This pains me
 

I am unable to find a Nissan Maxima SE 5spd with Leather.

I have called on about 25-30 cars and all of them have been sold :(

It's not like I am picky either. I just want a Maxima with a 5 speed and leather. Nothing more, nothing less ;) I don't even care what color combo it is.

Sigh.

Mike <---Maxima_Less in Pensacola, FL

dont worry about the leather, its not like its real leather. Just get the 5 speed

Yeah get the 5 speed then worry about leather later on. Your better off getting aftermarket leather from leatherseats.com or what ever anyhow.

SuDZ

The interior just doesn't look as "nice" without the leather. Looks more base modelish. The leather just adds that luxo appeal, IMHO.

<shrug>

What all is exactly leather? Door panels? Front and rear seats?

Mike

yep thats it, the aftermarket leather is so much nicer. When i get to money I am going to swap mine again

Re: This pains me
 

Wow, I didn't think it is that hard. One day I wasn't even planning on looking for another car, went into the local dealer because I wanted to test drive an Xterra, saw my 99 SE-L 5-spd fully loaded just sitting there....took it home 2 hours later. Maybe I was just extremely lucky. And honestly, I wouldn't settle for cloth seats at all, and forget aftermarket leather seats.

Tifosi

Survey says "#$%^ the leather, you can add it later for <$1K, and it is much better quality"

Is that the general consensous?

Mike

if i were you, i would worry more about a powerseat than leather........a sun roof is nice as well.

I agree with Tifosib about not settling for cloth. Why not just wait and find the car that is for you. Why buy aftermarket leather when you can wait and get one with factory leather. I had to wait a little longer but my max was even harder to find. Black on black leather 5-speed. Trust me it was worth the wait, don't settle for cloth. Also having power seats is also very nice, heated as well.

Slop00

Do a search for custom leather or aftermarket leather on this board. There has been a lot of Group Deals for Leatherseats.com kits. I was actually in the same boat you were till I discovered how much nicer aftermarket leather was, you can get two toned colors, and it is much cheaper than factory leather, It even includes the door inserts. There have also been many many people on the org install it themselves which is what I plan to do. I've done a lot of research and it's not really that hard to install, just a little time consuming. So instead making leather a requirment, I actually decided I didn't want factory leather.

Yep, Nissan does not even use real leather to start with. And you can get it aftermarket for well under 1K more like 550 - 600 or so.

SuDZ

I really think aftermarket leather would be an OK option.

Personally I held out and
a) gave my name to all nearby nissan dealerships, told them to call me when they got ANY 5-speeds in
b) searched on autotrader frequently
c) searched the online version of the local classifieds in a few nearby papers (a lot easier than using your eyes)

The one that produced for me was surprisingly choice a. The dealership actually called me before they got the car in - I don't even think the guy had rolled his new ride off the lot yet. Was the second maxima I looked at, and happened to be fully, fully loaded.

A 4th-gen 5-speed SE was real rare around here, and Omaha isn't the smallest city around (though it's no big city). The only other one I saw in a month and a half was a salvage title that some guy had been trying to get rid of forever.

The real advantage of aftermarket leather is that it is considerably softer than even brand new Nissan leather. Couple that with these factors:

1. The leather you get is old - hopefully the previous owner took care of it, but it still is 30-80k miles old.
2. Leatherseats.com leather is better quality.
3. Leather will easily add $600-$1000 to your sticker price, while leatherseats.com leather will cost only $600.
4. Cool colors - less logical power here, but still worth something.

Good luck!

Oh, as a side note, I decided NOT to get a sunroof because if/when they break, it can be a serious $$$$ to fix. Not worth it to me.

Forgot to mention that with OEM leather seats, you might get a good chance that it comes powered and heated. Ohhhh, heated seats are oh so nice! :D For those of you think you'll never need it or against it... you have no idea!

You can't call a car a luxury car w/o heated leather seats. :laugh:

Tifosi

Ohh, so true, I too thought I'd never use heated seats, but when it's cold the leather gets colder than cloth would, and the warm seats feel just too good.

Could someone reply to this thread with some pictures of the aftermarket leather in a Maxima ? Or could you e-mail them to me and I can host them on my web space. (mgallagher(at)clubrx.org)

Mike

What is everyones problem with the factory leather? I have no complaints with the quality of my leather. Oh, wait. I have the I30.

Heated seats:D

You can add heated seats for 40-100$.. 40 being for stock heated seat harness from a junkyard and 100$ for the assembly, new from leatherseats.com :D

I would prefer a car with leather already in the car as well, but if the price is right, screw the leather, you can get it in any color with even a 2 tone application for 700$. Factory leather is not even all leather.... a lot of it is vinyl and the leather quality is not even that good..

All I looked for when I was shopping was a 5 speed and a good deal.. I preferred a black interior and a sunroof.. I settled for a sunroof and tan cloth, no other options except a power seat.

Dont worry your leather is not special, it shte same freaking thing as the maxima. Ohh the I30.... same damn thing

Sorry, it's not the same.

If you cant find any 5spds with leather, but some with Cloth, just go with the cloth... In most cases, the Leather wont even be in that good of condition, so just put in new leather anyways on a cloth setup.. You can always add heated seats too. hell... you can pretty much add anything if you find the right parts :)

Wait and find one with factory leather, you'll be glad you waited. My 97 Sage Mist SE 5spd with grey leather is nice....very nice. Power seats Lft & Rt are nice. Course it comes with power sunroof and the Bose. The only thing I'm missing is the cold weather package:bawling: . Even though I live ins Savannah, GA I wish I had the heated seats AND the heated mirrors that come in the cold wx package. Oh well, can't have everything. Hold out for the 5spd with leather, keep your fingers crossed that you get the cold wx option with it. Enjoy.

Factory Nissan leather isn't all that. I looked for months to find a 5spd SE w/black leather, Bose, and auto climate. Now I'm looking to replace the leather since it is so sun damaged. I don't think Nissan leather wears well and many here will agree.