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Comments
1) Why would Nissan only allow seating for 4, because that might limit the appeal for families looking for a larger, near luxury vehicle without the "Lexus-type boringness"
2) Are those fog lights on the bottom side of the bumper? If so I don't understand the function of them.
3) Finally, the center stack looks a bit empty below the HVAC controls, as a result looking like you are missing features and/or couldn't afford them.
Overall, the car looks promising and has enough to distinguish it for the Altima.
2. I think they are fog lights but from the pictures they appear to point off to the sides instead of pointing straight ahead.
3. -
4. HP & Torque: Nissan always says "plus" for the HP because the number is usually close to one of their competitors; TL-Type S in this case. For example on the Titan (their new full size truck) they say "over 300 HP and over 375 lb-ft of torque" and for the Quest (Toyota Sienna) they are saying "230-plus horsepower and 235-plus lb-ft of torque".
5. I think the different transmissions might because the SE will have more aggressive shift points giving it better acceleration and the SL is aimed more at the entry level luxury buyer; people who preferred the I35(being dropped) over the Maxima.
I'm glad I went ahead and got my '03.
The 5-speed auto will definately shave at least 0.5 off of the 0-60 time (maybe comparable to a G35). I just hope that Nissan hasn't lied about the horsepower rating like they did the 02's and 03's.
That orange SE looks funky!
I just hope they keep the price reasonable.
Drex
PS: Those fog lights are suppose to be cornering lights.
Horsepower is 265 and Torque 270 per Nissan's website. Front wheel drive only for now, but who knows if an AWD will be released.
Obi
2002 Maxima SE
Sterling Mist/Frost Cloth
25,000 flawless miles (with exception of the CD pooping out. Got a new one on Fri! YAY!!)
Deep Tinted Glass
Don't know if it's just me, but for the temperature...has anyone ever seen it measure BELOW 32°? When I drive at nights, there's ice and SNOW with the radio station in my local area saying it's 25°, yet my car still says ICY 32°. Anyone think the sensor has gone bad? I have never seen the temp on that lcd go below 32°...
Nissangirl, let me know what Nissan says about your sunroof because i'm having the same problem. I've been to two nissan dealers and they all gave me BS answers. I called up Nissan consumer affairs, and they told me that the design for the 02-03 maxima sunroof is the EXACT same as the previous...which I DON'T BELIEVE. They told me that it's NORMAL for the water to drip in going through a car wash. Blah talking to those people makes my blood pressure go up. Here's the problems that I've been having in the past month on my 03 maxima. Anyone else besides me having these?: sunroof that drips water down when going through car washes, RATTLES UP THE WAZOO (dashboard, driver's side seatbelt, the sunroof visor (that thing you can open or close) rattles when I go over bumps or when I go over 10 mph, ANNOYING PAINT CHIPS ON THE HOOD AND BUMPER, rear driver side window can hear loud wind noises when the window is closed.
Two months ago, I took it in saying that my brakes make grinding noises when the brakes are cold (when parked over night). They told me that it's normal and it has something to do with the newer type brake pads...I think that's BS because i've had that problem for 2 months and after driving home from the dealer, the problem never came back again (they must have done something to it).
So anyone having any problems like mine or am I just weird. lol
Good luck - hate to hear of all those problems, I hope they don't start happening to mine, I just love my car, and my husband doesn't want to hear my not liking it anymore. LOL!!
one issue i do have is... sometimes the cd skips on my bose... i know it's not the cd since it's new... but it only happens occasionally... i dont know if nissan will fix it if they can't repicate the problem when i bring in the car.. i dont wanna waste my time bringing it if they wont fix it... any thoughts on this? or does your bose do the same?
hey.. what happened to the pictures on the 04 maxima? i just went there and it's not there anymore.. just one pic left on that site...
if anyone saved them to their computer.. can you post them? on a website or send it to us? i want to show some of my friends who has maxima's how ugly the new max is.. LOL i can't stand that grill..
HIDS Headlites... anyone selling their 02 or 03 HID headlites? i know that people are getting their HID's stolen so some max owners are actually swapping out their lites for the 00/01 lites... i'm thinking about ordering the HIDs from coutsey nissan and getting them installed on my car... i live in quiet area so geting them stolen is not big of a concern... but spending 1000 bucks is a hit on my wallet..
The front grille of the 04 Max reminds me of my 84 Olds Cutlass Ciera. The Olds emblem was placed in the center of the grille, but the Max emblem is much bigger. I agree that the rear design the car may significantly limit visibility and raise safety concerns.
The new Bose stereo in the 04 Max has 320 watts of power, is that what the Q45 now have? I hope the new stereo is much better than the "premium" Bose in my 03 Max GLE which, IMHO, sucks in terms of audio quality.
I also agree that the trip computer is not very accurate and cannot be trusted. Since I do not drive that much, the actual mph is not really of great concerns to me. Do other cars have more accurate trip computers? What about the Q45 or G35, which are higher end Nissan products?
1. The 2004 Maxima will be "Assembled for the first time in the United States at the award-winning Nissan North America Manufacturing Smyrna & Decherd Tennessee Plant". Who gave the "award" and does anybody know of an independent source for rating the quality of manufacturing plants? I hear all the PR about how wonderful Nissan's Tennessee plant is, but I'd like to see some objective facts to back it up. BMW, Mercedes and others have had horrific problems maintaining quality - especially with new models (Z3, ML320 respectively) - at their US plants. I've tried to check J.D. Powers website, but nothing on plant ratings comes up. Did Nissan award themselves a prize in Tennessee? Or can they actually match Japanese production and fit and finish quality.
2. Any info on the weight of the new Maxima? With marginal increase in power over the 2003, it seems as though acceleration will be a wash and handling might be a bit better, but not if the wieght is up and the balance is more front end biased.
3. 92drexel: You mentioned in previous posts about Nissan initially overestimating horsepower for the (255hp) 02/03 models. Personally, I thought the 222hp 00/01 was the worst offender of reported power that didn't translate into performace. Where Nissan stuffed the extra 32 hp over my 190 hp 1995 SE 5-speed I'll never know. In any event, I believe that the 2003 255hp 6-speed Maxima is already close to the limits of what can be done with a FWD setup. I also agree that for those who need an automatic, a 5-speed is better than a 4-speed, but the big problem with Nissan (and most other Japanese/US automatics) is hesitant acceleration and slow shifting. I'm not a drag racer, but I could never get in and out of traffic with a Nissan automatic the way I can with a manual. Try out a Mercedes E500 or, better yet, any AMG product. They do automatics right.
http://www.autofieldguide.com/articles/070205.html
He was pointing to content labels on an Altima at the time(less than 100% US origin). Can anyone else confirm this?
If true, this should help maintain quality initially at least in the critical components.
Now if we can get a dentist to take care of that giant tooth :-)
my temperature gage seems to be working fine this morning driving in to work mine went down to 28f seems to be ok. I too am noticing alot of wind noise from the rear passenger windows. I have taken my car to a car wash once but had no problems with a leak. But maybe I did not notice because I had my cover over the sunroof. How much water usually leaks in? I was having trouble with my memory seats but figured out that the parking brake had to be up for it to work correctly
That extra cog in the 5-speed auto tranny should more than make up for that difference. But, surprisingly, the '04 SL (aka the GLE) gets the 4-speed auto. Huh??? In these days of streamlining, why offer two auto trannies???
I'm dying to see the price. I agree with others that 34k is way too much. Nissan'll have to knock off 7 or 8k for me to bite.
A few on maxima.org dynoed their '02/03's and the results didn't jibe with an advertised 255 hp rating. In fact it was very similar to the rating of an altima (240-245hp). Someone also compared a '00/'01 to an '02/03 and the results indicated an 18-20 hp increase, not a 33 hp increase. Then the '03 altima claims a 5 hp increase over the '02 (245 vs 240). Very strange (I guess they had to one-up, er five-up the accord).
I heard those MB's have good trannies, but I don't plan to trade my crib on one anytime soon. :-)
While I generally agree that Japanese made cars tend to be more trouble-free (possibly due to higher quality control), the trend seems to rebut that statement or presumption. For example, look at the Lexus ES300 (made in Japan) and the Acura TL (made in the US) with their transmission problems. Even the venerable Maxima, which has enjoyed years of praise for its reliability, is showing signs of weakness in the quality arena. I know this because I own 3rd, 4th and 5th generation Maximas, and I have noticed that the quality of materials used in the Maxima has deteriorated over the years. For instance, the sheet metal seems to get thinner, the paint seems to become cheaper, and when you slam the doors or the trunk, you no longer hear that solid "thump" from yester years. This may be attributable to the fact that Nissan is trying to pack more features and gadgets into the Max while keeping its price competitive.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the technology in the Max has improved, and the Max is still superior than comparable (or even higher) priced cars in terms of reliability. That is why I bought the 03 Max even though its quality has somewhat diminished.
Just my opinion ... others may think differently. I agree to disagree :-)
I just barely got a new key for my Max and it was $90 with tax. Outrageous!
Whenever I take my 1995 SE in for service, I get an offer of a test drive of the newest model. When the 3.0 liter V-6 was "tweaked" in 2000 to jump from 190 horsepower to 222, I was skeptical. Sure enough, when I test drive a 2000 SE 5-speed, it actually felt slower off the line than my 1995. Independent tests by Road and Track seemed to confirm that, with the 2000 rated at 7.0 seconds 0-60 vs. 6.7 seconds for the 1995. Perhaps the weight creep between 1995 and 2000 offset any actual horsepower increase, but I also believe that Nissan either underrated the 1995 or overrated the 2000. It wasn't until they actually increased the displacement to 3.5 liters in 2002 that the car got quicker in the real world.
As it stands, the Maxima is quick enough for me. Nissan's credibility is a bit tainted though.
So are you saying that the horsepower figures are really all the same? The tweaks in hp are most likely real. Different intake/exhaust manifolds, cams, and air/fuel mixture are all components that will vary hp in applications that use an engine that are the same in displacement.
If Nissan's figures are wrong...someone should call them to the carpet.
I know there are a lot of other factors that could lead to this result. Vehicle weight, etc., etc. But the point is that Nissan went hog wild "marketing" the horsepower increase when every test of the new car showed it to be the same or slower than it's predicessor. That's why I referred to it as more marketing BS than "engineering reality". Maybe I should have said "real world results" instead.
As far as "calling Nissan to the carpet", they have had their share of embarassments. As drexel92 pointed out, the current Maxima was initially rated at 260+ horsepower and then, after some challenges, all the brochures and other materials changed to 255. The Q45 has been resoundly beaten up for hiding its 340 horsepower somewhere other than the engine compartment. Test it against a similar weight 282 hp 540i and it's pretty embarassing. I'm not sure this stuff is worthy of lawsuits, given the state of world affairs. But I would still let my butt-o-meter validate performance rather than rely on horsepower figures that, even if technically accurate, are not always directly correlated to performance.
In any event, I don't understand your sudden and totally unexpeccted comment about the Altima while you are talking about the Max. Am I missing something??
Grand High Poobah
The Fraternal Order of Procrastinators
Very well stated and I couldn't agree with you more. I distinctly remember the venerable NISSAN
initially marketing the Max that year as "260 hp"
and thinking to myself....."uh, kicking it up to
Acura CL Type "S" levels." Then I turned around
and saw the final product rated at "255 hp" and
thought...."I wonder who was responsible for that
corporate goof?" I suppose I can't blame them for
trying to be "competitive" BUT let's do it honestly.
berbel