Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
ron2
if you have no choice other than to drive it, sure hope you have real good insurance.
Don
It's far better to make your email address public in your profile so that other Town Hall members may see it.
The spam bots crawl these (and all web) pages for posted email addresses, but they cannot get to the profiles. In fact, no one who is not logged in can get to the profiles.
Hope this is helpful.
For future reference, you can always delete your own posts as long as you are logged in.
Reliability wise, both vehicles have been absolute gems, as trouble free as any vehicle can be.
I am sorry to say this but you can not compare in any shape or form american cars to Nissan. I hope that comments come out as positive. But it's true Nissan Honda Toyota all have one thing in common "reliablity". People buy from companies that have proven over and over again reliablity.
Pictures of my maxima: http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/com.hp.HPGuestLogin?username=larry- - 4ny&password=89487389
I also have an 02 SE..majestic blue with frost leather. Loaded sans nav, meridian pkg, and trac control. I am having some trouble with the drivers power seat, even after the tsb service for back/forward inoperation was performed. Overall it has been a good car with minimal issues.
I currently have the original tires(crappy potenzas) that have been a topic on the maxima boards . I too plan going to a v rated tire when the time comes.
What tires did you buy and what ride difference have you observed?
The switch to Acura shouldn't be taken as an insult to Nissan. I still think highly of the company and if my budget were limited to $25-27k, I'd probably go for a heavily discounted Maxima SE 6-speed. But the Acura TL 6-speed with Navigation at $33.3k ($2,000 under MSRP) put me in the league of BMW and Mercedes as far as quality of interior and overall refinement. It became too hard to justify a $52k+ E320 CDI. Similar to the $33k Honda S2000 making it hard for me to justify a $58k Boxster S.
I sincerely wish all of you Maxima owners the same good fortune I've had (and may continue to have) with my 1995. After giving it a good wash and wax this Saturday, someone at the grocery store asked me if it's a new car. Makes it very hard to let it go. And perhaps I won't.
Thx.
1) that if you dont like the 6-speed, you will take an auto instead, or some other car in inventory.
2) that your deposit is non-refundable
if you were ok with these terms, i would be comfortable doing a deal with you. therefore, i think other dealers would too.
If Nissan can improve the fit and finish of the 04 Max and get rid of those first year bugs, I believe the Max stands a good chance to compete with the TL, particularly given its lower price.
Like many pre-6 gen Max owners, I enjoy all my Maximas (3rd, 4th and 5 gens) and believe they are reliable, as evidenced by CR consistent rating of the Max at or close to the top of the reliability scale.
Might want to check out the Kumho (South Korean Made) brand of tire. I recently bought the Kumho Ecsta KH11 (W rated) for my 02 SE and like them so far. Only have 3K miles on them so can't speak to treadwear but I like the grip. The price was reasonable too. I had heard good reviews about the tire from other online sites, so I decided to give them a try.
I called my Nissan dealer last night just to check the availability of a 6-speed to drive before I seal the deal on a TL 6-speed. Nothing in stock and nothing specific in the immediate future. The GM of the dealership offered to sell me one completely to my specifications at or below invoice (whether ordered direct or traded), but he admitted that finding a 6-speed to test drive first would be difficult. Apparantly, Nissan has cut way back on the percentage of manula transmissioned Maximas since I bought my 1995 SE 5-speed.
As far as putting down a non-refundable deposit or making any other concessions to the dealer on taking an auto if you don't like the 6-speed when it arrives? Sorry, but that's just BS in my book. In the past couple of months I have test driven (2) G35 6-speeds, a 530i 6-speed, 330i 6-speed, (2) TL 6-speeds, a E320 CDI, and a few others. The 6-speed Maxima is NOT a "hot" car. It is fading into obscurity and the fact that the dealerships don't even have anything to tempt me and other Nissan loyalists is not helping. The likelihood of me ending up in another Maxima in 2004 is low, but if I had been reasonably impressed, I likely would have recommended it to others to consider. In the past 9 years, I have been cited by no fewer than 8-10 buyers at my dealership as influencing their purchase decision.
kennyg5,
Thanks for the congrats. For what it's worth, I did seriously consider the G35 6-speed. Notwithstanding it's RWD platform, I didn't notice a significant advantage in handling and actually slightly preferred the steering feel of the TL. In addition, the TL engine has less low end grunt, but seems to more freely rev to a higher redline. But the real deal factor is the interior / amenities. As my daily driver family sedan, I am willing to give up some performance in favor of interior fit and finish and amenities. The G35 is not bad. But when I got into the TL, with the voice activated 8" Nav system, hands free phone, exceptional audio system, and extremely clean design with high quality materials, the G35 didn't stack up. Even the 530i has a tough time competing with the aesthetics and amenities of the TL's interior.
I have greatly enjoyed my S2000 for the past 30 months to the tune of 17,000 "no frills" miles. But in replacing my 152k mile Maxima, the TL feels more like a car I can live with day in and day out form many years.
When do they start producing 2005s?
And I want to buy tires anywhere, not just be limited to one or two types. For the record, I recently replaced my 16" tires with the Turanza LS-H, which are highly rated by Tirerack, and so far I'm very happy witht them. Don't know if they're available in 18".
'17 Chevy Volt Premiere
You also get 18" wheels, which may be a plus or minus depending on your taste.
I checked all of the fuses that I know of and did not find any broken fuses...at this point I am at a loss as it is affecting many electrical items but not all....the radio continues to work when the key is in the accessories position, but no dome light, key fob, locks, etc.
Any suggestions?
Anyway, WOW.
Nice clutch and nice shift action. Definately the direction I'm going on my purchase.
18 yrs. ( '86 Max, '92 PUP, '94 Altima, '00 Max, '02 Max )
The '94 Altima was the absolute BEST car I've ever owned
( made in Smyrna TN. btw ). In years past, I actually
considered Nissans to be BETTER than Toyotas ( Owned 2
Toyotas )
However, recent Nissan iterations are problematic. IMHO,
the chances of getting a good Nissan in years
past was up around 95%. Currently, with the Carlos Ghosen
Nissans, I'd say that chance is down to about 65%.
Happy motoring !!
i have seen lots of people dog on the maxima for being too big, too luxury, etc...but almost a year ago i explained nissan's intentions:
the maxima was PURPOSEFULLY moved into the 'entry lux' market to capture tha avalon/TL/gs330 market. this was also done to make room for the altima 3.5 to move into the "4-door sports car" role in the lineup.
nissan even changed the wording on the monroney sticker from "4-door sports car" to "nissan's flagship"
previous generation maxima owners also dog on the altima without trying it. by my own experience, the 2002+ altima 3.5 performs at least as well as the maximas before.
people are starting to move toward the altima now. here in KY, the altima was the best selling sedan overall last year, including the accord, camry, taurus, etc...
i think its time to forget about the maxima being the sports car after 2003.
I wonder if Nissan plans to phase out the I30 so as to focus the Infiniti line-up solely towards rear wheel / all-wheel drive platforms consistent with luxury makes such as Lexus, BMW, Merc and now Cadillac.
BTW, the 1.9% expired yesterday. Its worth noting that the incentive really wasn't well publisized either and that I agree with Bowke that Maxima's sales to date aren't really incentive dependent.
Also, Lexus isn't exclusively rear-wheel/all-wheel drive just yet. The RX330 and ES330 are FWD and will probably stay that way as long as they're based on the Camry platform.
My question is, is there something in the design of the max that would facilitate them getting in? I park outside, by a stand of trees, so I'm assuming they're coming in from there. I don't leave doors, windows, SR open. I would hate to have to set traps daily in my car to keep them from doing damage, but right now I don't have any clues. Anyone else?
Don
The quality in other Nissan's has been abysmal. Ever try that center storage bin on the Z? Embarassing!
It seems however, that Nissan faced a choice when creating this generation of products in relation to its financial crisis. One, they could spend what development dollars they had on the "go" parts or on the "touch" parts. They clearly choose "go". It was probably the right decision to separate themselves from Toyota and Honda to be a more performance oriented alternative, as Mazda has also done. Hopefully, the 05' Altima is an indication that they intend to improve the "touch" part of the equation with mid-cycle updates.
How about a small piece of metal window screen over the air intake opening, just to see if it stops them?
If they're coming in now, your going to have a much bigger problem once the weather turns cold again and they try to find a warm place to live.
Frankly speaking, even though Nissan is not giving any incentive now, the low price at which it sells the Max is an incentive in and of itself. On the other hand, the TL is selling close to MSRP in certain locales, especially for the TL with Nav. Nissan should take lessons from Acura in this regard.