I was wondering if anyone considered the Millenia S before deciding on their Max. To me it seems like a better competitor to the Maxima than a V6 Camry or Accord. I've always been rather partial to the Millenia's elegant yet sporty styling and 17" rims and the supercharged rotary engine is supposed to be quite a tasty little number. Has anybody test driven one before?

 

They seem nice and got a decent review on Consumer Reports. Dismal resale value though(not like the maxima is that great either)

But one clarification. The Millenia S is not a rotary engine. It's a Miller cycle 2.5(I think) supercharged V6 putting out 210hp.

 

Its a 2.3 litre millercycle 210hp,and it has a 2.5 litre 170hp motor too.
Fatboyp-i love the way they look but once i found out they were 35000 and didnt come with a standard i was like umm a max is for me

 

The Millenia S does not have a rotary engine at all. The S has a supercharged 2.3 liter V-6, with 210 bhp. A friend has one and it is a decent car, but not a fast one. The Millenia is not available with a manual transmission (which is important to me) and its invoice is quite a bit higher than the Maxima as well.

 

but there were also a handful of used ones (same body style). the used ones had worn so badly that I wrote off the thought of a new one. That is the reason for the poor resale. Honestly, they looked like 6-10 year old cars and they were only 1-2 years old. Trim was worn or missing. interior parts faded. sad...

 

The 4th gen 5spd maxima and above are faster than the millenia S. There big and heavy.

 

before i got my max, i drove my dad's old mazda 929 (1992), it was the one replaced by the millenia, meaning its kinda like the millenia, even has similar interior stuff. that car was $28k new in 1991, had 195hp v6, leather, auto temp, airbags, power everything, moonroof, cd player with steering wheel controls. even though the car was loaded, it had the sh*ttiest build quality. we still have the car, no abuse what so ever, things just began falling off. right now, 3 of 4 windows dont work, passenger door doesn't open, trunk doesn't open, driver side door panel falling off, foglight and cruise control switch fell into the dash, power antenna doesn't come out, A/C doesn't work, tranny seems to be f*cked, car jerks a lot when shifting from P to R or to N or D. it sucks, 115k miles, we have a 1993 dodge caravan, a bit over 100k miles, and the car still runs like new, kinda sad. dont buy mazda, car falls apart easily, and is unsafe.

 

when i was in the market for cars, this was on my list b/c i liked the styling. after looking at the specs and everything, i realised that the mazda is crap for the money. the maxima came with almost everything you needed standard for less price.

that's all.

 

I didn't when I was buying my car (they were too expensive then) but a few months ago when my brother was shopping for a car we drove one. It was very nice inside and handled great, but it didn't have as much pickup as I would have like.

 

If money were no object, then I think I'd take a top-of-the-line Millenia over a Maxima. Since money IS an object, then it just makes much better economical sense to get a Max.

 

I test drove the base "L" model at a Lexus dealer when my sister was shopping for a new car. It drives great, rode great, handled great. I like how the car feels over the road better than my car. It's very solid and quiet over bumps. It has less wind,road,engine noise than my car. The engine isn't as strong, but it revs so fast and quietly, almost sewing machine-like. I noticed the transmission has a "hold" feature (an automanual feature), but I didn't get a chance to test it out. However, the doors slam with a poor sound and the sound system sucked. I think it was some sorta Panasonic system. Great car, especially since it was a 95.

 

I agree but the Millenia is slow and underpowered with the smaller displacement Miller cycle engine but it is good looking. I have not test driven one though.