I test drove the 04 TL today. It kicks ***. Interior is great!!! I love the bluetooth feature in that car! It seems to have a lot more "technology" then the 04 maxima.
In my opinion, the interior looks a TON better then the maxima.
Performance wise...our brakes feels sharper then the tl, other then that, it'll be pretty hard to beat the tl with the maxima. I drove the auto trans.

 

"the maxima"? you mean an 04? wrong forum..

03? ummm, yeah... 10-13K more, apples and oranges.

 

YES EXACTLY!!! 03 MAX vs. 03 Accord is more the same class

 

no problem here

 

I know this thread is going nowhere but here's my two cents. The new TL has only 13.1 cubic feet of trunk space. That's only one cu. ft. more than my neon! I have two young kids so the lack of cargo space automatically eliminates the TL from my consideration.

 

I think the '04 TL is better compared to the G35, BMW class.
And the reason it won't hang with those other two...its still FWD!

I think the TL is a great looking car, but I'd prefer the other two especially living here on the Westcoast since I don't have to deal with the flucuating weather anymore.

 

the 04 TL is the most feature rich car in its class bar none.. Comparing it to a 5th gen is rather futile... It will certainly leapfrog the G35 in features.. However, I wonder how many buyers will understand half of the content it offers.. thats the gamble Acura is taking..

 

i believe the top of the line one comes in at a little under $40k. thats if u buy the body kit and the 18inch wheels. but u can always get that stuff cheaper online. oh and it also has brembo brakes which is kick *** since the brakes on the previous gen tl suck ***.

 

all trim levels will have the same engine- anyone know the 0-60/ 1/4 mile times- has it been road tested?

 

same engine yes... but it finally has a 6speed!!! i think its lighter than the '03 so im guessing it'll be in the the mid 14's. as for 0-60 maybe a few ticks quicker than the type s.

 

Yeah wrong forum lol. Monday mornings. But anways, I would think that the 04 tl compares with the 04 maxima because they're priced closely. I just priced a 04 se with driver preferred package and a power sunroof with traction control, and the total is $32840.

 

let's hope no tranny trouble in this one

 

After what I have dealt with with the Maxima, I will never again pay anywhere close to Acura TL money for a Maxima. The Max just loses too much value and, esp now, won't compare with the new TL. My next car will either be the new TL, a G35 (Coupe or sedan), or a slightly used BMW 5 Series. I just can't in good conscience pay the kind of money that nissan is asking for the maxima, and in turn receive the service that I have been given.

 

I'm on the same boat. I am very close to purchasing a tl and trading my 2k2 maxima.

 

I just wouldn't buy any more nissans. Not even the G35. I already have 23k miles on my 03, mostly highway miles. I'm guessing there's about 100k left in my car that I can squeeze out. Might end up buying a hybrid.

 

But Maxima owners love to say how much better their car is than the TL.

 

'03 Altima vs. '03 Accord, too.

IMHO, the '03 Max is somewhat of a bastard child...who does it compete with exactly? Nissan tried to compare the previous Altima to the Camry/Accord when it was more in line with the Corrola/Civic is size and price.

At least Nissan got it right this time around.

 

Actually, the 5th gen Maxima was aimed towards Avalon buyers with the Altima being the in-betweener trying to compete with CamCord's and CoroCivics.

With the advent of the 2002+ Altima, it then started becoming clearer - that is a direct competitor to CamCords. Unfortunately this also invaded the 2k2/3 Maxima's space.

The 6th gen Maxima has now gone up a size larger to fix the Altima's "invasion" and to clearly define it's space in the market against Avalon's. Unfortunately this has also jeopardized the "Sporty" nature of the Maxima and many just find it hard to cough up the dough to buy a loaded Maxima when a lot of luxury cars offering better service can be hand for almost the same amount of money.

 

That's exactly right. There is now NO reason to pay entry level luxury car money for a car that isn't entry level luxury. Sure, the max is nice...But if they are gonna price it the same as the new TL...They're gonna be in for a rude awakening.

 

I knew this post was just about a guy wanting something he can't have because the "new car" feeling has gone away. No offense, but if you really think the TL is the next best, greatest thing then by all means sell your Max and buy one and you can always come back here and gloat about how great the TL is. Us guys who love the Max will still be here

 

Why do you have to make this personal? It's not. It's very simple. The draw of the Maxima to many people, such as it was to myself, is that it's a good car for a decent price. As far as I'm concerned that ended with the 2K3. Now that Nissan is charging nearly $33K for a pseudo-entry level luxury sedan, it loses its appeal. If I'm going to be buying a car for over the $30K barrier, it's not going to be a Nissan. 1.) Nissan Service Sucks. 2.) As much as they want this car to be really nice, the fit and finish just isn't there. There is a lot of plastic, a lot of road noise, a lot of wind noise, and a lot of rattles that come out of nowhere. That being said, for the same money I'm going to buy a "real" luxury type car, sans all of the aforementioned annoyances. My $0.02.

 

If you were to pick between 2k4 maxima and 2k4 TL, what would you get?

 

2K4 TL. NO QUESTION. That is one bada$$ car.

 

I would definetly pick new TL. My friend me and test drove and that car feels so nice and has this german feel to it. Interior blows away Maxima's interior.
The only thing I don't get why doesn't Honda add more torque to this car. My friend floored it and car just didn't seem to move as fast my car moves downlow. It was Auto, hopefully 6-speed will be better downlow.

If I was shoping for the car in 30K range, I would get G35x that is coming here soon.

 

Dany, You fix the noise coming from your car?

 

Interesting you can get a I35 for same, or less than a comparably equipped Maxima now...minus that ugly grille.... Even the G35 is about the same price... Also, we all know Infiniti service is better than Nissan service... Its like night and day... and yet they're just about the same company... I don't get it at all. Bring my car in for a 19.95 oil change and they give me a G35 for the day... can't really beat that Love how they wash and vacuum my car afterwards, too...

 

??? Of course its going to be personal, its my personal opinion. I don't know if you fail to realize a car is a machine, machines break down, faster or slower depending on how you maintain them. Yes, Maximas have some technical issues what car doesn't? Your whole arguement is that the '04 Maxima(this is the 5th gen forum BTW) which tops around $35K-$36K should be compared to the '04 TL which will probably cost you $40K plus. I don't think Nissan has ever advertised the Maxima as being, your quote "real luxury type car". My point being that I could care less what you drive...that's my personal opinion.

 

Personally, I'd consider the I35 cause: A) I can probably get a MAJOR discount on it (thank you G35S), B) it looks identical to the JDM "Maxima", C) has a way nicer interior and exterior than the Maxima (5G and 6G) and D) Infiniti is Service is WAY better than Nissan (and almost as good as Acura/Honda).

As for comparing the new Max and new TL, new TL ALL THE WAY. (Total nobrainer!!) I swear, the new Maxima is an effort by Nissan to unload the "sporty" Maxima and takeover where Oldsmobile left off.

Just my $.02

 

I get that from my Nissan service center all the time!

 

Dude, read PLEASE...My whole point is that you CAN'T compare the Maxima to the 04 TL because of the fact that regardless of how Nissan decides to price it, the CAR ITSELF can't compete anymore, and you'd be dumb to put that kind of money into a Max when you could pay the same money at the Acura dealer and have a much better car. A car is a machine?? Really?! Thanks for the info. Regardless of that fact, different cars are made better than others. Maxima isn't a "luxury" brand, yet we're expected to pay over $30K for a car with so many obvious fit/finish problems? No thanks.

 

The '04 TL tops out at just under $35k w/ the manual transmission and DVD Navigation. Every other "option" comes standard even with the base car. If you don't want DVD Nav, take out $2k from the price.

 

Right, that's kind of what I was alluding to.

So is this the first time Nissan has had a sedan lineup that competes directly (properly) with Toyota & Honda?

If the the 5th gen competed with the upsized Camry (Avalon) and not the CamCord, while the Altima competed with the CamCord&CoroCivic, did the 4th gen compete with the Avalon as well?

 

Not sure on the 4th gens, the Nissan Sales packets i've read only went back to the 5th gen's. And it was clearly stated that the Maxima's competition was the Avalon and Passat. (Taken from the Competetive Comparison Booklet)

 

123456

 

Nissan likes to load up on power to cover other inadequacies and Americans love big low-end power.

Isn't the TL's 3.2L SOHC compared to Max's 3.5L DOHC?
I'd imagine you'd be pleased with the TL on the high-end.

 

I don't know where you get the idea the new TL will be $40K, but just in case you've missed something or haven't figured it out, Acura's don't come with a laundry list of options. Usually they're loaded with the only option being a NAV system.
The 04 TL will be priced just slightly higher (normal inflation and adjustment for a brand new redesign) than the 03 TL-S
They expect prices to be in the $34K range with the NAV system the only option at $2K.

That still puts it at or under the price of a loaded 04 Maxima.

 

the new tl tops at like $38k. i dont know what acura dealers you guys have been to, but if u check out www.acuraworld.com and search, you will see we hate acura dealers just as much as u guys hate nissan dealers. no matter what brand of car you have, there will always be good dealers and ****ty dealers.

 

actually, it has more options now. theres the navigation package which includes the navigation and i forgot what else (if anything) and theres the dynamic package which upgrades the tires to high performance tires and it adds brembo brakes and a 6speed transmission. then theres the factory body kit and the factory 18 inch wheels. oh and you can get both the navigation and the dynamic package for a grand total of around $38k.

 

Just under $35k w/nav.

As for dealerships, they're always hit or miss. But general consensus is, luxury brand service centers treat you far more nicely than the traditional Honda/Toyota/Nissan/VW service centers.

 

i, along with a bunch of TL owners, feel that the TL's top end.... sucks a$$. both 4th and 5th gear are very tall and most of us consider them over drive gears. thats why a lot of TL owners invest in headers. for the regualr TL the gain about 15-20 whp in high end power and about 30-35 whp for the tl-s.