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Nissan Altima
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Comments
-juice
The absolute coolest lights are the gatlin guns on the Q, though. The rest of the car almost doesn't matter.
-juice
-juice
By now we all know that the Altima's biggest interior problem is the door panels. Did you ever see so many seams in your life? A 16000-dollar civic has better door panels! The dash is not that bad as it is padded where it’s supposed to be but the doors flat out suck!
Long live my Y2K Max!!
Interesting.
-juice
My old J30t also had the trunk hinges.
Just a quick note, anyone notice how light the trunk is? on the old Maximas, when you open the trunk w/ the remote, it only opened a little bit. Now on the Altima, it fully opens. Just an observation.
The car has lived up to everything I expected. The performance is excellent, and the car is easy to drive.
Before buying the Altima, I test drove an Acura TL, which was my first choice. Unfortunately, it was a bit out of my price-range. Obviously, the interior of the TL is superior to the Altima, but I am still satisfied with my purchase.
Passat has cool articulating hinges instead of the goosenecks, but I think it's one of the few non-luxury cars that does.
-juice
had headlights like insect eyes (many small bright "LED" like light sources). According to the gentleman who introduced the car, the headlights actually came from a single light source and
fiber optics are used to distribute the light to many small lenses. That's why it is a CONCEPT car. This lighting system will probably cost few thousand to make. And guess how you feel when someone backs up in a parking lot and hit you headlights.
Motorweek's 5.9s time is the benchmark, but that too was a manual.
-juice
Have any other Altima owners figured out how to read the gas gauge? I love the fact that I can to 2-3 weeks without filling up due to the 20 gal. tank, but the gauge baffles me. At 1/2 full I have about 15 gal left. At empty I still have 5 in the tank. Anyone else noticed this or do I have a warranty repair coming.
All else is good - the shifter gets smoother every day. No wonder everyone who goes to Japanese cars never goes back, even when something seems off the cars apparently fix themselves.
An Accord automatic hits 60 in 7.7 seconds... I don't know if those .4 seconds are really going to be noticed unless you're a stoplight drag racer. The Pontiac Grand Prix does a much better 0 to 60 with a slush box (6.5 seconds).
The fuel gauge is exactly the same for me. I tested it just to see how much there is in reserve. It's exactly like yours. No worries.
I was getting 25-26 mpg on my first couple of fill ups but now I'm getting around 23 mpg. A little more city driving and now that the car is broken in, my uncontrollable right foot is causing it be lower. Not too bad right now though since gas is $1.32 for premium.
I also sat in the Camry and pretty much thought it was as milque-toast as ever.
Overall, I love the looks, the horsepower, rear suspension and the price. Don't like the interior bits. It's no Passat killer except in horsepower. I'd take a pass since I'd have to live on the inside. The bland Accord has nothing to worry about when it comes to sales. Styling is great on the Altima, but the details count when you want to own something for the long run. I'm sure Nissan will sell a boat load of them, they deserve to. It's a nice improvement. But it's not a category killer like I've been lead to believe.
Guess C & D agrees, the Altima placed 3rd with the Accord first in a 8 car V-6 sedan comparo in the Dec 01 issue.
venus537: bring on the '03 Accord, you say ? careful what you ask for, you may get it and then some... hehehe... Will the Alty come to play when the Accord '03 comes into town ? We'll we'll see won't we ?
But, guess what, who needs an '03 Accord anyways ? The '02 V6 version is good enough in its class to beat its arch rival - not the Altima, puleezee, the CAMRY, isn't it ? So what will the '03 accomplish ? Your guess is as good as mine.... For the first time, I am rooting for Honda (I've never owned a Honda in my life), but I still love my Maxima, only that I am just interested in something different, not neccessarily better, just different for me !
I used to take C&D's reviews like it was the bible, but back in 1996, one drive of the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Nissan Maxima made me realize that the Maxima was the best car out of the three. My bro was shopping at the time and he bought the Max. C&D in 1995 gave the Nissan Maxima import car of the year honors then ranked it second in a comparo to the Camry SE back then...like that made much sense.
Just like in 1996, one drive of the 2002 Altima, Accord and Camry as well as the 2001 Maxima and I knew that the Altima was the best car to spend my $24000. The 2001 Maxima was a very very close second. The newer stuff (difference that you already know) made me go with the Altima.
Should I go trade my car in for the 2002 Accord that I could have bought for $23000 w/ a rear spoiler because of C&D's review? Of course not, I already know that the Altima is better.
Most importantly, at least for me...it doesn't really matter which car is better at this point. It only mattered when I was shopping for a new car and it'll only matter when I shop again probably 3-4 years down the road.
Who know what'll be out at that point, until then I'll be crusing in my silver 2002 Altima 3.5 SE.
Much depends on variables such as different options, how well each car is tuned and how well the tires on each car suit it in this setting. And the scoring always comes down to subjectively chosen factors that then include subjective judgments about styling and other things. You don't have to be a cynic to recognize that these tests are no true measure of a car's worthiness.
What counts is how well a car suits you.
http://www.canadiandriver.com/news/011107-2.htm
Besides, can you get Camry and Accord V6 with a manual? That kills it for me personally right there.
I believe the way the trunk is supposed to operate, it should only pop open a tad. This is what the manuals that I have read have claimed. You can adjust them either way, however you prefer it.
Eddie: thank you for being to first to actually bother to look beyond the finishing order in the C&D review. Per their results, if you are shopping for a sporting sedan, the most athletic of the bunch, you should buy an Altima.
Altima pretty much swept all the performance related categories. If anything, to me, it provided a strong argument for me to pick the Altima over Accord or Camry, because it better suits my tastes.
Another point - in that group, the Altima is the only one to offer a manual tranny with the V6!
The fit and finish score was one lousy point behind the best-in-class, and mid-pack in that group. Whoop-de-doo.
Would I give that up for the quickest 0-60, 1/4 mile, top speed, braking, and best lateral grip? Absolutely!
-juice
~alpha
Sounds kinda depressing, passionless cars for passionless people.
My wife and I purchased the '02 Altima 2.5S, and we're very pleased with our purchase. We were considering a Camry or Accord, but we went with the Altima - feeling that it offered the better overall value for us. And, I can tell you that the additional horsepower and the joy of driving the car were major factors in our decision to buy the Altima.
For the family sedan enthusiast... the Altima was an easy choice. I believe it offers the best of both worlds: reliability and performance. I'm sure that the sales numbers for Nissan will show that they didn't "miss the boat" at all. In fact, I feel that the Camry's and Accord's have made a grave error in not trying to offer improvements on their '02 models. They've made the mistake of relying on their reputation alone to sell cars. It will cost them dearly.
I could car less which is the best seller, in fact, I'd prefer not to see myself coming and going. Can you imagine looking for a silver Accord in a parking lot? It's like every other car!
And to address your point, I think Nissan aimed at those that want something a little sportier than the average vanilla sedan, and they hit that target.
Look at how many Honda owners buy aftermarket Altezza tail lights. And intakes, exhausts. What are they aiming for? The Altima, I guess.
-juice
The most common complaint I read about German cars is no CD or the cupholder sucks. They could care less that the car with no CD or crappy cupholder drives just as smoothly at 100 as it does at 50.
I say it once again, the "voices" in this forum are lone voices in the wilderness of the millions of car buyers in this category. And that is why there are millions of Accords and Camry's out there. The numbers speak louder than your tame voices...
For a family sedan, many of you have elevated performance as the all-important criteria. I wonder whether the average 30-something Joe Blow looking to spend $25K on a FAMILY SEDAN is going to place that over his family's needs. More often than not, the interior quality will win anyday over performance. And how many owners of FAMILY SEDANS buy it with a manual tranny ? <1%. What does that tell you ???
This may sound like a broken record, and nothing against current owners, btw, for the altima to be successful, it must improve the interior quality to match a $20K+ worth car. Until then, only the infinitesimal performance-inclined (and looks-inclined) enthusiats would bother. For many of us with families, and who spends more time on the INSIDE of a car, we want something much better than what Nissan currently offers in the '01 version of the Altima in all trim levels.
you are absolutely right! C&D had the Nissan Maxima in their 10 best cars but they chose the Camry SE in the comparo. That is the article that I'm talking about. They should get some consistency in their testing methods...
ateixeira,
you are also absolutely right. We do talk about cars all day and how many times did C&D justify giving BMW's first place citing how they are an enthusiast magazine and others should refer to Consumer Digest. All of a sudden they do an about face.
The Altima is starting to get popular. Today I looked in my rearview mirror and what did I see? Another silver Altima...it was the 2.5 SL. Then later I saw a black 2.5 S zooming down the highway. Black is a really nice color too on the Altima. They should do the Maxima smoked glass look on the tailights of the black one though. That would make it look even better than it does now.
Like I said before, take these comparos as a reference and see the cars for yourself.
I test drove an Altima a couple of weeks ago. I don't even remember if it had cup holders. Heck, I don't even remember if the interior was gray or beige! I didn't even notice the gooseneck hinges, or pop the hood (they are all covered with engine condoms nowadays, any how).
I do remember the 17" wheels, the feel of the engine accelerating, good braking, the light steering, and yes, the torque steer.
No, I don't think the Altima was designed by a focus group of coffee-mug-carrying point-A to point-B people. But that is exactly the appeal!
So, the Altima doesn't carry the stigma of being vanilla, boring, lacking character. But that has an appeal, too, just look at how well it is selling. The goal isn't to topple the Camry, it's to make a profit and build shareholder value for owner Renault. That it will do.
Let's not ask for another Accord, or we'll get it.
-juice
As for the Accord... I'd love to see Honda make an Accord SE, 6 speed, supercharged, sport suspension, and keep the the rest of the Accord exactly the same. Would throw us enthusiasts a bone, and with that setup would yield some of those jaw dropping 0 to 60 car magazine times. AND it'd still have that nice interior for the daily stop and go 15 mph grind/commute.
"In the sedan category, sales of the all-new Altima, which arrived in showrooms at the end of August, totaled 13,961 units, an increase of 19.3 % over September and a whopping 40.1% increase versus last year. Said Bill Kirrane, vice president and general manager, Nissan Division, 'The first full month of the all-new Altima sales was above our forecast. Now that the new Altima is launched, we expect the second half of our fiscal year to continue momentum.'"
Look back through the posts. You responded to my response to a post by a man wanting an Altima while his wife wanted an suv. No specific mention of a sequoia, just an suv. I made some some points as to why the Altima is better than an suv to which you responded with your specific example comparing a camry and a sequoia. Great. How is a specific example comparing a $40k vehicle relevant to a guy looking at a $20-$25k vehicle. How is it even relevant to the Altima vs. suv argument? $40k vs $25k vehicle yes, but that's no the topic at hand.
A more relevant discussion would be about suvs in the Altima's price range. That makes MUCH more sense for this topic, which is after all about Altimas, not $40k cars. Look again at the points I made in my original post. Do you think you can find an suv in the Altima's price range for which all of you counter-points still apply. If not, can you loan the rest of us $20k so we can step up to a vehicle like your sequoia?
Further the original point was about total cost, not just about insurance. YOU chose to focus on insurance because that was the only cost point upon which you could make an argument - a weak one at that, considering the difference between your two example vehicles was very small, in favor of the car I might add (!), compared to the differences in other costs mentioned.
Also, for the record:
I have a kid, and a Cosco Opus 35. It fits just fine in the middle of the rear seat of my car. Adults fit fine next to it. My car is not an Altima.
Yes, my car meets only 95% of my needs, not 100% - the other 5%? Hauling some furniture a few weeks ago. Way too much to fit in a sequoia. I rented a moving van for that - saved tens of thousands of dollars by not owning a moving van just for that. Hauling horses. I go with a friend who hauls a four horse goose neck trailer - can't use a seqouia for that either. See, I too can come up with irrelevant examples of how your vehicle doesn't meet my needs!
Over and out. Unless you want to throw some relevant suv examples my way.