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packaged linked so you have to get the sport and VDC package also. This of course really drives the price up.
I really dont care about pushbutton start, I think that was on my fathers 52 dodge, dont need leather, but want fogs and HID's. They make it difficult to get what you really want and not pay through the nose. May have to rethink this, Mazda 6,Camry, Fusion,TSX,Accord come to mind. Even though I can't get HID's on some of them. At these prices I see the 1500 rebates will soon be back. This is of course marketing, add content in one area, decontent in others, raise the price, give a rebate and still make more profit.
Nothing wrong here it is the American way. Old Mike
~alpha
Tony
They also cut the front legroom by 2 inches compared to the old Altima (that I currently own). Those 2 inches is what made all the difference between the Altima and the rest of the cars, midsize or fullsize (for me anyway). Now suddenly, the legroom is the same as everybody else's, so there is lots more choice.
I've waited for this car for over a year, even traveled to the New York auto show to see it rolled out, and it looks great. But I'm not going to reward Nissan for their marketing behavior. The new Sebring also looks pretty good, Milan is decent, and both are configurable. And TSX is cheaper. So get lost, Nissan.
To the poster (#213) who said this thing is sweet at 32k, get the Infiniti. It is far sweeter for the same money, and to MM99, you mentioned the Milan and that is where I am leaning. The Premier package with the V6 can be had for under 23k, it hauls tail, has now realiability ratings bettering Camry and Accord, looks distinctive, and is at least 4k under the others, and yes most of that 4k might not be there at resale time if you buy again in 3 years, but if you keep it six that 4k is in your pocket and you are not rewarding bad marketing and worse pricing strategies.
On the money side, 3 yrs from now, when the Nissan retains 60+ percent of it's MSRP and the Ford retains ???, which will appear to be the better bargain?
On the money side, 3 yrs from now, when the Nissan retains 60+ percent of it's MSRP and the Ford retains ???, which will appear to be the better bargain?
My main ride is a 2002 F150 King Ranch. Bought it new in June/02, it was stickered at 32k, got it for 24k (I buy cash), current market value in my area is a hair over 14k for my 4½ year old truck. So that cost me 10k for 53 months. That beats paying at or near MSRP for your Altima, a Camry, Accord, or any Bimmer out there. Not as fun a ride, true, but it carries my bike, my stuff, has not had one problem (other that cruise control recall - a 20 minute fix), and looks like it did the day I bought it. I don't care about % of MSRP, I care about the difference between purchase price and sales price. That is what it costs me.
If you are only fixated on residual on a 32k sedan, get a stripped Bimmer 3 series and skip the Nissan. Even then my truck would be better, but the Bimmer beats the Nissan any day on that account. 32k opens up a lot of options that Nissan really should not be up against.
Resale needs to be look at the pictures, unless you plan on driving the car till it falls apart....
Tony
You paid a premium because of cash, probably could of bought it for 22.5K financed
"current market value in my area is a hair over 14k for my 4½ year old truck."
trade in price?, that is usually the sticker price on the dealers lot in my area
Comparing the '06 and '07 side by side, the styling change does not appear dramatic, found myself checking the tail lights to see which one I was looking at. Dead on from the front however, you do see some significant changes with the nose, etc.
i was very impressed. stickered at $31k. a little too high for an altima...maybe by Jan, this will be around the $28 area. the leather was nice and the new interior was much improved. the push button is fun and the room is nice. the 270 HP wasn't the fastest thing going, but was peppy enough. the NAV was pretty great. POI worked well...and it seemed pretty accurate with my knowledge of the area. couple that with ipod connectivity. BOSE was typical. not that great, but on par with what i expected. overall, i wouldn't mid driving one at all.
id rather own a 2007 G35 (my dream car), but for everyone that says, "get the infiniti" thats not really good advise. obviously the infiniti comes with a premium, and is RWD, but the fully loaded Altima at $31k is still $500 less then the base G35. for starters, its hard to even find a complete base g35, and while its still fun to drive, im sure the reason he liked the $31k Alti was for all the gadgets. a similarly priced G will not have the fun stuff other the the NAV screen with no NAV capabilities, since in the new G the screen is standard
Just out of curiosity what do you mean by this? I'm very interested in the Altima, but it is just a little too expensive right now. Do you think they are going to re-adjust the prices or come out with some sort of rebate?
Thank you!
But look at the TSX which is LESS money then the Altima you tests drove..
Tony
sticker for an altima? i think its priced more then it should be and they arnt willing to budge...by Jan, i figure these will be going for less
Tony
The Camry is a hot car as well, but you can still get them at discounted prices. This new Altima will be no different, especially considering that the 2002-06 Altima was a great seller, but discounts were available on those as well.
It's best to just wait it out I'd think.
Steering was very good....very effortless. The telescoping feature was a positive for me. I like to put the seat back and stretch my legs when I drive and being able to bring the wheel out to me a little made driving more comfortable. Good response around corners but the car comes with Continental tires. I had them on my Taurus and didn't like them. As soon as they wore out, I replaced them with Goodyears.
There was a 20 oz bottle/cup holder in the door which I liked. It gives you the option of not having something to get in the way of the shifter. The rear seat has a center pull-down arm rest with cup holders as well (good thing)Huge glove compartment (another good thing)and the 6 speaker sound system was very good. I brought my own CD's (recommended) and played songs that had a lot of bass and it produced!
Conclusion: I'm not sure I'm sold on the CVT but the car did improve by 5 mpg (hwy), mainly because of the CVT. It will be interesting to see what people are getting in the real world. If anyone out there wants to check other cars with CVT, the two Toyota hybrids (Camry & Prius)use it as well as the Ford 500 and Dodge Caliber, among others. It's a toss up if I am willing to accept the CVT to get the additional mpg. However, I am going to wait a while to read up on more professional reviews and to see if Nissan offers any rebates in a few months. I think the sticker price is a little high for what you get.....just my opinion, though.
I test drove the 3.5SL this last weekend and was way more impressed with the power. The CVT seemed more enjoyable to drive with more power on tap. My intention was to buy the 3.5SL with all the goodies (navigation, bluetooth etc...) but after sitting in the 3.5SL I was very disappointed with the front seats. The seats were ROCK HARD. That alone was enough for me to scratch the Nissan off my list. There is no way I would want to spend an hour sitting on that seat. My wife felt the same way.
I also had the chance to mess with the navigation system. They had a 2.5SL sitting in the showroom with navigation in it...I was also disappointed with this feature. It wasn't very user friendly and the screen was a little on the small side. Now I'm comparing the navigation system in the Nissan to the navigation system in the Acura. The navigation system in the Acura is WAY better and more user friendly. I will say that I did enjoy the 3D view on the Nissan system. That was pretty cool. I have no doubt that with a little time I could master the Nissan system but I wasn't impressed over all with the system.
I also noticed that the switches for the seat heater felt cheap. They had that cheap clicking sound when you would switch them on. The dash seemed OK to me. I wasn't totally impressed but I also wasn't totally turned off. If I owned the car I think I could live with looking at it everyday. My wife also noticed that she can't open the glove box without it smacking her in her legs. It opens very wide. This really is a non-issue but something to note...I will say that the glove box is huge.
The final verdict for me is I probably won't be buying the Nissan. For the money and the short comings of the Nissan I would rather put my money towards a new Acura TSX or new/used TL. I'm also considering a new/used 07 G35. I figure I could pick up a 07 G35, RL or TSX at a discounted rate later next year. I will wait for one of those...
The dealer I visited had about 2 dozen 2006 models on the lot so it may be a while before he moves those 2007s.
I'd been waiting to see the new Altima for awhile. I drove a 2.5 CVT and wasn't impressed (not a bad car but just a car). I think the 3.5 would transform the car but time will tell. I just purchased a Civic Si which has go cart like handling and steering response so stepping out of that and into the Altima left me feeling underwhelmed (I've only has the Si 2 weeks but I've gotten spoiled). If I'd gone from my 99 VW Passat to the Altima I might have had a different impression.
I'll take a 3.5 6-spd for a spin before I write the Altima off - I just wonder how long it will be before they have one of those show up at the local dealership.
Now that I've driven the Si for a couple weeks I think I'll test drive the Legacy GT again and see if I'm still as impressed with it as I originally was. Even the automatic was FUN to drive.
I actually went and test drove the 07 G35 last night. The car had excellent power and handling. I was impressed with the ride but I don't think the G35 is for me. The thing that really stood out was the MPG. My wife and I test drove it for about 15 miles (combination of highway and city with very little stop and go) and the MPG was 11.6. OUCH. I told the guy at the dealer that I was a little shocked at the MPG and he asked if I had reset the MPG calculator. I told him that I didn't and he said that was the problem. I'm sure resetting the MPG calculator may have made some difference but not that much...He told me a salesman owns an 07 and he's getting 23-24 MPG with city and highway. Yea right! I also found the overall room in the car to be lacking. I have a honda civic and it feels like it has more room. Although the interior is an improvement over last years model, I still wasn't really impressed. I think I would be happier with a TL or TSX...
I've eliminated the new Nissan and G35 as possibilities and will concentrate my efforts on an Acura or something else. I will probably go test drive a Subaru to see what I think. Thanks again for the suggestion...
The added benefit of the Acura line is they have a better warranty package...at least here in the US.
Good luck whatever you do...
Now a couple of the cars in this comparison have been updated but I'd bet the Subie would still do well and Subaru has added stability control, a six speed, split folding rear seats, and possibly the most important feature given gas prices and your comment about mileage "SI drive". SI drive is a dial which has three settings that allow you to change the engine management progrom from "Intelligent" to Sport to Sport Sharp. The Intelligent setting knocks down the horsepower and throttle response by about 10% (I think) and should give you a less frenetic drive experience and increase your mileage. Sport is basically the same performance settings as was in the 2006 and the Sport sharp increases the throttle response to make it even jumpier than it was in 2006.
In addition to the fun factor and this new driver adjusted engine management system the Subie has a great saftey rating for it's crash testing. The Spec B is nice but I'm not sure I'd pay the ~$5K premium over the Legacy GT limited, it might have a tad more body roll than the Spec B version but most of us don't really push our cars hard enough to make that matter. If your looking for a good deal the 2006's have big rebates on them. Don't buy an 05 because they didn't do as well on the side impact tests as the 06's did (Subaru actually modified the beams in the door post area to beef them up and modified the side airbag design and placement slightly to improve their test results and I think they even proactively pursued the retesting in 2006).
Wish they still made more hatches - the Versa has enough head room (barely). I would especially like to see a wagon version of the Altima or another similar sized import.
There is a Mazda6 wagon (and a hatchback is also available).
Wish Mazda put th 4-cyl in their wagon, or the 2.0 liter engine in the 3.
Now, the new 2.5l Altima has the same engine, but is a bit heavier, and the "feel" of the new CVT is probably different (more sluggish, from what I gather from the posted impressions), so now they may be more comparable. However, I'm guessing that a 6-cylinder Altima is still way "faster," even with a CVT and the extra engine weight. Otherwise though, the TSX is a fine car, was high on my shopping list until that test drive.
Old Mike
~alpha
Now the Altima's 3.5 V6 was really nice. That engine has some great acceleration. One of the reasons I was considering the Altima was because of all the goodies the 07 had in it (smart key, navigation, bluetooth etc...) As you know the only way to get all of that is with leather seats. Well you know how I feel about the seats
I was seriously considering the TL until I decided to check out the XLE V6 camry. I test drove it today and was very impressed with the quiet ride, good acceleration and overall comfort. I think value wise it's better for me. It's 5k less than the TL and has more horsepower. The camry gets better gas mileage and only requires unleaded fuel whereas the TL requires supreme. I also believe the overall future costs will be significantly less. The only drawback to the camry is the interior. I really don't like the baby blue on the dash...I wish I could customize that and get rid of that color. The TL handled better but I don't think I would utilize the superior handling that much to justify the price difference. Plus my wife gets car sick and tells me to slow down anytime I get too carried away. I come from a sportbike back ground (yamaha R1) so when I get in a car on a curvy road I start to see how far I can push it...LOL
Anyway I think the camry is going to be my next car. If I really get the urge to go fast on curvy roads I'll just get the bike out...
For those of you considering the Altima I think it's a good car as long as you can handle the seats.
much appreciated. i have to really check out the seats in the Altima, since i do a lot of driving!
I did sit in the legacy wagon. I wasn't wow'd with the interior but everything seemed OK. My only concern with my brief encounter was the lack of leg room in the rear and it doesn't have bluetooth. However, I did find the oversized sun/moon roof very cool. I had considered taking the legacy wagon out for a spin but decided I'll wait for the sedan to come in...