Hey guys I own a 91' Maxima GXE, and just purchased a 98 Max GXE. After owning it for a week now, the most noticable differences are that the interior of my 98' is a heck of a lot cheaper than my 91'!?!? For example the 98 doesn't even have tilting head rests? That feels very uncomfortable because i have a huge head and often like to rest it on the head rest when on long drives, but you can't do that with the 98 ones. I actually moved the headrests from my 91 to my 98 and i may keep it like that. Also the seats are soo uncomfortable!!! I mean the seats in my 91 are STILL more comfortable than the seats in the 98, it feels like they have no support at all, it's cloth by the way, so i dunno about the leather. Also I noticed that the rear doors on my 98 do not have courtesy lights on them, the lights on the lower part of the door to help you get in and out of the car easily. My 91' has them but the 98' doesn't! The dash and door panels themselves feel soo much cheaper and flimsy on the 98. The plastic and vinyl they used must have been cheaper than the stuff they used back in 91. I dunno this really ticks me off I figure Nissan would have improved on the vehicle instead of cutting corners everywhere. That's just some of the things I've notices soo far, I'm sure I'll find more. There is one thing better about my 98 than my 91' and that is that it actually has cup holders! yah!! haha

 

Because a 4th gen is not a Maxima ... it's a Minima....

 

 

Welcome to the Nissan Build-quality club

 

we also dont have independent rear suspension

 

Doesn't the VQ motor make you want to forgive its other shortcomings??
It is a consensus that the 3rd gens were the best built, rattle free, feature laden Maximas, but hey, that VQ motor rocks in the 4th gen and later.

DW

 

yeah i have 97 gxe. i admit the interoir(sp) is not the best but after a while i guess you get use to it. i ride in other maxes and im like damn sunroof, leather wow!

 

uh...i like my much better than 3rd gen hehe.... GLE rules

 

Yes it does.

 

heh...i would much rather have a VE...3rd gen build quality, same HP...slighlty less torque, independent rear...

 

Its not just Maxima. All cars are getting cheaper with time. Look at Benzez. They are not the same anymore.

 

Don't have much to say, but still remember 12 years ago I was in a friend's 89 Maxima. It was so quiet and nice looking compared to my junk 79 Monte Carlo. Did Nissan lose money in the near past? Maybe that's why it wanted to reduce cost in every way, including material selection, design/feature simplification, etc. I kind of think Nissan's design and assembly is very good, especially in Japan, but SOME material is not good (or THICK) enough. My 94 Altima's dash is more solid than my 96 Max if I touch, press and rock them, and my 2000 RX300's interior, everywhere, is much more solid than both. However on Altima the panel alignment is much worse than Maxima. When Altima's front doors are closed, I can easily see the continuity of dash to both door trim panel are all misaligned, and not misaligned evenly like a design on purpose. Found nothing like that in Max. Was told that C pillar is a two piece metals joined by welding. I can see without touching that my Altima's joint there, but Max's C-pillar looks and feels just like one piece, ...

 

Do the 5th gens have any improvements over the 4th gens in build quality and material quality or are they even worse???

 

There are so many things I like better about my 91SE than my 99GXE...


Rear Suspension
Rattle Free
Build Quality
The fact my steering wheel went all the way down and I think it was a tad bit smaller too
Rear Courtesy Lights

Those are just a few....but I actually think the seats in my 99 are more comfortable though.

 

Back in 1989, Nissan was swimming in $$. When it came time to redesign the Maxima in 1995, they were swimming in debt and it showed.

My interior is like 8 on a scale of 1-10. If I got new carpet and mats, it would probably be a 9 or so. This is on a 1992 maxima se.

 

you think?

oh and to add to my list...LSD on the VE 5spds

 

The 4th gen is def different then the 3rg gen. I own a 92 7 99 GXE. I do miss the tilting headrests & independent rear suspension. I however dont miss the VG engine. I have also noticed that the tranny & engine are built very well on my 92. 190k mile son orgi engine & tranny and still ticking. It runs as smooth as my 99 which still shcoks me. I also like the fact that Tokicos last a long time 3rd gens vs 4th gens. And yes, the seats in the 3rd gens are way more suportive then my 99 seats. It woould have been nice if my 92 had a ski hole though.

 

Yeah, but my digital clock in my 4th gen doesn't go tick tick tick

DW

 

No you wouldn't. Aside from the ticking and VTC problem, you'll likely have that power loss problem that many experience. That is very aggrevating. The VQ is a much better engine than the VE.

 

yep, i miss my 3rd gen a lot! it was fully loaded with black leather and now my 4th gen has crappy cloth everything does feel a lot cheaper though. i really want to swap my interior out this summer...

 

Sooooo... like I was saying... what happened with the 5th gens? Did they get any cheaper/lower quality, or did Nissan fix their faults with the new gen?