Had a 2000 Maxima. Ran it up from 165,000 to 187,000 miles in a year's worth of driving. Mom got rid of her Infiniti I35 that had some damage from a couple cars hitting her in a parking lot, as well as it was going out of warranty. So she's driving that now with 190,000.

Things I liked about the Maxima:

You could drive it like you were 60 years younger than your grandmother (not wrecklessly...just more spirited), and get 23-26 to the gallon on average. (222hp V6). It was a 5spd manual...I miss that. It was my first car. It was the Maxima SE...fully loaded except for heated seats.

The things I sure don't miss about it:

When i bought it, they said it had new axels. Well, the axels were not Nissan axels...that screwed up everything. because of this, I ended up having to replace the following:

-Clutch
-Flywheel
-Axels (with CVs and all)
-some seals

In addition, the ignition coils went out 500 miles into owning it just like they do on every single maxima (never got recalled either).

Then one time the car got stuck in 3rd gear...and it would not come out. Had to get a new transmission: $2300parts+$700labor=$3000-dad's 10% discount for working with AutoNation=$2700.

Then had the rear main seal go out 4 months after the transmission. the dealership didn't offer to fix the RMS when they had the trans out.

Then recently the Air conditioning compressor clutch went out...turned into $1000 parts and labor...

Basically...i was unfortunate to not have a car that was kept up properly and repaired properly by the previous owner...