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Nissan Altima
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Comments
I've seen a few SE's close to base. I had the opportunity to purchase one with a 5-speed, sunroof, and spoiler, but the price was too high and the car lacked ABS.
-juice
Juice: I'm with you. An Altima owner's board makes sense.
Everyone: Carpoint gives insights not available here, although I confess I haven't seen the owner boards, but Edmunds is clearly a class act compared to Carpoint, especially the contributions of the hosts. As for Carpoint's boards, think of a hockey game with no referees.
I'm sorry, I'm neither of those. I just couldn't help myself after reading everyone posting the measurements of their various body parts, and doing weird gymnastics in the car, and I'm all alone in the office, and...
Anyways..., did I say I'm sorry? Carry on people.
long pants!
That was probably real burlwood. I'm sure it does look better than the plood Altima has (thankfully optional).
-juice
So there were a few in there, but indeed most were pretty dull.
-juice
Tested the 3.5SE Altima and it was quick, and looks decent. The front IMO does look like a civic, but the rest of the body is nice. I don't care for the clear taillights. I would have given more consideration into the Altima but I didn't like:
- the instrument panel. Didn't like the color,
and not keen on the motorcycle design.
- hood doesn't hold itself up
- side mirrors don't fold
- seats felt narrow, and I am not big (5'8, 195)
had the above 4 issues didn't exist, I would considered the Altima at $5,000 Cdn less than the Maxima. Nevertheless, the car is eye catching, but where I am at I don't think too many got sold, partly due to the MSRP price and little bargaining room.
They say this is a cure for the common car. I think they should have made it less common, meaning more out rageours interior instead of 'cheap'. The IS300 interior is outrageous and not so common. May be it would work out better if they pick either end of the spectrum (eg. more family vs more trend/tacky) than to be somewhat in the middle, and not pleasing either extremes?
I like the car, but I like the Maxima more, even though it might be slower?!?
The rest of the car is fantastic, but it's not an example of a high quality interior, IMO. It's also about two sizes down in interior space compared to the Altima, though it is RWD.
-juice
-juice
I'm sure Nissan won't change the Altima's until they have the mid-cycle refreshening.
Oh well, I just have to be more careful, pulling in and out of my garage.
I just read a review in one of the car mags on the new 2002 I35 from Infiniti. It has 15 HP more than the Altima - actually the same as the Maxima. It does 0-60 in 6.9 (I think) with a 4-speed automatic. Best news is that is costs at or about 30K. It might seem ludicrous to compare the I35 with the Altima - but that is exactly what I am doing - and what some of you upscale buyers should do.
Its interior is quite a step above either Maxima or Altima.
Seems to me the Altima of choice would be the 2.5 4-cylinder for around $20K, and whose buyers have posted here on this list. Those buyers who want the six cylinder owe it to themselves to check out the Maxima - or better yet, the I35.
As a guy keen on design, I will admit that the I35 exterior is getting a little old (But still looks okay), and the Altima looks great - real sharp!
Aurorabill
If I want a Point A to Point B slush box car, I'd get a Taurus. Roomier, less money, takes regular gas.
I must say I went in with an open mind - we've owned everything German and Japanese built in the past 35 years...most recent were/are Mercedes and Honda Accord. Some of what I saw in the Altima can be called "design elements", and to me, these are strictly a matter of individual taste. Example: the attempt to make the plastic door handles appear to be some kind of brushed aluminum. This theme is repeated all over Nissan-land, including Infiniti. This either offends you or it doesn't, and it just doesn't matter much to me. There are lots of other design decisions throughout every car's cabin that either put you off or not...I'm quite forgiving about this stuff, generally, and I would say neither Altima bothered me much here.
But beyond design, there are questions of EXECUTION: and here, I saw many disappointing details. The hard and often untextured nature of some surfaces has been mentioned here, but what was really noticeable was the poor matching of seams between pieces. The door panels include a section on the armrest that is cut into two sections, and the mismatch was so bad you could have sliced a finger on the edge if it had been much more sharp. There is a screw head that was covered with a black plug [on a tan interior] inside the arm on each front door; there were numerous examples of cutlines and poor fits all over the interior. This reminded me of GM at its worst.
The actual materials used in the new Camry and current Accord are nothing special, but they feel better and seem to fit better in general than what I saw in these Altimas. I can certainly see, however, how an enthusiastic owner could look past all this to the great exterior design and excellent performance that these cars offer, and be perfectly happy with choosing this car.
I haven't driven one yet, but reviews would prepare me for the fact that the ride on the 6 cyl car is going to be too rocky for my tastes; I expect the 4 cyl to be more to my liking, and with its hp level, would be sufficient for my needs anyway.
For me, there is no doubt Nissan flubbed some of the final decision-making in the interior, and it would not surprise me to see something done about it in subsequent model years. As it stands, the car will sell well because many people will look past these details to the underlying engineering and good reliability...but I think an opportunity was missed to make a real break-through kind of statement.
sheesh
And 50 less HP and it's a FORD. Yeah, sounds like a grand plan. Entry level lux or a Ford. lol But then again if one decides on a car based on the gas requirements, one probably has concerns (financial) beyond getting a car one wants. If $100-200 extra per year in fuel costs dissuades you, maybe you're looking out of your price range.
Now the Alty is supposed to take on the Taurus too, but that's really a joke as again it's competing against a Ford. Competing isn't even a useful word here as the Altima is in a different league: power, style, handling, reliability.
-andy
It's a very nice looking car, inside and out...
Anyways, when I went to test drive the Altima, nice car, interior didn't bother me too much. The display wasn't really appealing to me. But it wasn't a deal killer in my eyes.
The only bad experience through this was that the salesman was an absolute idiot. I brought a friend along cuz he had nothing to do that day and he was askin' all these questions about the car. Salesman couldn't answer a thing. It ended up that I answered all the questions. When I asked about speed-sensitive power steering (because it did feel numb at times), he couldn't answer me.
Thank goodness for the internet otherwise, the car would have been a complete mystery.
The new refreshening is nothing short of excellent work over at Infiniti.
Congrats on you new car. Don't race my Altima though...even though mine's an automatic, I'm crazy :-)
Question - I was thinking of closing the other Altima discussion and having this one be the place for talking about both current and past versions of this vehicle. Any strong objections to this? I don't really see a need to keep the separate conversations going, and it would make more sense when setting up the Owners Board.
Pat
Host
Sedans Message Board
jrct9454 and dkneedsnwcr: The bottom line is that the new Altima is not a finished car. Nissan rushed it. Although they did a commendable job on the exterior design and the 2.5 and 3.5 engines, the incompleteness of the car is all too obvious in the interior. Have a Camry salesperson describe the new Camry to you and you'll see what I mean. As for the Nissan salespersons. Totally clueless. These guys couldn't sell snow to an Eskimo. They wouldn't know how to describe it. Nissan will learn a bitter lesson from the Altima. The sale of any car (or thing for that matter) starts with your sales staff.
Also, for anybody who cares, in yesterdays Greenville Newspaper, Benson Nissan advertised all 2002 Nissan Altimas at INVOICE, and all 2002 Nissan Maximas at $1,000 BELOW INVOICE!
The I35 is styled nicely, I prefer it to the Maxima, but that 6 speed is a big plus.
The quick drop in prices is no shock, because Nissan has not matched the 0% offers from other makes.
-juice
I definately liked the car. There's nothing wrong with the interior. It's simple, nothing fancy, and not too far a stretch from my current '88 Accord. But being young, I opted for a sporty car.
If I was in the market for a family hauler, I think I'd lean heavily on buying the Altima as opposed to its competition.
Drove it on a 150 mile trip this weekend, a little over 31mpg.
Price was $250 over invoice on Edmunds. Great deal I thought.
She loves the Bose stero except when I put my Led Zeppelin CD's in!
Enjoy
Speed
dabronx....I bought it for $250 over Edmunds listed invoice. the dealer had it on the lot (came off the truck that day).
My wife had a little trouble at first with the gated shifting (going from a 94 Olds Cutlass Supreme with auto on the column, but now she loves it.
By the way...she is a good looking Italian!