i dont know what it is. i have 50k miles on my max now and i just dont trust it for some reason. i mean it hasnt given me any serious problems to this point, but it feels like i am just waiting for them to start. i drove by a honda dealership yesterday and they had all their new accords marked down. it was looking pretty tempting. i think i would feel a lot more comfortable driving a honda for the long haul. what do you guys know about how the latest accords hold up as opposed to the max? perhaps i am just being paranoid. give me some advice.

 

you just have an itch for a new ride, take a drive by the Nissan lot and stare at the 2k2's, that will cure you.

 

Sounds like you are just looking an excuse to get an Accord. Nothing wrong with that other than continual abuse from us. Is there anything in particular you don't like about the max? 50K miles is enough to know whether you like the car or not. Different strokes.....

 

Dont get me wrong, i am totally happy with my max, it is my 3rd maxima. i just dont trust it to hold up. and it's not like i absolutely want an accord, its just that i know that they are awesome cars reliability wise and when i see a fully loaded accord ex-v6 for like 22.2, it tempts me. plus there are little things that bug me about the max. brakes/ rotors need replaced again, transmission feels weak, CD player acting up, i mean i am not looking for excuses at all to get a new car, i just look at it as i am out of the warranty for the car and i dont feel like dumping money into it if it is going to start giving me problems. thats why i am considering it. but i guess any car could give you problems.

 

Larry you buy an AUTO and i will never read your posts again

 

my parents had a 87 maxima which ran up till this year. still have a 95 maxima. both ran fine no major problems. my wife had a 92 Sentra SE-R for 7 years no major problems, and i had a 92 NX2000 for 8 years no major problems. nissan seems reliable to me, i love my max.

 

and i totally agree with you. nissans have always been good cars, and i even know this from experience. but this one that i have now makes me nervous. it is hard to explain it other than to say that i just dont trust it like i did my older ones.

 

maxman2k,

As the happy owner of a 2001 Accord EX V6 Sedan, I can tell you that the Accord is one fine car. It's not as fast as a Maxima but it can come pretty close, and yes, the prices are pretty good. I got mine for $23.3k (not incl tax, tags, lic, etc...).

But if your Max hasn't given you any major problems, nor had any of the past ones, then why would you consider defecting to Honduh?? Why not trade-in for a 2k2 Maxima? Heck, if I was buying a car tomorrow and I didn't have any space/comfort issues with the Maxima (I do) I'd go out and buy a 2k2 Max and never look back.

Anyways, both are great cars. In the long run I think an Accord will hold up about as well as a Maxima so the reliability should be about the same. But this year is sorta bad to buy an Accord because the next-gen model will be out for the 2003 model year so you'd be outdated by this time next year already. That would suck. But that just makes the prices on them even better. $22.2k? damn...

 

i am big on value. the 2k2 max is just too expensive for me. and i know that my max hasnt given me any major problems, but i have had to address the brakes now for a 4th time, get my trans worked on twice, and honestly i dont like the way nissan has treated me. thats why it is helpful to get advice from people who have owned hondas to see if i can expect the same things from them, like little annoying problems and crappy customer service. and i dont really consider the altima an option, compared to the accord, which just screams 'quality', the altima feels cheap inside.

 

Honda builds nice, reliable cars with great residual values....but without V6 engines/manual transmission combinations (NSX excluded).

I love the TL, but to be honest, I couldn't drive it everyday (even if the wife would let me....). I'd get withdrawal symptoms from the Max 5spd.

If you're looking to get a new ride, play the dealers against each other to get the best deal.. Maybe you'd feel better about a 2002 Max with a 6 spd....I know I would!

 

once again.. a service issue.. good car, but no faith that problems will be properly addressed.

as a owner of a 6/99 2k, I share your concerns. So far, all I've had is the TCM and not the solenoids. I know the engine will be strong, but the paint will have probably fallen off and the tranny is like a $2000 bill hanging over my head (after the 60K powertrain warranty - and I use the term 'warranty' loosely here.)

Well, you can't go wrong with Honda. But, you will lose so much money selling that you could easily fix any problem on the max that arises and still have the car paid off. thats a nice feeling. but you will be performing without a net, so to speak.

 

You need to look at it this way...if your engine is working fine now it sould last for another 100,000 miles at least. What usually gives up are the accessories...not the engine itself.

I know how you feel though....I have 37,000 on mine...but I still have 3 1/2 years to pay on it. I don't mind paying what I am now...but in 3 years I will still be paying the same amount per month for a car that has 120,000 miles. Hopefully I don't have a big repair bill for something or I will be screwd! Right now it cost me 700 a month for my car,and insurance.....good thing my house payment is only 430!

I love my maxima...and hopefully it stays a good car for a while, but I am not going to buy a new car again until I have enough money to pay for half. It kills me to think of how much money I am paying for a car! I have been looking at classic cars for a while... and when I see a cool car, or truck for 4K...... That is when I think I made a big mistake buying this car! But... when I jump in my car in the morning and it starts right up, and hauls azz on my way to work, I then really appreciate having my Maxima! I feel it will serve me for many years to come!

 

If you want value above all else, then there is no finer mid-sized import out there than the Accord V6. Compared to the Maxima, a similarly equipped Accord V6 is thousands less (about $5k less when I was buying) and this is another reason I drive an Accord. Another perk for value with the AV6 is that it's designed to run on 87 octane fuel and will actually lose power if you throw in 91. So operational costs will be lower with an AV6, especially if you drive a lot of miles like me (close to 30k/yr). That costs performance, but it was an acceptable tradeoff for me.

Accords have their own share of annoying little quality issues too, though, so it's not immune either. Sunroof rattles (didnt' get the TSB done for this yet), and annoying little interior squeaks and rattles for the most part. But there are no crappy paint issues, or missing fuel filler splash guard things.

When you do have trouble, I think in general that you'll get better customer service from Honda. Just from reading the .ORG here, I'd be terrified of going to a Nissan dealership if I had trouble in a Maxima - abysmal customer service, and many many horror stories

As for interior, I still think the Maxima interior is just a little bit better than the Accord, but both are clearly a giant leap above the Altima - I was rather unimpressed with the poor new Alty's interior - too bad, too, because I think that the Altima is otherwise an awesome car.

But despite all of my hangups with the Maxima, horsepower talks. If I was buying this year instead of last (and I had no space/comfort issues) I know for a fact that I would have said to hell with all that and would be enjoying 255HP and a 6spd probably right about now

 

My 2K Max has 50K miles also. I feel the same way too. I don't trust my car. I feel that at any moment it will let me down. I don't like that feeling. The rotors were replaced 4 times. The paint chips off easily. Now one of my distributors is malfunctioning and they can't figure out which one of the six is bad. It happens once every other week and my Check Engine Soon light goes on. The dealership said the only way to really fix it is to replace all six. I am out of warranty so I have to pay it out of pocket. Nissan customer service is horrible! I paid the car off and it’s nice not paying a monthly payment, but I think I should start shopping for another vehicle. I paid good money for this car. It should not be falling apart so easily. "That is what Dodge is for” I won't purchase another Nissan after this experience. The old Nissan Max were reliable, this 5th Gen. SUCKS.

 

at 50K, how are you out of the warranty? you have 60K engine and powertrain. They will probably tell you that doesnt apply to 'things connected to the engine'. Hey ********, without those 'connected things', its not an engine, but rather a very large paper weight. gawd, I do feel your pain on this one. I have a $8 idler puller freaking out on the pathfinder and it's like pulling teeth to get them to fix it. I'm >< this close to doing it my damn self (even tho I still have 80K of "Gold" warranty left :/ )

 

They said the the 60k mile warranty was for the Mechanical parts in the Trans and Engine. Not sensor or electronics. Isn't that true?

 

but that doesnt make them right.. I mean, I had to make several calls to Nissan about a loaner car during service. Its CLEARLY written in their warranty... ANYTHING over 1 hr of service. I had to actually argue about that. alot... and again, plain as day. But I got it.

Since there are outstanding coil issues and your problems probably started before 36K, just not properly diagnosed, I would really consider taking it up with NofNA. Just keep calling. it's really the only way.

 

I have 50k on my Max too.
1)2 weeks ago the engine mounts started making that DAYUM noise!!! (Nissan said it's normal. So was my car not normal before?)

2)The rotors have been an issue for a while.

3)The thing's got different squeeks every day!

4)And I hate that fukken paint.

Not really what I expect from a car a little less than 2 years old. Yeah its a lot of miles, but it's mostly from my highway commute. NO, I DON'T THINK IT'S GOING TO BREAK DOWN, It just seems like it should be built a little better. The engine is GREAT but the build quality of the car as a whole is less than what I expected from Nissan.

 

Nissan says everything is normal. If i drove on three wheels to the dealer and asked why it fell off, they'd probally say its normal.

 

I put 155,000 miles on my '97 GXE Auto, and the only thing that died was the alternator at 90,000 miles. Otherwise, no problems whatsoever. And I drove it with my foot on its throat the whole time. It was not babied, just properly maintained. I felt so good about that one I bought a new 2K2 SE Auto last month. I think this one will be just as reliable as my 4G.

Re: the value question, I think Maximas are terrific values. I paid $19,995 for my '97 brand new, and only $24,500 my SE. It's worth the extra couple of grand over a Honda so I'm not driving one of the
"AccordCamryTaurus" clonemobiles you see in every driveway. Plus, it'll stomp the crap out of all of them.

So resist the temptation the buy an Accord "transportation appliance." You'll be glad you did.

 

I put 155,000 miles on my '97 GXE Auto, and the only thing that died was the alternator at 90,000 miles. Otherwise, no problems whatsoever. And I drove it with my foot on its throat the whole time. It was not babied, just properly maintained. I felt so good about that one I bought a new 2K2 SE Auto last month. I think this one will be just as reliable as my 4G.

Re: the value question, I think Maximas are terrific values. I paid $19,995 for my '97 brand new, and only $24,500 my SE. It's worth the extra couple of grand over a Honda so I'm not driving one of the
"AccordCamryTaurus" clonemobiles you see in every driveway. Plus, it'll stomp the crap out of all of them.

So resist the temptation to buy an Accord "transportation appliance." You'll be glad you did.

 

Accords reliable?? What a joke.

Wife's 94 accord non-vtec, blew a balance shaft seal and lost 90% of all her oil in about 1 min. If she wasn't 1 block from her work, she would have lost that engine.

Only redeming thing to that story is that Honda had a recall for it and we eventually got re-imbursed for the costs.

 

The Accord is also an imperfect vehicle, designed by imperfect people, just like the Maxima. All cars have their share of problems, and some more than others.

 

you perhaps had a bad experience with an accord, i am not questioning that. however you cant take one example, and i am sure there were others like you, and say that accords are not reliable. the honda accord, like it or not, is one of the best, if not the best car ever made. to say that they are a joke is unfair and untrue.

 

Ah guys. Did anyone miss the "THERE WAS A RECALL" portion of the story? Not a TSB but a full-on recall. This means THOUSANDS of Accords are/were affected. Not isolated by any means.

That indicates that there was a problem servere enough to warrant Honda to issue a RECALL on Accords(and probably any other Honda w/ this engine) and pay the $650-$800 per vehicle to fix this problem.


The paint on her Accord is not that great and the PS pump needs a seal kit now.

I realize Hondas/Nissans/Acuras/etc.. are not perfect. The only reason this person thinks Accords are more reliable is becuase he probably doesn't read the Honda boards enough to see what people complain about.

 

If you're to get rid of your Maxima, better do it now before it hits 60K miles, the major depreciation point.

What you want depends on your need, the value you place on features like 255hp motor, 6spd tranny, etc. Back in 2000 I had a budget of under $20K and chose bare-bone Maxima 5spd over loaded Accord EX 4-banger. If you don't care about going fast, have passed your midlife crisis and feel like slowing down, then Accord is a very practical car for you to have.

 

reliability-wize, i dont know theres a difference between a honda and a nissan.

 

I just had my 75,000 mile maintanence. Alignment was a little off but everything in my car is great I have friends that have Accords and Camrys and the Camrys are build SOLID. Toyota definitely has the best build quality and realiability. So if you want reliable, Toyota is better IMHO. The Max and Accords seem similar in terms of reliability. Take a look at Consumer Reports. The automatic trannys that Honda has I think are questionable. The Acura board does nothing but complain about its cr**py tranny. I've also heard many negative comments from the Honda boards about the Accord tranny. Maybe Steve can elaborate if this is true or not. Test drive an Accord. All I can say is, they don't have the VQ

 

The reason why I chose to buy a Nissan over a honda is because the service in Honda really sucks.

1. I went to a few Honda dealers in Houston areas and since I am asian they assumed that sales are already made. their care less attitude really ****ed me off to the point that I would rather buy a geo metro and let the salesman make money from my sales than to buy a honda and let those *******s make a cent out of me.

2. My friends who owns hondas always complains about the service dept of Hondas. When they wanted to buy parts to fix their cars, and if they are not sure of the parts, the guys at honda would always ask them to drive their car in for them to check instead of helping my friend to locate the part he need. Nissan on the other hand is slightly more patient in helping my friend find which part he needs and sell it to him.

As for me the Nissan sales guy treat me like a king and as for the service, it may not be the best but I have seen worse service.

Mine may be an isolated incident, but I always believe that when you own a high end model of a car and your car is brand new, you will get better service... and when your car gets old, your services also detoriates with your car. Bottom line is how you tip the guys at the service place....

 

i was going to go into this long thing about being more respectful with your posts, but i wont. this thread was a very informational series of posts till you started questioning my intelligence in regards to how i form my opinion. if you want me to tell you how every single 5th gen owner i know personally has had problems with their 2k, i will. if you want me to tell you how i know 6 guys who have had to get new trannys before 20k miles, i will. thats how i form my opinion on cars. do i realize that hondas have problems too? of course. but IMHO there is no way that if you took an average group of accord owners and polled them that they would ALL have problems, and major problems at that. but again, thats just my humble opinion, which i dont think anyone, including you has the right to say that i shouldnt have that opinion.

 

After re-reading his post, I don't think he was questioning your reasoning. The point being that the Accord has always had this halo image, but it is very well possible that the Accord owners have plenty of our same gripes(paint, service, tranny, engine, accessories, etc). Both cars are flawed in different ways.

Basically, the Accord 'seems' to be the safe play. Honda-ness, reliability, resale, good looks, etc.

The Maxima is the sporty/wild sedan alternative. Reliability, power, available manual, aggressive-testosterone image, underdog.

Every facet of the Japanese Big Three(Honda, Toyota and Nissan) fit neatly into many different lifestyles.

Zam

 

maxman2k

I totally understand your concern. I'm sure many of us have been frustrated after reading some of the posts about service/parts failures on the Org. The truth is every vehicle is gonna have its share of problems. The only thing I can say is that you'll need to do your research and make a decision that best works for your decision. If you honestly want to get a new car and your financial situation allows it then I say go for it.

 

I think you hit the nail right on the head, Zam!

The Accord is an overall good car with broad appeal. It does everything pretty well and it's very well rounded, but doesn't really stand out in any single area. And it's not really an exciting car to drive and doesn't really turn many heads. The list of things to love about it is short, but so is the list of things to hate about it.

The Maxima on the otherhand stands out. It has excellent performance, more agressive styling, appeals more to the enthusiast, and has a much more sporty image. It does all that very well, but then seems to fall short in other areas (cheap paint, crappy dealer service, etc..). It's not as well rounded as the Accord, IMO, and thee are more things that you have to "put up with" in the Maxima. At least in my view. So the list of things to love about the Maxima is longer, but so is the list of things to hate.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by SteVTEC
[B]I think you hit the nail right on the head, Zam!

Why thank you.

I'm actually on old 98 Accord 4 banger owner. Very nice car and tightly screwed together. The steering and overall feel of the car was excellent. Plus being able to trade a car off after 1 year(without losing my butt) is another bonus.

Put a manual in the Accord or TL-S and Honda will probably steal some Maxima owners.

Zam

 

Well you indicated that the my problem w/ the 94 Accord was isolated. Which it was not. You talk about specific owners and their speicfic problems. My experience covers thousands of Accords. I'm not bashing Accords, but just stating MY OPINION (yes I have one too right?) that the Accord may not be the flawless gem you make it out to be. No car is.

It's also clear that you just saw the first portion and neglected the last portion of the post. Is it correct or not?

Buy what you want, it's your money. But if you want to express your views on a public board, you MUST expect replies. Not all will be to your liking. Now, I've posted well withing the posting policies of maxima.org. If you cannot handle constructive debate, then maybe you should go ahead keep some of your thoughts off a public forum.

 

ya know, i see that you have a 'moderator' tag attached to your name, and i am sorry if i ruffle a few feathers here, but please dont feel as though that tag allows you to talk down to anyone. by referring to someone involved in a relaxed debate as 'this guy', which you did, is disrespectful and that is what starts confrontations. i have no problem with someone disagreeing with what i say, because if it werent for that then what would be the point of a forum, it is a place where we can get needed advice and help. i understand how a forum works and how this forum works, i have been here for a long time. i realize that everyone will not always agree, however when disagreeing there are 2 ways of doing it, a way that is constructive or a way that is condascending.....and please dont me ultimatums.

 

My power here is the same as yours. I have none here.

If I was nicer it would appear sarcastic(IMHO). Do you want to discuss the reliability of Nissans/Hondas or do you want to discuss how I post? It's up to you.

Yet you chose the ladder and ignore the question.

Trust me, you have not ruffled anything.

Honest opinion here. It seems you post in order for someone one agree with you. Since I have not, you appear troubled. You imply that Hondas(Accords in particular) are much more reliable than Maximas, therefore you desire to switch. Now I asked, "have you visited Accord forums enough to see the other side of the coin?" It's my assumption that you have not, therefore your view of Maximas maybe biased unjustly.

You know I could say the same about you too. You said, I had an isolated experience but yet I mentioned "recall".

Are you insulting my intelligence?

You said I should post constructively. Are you giving me an ultimatium??

See works both ways, but I chose to continue to talk about the cars and try to give you another view. A view that you ignored.

 

I have. I'm a moderator on one, an admin on another whole site (www.accordv6.com), and visit 2 or 3 other Honda boards.

If you look at just the Gen6 (98-02) Accord's and compare that to the Gen5 (00+) Maxima's I can tell you that there are many more "quality issues" with Maxima's than on the current Accord's. As far as major component reliability goes such as engine, tranny, electronics, etc., I don't think there's any significant difference between either make.

But as far as "small item" quality and "annoyances" go, I can tell you that the Accord does seem to be a step above the Maxima. Only very rarely do you hear of Gen6 Accord owners complaining about quality issues. But just on page 1 of this forum I can pick out at least 4 or 5 separate threads talking or complaining about quality or annoyance issues on the Maxima. This just isn't common on Honda boards that talk about the Gen6 Accord.

Granted, there are a lot of areas where the Maxima beats out the Accord V6, but I don't think overall quality and "low annoyance levels" are one such area

 

We have higher standards

 

...for performance, yes