welliw as at the nissan dealership today pickign up touch up paint for my cai install..anyways this old guy bought a 84 max gxe at this dealer with only 60,000 milea and complained abotut he cup holders!!!i noticed this is the biggest problem in 3rd gen maximas!!!! i have cup holders that slide out from under my radio which are pretty good...but every 3rd gen max ive seen doesnt have it...jsut thoughti would put my 2 cents in that the cup holders in a 3rd gen max suck!

 

soryr i meant to write 1994 nissan maxima gxe

 

The cupholder problem has been debated on for far too many months(and years for that matter.) It is a source of grief for all of us. Even the ones who are fortunate to have them (such as myself) seem to constantly ***** about the sizes of the holes used. I would prefer some additional ones as well.

 

that was the only problem with our cars...no cupholders!!

 

Ever tried to race with a cup of pop between your legs? I did...and I won! It was a Focus ZX3 with some mods.

 

the one on my left, the smaller cup holder never seems to fit nothing. it is pretty much pointless.

 

My d*&% cup holder has been broken ever since I bought the car. 92 SE 5 spd. Doesn't stay closed so I have 2 pennies keeping it closed.
Anyone have a separate factory (Sony) single CD player for me??? So I can toss that cup holder!!

 

It only fits a cup of coffee from convenient stores. (Convenient my ***)

 

Are you guys looking for the whole drawer that comes out, or just the cupholder piece that slides out over it? I have both and never use the cupholder piece. I wouldn't mind parting with it for the right price!!! (Cupholder piece only, I love the drawer).

 

what are you guys talking about? did you guys forget about those bigass cupholders molded into the glove comparment door! that was a great idea! i just set my big gulps there and floor it!

 

 

By floor it, do you mean step on the gas or by floor it do you mean spill the ENTIRE contents of your drink all over the floor.

 

both

 

i dont ever complain about the cupholders since no drinks are allowed in my car.

 

Back about 3 months ago, I ventured out to invent the perfect solution to this age-old problem. I even promised results on this forum. (see my previous posts) I am a project engineer at a manufacturing company, and we can do almost anything with metal, from 20 ga to 4" plate. The sad truth is, I have tried to make about 4 different styles, and they all failed my tests. The criteria that I was going for, in this order..

1) appearance - it must blend in with spectacular interior of the 3rd gen.
2) must be very functional, sturdy, and hold the most common sized beverages.
3) when not in use, either fold away, cover it over, or look natural, and not a huge eyesore.

I am open to any ideas you guys might have. I have tried a slip-in style for the center armrest: open it when in use, close when not. That kinda sucked. Tight corners still posed a tipping problem. Also a bolt-on style that mounted between the auto-shifter and the ash tray, cig lighter. Not a pretty sight!

I was very dissapointed that I couldn't arrive at a good solution. Like I said, if any of you have a good idea, that matches the criteria above, I would be more than happy do a fab and test fit. If you want to give me an idea via e-mail, I can read all AutoCad files, .dxf, .pdf, or any picture files: .bmp, jpeg, etc.

 

hehe, my friend keeps telling me hes going to invent the first cup holder for the 3rd gen max's and becoem a millionaire..anyways did you try something around the dash? or maybe near the shifter...where the cell phones are usually mounted..honestly i dont know but if you do figure something out..let us know cause i would love to have a cup holder!!!

 

Well, I made my own cupholder. Yes, it is functional and sturdy and can be used to hold almost any type of size of beverage, including 20oz bottles. The only problem is that depending on who you ask, it looks like ****, but it can be folded away and put out of sight. This is what I did:

About 3 years ago, I had an install phone mounted in my car. It had one of the pedestals on it that could be reshaped and bent over and over to fit your needs. It is made of thick rubber and as smooth plastic coating over it. Well, once I got my handheld phone, I removed the install phone, but I did not remove the pedestal due to the fact that it would leave 3 holes on the bottom side of the console on the passenger's side. So, what I did was bend the pedestal to stay under the passenger's seat. It is rarely noticeable. Well, when I finally got ****ed off enough at my cupholders, I went and bought one of these universal cupholders from Wal-Mart and attached it to the top of the pedestal. Now, the pedestal can be swung out and moved to an upright position to hold drinks or returned to under the passenger seat. It will hold anything and will not move once shaped into what you want to be. Some people don't like it, but I think that they can kiss my ***. Invention is the mother of all necessity. And dammit, more cupholders is a necessity. Something else that I thought about was that Dodge Caravans and Ram Vans have these cupholders on the side doors that fold down with a base and then this ring folds up that you place your drink in and let the bottom of the drink rest on the base. When not used, it fold up out of place. Is there any way that something like this might be able to be used to put in the Max. It is made out of ABS plastic and although I have only seen them in Black, I am sure it can be painted to whatever color. They could very well be installed on the doors, the console, or maybe even the lower poriont of the dash that are not currently being used.

 

OK....I had this problem for so long but have solved it very easily for those that do not have a cup holder!!!!

This is the solution: Buy a cup holder for a saab 9000 less then 30 bucks!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2433910504

all you have to do is take out the plastic thing under the stereo and insert this one, but first you have to shave the corners off of the cupholder and if fits like a glove! It also holds coins which is much better then the one ours came with, it doesn't rattle over bumps and stuff, it's spring loaded and so is the cupholder check it out. Look for it in Ebay.

 

Just buy a window cup holder from wal mart or pepe boys!

 

did you look at the dates of the posts???

 

lol only 2yrs old. might aswell throw in my .02 cents. i got some cup holder at walmarts, called like wizard or something, clips on the the ebrake handle. adjusts to any drink. it can be a bother if i need to use the brake, but the biggest hills we got here in florida are the sand dunes, so i just keep it in first

 

27 dollars + shipping for a cup holder, thats insane

 

The dates on the posts and the whole 6 posts that los227 has shows he is a good newbie, hell probably shouldnt call him that either. It means he searched, now how many newbies do you know who search?

dont get on his case about grave digging, I personally find alot of the older threads alot more informative then some of the current ones.

 

Usually fast food joints come with cup holders if you order more than 2 drinks, if not just ask for one no biggie. You shouldn't be eating fast food anyway it is not healthy. Just go to 711 and buy bottled drinks

But I hate having fast food drinks and/or food in my car. I always leave all of my windows down overnight if I had bags of fast food in my car because I don't want that stench to be absorbed into the upoulstry.

 

You guys are missing something very basic - when these cupholders were designed 9 - 14 years ago, beverages came in smaller cups & they generally fitted just fine.
Now, because of consumer demand, (i.e. bigger is better), the size of all cups are that much larger. Therefore, our cupholders are too small for today's drinks etc.
You're *****in' at the wrong item - blame the fast food stores & consumerism for changing the size of all drinks.
If you were to follow the same logic as this thread, you may as well complain that 3rd gen max's don't have 4 channel ABS like todays cars, or that the cruise control isn't adaptive.

 

Look a little closer. That Saab 9000 cupholder is the same one made for the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable - all of them are made by the German company Fischer. With a little searching of past posts, you'll find lots of satisfaction with this Saab/Fischer cup holder, and reports that it's far superior to the crummy one Nissan used - and fits in the same DIN dash slot. If you check Ebay sold listings, you'll also find that the Fischer holders mentioning Tarus and Sable go for as little as $9-$10, and as far as I can tell they're identical.

$27 insane? Lots of people must not think so. Lots of cupholders for the Lexus,BMW, and other cars & SUVs go for $60-$90 on Ebay. Check it yourself. I even ran across a survey that indicated an astounding number of people who where willing to buy a different car to get a decent cupholder. $27 seems incredibly cheap by comparison.

 

ive got bose so no holders. i just wedge my drinks between the ebrake and the console they sit tight and they wont spill unles you need to SLAM on the brakes.

 

yeah i did that for awhile. now the ebrake handle is bent slightly towards the left

 

I also used to wedge it between the ebrake, but the cups still spilled and made a mess. I was fed up with it and just installed the saab cupholder. SO much better.

a cupholder that looks good and works great-$27 ridiculous? I don't think so.

It's worth it.

 

The Saab 9000/Ford Taures cupholders work great in the 3rd gen and look great too. here are some pics:

 

Attaboy VEMaxSE93!!! Show 'em a picture of the easiest/best solution, and maybe the guys will finally get the idea; at least those willing to ante up $20 for the Fischer/Saab/Taurus/Sable cup-coin holder.

Now all's we need is a solution for those of us that are using the double-DIN Bose head units. I'm one of them and am have a good solution using the same cupholder: I'll post it when I've got it done. I've got one on the way now.

 

Good theory, but I don't think the size of a pop can has changed in a number of years, and a pop can absolutely doesn't fit in the left hand hole...

 

The only hole you can use is the larger one on the passenger side. Not to mention that the drawer it sits in isn't really that deep. Once I had a cup of juice sitting in there and I hit the gas a little too hard I guess and the cup flipped right out of the holder. Plus they get in the way when your trying to shift

 

Anyone know what year Tarus those come from?? Junkyard time.

 

Aye Carumba!
And therein lies your problem - they're cupholders, not can holders! Originally designed to hold cups of takeout coffee & juice, you're expecting it to perform a function outside of its design parameters.

Personally, I like my cupholders & coin drawer - use the left one for my coffee, the right one for my cellphone & the drawer for my business cards.
NZ Max's didn't even come with cupholders - I got mine for NZ$6 at a junkyard off Jap Import Bluebird (US Stanza)!

 

if you have a nice 20 oz. bottle or anything with a cap like that...a good spot is right behind where you hook up your lap belt...I drink those poland spring sports bottles like there's no tomorrow and believe me, it fits nice a snug right there

 

The best I can tell, they definetly start at 1995 and up through 1999(???); Saab 9000,Ford Taurus, Mercury Sable. and from the link below looks like Ford Thunderbird also. Looks like they were used in the Thunderbird also. Here's a link to an Ebay Page with a good picture of what you're looking for. Note the fold down bottom cup support.

Ebay coin/cup holder Thunderbird,SHO,XR7

 

Just called Budd's Saturn/Saab/Isuzu/BMW/Jaguar/Range Rover (yes, this Budd guy is apparently a car fanatic) and ordered one. Told the guy what I was doing, told him it was for the standard DIN slot and was from a Saab 9000 from 95-99. He knew right away what I was talking about. $19 and change CDN, but he had to order it from Sweden - checked his computer and there are none in Canada. As far as he can tell, it's not a discontinued part, but since it's from a previous generation, they don't keep them on hand.

 

we have a 1993 altima with a narrow pullout cupholder that is quite functional as well. i havent tried personally, but i would assume that you could bolt one up into a maxima.

 

My long search for a working cupholder has finally ended! At long last, I have found one.

I considered a pull-out cupholder like the ones pictured above, but I have no space to install it. I tried cupholders that go on the door beside the window, but I hated them - I like to put my arm up there sometimes on long trips. I considered making a custom cup-holder in the middle console between the 2 front seats, but the location was too far back and I use that for other things (arm rest all the time). The seat cupholders are huge and bulky. Seeing them makes me think I am driving a van or something.

I finally went to Advance Auto and bought an air vent cupholder for 8 dollars. On the side in small red letters it says "Type S". When I brought it home I broke out my trusty pocket knife and delicately scraped off that lettering so the whole cupholder is gray/silver. I put it on the middle-right vent. Finally, I have an extremely convenient place to put my drinks while driving and the air conditioning keeps it cold! Or I can turn the vent off if its a warm drink. If I have no drink, its a great place to set my remote. It also blends in with my dark interior very nicely and is not bulky at all. Its really grown on me.