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Nissan Altima
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Comments
OK, the WRX is selling at a rate more than 100% better than before. But that's quite an exception.
The Acura TL Type S is pretty close to the Accord you long for. Isn't it even supposed to get a manual soon?
-juice
But if the Altima time is 7.3 to 60 and R&T tested mine to 7.4 seconds for 0-60, I guess I'm not gonna worry much. Now maybe a 255hp Maxima with a manual tranny would kick its butt tho.
I was wondering where you disappeared to...
And you had some good points about where an Alty is superior to an SUV, but then so is my 4 year old Camry. That's why I still drive it - and not another SUV.
"A more relevant discussion would be about suvs in the Altima's price range."
Possibly, although many of the same points made about the Seq would apply to a Pathy, or Durango, etc. Someone could also pick up a recent year Suburban for somewhere in the 25K range.
"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."
I chose to focus on insurance because it not the obvious sticker price. Anyone with a HP calculator can figure out the difference between monthly costs of a 40K car vs a 25K car. Not everyone understands insurance. I suggest you go back and re-read that part again. How you can say the insurance point is in favor of the car is beyond me.
"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."
Of course your car is not an Altima. Adults wouldn't fit next to a car seat in an Altima. That was my point. They don't fit well in my Camry, therefore, they won't fit in 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! "
Why would you need to rent a moving van if your friend has a truck and trailer that big?
Been a nice conversation, McKague. Hope you find your Alty.
However, when I sat in the driver's seat, I was somewhat disappointed. Understand, I'm not that picky ( I don't care about the prop rod or the gooseneck hinges). However, every time you drive your new car, you use the controls to adjust something. (You don't always go under the hood or stuff the trunk with stuff.
Hey, we all have different priorities. Frankly, the Altima will do damn well (as long as the reliability is there). I just expected perfection after seeing the media reviews, hp and styling. I figured that the interior would be of the same standards. (I remember seeing some article mentioning the Audi-esque atmosphere interiors. It's no Passat when it comes to the interior).
However, for $24k for a 3.5SE, it's hard to argue with the value (a similar Passat would cost WAY more and have less power.). I suppose one could always go for the Maxima. In fact the local Nissan dealer has 2002 Maxima's for $3,200 off list, making the probably the same price as a 3.5SE.
At least, the buying public has more choices. When's Nissan going to do an Altima SportWagon? That would rule! Doesn't Nissan have a vehicle in the works based off the Altima?
Even chipped, I think C&D's Passat took 6.9s to 60 with a manual.
I disagree, the Altima is a sportier car. It's still a sporty sedan, not a pure sports car, but it's definitely more athletic than an Accord.
Absurd? Are you kidding? Most power, 17" wheels, and the only 5 speed. It's absurd not to believe it's the sportiest of the trio (Accord and Camry being the others).
-juice
To me, as long as they offer a 5 speed, that's what I would get. The percentages don't matter to me one bit, as long as I can find one. When I test drove it, they had two V6 5 speeds.
-juice
After the Altima, I sat in the A4. Wow, talk about worlds apart! The fact that it felt rich inside and just appealed in every direction. This is a car that fights the mold. It's a gorgeous car. Even with its style being a couple years old, people still stop by and oogle over it. I threw on the sport package, sunroof, slush box and walked out for invoice (Audi loves MSRP too). With the sport package, this thing STICKS to the road. I can toss it around much more than the Altima, Camry , or Accord.
Performance? Not posting the best 0-60, so what? The brakes on this car are best in class. Period. You can stop on a dime. If i want a powerhouse, I can throw a chip in it for $500.
Guess when it comes down to it, you just have to drive the car and decide what's important to you. I just don't understand soccer moms and their excursions....
~alpha
The A4 design is actually 7 years old, but you hardly notice. I agree it's still quite handsome and handles better than the Passat. The new one looks less distinctive, but the improvements seem nice.
-juice
C/D also said that the Altima was the only car out of the group that they could get excited about, but that its minor faults (dashboard reflections, firm ride, hard-to-read gauges, and torque steer) were enough to push it down in the rankings. They rated the Accord and Camry higher, but kept pointing out how boring they were.
There was no mention in the article of the Altima's poor interior quality or fit and finish.
Only had the opportunity to drive the auto version as the dealer had no 5 speed on the lot. Great acceleration, nice blend of ride/handling, powerful brakes, quiet... Yes, the interior was a little disappointing but not enough to turn me off the car and I especially found the leather not to be of the best quality. I will probably wait until the next model year to buy or a least get a late '02-probably with cloth. BTW the 0-60 time of 7.3 seconds is conservative as the Alty (by the seat of my pants) seemed to be quicker than my 5sp Solara. Accord and Camry are boooring...
-juice
Also a 3 second difference in 0-90 is ridiculous how can anyone say that it isn't the sportiest car of the big three. Does anyone have the 1/4 mi times and speeds handy?
Also advertising a 229 lease, forget what the moenyt down was, maybe 2k.
1800 off MSRP is about 400 under invoice.
I'll buy all his inventory.
Something smells fishy!
Another thing to consider about the Altima SE is high insurance rates. I ran a quote on it and found it to be more expensive to insure than a WRX wagon, and about the same as a WRX sedan.
Actually, all cars have bumpers, now you have a covering that goes over it for a more finished look, there is still a bumper under there if you take the cover off. heck of a lot better than those ugly crash bumpers from the 70's.
Only thing about the interior of the altima i found kind of pathetic/scary was the door locks. They were a little too plasticy, but theres no way four little pieces of plastic are going to make an overall nice car suck.
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/allnew2002nissanaltima
For those who might not know, the Owners Club is a dedicated folder where you can have as many discussions as you would like. Take a look at some of them here to get an idea of the possibilities. You will see that the various clubs have separate discussions for things like introducing yourselves, posting pictures, maintenance issues and whatever other related topics the groups may find of interest.
This discussion would remain here on the Sedans board, but will be linked to the Owners Club folder as well, making it accessible from either place.
You can "subscribe" to the entire owners folder, which makes reading all the posts in the various discussions very easy to do. You will also eventually have the opportunity to have regularly scheduled owners' chats if you are interested in doing so.
The Nissan Owners Club folder currently has sub-folders for Pathfinder, Maxima and Pickup owners - seems like the Altima deserves a place there also.
Let me know if you have any questions. If this sounds like a good idea, just give me a couple of positive posts and I'll get the ball rolling.
Pat
Host
Sedans Message Board
Please put me down as wanting a Nissan Altima Owners Club. I'm in the Toyota Highlander Owners Club. It's great information!
Jim
Makes sense. Probably why since August when I got my Maxima, I have only seen one 02 Maxima on the road. And this IS Southern California.
I kind of like the exclusivity!
Obi
First impression was that tall people need not apply. With the sunroof, my head was close to hitting the roof. It is apparently impossible to get an SE without the sunroof. Also, the roofline intruded on my vision, and I had the seat as low as it could possibly go. I did not think it safe to have so much vision obstructed. I don't know if it would be any different without the sunroof.
Everything said about the cheap interior is true. I mean the interior REALLY is low grade, what you might find in a Neon rental car. The door handles on the outside were cheap plastic and it looked like they could be ripped off if grabbed too quickly.
The intruments were cluttered and not well put out. The shifter seemed junky and clunky.
As for the actual drive, the car is fast. Not a single question there. But there was also plenty of torque steer to keep you on your feet. The handling was nothing to write home about. It basically felt like an ordinary sedan that drove very fast.
Other annoying thing: there is only a CD player, and no cassette, nor is a cassette even an option. I like to listen to books on tape for long trips.
All in all, very unimpressed.
I admit, I'm somewhat picky about certain things, and cars are one of them. If there's one or two major issues with a car, that'll usually cross it off my list. On the other hand, I can live with maybe one or two *minor* issues, but the Altima's interior has about 4 or 5 things that I can't accept in a car at this price range. And that, to me, equals 1+ major issues.
Looks like I'm headed back to the Toyota Camry Solara - equipped the way I want, it costs over $1,200 less (at *MSRP*) than the Altima. It doesn't require premium fuel, 200 horses is perfectly acceptable (My Saturn L300 has 182hp, and it feels like a rocket , the interior is about 1000 times better than the Altima, and finally, the Solara in its current form is proven - the new Altima needs to grow for another 2 years or so.
It's too bad Nissan made such a nice exterior (I *really* like that and the front and tail lights), a super powerful engine, and some smart interior *features*, like the trip computer, telescoping steering wheel, etc...but they really dropped the ball on the rest of the interior. Even the leather isn't that great
-Bryan
Too bad!!
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Hope this helps you save some $$Bucks$$ at your local dealer.
Happy Driving.: )
I looked for the tire information sticker on the door jamb so that I could adjust them properly. It wasn't there! I read the Owner's Manual, It referred to the sticker which is suppose to be on the B-pillar. It wasn't there! I looked on the other side, on every door, in the glovebox, and under them hood. No luck!
Email to Nissan for the information -- deferred to my dealer. At my first service, the dealer adjusted all of my tires to 35-psi and stated that on the repair order. I asked them to order the tire information sticker for me. The look I got...
I finally found the sticker while cleaning the interior. It's on the underside of the upper console storage compartment. Lift the lid to gain access to the lower storage compartment and its on the lid.
The sticker sates 29-psi front and rear. The tires are Continental ContiTouring Contacts (the first OEM tires that I've kept - normally I swap "whatever" brand for Michelin). The Conti's are rated at 44-psi MAX. My Exploder was suppose to have 26-psi and I always ran them at 30-psi (before all of those troubles and Ford/Firestone recommending 30-psi).
I'm currently running the tires at 31-psi Front and 33-psi Rear. My Alty 2.5S rode great at 33-psi and not that bad at 35-psi. I may consider 35-psi on a fully-loaded trip. My '83 SAAB 900 is the first car that I had with different -psi for front and rear. I don't know if it helps handling or not, but it's comfortable. Any thoughts???
As for the assistance I received from my inquiry, Nissan failed to meet my expectations. This should have been a very simple inquiry.
I also had the dealer balance the tires at that first service. they sent it to a reputable tire shop for this service. The wheels use weight tapes instead of the clip on weights. I like the look this leaves on the wheels. The steering wheel vibrations that I had experienced are gone. (I did find that they use the "normal" weight clips on the back side of the wheel.)
The interior is atrocious otherwise though. But a tape player? Now there's a device that didn't disappear soon enough. God bless CD and CD-R.
On dealerships: write the sales manager of that dealership a short letter telling him he lost sales and reputation because of staff arrogance. Copy Nissan America. Then look into other dealerships. Nissan dealerships are NOT all the same, and unless you live in a remote area you should be able to find a good one.
Thanks.
dave