired right up. they don't know what caused the problem yesterday. how can i diagnose the sensors to be the problem?

[Holty]

Got the car back today, it was a crank position sensor. The repair bill was $200

[DConrad2007]

I'm sure it's not coming out of your pocket right?

[Holty]

i had to pay upfront, but the dealer promised to reimburse me.