Hi everyone - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Lexusfreak · 08-28-2003, 05:09 PM

Hi everyone, just wanted to say qucikly that I am the current owner of a 2001 Nissan Maxima SE 20th A.E. in Pearl white & am quite knowledgable on the vehicle as well (not too shabby on the Camry either). I am looking to trade my car in on a 2004 Camry SE V6 (with the 3.3L engine...its been confirmed!) or a 2004 Maxima SE. I like the look of the Camry alot better than the new Max, and just wanted any thoughts & opnions from any members that might want to comment on that subject would be appreciated.

I would also like to say that my Finance will be trading her Focus ZX5

in on a New Matrix when her lease is up (thank god lol) Anyways, looking forward to hearing from all of you in the future for advice, questions I might have, suggestions &/or just to chat with regards to the Camry & Matrix both giving & receiving ideas. Happy to be apart of Toyotanation. Thanks

***Phi*** · 08-28-2003, 05:38 PM

Welcome to TN!

Tough choice ya got there! Both the Camry and Maxima are great cars. The Maxima has always been ahead in terms or performace with great support from Stillen. The Camry prolly slightly more reliable.

If you're looking for a fun car to drive with enthusiasm, I'd say got with the Maxima. If you want a more conservative car with reliabilty and decent pwr go for the Camry.

I've got 3 Camrys in my driveway at the moment and wouldn't hesitate to get another one. Then again, very well could have been Maximas if my first car was a Maxima. I don't thing you'll be disappointed with either choice.

[subliminal]Get a Camry, get a Camry[/subliminal]

Lexusfreak · 08-28-2003, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Phi
Welcome to TN!

Tough choice ya got there! Both the Camry and Maxima are great cars. The Maxima has always been ahead in terms or performace with great support from Stillen. The Camry prolly slightly more reliable.

If you're looking for a fun car to drive with enthusiasm, I'd say got with the Maxima. If you want a more conservative car with reliabilty and decent pwr go for the Camry.

I've got 3 Camrys in my driveway at the moment and wouldn't hesitate to get another one. Then again, very well could have been Maximas if my first car was a Maxima. I don't thing you'll be disappointed with either choice. [subliminal]Get a Camry, get a Camry[/subliminal]

Thanks for the kind words Phi. I've been quite happy with my Max, no major trouble really....just need a change I guess. The Max has moved "up market" a bit and is almost out of my price range. Nothing wrong with the Camry that I can see.......just wonder a few things.......any opnions on the Continental Extreme contact tires (ultra high performance all season tires) that are avalable in the Camry's size? And what performance mods would you suggest (or other members for that matter....not sure if I'm sending this to everyone or not lol

) that I can put on the Camry without messing with the factory warrenty? I will be putting a K&N filter, synthetic Mobil 1 5W30 oil & tranny fluid once the engine is broken in, medium dark window tint, sunroof wind deflector & perhaps splash guards. Any other ideas?

***Phi*** · 08-28-2003, 06:24 PM

I don't know anything about those tires. Dealers tend to cheap out on tires though.

The simple mods you've mentioned shouldn't void your warrenty. Having said that, should you be so unfortunate to have major problems, you'd better have everything documented.

As for other mods for the Camry..with the new 3.3L you'd be the envy of the group

There isn't much avail for the Camry. Never has been, never will be! You're pretty much limited to suspension upgrades along with cosmetics. Here's a similar discussion going on that should give you some more ideas;

http://www.toyotanation.com/showthre...threadid=21032

arcasmachineracing · 08-28-2003, 07:19 PM

I am pretty Toyota-biased; so I am gonna have to say; GO WITH THE CAM!

Lexusfreak · 08-28-2003, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Phi
I don't know anything about those tires. Dealers tend to cheap out on tires though.

The simple mods you've mentioned shouldn't void your warrenty. Having said that, should you be so unfortunate to have major problems, you'd better have everything documented.

As for other mods for the Camry..with the new 3.3L you'd be the envy of the group There isn't much avail for the Camry. Never has been, never will be! You're pretty much limited to suspension upgrades along with cosmetics. Here's a similar discussion going on that should give you some more ideas;

http://www.toyotanation.com/showthre...threadid=21032

I've done quite a bit of research on the Camry & I agree with you that there isn't too much you can do to it.....which might be a good thing in a way lol

(don't want to cheapen the car with too much stuff right? The mods I mentioned to you I have done with my current Max without problems so I should be ok. As for the envy of the group, well I had a feeling when Toyota first launched the gen 5, that it will soon get a power upgrade (think about the Altima first off....then the new Accord) within a couple of model years.....looks like my patience will pay off. As for the tires, you might want to suggest members visit the tirerack site to get a ton of possibilities for different gen's of Camry......very helpful site I found.
One thing I found strange on my Maxima & that was the top model (SE) for 2001 did not come factory with a front strut tower brace (F.S.T.B), nor did any Max for any year for that matter. But yet Toyota put a factory on it's SE model & Kudos to them for it! The paint quality on the Max is below par as well.....easy to get stone chips due to the poor & weak paint application. I understand the Camry does not suffer from this problem?
One final thing.......how much better are the factory iridium spark plugs over say platinum? I know they last a bit longer than the platinum, but performance wise.......what does one expect overall with the iridium plugs? Thanks.

***Phi*** · 08-28-2003, 10:47 PM

Quote:

I agree with you that there isn't too much you can do to it.....which might be a good thing in a way lol

I'm sure we can all relate to that!

Thanks for the nice tire site.

I haven't heard of any paint probs with the Gen5 (yet). As for the iridium plugs...you're prolly not gonna get any noticable performance improvement over platinum. The iridiums just have a longer life span. If you've ever seen how difficult it is to change plugs on a V6....