Nissan Maxima 2004 Redesign

joeljoel

I was looking forward to the new Max. The front
grill looks likes a 20 year old oldsmobile.
I guess after 3 Nissans I will have to go elsewhere.

jg28

It was designed in Japan. So, before, we had a car that was designed here (in LaJolla, CA) and built in Japan. Now we'll have a car that was apparently designed in Japan and built here. Go figure.

rickinri

I like the back of the 04 maxima. (it's better than the altima) The side profile looks just like the altima (I'm looking to find pictures of each taken at the same angle, I can harly tell them apart)
I think the roof thing is silly...that's all I'll say about that.
I'm not a huge fan of the steering wheel (It looks better in the G35) and the orange gauges can go too. The center stack looks kinda empty...
I don't like the Nissian "hood ornament" but they did need to change up the grill a little (the current max looks similar to my buick regal from the front)
Most importantly, the ride, fit/finish, and price will make or break the car.

It looks like an altima, (If it walks like a duck...) so they'll need to improve the road noise/ride. It's got to be put together better. and needs to be priced right...

just my $.02

galvang

I thought the car looked pretty good from the exterior although the front was different. Probably needs getting used too. That's okay. Once you grow into liking the styling it sticks to you for a long time. The rear end and sides looked sexy.

The interior looked fabilous with leather seating, guages, and steering wheel using the same accents as the Murano. The only thing I didn't like was the bottom half of the instument panel where it seems empty and out of place. The Murano does't do that.

As for the drivetrain. The engine seemed good with its rated horsepower. The tranny looked excellent with its CVT/AT and six speed manual except NO AWD. Thats the biggest disappointment.
This car could of been an Audi killer but it looks like it won't be. Although the 04 MAX offered dynamic wheel stability and tranction control it doesn't quite substitute with a vehicle with AWD. Besides the law in many states require chains if not equipped with 4-wheel drive. Even with the above features you still have to put the chains on. Big Bummer!!!

So from that, this car will be off my radar until either the laws have been updated or the MAX gets an AWD.

alexxx

As much as a love Max and respect Nissan there is no way I'll pay $28,000 to $34,000 for FWD - Japanese - US made car.
If you are willing to spent that much money you can start looking in to some European cars or perhaps luxury brands like Infinity and Lexus.
It is more fan and much better to have 220hp with RWD than 265hp with FWD

p.s Maybe my problem is that I bought my Nissan Maxima 95 GXE for $18699 back in 1995

nissangirl

I think I'm on my last Max ('03 SE). I won't pay that much for an American made car either. I am thankful I had the courage to go trade my '00 SE in for my '03 SE - I just love it!!

achadha

Nice Nissangirl you bought an 03 SE? did you get the 6speed? I traded in my 98 SE 5speed for the 03' SE 6speed Titanium polish color and black leather love it to death! Have u seen the titanium polish color I think it is the best color ever made by a car company!

andil1

Go to http://www.autoweek.com/specials/2003_detroit/

and click on Nissan. There are pictures and a text article included. Interesting that Autoweek calls the new Nissan Maxima grille a "love it or leave it" feature.

cayennered1

My first thought when I saw the front end was 20 year old Olds Omega or Cutlass. It's certainly ugly. As for the rest of the styling I think it's just an iteration of the corporate look of the Altima and G35.

I own a 2003 Altima and I'm impressed with its looks. The only thing I don't like are the clear tailights (most people feel differently).

When a vehicle has a flaw somethimes it can be corrected or improved upon in the aftermarket. I significantly upgraded the Altima's cheap interior with an aftermarket leather package.

I will also consider changing the tailight lenses (appears body colored or red lenses may be available in the aftermarket soon).

On the other hand the Maxima grille is probably a love it or leave it situation.

My suggestion would be upgrade an Altima interior or wait a year or so for Nissan to do it. Cheaper and more attractive choice than the Maxima. If you can live with the grille ( I think the rest of the car is ok) than it's just a question of how much a Maxima will set you back (Is it worth $30000 plus).

As for styling critiques, I saw the 2004 Malibu today and it was pathetic. I thought Lutz had kicked some butt in the styling department. This thing makes a Dodge Aspen look state of the art. What makes it even more absurd is that GM does a pretty good job styling trucks but just doesn't have a clue with cars (Impala, Saturn LS, etc.)

jg28

The Honda Accord beats the Maxima hands down in build quality (Edmunds calls the Accord quality "rock solid") and it's built in Ohio. Why are some of you so opposed to a US made vehicle? Foreign elitists?

Agree about the Malibu. It looked promising at first (considering it's based on the Opel Vectra and on the same platform as Saab's 9-3) but the end result is, well, ugly. There are some promising things from Lutz and GM though, specifically the Pontiac G6 concept. Very handsome.

cayennered1

I agree. Nothing wrong with US made vehicles. I've owned 3 consecutive American made Japanese vehicles (Avalon, Galant, Altima) and have had almost no problems whatsoever with quality. There are people unfortunately who have this elitist attitude about foreign made cars.

As for GM styling, its one thing to make a good looking concept and another to transfer it over to production vehicles. Until GM starts accomplishing that transition they'll remain mostly a truck seller.

drakutismax

I have no problems with the new Maxima being built in the states and I'm sure that Carlos G. is not going to let the build standards decline. I have not had a problem with any of the Nissans cars and I have owned three Nissan models in succession with my current car being a '01 Maxima GXE, which I love dearly. I choose this over a '02 Altima 2.5 SL only because the V-6 with minimum options was out of my price range and I already was in a four banger Altima and wanted to upgrade. I do not regret anything about my Maxima purchase. Althought the more I look at the profile of the '04 Maxima, the more it grows and grows on me.

nissangirl

My '03 SE is an automatic.....Dark Gray, Titanium Edition Pkg., w/leather. I just love it - such a joy to drive. My other Max that I traded was an '00 SE Sterling Mist, very pretty, but I wanted a change of color, so I went with the darker gray.

obiwankenobi1

Was a rattle infested, mis-aligned body gap nightmare! And IT was built in the U.S.!! I will never buy another American made Honda because of it.

So, when I say I don't trust American reliability, I have a reason.

Obi

alexxx

I have nothing against US made Japanese cars. It is just a matter of how much I am willing to pay for them.
Nissan moved Maxima production to US in order to cut costs (shipping, taxes, its.) But what the consumer will get out of it? $28,000 to $34,000 car?

Would you pay Rolex price for Timex watch?

mariner7

Aren't US made Japanese cars demonstrably better made than German made German cars? Isn't that what the JD Power and other surveys are saying?

alexxx

Did you mean better than Audi, BMW, Mercedes?

Or regular everyday German cars like Opel, VW ?

If second, than I agree US made Japanese cars are better.

mehulj

Hello All,

It seems the US made Japanese cars is becoming hot issue. I've driven Honda Odysee which was made in Canada and also driven new Honda Odysee which is made in Alabama. To be honest. I will not buy new Honda Odysee again. It has lost the touch what it had. My brother is trading it for Acura as Acura is still coming from Canada. The interior of new Honda Odysee sucks.

kennyg5

I see ... now an issue is raised regarding the quality and reliability of US vs. Canada made Japanes cars. That is an interesting switch.

While most people get pretty passionate and opinionated about Japan vs. US made Japanese cars (probably due to the more diverse in culture between the Japanese and Americans as opposed to Canadians and Americans), I don't think there has been any empirical study or statistics comparing or validating the superiority of US vs. Canada made Japanese cars. If you know, please advise.

On the other hand, I venture to guess that most people might agree that US made Japanese cars are better than Mexico made Japanese cars (unless you are Mexican). Funny how nationalism affects how one may perceive things even though there are no facts backing up the perception. Just my thoughts ... and I am not Japanese or Canadian

jg28

So a Rolex made in the USA instead of Switzerland automatically becomes a Timex? The BMW X5 I buy that was assembled in South Carolina is inferior to a BMW that was made in Germany?

mariner7

There was a big brouhaha a few months ago because CR dropped every German car sold in this country from its recommend list, save for one Bimmer. Those were German made cars!

Virtually every initial quality and long term survey is in agreement, German cars, most made in Germany, do not have the reliability of Japanese, no matter where they were made.

If you know of a survey that says otherwise, please tell us, because I don't know of any.

maximann

I was eagerly looking forward to the Maxima redesign - what a disappointment! I don't know how these Japanese manufacturers are doing their research on what the U.S. consumer wants. Don't they realize we don't want such big clumsy looking cars? Most cars on the road contain the driver only,and we want a Japanese car to be "made in Japan". Nissan you have just lost another sale; you are forcing me to look to Lexus ES300, which is still made in Japan with comparable pricing. I was so looking forward to trading in my 98 Maxima for a newer model, but alas, this is my last Maxima.

maxxed_out

for those of you Nissan enthusiasts who are dissapointed with the Maxima(dont know why, i luve everything bout it....except the thingy between the grill), why not just get the new G35? they're priced the same, but why get that when you can have all this:

quoted from caranddriver:

"The four-door sports car lives on. At least Nissan would like to believe so. While we wouldn't go quite that far, we do recognize that the Maxima represents significant improvement over its predecessor. Foremost is an all-new multilink independent rear suspension that should improve ride and handling. The Maxima's 3.5-liter V-6 gets boosts in horsepower and torque - up to 265 hp and 255 pound-feet, respectively. Transmission choices range from four- and five-speed automatics to an optional six-speed manual. Differentiating the new Maxima from all other sport sedans are a Skyview roof - a fixed glass window that runs nearly the length of the roof - and an optional Elite Package that replaces the rear bench seat with two bucket seats. Moving the front-wheel-drive Maxima more upscale are standard xenon headlamps (3.5 SL), 18-inch alloy wheels with 245/45R18 tires (3.5 SE), vehicle dynamic control, dual exhaust with four ports, and an eight-speaker Bose audio system with in-dash six-disc CD changer. Safety features are abundant, and include front, side, and curtain airbags, front-seat active head restraints, and seatbelt pretensioners and load limiters. Maxima will be built at Nissan's Smyrna and Decherd, Tennessee, plant, and will go on sale in March for between $28,000 to $34,000. Which begs the question: why buy a Maxima when the same money will get you a rear-wheel-drive Infiniti G35?"

obiwankenobi1

I would buy a G35....Hands down. But then again, I promised myself that my next car would be RWD. I am tired of FWD, although I still love my 02 Maxima SE and plan to keep it a coule more years.

Obi

jg28

some of us live in snow country and don't want a RWD car though I seriously love the G35. If they ever offered AWD with it, I'd seriously consider it over a new Maxima anyday.

drakutismax

I wonder if the '04 Max will have the same "Spirit" as the previous Maxima's. I love the G35, especially the coup. Sweet. I would take that over a Z. But I guess the thing with a Max is, it has a charm to it and it's more than just the mechanics involved.

taste

Rolex watches are not meant to be sold in mass quantity like the autos mentioned above. It would be more accurate to compare it to the sales of auto's in the $100K + range which are auto's (like Rolex watches) for a select audience; and before anyone gets there nose bent out of shape it has nothing to do with elitism...if you want and can afford to buy these things that is your choice. It doesn't make you a better or worse person however if we are going to make comparisons we should make it apples to apples.

As for US versus Canada versus Japan production etc... If I understand the argument correctly the premise be states is that if automaker "x" takes a car produced in Japan and makes it in another country (e.g. Canada, USA, etc...) then the quality of that product goes to crap? What a load of crap! That makes the assumption that all of the quality control and manufacturing standards that this automaker has put in place to win their hard EARNED reputation for excellence and for some unknown reason they are going to toss all of that out window and are now going to produce an inferior product and destroy their reputation; I don't think so. Rather it seems this is a case of someone who "perceives" a better value because of a known reputation. These are the same people who buy an "expensive" wine or champagne because of name or inflated pricetag on the bottle when they could have purchased something much better for half the price.

Hey to each their own. If it helps you sleep at night because you bought a name that works for me. However spare me the xenophobic arguments unless you can back up your statements empirically.

windy

Assuming that the assembly plants are laid out the same in a 3 countries, and assuming that they are using the same materials, why is there such a drastic disparity in quality? or are one or both of those assumptions false? just curious.

atlantabenny

hello everyone - first time visitor here due to the 04 maxima, which i was curious to know opinions about.

on car quality by location, couple of major factors affect it, such as plant management (mostly dyed-in-the-wool managers who enforce the quality standards and manage the production processes subject to those standards), the plant workers (mostly if not all local residents) and the various car components and materials (many supplied by local contractors and sub-contractors).

by process of elimination, 1) it's reasonable to say that the veteran plant management can be as good as any within the company, and thus can account for only so much of the quality deviations, 2) the workers are trained in the carmaker's quality philosophies. while a learning curve is involved, eventually these workers can be as good as any worker from the carmaker's home country, and 3) the local component and supplier vendors, while they must pass meet specifications, are farthest from the carmaker's management control.

the big differentiator is that, as more the rule than the exception, a car made in japan has behind it a supply chain (contractors, sub-contractors, shipment companies, warehouses, etc.) who think and execute in concert with the carmaker's goals. collectively, this system and all the businesses make up a "japan inc." whose products - cars, videocams, televisions, etc. - are consistently of high quality.

thus, a car plant that doesn't have this infrastructure can produce cars that have more defects than those made in the home country.

mirth

As I suspected, Nissan has priced the Maxima out of the price range of a lot of current Maxima owners, who are looking to pay $22-25K for a car. So what's left? The Altima. Which is an okay car, but the major advantage it had was it's 240hp. Now the Accord has the same power for as much or cheaper, plus it has a nicer interior. Finally, the $30K price point is filled to the brim with competitors, good competitors, including Nissan's own G35. I just don't understand the logic of this.

atlantabenny

neither do i. the maxima is bumping acura tl territory, which it has the infiniti i35 for.

looks like a rare carlos goshn misstep.

wgr

I feel the same way. My hope is to find a very good deal on an 03 model when the 04 models appear. I am hoping dealers will be greatly discounting the 2003s to clear their inventories for the new models. (This is what happended to the Accords when the new 2003 models came out.) However, this may not happen if there is no big demand for the 04s.

Otherwise, I guess I will be looking at the Mazda 6s and the Accord. Other than a terrific engine, I am not impressed with the Altima. It really is too bad to see Nissan make what appears to be a big mistake.

nissangirl

We, "the people" are telling you that you have made a mistake on the '04 model. The front is just not acceptable, and the price is too high.

Do you think they visit Edmunds, Townhall? I hope so, they would learn a thing or two.

wgr

Some time ago I sent a message to Nissan USA re my displeasure with the 04 Maxima. There is a "Contact Us" area on the www.nissanusa.com site. It can't hurt to send some messages.

nissangirl

Very cool, will do. Thanks

aconger

I agree with those that don't like the grill with the filled in center piece. I like the side and rear view of the new maxima. I think we should all hold final judgement until we get a chance to drive one. The new features on the SE sound great.

otoluva

to those of you disappointed with the new Max (styling and pricing) I predict Max sales to slip, And as mentioned above when you are talking $30k the G35,TL are better choices.

maxxed_out

G35 is RWD, and is more performance oreinted with 280 hp, while the new Max seems to be more leaning toward the comfort side with all the new features.

Each car has its own niche. Max does to. As long as it is better than the last gen Max, i think it will do just fine,
tho i do agree with most of you about the styling

lmp180psu

that we should hold some judgements back until it is either available in march, or until some car magazine "experts" have a chance to actually drive it. Styling opinions of course can be done without driving it but if it is worth the increased price waits to be seen.

maxxed out: the G35 coupe has 280hp., while the sedan has 260 hp, actually less than the 265 in the max.(might not be as bad of a comparison with the G35 as most seem to think?).

lmp180psu

I personally like the styling, inside and out, as a whole, but the front grill needs to be altered (maybe just take away the center section and replace it with a mesh type grill?). I like the sound of some of the new features such as the glass roof panels and four person seating option, that are not available on other models. Believe it or not some people do not like the rear lights on the G35, just like the front on the max.

cheerioboy26

is supposedly gone in the fall, w/o a dedicated Infiniti replacement. That will be partly filled by the Max, part by the G35. Rumors are that both will offer AWD by then, but no confirmation.

gwhiz1

what in the world is the big deal here.

first of all, the 04 maxima is much nicer then the strange looking 03 and prior. i think it looks really nice and i'm willing to bet the public accepts it well at under 30k. it's a great move up from the altima. you'll see a bundle of the new maxima's on the road over the next few years.

this talk of gobbling of sales with similar models is more perception then reality here as well i think.

the i35 may very well be gone in the future. we just don't know what nissan/infiniti's plans at this early stage of major rebuilding are. i'd say so far so good with the altima,z,g,and maxima. all very nice cars, which have and will cotinue to win awards.

nissangirl

We all have our own preferences, but it seems that most of the comments here do not favor the front grille on the '04 Max. When I spend that kind of money on a vehicle, I want to be pleased with the overall looks, as well as performance, quality, and reliability. And some of us are only saying we are not thrilled with the front of it. But I am thrilled with my '03 SE, luv it!

achadha

04 Maxima might grow on us all one day. For now I chose to buy an 03' which i dearly love to death 6speed is the way to go! traded in a 98 5spd no comparison! I like buying cars towards the end of the model. Usually u get all the problems solved on ur model and can wait for the new design to grow on you.

maxxed_out

Personally, i wdont like the front grill either. BUT that wouldn't stop me from buying it if i could.

Your not gonna buy it, ok, but you dont have to complain over and over, if your not gonna buy it JUST because of the grill, ok, great, but you must be real picky to miss out on sometin great just because of sometin on the outside that takes 1/20 of the car.

Think bout it, it's better than any previous Max and has more amenities than you could imagine on a car in its will-be price range

nissangirl

maxxed out: As you, we are just expressing our opinions too. I personally love my '03, and maybe when the '04 arrives I could only approach it from behind so I don't have to be reminded of the unattractiveness of the front of my $30K car. It's fine that you like it, no one is going to call you crazy.....we are all different and have different likes and dislikes. I'm sure you will enjoy it when it arrives.

mkco

Saw the Maxima at Detroit auto show yesterday. I was really impressed with the design, but OH THAT UGLY GRILL! My friends and I were thinking of uses for it...Perhaps a waffle iron? Or a potato grater?

We also thought the roof glass was weird.

But, like the shape! (a lot more than the current model.)

maxamillion1

And these forums were built so that we can complain. Nissan and other car companies check these boards all the time, if enough people complain, changes will be made. I don't like the grill, or the interior, but the side and back are nice looking (especially if it doesn't have that ugly spoiler) I still like the 2000-2003 model better. I really want the 03 with everything!

92drexel

I think people will change their tune in a couple of years about a new max. I remember when the 5th gen came out I absolutely HATED the rear end (the cat eyes), esp since I had a 3rd gen (1992) which, in my opinion, was the best looking max. But the '00 grew on me and the overall feel of the car inside and out won me over. I just think that people, in general, don't like change.

The only thing I don't like about the '04s is price. I hope they keep it somewhat reasonable. However since a loaded 3.5SE alti is pushing 30 large...I think a loaded max will be at least 35ish :-(

I also have heard absolutely nothing about the I35. Either Nissan is doing a great job of hiding it or it is finished. I read somewhere a long time ago that Infiniti will offer only RWD cars, so it makes sense that the I35 would be phased out (if that's the case).

Overall...I'm all for the new max (grill and all).

mariner7

Passat W8: it looks exactly like a Passat I4. TL: Acura can't do exterior design if their lives depend on it. Avalon: Buick from Japan.

Besides the hated grille, the new Max looks better in every way. You've to give credit to Nissan for continuing to take chances with the designs.

Max for 35K, won't they encroach onto G35 land?