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I went to a Goodyear dealer equipped with the latest tire balancing equipment, the Hunter GPS 9700 vibration control system with road force measurement balancer.
This machine simulates actual road conditions and checks the wheel rim for conformance to specs and the tire as well.
I had allready taken the wheels to another tire shop not equipped with the latest equipment and had the wheels balanced.
It turned about that the tires could not be mated to the rims as indicated by the the test results.
Goodyear will replace the offending tire based on the test results at no charge where the tread life is less than 25% worn.
To get the replacement tire you must go to a Goodyear dealer and have the tire tested on the proper equipment.
I had called Nissan Customer Service representative at the head office. She promptly consulted their technical experts and came back with an in accurate and incomplete answer. Like don't drive so fast.
For further info on tire balancing go to Hunter's web site or put in your search wheel balance.
Vibration can be caused by wheel and or tire problems or a combination of both.Experience wheel balance personnel can detect tire problems by eye and feel but now days you cannot count on getting an experienced tech to work on your car.
as a dealer, sometimes a car gets miles put on it...thats life. the difference is that the warranty, lease, and EVERYTHING about the car, starts at the miles that are on the car at delivery. thats what a warranty is for. if someone test drove the car, and the kid in the backseat tore the fabric, then its fixed AT NO COST TO THE BUYER.
it's not even the point..
"you lose NOTHING by having 200 miles" - i certainly don't have anything to gain if i paid full price if someone drove my car for 200 miles..it's not my goal to make money for dealerships regardless what they tell me... the point is, if the 200 miles were from test drives, it's been used.. if i choose to buy it after 200 miles, then it's my choice.. if it's from transportation, that's a diff story.. but for you to tell me 10 people have driven my car and i'm buying it at full price as a NEW car, you're out of your mind.
you cant honestly tell me that, if it was the only car that fit EXACTLY what you wanted, you would complain over 200 miles.
You should be concerned with buying manual transmission new cars with some miles on them. A person who does not know how to drive a manual transmission car may incur more wear and tear on the clutch during a 10 mile test drive than a normal driver in several thousand miles, grind the gears, or worse.
So bottom line, you are taking some risk when buying a new car with several hundred miles on it.
And p100 makes another good point. Unless you get a car with 2-10 "delivery" miles on the odometer, you can never be sure that abuse did not occur during the break in period. This could lead to poorer gas mileage, shorter clutch life, etc. for which the warranty does not apply. When I bought a Honda S2000, I made absolutely sure that it had no test drive miles on it. The last thing I wanted was some 17 year old burning about 20% off the life of the clutch or missing shifts for even 5 miles, let alone 200. I might be less picky with an automatic Maxima, but not much so. Hell, even I was encouraged to "let it rip" by salespeople when I've test driven cars.
It behoves dealerships to specifically set aside their demonstrators and leave the "new" cars alone.
bowke are you a car dealer?
the problem also, is that many people want to test drive THE EXACT CAR they want. in some cases, a deal is not struck, and the car sits. as a dealer, we cant help that.
More specifically: Is there anybody who thinks that sports suspension on SE is rougher than they would like for their personal comfort? If somebody likes sports s better, your feedback is too appriciated.
If somebody can explain what exactly is sports suspension and why some people may like better, please do.
My last car was an Olds Intrigue and it had a pretty cushy ride, but my Max SE is actually softer-sprung and handles crappy roads a LOT more gracefully. The GLE actually had a bit more body roll ripping through turns (yes, I "ripped" through turns, it's the only way to drive a Maxima lol). If I had to do it over again I'd buy the exact same car, no regrets.
As for people complaining about vibration, I notice it on my car when it's really cold (freezing or below) outside. Once the car gets going for about a mile or so the vibration goes away, leading me to believe it's the 17" tires. On Tirerack's site I've read similar complaints about the Bridgestones. I don't really mind it too much, I'm going to abuse the heck out of my tires next summer and then buy better, "long term" ones.
Did I mention I love my car? I think it's possible I'll be one of those nuts who, 20 years down the road, I'm on my 4th Maxima. It's just perfect in every way, I can't really ask anything more of a car.
it included tricking people into higher interest rates, decreasing someone's monthly payment amount but also by increasing the length of the loan...etc etc..
like they said, the only way to buy a new car, is to go to your credit union, get your loan pre-approved and then buy it the car at invoice + taxes, and no other fees..
There's significantly more rubber between a GLE wheel and the road than on the SE wheel.
Most 2000 models available as used are probably ready for new tires anyhow so I'd focus on getting the right car in good condition regardless of particular model and then consider changing wheels/tires if the ride isn't what your looking for.
I have a 00 Maxima SE with the standard 17" wheel and tire package. It is definitely a rougher ride than the GLE model BUT it's mostly because of the wheel size.
I switch out the 17" wheels and tires every winter with a set of 16" wheels and snows for the winter and the ride definitely gets softer.
aside from the obvious notion that there are crooks out there, they didnt show me much to get excited about...except the way they sensationalize things.
If you've never driven on dedicated snow tires, your in for an incredible treat. The difference between average snow tires and the BEST all season tires in snow is night and day.
I will warn you however, once you get dedicated snows, you'll be hooked on them and in all likely hood will never drive in snow and ice season without them again (or allow your loved ones to drive without them either).
The difference is amazing.
I have two sets of the Blizzack WS-50's, one for the 95 Maxima and another for the 00 Maxima. I wish they made them for my 03 Murano but nothing is available yet.
An obvious additional side benefit is that you save significant wear and tear on your stock wheels and tires while the snows are in place. I'm on my 4th winter now with the first of WS-50's and I'll probably replace them at the end of this winter.
I am trying to decide between a 2003 Maxima versus a 2004 Camry LEV6. I drove the Camry. It is very smooth, but doesn't take off from zero as quickly as even my current 1999 Maxima. I am not a rash driver though.
I drove the 2003 Maxima the other day and it was pretty awesome. Since I hate the front grille of the 2004 Maxima not to mention its high price, I am leaning towards a 2003 Maxima.
Does anyone know if the 2003 Maxima has had any recalls or major known issues?
Aristotle, the 03 Max is a much faster car than any Camry, but the ride get can gittery if you go over bumpy roads. Overall, the Max is more fun to drive, but if you live in NY or NJ, be aware that the beautifully bright HIDs are magnets for low life thieves. So far, the only "recall" I am aware of are the HIDs (Nissan is adding a steel bracket to the HID housing and data-doting it with VIN), but the recall applies only to NY and NJ Max owners (at this time).
I might be asking a question that's been asked before , but couldn't find any answer that satisfied me.
I have a 2001 Maxima SE with about 26k miles on it, while I am totally satisfied with the car, the milage is bad - I get about 17 miles a gallon in city and may be 20-22 miles for highway driving - some said it might be due to the way I drive which might be some what true on a high way as I tend to drive fast(blame it on the fast car )but on city roads I am driving only as fast as any other guy
Any suggestions to improve the milage (not at the cost of the performance) are welcome and appreciate your time
The Camry V6 is a Japanese Buick. I'd consider an Acura TL as a more attractive alternative to the Maxima than any Toyota.
Ideally I would like to buy the 2004 Acura TL but it is far more expensive, isn't it?
i didnt mean most people already have a maxima...just that they are not considering anything else.
before 2002, i viewed the altima as a cheaper nissan, not in the class as the maxima..but since the maxima is now, in the range of $30G's, and altima offer a v6 with 240hp, and if i'm looking for a sedan in the $25G range, it would be the accord (i would never buy the 4 door accord though) vs the altima, and probably throw in the Mazda6s in the mix..not passat since they're almost 30's
Then there was overlap with Camry V6, Avalon, and Maxima pricing. The current Altima was almost going to be called the Maxima, but Nissan reconsidered, phew!
I think Nissan has put itself in a difficult position because the 04 Max is not really in the same league as the 04 Acura TL or Lexus ES 330, and the Max is not usually cross shopped against the Avalon, which caters to a different audience, even though the prices of the two cars are quite close. Rather the Max is more of an in-betweener that is not quite entry luxury, but is slightly more upscale than the Camcords.
Talking about value, I think the Camcords beat the 04 Max even if it sells at invoice. Albeit the Max is a more powerful car, an average driver does not really need that much power in everyday driving. Further, the Camry provides a more comfortable (though a bit sedated) ride, which fits well with many woman and senior drivers. Also, the Accord provides a good compromise between the Max and the Camry in terms of ride comfort, handling and performance, and as such, is a crowd pleaser, as is evidenced by its popularity as the top selling family sedan.
Nissan has to rethink its strategy carefully as far as how the Max should be placed in the Nissan/Infinity line up. As we all know, the Max used to be Nissan's flagship and best selling sedan. Now, with the G35 and Altima taking away a chunk of the would be Max buyers, the Max may just linger in obscurity. The 04 Max is only six months old, but it is already selling at or close to invoice. This does not bold well for the Max, especially when compared with the hot selling TL, which is supposedly Max's close competitor.
if i HAD to get a 4 door at that price, i would get the Mazda6s... maybe an Altima v6
at $30G, i would go for a 04 I35 (i know it's old, but there's nothing else out there for $30),or maybe a Passat i know the saab 9-3 is around this range, but not my cup of tea..
in the $35, i would go for a TL, G35, ES330 ..
the point being, nowhere did i mention maxima, because afterall, it's a Nissan.. why would i pay a premium price for a non premium car? and this is from a huge maxima fan prior to the 2004 model year....lets' face it, acura, lexus, infiniti is a notch above nissan, if i had to pay a price that could get me one of those mentioned, is it wise to spend it on a nissan?
maxima = sad turn for vehicle with a solid history (nissan's bad marketing and poor product positioning)
Don't even bring up the new Accord I am getting. They wouldn't have it.
To me the Maxima has always been one of those niche family sedans. It just doesn't fit into one particular category.
I can see people comparing the Maxima to the Accord, Camry (V6 models), TL and even the G35. Some people do not pay attention about RWD and horsepower. I do, but I can't afford to
To me the Maxima has always been more luxurious than the Accord and Camry, but it became most apparent to me in 2002 when they facelifted the 5th gen model. They added Xenons and memory seats to the GLE and an optional navi system. At that time, no other midsize family sedan offer those options. That has changed now though. Camry and Accord offer this system today.
The new Maxima to me seems less luxurious than the 5th gen and the quality to me is not as good, but I still like the car simply because it is a Maxima. The quality of the Maxima has been going down lately.
As someone previously stated, the 3rd gen was by far the best quality-wise, and to me the 4th gen was worse than the 5th, and the 6th is worse than any of them. Not as bad as pictures make it, but definately not up to near-luxury sedan standards. The 5th gen was close though.
Would I consider the new Maxima...yes...but not fully equipped. I would love to find a fully loaded 02 or 03 SE 6spd w/o Navi.
The older Maximas were better values than the new one because they offered so much as standard equipment. Xenon headlights were standard on the lowly GXE model in 2002, now they are optional on the SE. Memory seats used to be standard on the GLE, now they are optional on the SL, which is just crazy IMO. If a car cost this much, these options should be standard.
I am aware that new things have been added, but for the price of this car, many of the optional features should be standard.
Although I never thought I would say this, I actually like the skyview.
And as wierd as it may sound, the new Maxima would be nice looking if not for that front end, which should be fixed ASAP.
Have a good one
it's actually very tolerable..
i have to disagree...the maxima with the driver preferred package rivals the build quality and equipment of a top-of-the-line TL, and is priced accordingly. you can get an SL with elite package (navigation, rear buckets w/heated seats, rear windowshade, etc...) for under $34k. none of the 'near-luxury' competitors you mentioned offer anything that even resembles this.
kyle...
the problem nissan has is that they havent made many people aware that the altima actually offers MORE size and features than the previous generation maxima.
having said that, most of the people that cross-shop the altima and maxima end up buying the altima.
if you loaded up a maxima in '02-'03, you still take yourself well over the $30k plateau.
She then test drove the 04 Acura TL and easily concluded that its qualities were better than the Max and Accord. We understood that the TL was marketed and sold in a different category/class than the Max and Accord and felt that the additional cost of the TL was acceptable to us. She bought the TL and is very pleased.
Our 97 Max is a very fine car and is so far almost bulletproof at 153K Mi. After driving the 04 Max and looking at/sitting in the 04 Altima, I wonder if Nissan has lost its way with these designs.