Ok, correction, maybe the prices for Subaru's aren't B-rated, but for some reason IMO, they're overall build and quality "come-across" as feeling B-rated. Of course, this is just my opinion as some people feel the same way about Nissans.

As for choosing between the WRX or IS300, there are some people out there who would rather take the WRX. Unless I'm misreading your post, that's what I meant.

 

yeah, depending on where you live, a WRX is a much better choice than an IS. I meant from the service/reliablity aspect, which is really the center of this Great Debate of 2002®. All cars have defects, its what happens after that and thats where Lexus wins.

Then again, if I could have afforded a GS, I would have gotten one.

 

Buddy, half the people on the org doesn't like nissan.. You, Mr. NEWBIE should learn to keep your mouth shut and read more posts in the forum before say that he should leave.

Nissan builds good cars, good value for the money, but the MINOR irrataions (and a lot of them) that should and could be corrected under warranty, is always never fixed.. So we have a lot of people on the org dissatisified with Nissan's retarded customer service and eventually end up *****ing about the car, like i am.

I like my maxima, but i don't like being d!cked around by dealership after dealership.. And my family has two maxs (my moms 99 and my 2k2) and her car has been built a lot more with quality and reliabilty.. 0 problems to date after 145,000 kms. And that is why i bought my max. Am i satisifeid? Some what.. i like everything about the car but the problems that should be fixed somewhat makes me despise my car.

Keep in mind.. to alot of people, the maxima looks ugly (5th gen tailights are reallly really ugly, but i never did buy any car for looks )... But the WRX is all performance and very little interms of creature comfort.

I would have to say, everybody is entitled to our own opinions, and btw.. DMBMAXIMA2k2 is the one who provided the frankencar intake and he is fed up with nissan. Mr. NEWBIE what have you contributed? NOTHING.. so don't tell people to leave, especially those members that have been around.

ED

 

Pretty much sums up the sentiments of lots of us. I've been trying to find a reason to step up to a 2K2 or 2K3 Max and trade in my 2K. Problem is, compared to my brake, Bose, windshield, paint problems, 2K2 problems make mine seem pale. Am I unhappy with my choice, damn no. For the $$$ I couldn't have gotten a better deal. Previous car was a 2K V6 Accord Coupe that was blessed with extremely high quality. Just love the sound of the VQ30 at WOT, it rocks. Bottom line LUV MY MAX, hate Nissan N.A. and the way they treat us. I vow to never give them my $$$ again. Next car will be BMW or MB. For now, Max is a great bang for the buck.

 

honestly you guys, what's up? I'm hearing tons of different views from you guys. In one thread Im hearing that these cars are s**t and then in another im hearing that these are the best cars you could possibly ever get for the money. Which one is it? I bought mine expecting great reliability and durability, and now there are people who are supposivly loyal to the maxima saying that they'd never buy another nissan ever again. Should I sell my max for an accord or passat? I've had it for 6 months and its been great besides the **STRUT NOISE!!!** but that's it. But I've heard about the transmission going and thats screwed up for a car that costs as much as it does. Lately, since I love my maxima so much (for the last 6 months ive owned it), I've considered saving up my money and buying a 2k2 to park next to my 2k. But all I hear are complaints. I've read so sooo many reviews talking about the Vq's superiority in build quality and reliability, and the cars overall reliability being great and you guys have said completely different. Tell me what you guys think....keep my max and get a 2k2 along with my 2k, or just sell the 2k and buy a new V6 accord with 240 hp. Oh and PS, even if the maxima isnt that great of a car, it still isnt comparable to a WRX. We're talking about a huge family car pulling numbers in the 14's and 15's. The WRX is a superfast mini-car with semi-ok ride quality and comfort, where as the maxima has great ride quality and comfort and its fast. Thats my experience at least, although from what you all say, maybe the maxima isnt that great after all.

Brad

 

*again*, read carefully: We love our maximas, we are upset with Nissan. We are only so upset because we love the car, but dont want to buy another Nissan product. Yes, we know that all but the premium brands are difficult with warranty work, but that doesnt help us get these things fixed.

Another thing that is behind alot of the ill feelings is that the maxima platform should be VERY reliable by now. But the car has been in decline since 95. I think alot of people are dissatified and justifibly upset because the problems with their 2k2+ is the result of cost cutting.

I think we all have overly high expectations for the maxima. I dont really feel like thats my fault, I was sold a 'flagship'.

Btw, I've been fighting for various fixes to my 2k for 3 years now. It just turned cold and my tranny is starting to slip again You'd think we could get this taken care of in countless visits and 3 years..
I still dont regret getting my car over the accord. Just want the service I'm owed.

 

I feel people are too quick to blame Nissan. Go driver a Ford for a few months or a GM product. Then you will be crying to come back.

 

right... and we could have saved $10,000.. but we didnt. Our expectations are alittle higher as a result. I think thats why we went for the maxima in the first place. I think we were all shocked to see them rated above nissan this year for customer satisfaction.

 

I can see what youre saying about crappy service from nissan repair departments, but that goes for all cars. I own a 1995 Pontiac Grand AM that Ive owned since it had 0 miles on it. Its been one of the greatest cars our family has ever owned. But last year there was a recall on it that we had fixed right away. Even with 140K on it, a dealer is still supposed to do RECALL repairs free of charge. Well, they didn't feel they needed to do that. They tried to get us to pay 100 dollars to cover parts and labor. We simply argued it out and threatened with the BBB until the service dept manager gave in. It wouldnt have been that big of a deal if the dealer was reputable for good service, but they had a nasty record and if I would've had the time to bring it somewhere else, I would have. But my main point here is this...the Grand AM has been great even if the service was horrible. The maxima though, considering it's high marks and high $$$, shouldn't even be having those kind of problems to begin with. Blame it on cost-cutting or whatever, it doesnt change the fact that I spent just as much on this car as lets say a BMW 328i that was a year older. These cars should not be having transmission problems and if they really were great cars to begin with, then why wouldn't their customers be more loyal even if the dealers are horrible (find a local mechanic). I have found only one thing wrong with my max, but just all of the horror stories make me sick to my stomach. I can live without the extra performance i get from the max, ill go get a honda if these things are built as poorly as you all say. Or even better, an 02 Grand AM GT. Honestly, after owning a japanese car and listening to the complaining about them on this website, i would rather go back to owning american cars that i can get for thousands less. I know countless amounts of people that own 3100 V6 equipped vehicles from GM that are more than satisfied, including myself. Many 3100's make it past 250,000 miles without too many problems, the same goes for GM transmissions. Owning a car should NOT be this stressful especially when you pay top dollar for them. Its been fun, but im out of this before it gets nasty. Good luck with your cars guys!

Brad

 

me too

but I still love my max

 

yeah but russ is

 

Looks to me like Nissan is selling cars that are decent in performance and looks, but crappy as far as Japanese attention to detail.
Mitsubishi is the same way, it has been for years.
Toyota's and Honda's are soon to follow.
All those companies just want to make money.
We all can thank the quality control at Nissan NA for the cars they sell us.
Dealers with poor customer service will never be critisized by Nissan NA, it saves them money.
The only way we can get the repairs we deserve would be through formal complains or legal action. BUT THIS TAKES TIME AND MONEY.
And Nissan knows it. People just get ****ed and suck it up.

 

Brad,

I've owned 4 to date. Very good cars, and I have had resonable service. Remember that most people in this forum are most likely over driving the car, modding it, gunning it, ...
Nissan has a pretty high reliablity rating overall, don't let this small cross section of owners sway your opnion, check out some other sites where people generally drive the for what it was intended to do.

Honda and the others sell a lot of cars and most of there drivers don't treat thier car the same way. How often do you see "them" racing, speeding, braking hard, corning hard, "they" go to work come home, pick up the kids, go to the store .... and drive normal.

I believe the fit and finish has gone down since 1999, but not that bad. The Max use to dominate in all categories, now the competition is catching up and Nissan hasn't pushed the envolpe fast enouph to remain "the clear winner".

 

Curse the day they become ONE. yeah it's difficult to keep fresh styles and performance without losing something, either price goes up (not) or quality goes down. European, non American owned car companies have a different way, get it right the first time don't make too many changes, reap the benifits over a longer period of time, build reputation, and don't play cost cutting games to sell cars.

 

Forums are for people who can discuss a common topic. Fan clubs are where everybody loves their common topic. Just because we have Nissan's, doesn't mean we love them, or even want to praise them.

I currently own five vehicles; my 2003 Maxima SE, 2002 and 1998 Subaru Outbacks, 197 Ford Thunderbird, and a 2001 GMC Sierra. I can say with certainty that Subaru makes, and has made, a near identical vehicle in terms of quality. In fact, I would consider the Subaru brand name as top class, and beyond Nissan's, especially when it comes to service.

Just so you know, I have hated Subaru's nearly all my life. But after I bought them for my wife, and began driving them for myself on occasion, I learned that they were a truly reliable and top-class vehicle. And, even though I am not a Subaru enthusiast, I can say that pound for pound, the Subaru line-up of vehicles beats the $hit out of Nissan's.

 

Have you had a lot of issues with your Max?
What are you comparing to say "pound for pound", Sentra, Altima, which years?
Not to say that Subaru is bad, we almost bought one, but to me Subaru for the most part has a very narrow market segement compared to Nissan. 1 Truck, 2 going on 3 SUV's, Sentra, Altima, Maxima, 350Z. I see Subaru having different variants of the same.
Beats the $hit has some strong feelings behind it, leading me to believe there is some personal something somewhere, I may be wrong.

 

No, I haven't had a lot of issues with my Maxima, but comparing it to the other vehicles I own, I cannot say it is any better then the rest. They all have their pro's and con's. My point here was to imply that the Maxima, or even Nissan, is cream of the crop.

Nissan could have two models for every compared model of another manufacturer, and it major factors such as sales and service will drag it down. It just so happens that Nissan's service record is somewhat dismal, and other companies such as Toyota and Subaru are much better. The point here is that the person who posted that Subaru's are a B-rated vehicle was wrong. Subaru, while not a car that manufacturer that I particularly endorse, has a better sales, service, and cost of ownership record then Nissan. So if a person feels that Subaru is B-rated, would that make Nissan C-rated?

 

something interesting, go to jdpower.com (which doesnt give a rats a$$ if we whine like babies here).

now pick the i35 and the max. indentical cars mechanically.

Now, look at the fit and finish and SERVICE!

the overall rank of the max is seriously low. the only difference? repairs done in a timely manner without jerking around the owners. thats all.

Our Maximas (even 2k2/3's) would be a freakin joy to drive AND own if they stopped holding out decent service for the Infiniti line only. Sure, I dont expect to be pampered.. but I shouldnt have to make 3 trips, 10 phone calls, print 3 TSBs, spend 140hrs online with you guys just to get something fixed that already has a bulletin.

Telling ya.. all the advertising money in the world wont bail the out of the mess they are making if they dont start cleaning up/educating their dealer network.

 

exactly Tim and that's my beef with nissan you have to spend hours of your time trying to get something fixed that should be without question. rotors are covered under the 12k 1 year warranty, at 10k mine were warped and they said sorry we don't cover that i brought up the warranty and they just played dumb. since i got the car the alignment was slightly off to the left, at 3k miles i said something and they were like we don't cover alignment and i'm like 12k adjustment warranty again turned down and they played dumb. being in business myself i know that unhappy customers are the most vocal and i've tried my best to keep my customers as happy as i can and i think i've done a good job cus i know that happy people tell other people AND they will come back when you have new products out. Nissan obviously doesn't care about this and like you said they won't do anything to fix it cus HORRIBLE service by their dealers saves them money now but when they lose a lot of repeat customers and lie to us about HP levels just to boost a car's sales they are gonna pay. I'm not that upset at the fact that i only have 240hp, I'M upset because it's just another thing in the pattern of lying, deceptition and poor customer relations that nissan has been starting and something needs to be done to stop it and boy do i hope they pay and pay dearly.

 

As I said before, whether I'm right or wrong, my post about Subaru being B rated cars is my opinion, and my opinion only. No, I haven't owned a Subaru, but I knew one of my managers who did, and it was the biggest POS on 4 wheels and he agreed. So when I reference Subaru as a B rated company, its all opinionated, and shouldn't be taken personally. Everyone I know (and this is just us!) that drives a foreign car (or domestic) for that matter would shrug or cringe of the thought of buying a Subaru with "maybe" the exception of the WRX. Maybe because we're all into the Big 3 (Honda, Toyota, Nissan) but again, its preference, and even though the Big 3 have their pro's and con's, yes, I agree, no company's going to be perfect w/o paying BIG $$$

If it is shown and proven (and I haven't checked, but I'm being TOTALLY honest about this) that Subaru's sales, quality and service far surpass Nissan's, then great! Would people start to consider Nissan a C rated company? Possibly. What works for some people doesn't always work for others.

 

Bad luck I guess. Almost 55k miles on my Y2K and I'm running boost... and my only complaints were the coils and the brakes not lasting long enough!

Try buying a GTP; weighing my luck against yours with a maxima, versus that of my GTPs, you'll have better luck with one of those considering all they ever did for me was leak, break mechanical parts, and spend half their ownerships getting their guts ripped out and put back in again At least GM fixed the issue with the headlight lenses that pop out!

 

for those less mechanically inclined or unwilling to fight the dealers, coils and brakes is about $600-700 in repairs. Plus, with coils, getting that diagnosed or shall I say "replicated" is a nightmare.

after 2 years of bouncing back between two dealers (who conviently didnt document my compaints), I found this dealer that *suggested* my coils be replaced. hell, I wasnt even in there for that and they noticed. I tell you, if their dealers were more like that, the Maxima would still be a flagship and the Accord/Camry would have some serious competition in sales numbers.

 

Sure GTP's might be a lil more unreliable, but they're a hell of a lot cheaper to fix and not only that but overall the 3800 is really reliable, even under boost. Small things like fit and finish of the interiors are what gets GM in trouble. But you also don't pay nearly as much for a GM-made vehicle as lets say...nissan, toyota, or honda. I was reading a report from consumer reports about thge reliability and the nissan maxima trailed only the accord in reliability, and the camry was ranked behind the maxima even. Now how does this make sense? Do you guys beat up your cars that bad or are the countless magazine articles and reviews wrong? These cars were built to be driven hard. BMW's can be floored for their whole life and not lose one bit of reliability. Whereas, you buy a maxima...with the VQ (considered to be the best V6 in the world even over BMW or Mercedes)...and you're telling me that if I sit there and drive it hard on occasion, its going to throw transmissions and all of that good stuff. If I drive it hard on occasion...like most owners do...i don't want the damn thing to fall apart on me. Hell, I would rather buy a GTP or SSei and get a good car for less money and comparable reliability to any nissan or toyota.

 

Err... whatever. My 2K2 Max has been ok except for some rattles, paint chips, and the two recalls (which are admittedly disconcerting). I love the power of the Max, the ride and stock stereo are decent to me, and I like the controls (esp. on the steering wheel) and the headlights. If I were to need a replacement, Nissan and Infiniti would still be on my list.

I'm not a fan of Subaru in general, but I admit the WRX is a good value for the performance. Too bad it's quite ugly IMHO and the interior is really crappy. The Max to me is far superior in those two respects.

I've got a coworker w/a WRX and he complains about having tons of paint chips... so it's not just Nissan.

 

Ownership experience vs product quality & bang for buck. Dealers are a variable that we can not quanitfy. Depending on where you live your experience may be totally different than someone else's. When I speak of Nissan I always mean the product. A good dealer is the luck of the draw.

Oh, far as product. Nissan had better watch it, I believe it's the gear heads like us that kinda promote it, once they lose thier loyal base, they will be like Mazda, Mitznfrub-she

Honda and Toyota keep thier mass base(A-B average joe, mom, aunt sue and her two dogs) happy.


I feel for you guys with bad dealers.

 

So what is the true quality of this car then? In comparison to Honda and Toyota (besides dealer experience), how reliable are maxima's in comparison? Would I have been better off buying a passat, camry or accord?

 

Well we all hate Nissan, but we all LOVE Maximas. It's a love hate relation ship.....with my next car I cutting the fat. I'm going Infiniti!

 

hey ed -

whats wrong w/ newbies? ever hear of family names that die out? you have kids? ok, i made my point.

just the fact that comparisons between the max and the wrx are made says a lot! heck, you are talking comparing a car that was DESIGNED and BUILT to carry 5 adults, luggage, golf-clubs and more to a car that was DESIGNED and BUILT to carry 2 teens and a pocket full of kryptonite.

that's what makes the maxima such a sleeper ...

 

Look in Jdpowers long term reliability study were they used 5 year old cars.... number one ranked car was Lexus, second Toyota, third Acura, fourth Honda...
Nissan was like #15....
I don't think new Acuras will be at the top of the list anymore with bad transmissions.... everywhere its something new.... and depends on a model.... so its hard to say...
You really have to wait 5 years ...

But this was for cars of like 1997..... Who knows about the quality of 2003? In 2006 we will know.....

 

Yeah right! BMW's have some definate engine failure issues they need to work on with their M models.

 

i don't understand why nissan dealers won't fix warranty stuff. Doesn't Nissan NA pay them back for the service done? I mean, I can't see any reason why would they deny service.

 

Whats wrong with Nissan's warranty ?
Dealers like to have warranty work done in general, they bill manufacture....

 

the issue here is that many dealers refuse to do warranty work.

 

If that's so, then why are people trading thier 7-series for 5-series?

 

are the 5th gen's really that bad?? i have a 98 SE max and i love everything about it but i was gonna upgrade to a 5th gen, but after reading on here it makes me wanna look around more.