At $4,500, Will This 1985 Nissan Maxima Require An Artistic License To Drive?

According to the ad, today’s Nice Price or No Dice Maxima wagon sat for 22 years, during which time its owner decided to unleash their inner Picasso on it. Surprising all, it actually does run and is now available as an “art sale.”

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A nearly decade-old BMW diesel with aftermarket mods should rightfully be a daunting prospect and not for the faint of heart or wallet. At $25,000, yesterday’s 2015 BMW 328d checked both heart and wallet boxes and, as such, found little favor in the comments outside of mere curiosity. Not so curiously, that ended up in a massive 94 percent No Dice loss.

Hey, have you ever just parked a car in need of some maintenance—say, the replacement of the pine tree air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror—and then just forgotten about it… for a decade or more? Yeah, me neither, but it felt like an important question to ask.

That wasn’t quite the case with today’s 1985 Nissan Maxima wagon, but as detailed in the ad, it does have a rather unusual history. As we all can see, this isn’t your average Maxima, a fact that the seller gets right to in the ad, explaining: “My Mom thought it didn’t run in 2002 and decided to use it as a paint canvas, but after 22 years it started right up and ran great!!” Video evidence of this miraculous resurrection is teased in the ad, but no such video is provided.

The seller claims this to be “the sought-after ‘2nd Generation’ with state-of-the-art features for 1985.” Among those are keypad entry, voice notification system, and another one of those home system-like stereos in the dash.

This was Nissan’s first FWD Maxima, and like its RWD predecessors, it shares its engine with the ZX sports car. Here, that’s a 157 horsepower 3.0-liter VG30E V6 sitting sideways and powering the front wheels through a four-speed automatic. This would be the last Maxima with stately, upright bodywork as well as the last to offer a commodious wagon edition. The following model, released in 1988, features smoother lines and a single sedan body style, marketed in the U.S. as a ‘Four-Door Sports Car.’

Our car is, at least according to the seller, the only second-generation Maxima for sale in the country at the moment. The car features the unique paintwork, and under that just 107,497 miles. It also has a new set of tires and a recently replaced windshield. There’s also a clean title and a gold star from the smog tester. The car appears to be wearing current tags. Despite the handiwork and decent underpinnings, the seller claims the car “Deserves a high-end paint job and renewing.”

The asking price on this formerly stationary art installation is $4,500. It’s hard to say whether the paintwork detracts from that or if it’s market-appropriate. You all will just have to weigh in.

What do you think? Is $4,500 a fair price for what’s touted to be “One of the most reliable and comfortable upscale cars of the era!” Or would that price make Bob Ross want to paint sad little trees?

You decide!

San Francisco Bay Area, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

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