I know there are posts about this from way back, but I thought I would make one after having the 98' and 00' since new. A lot of my gripes are tiny things, perhaps due to my sentimentality for the 98' and 00'.

Interior-

Overall feels a lot cheaper than both the old ones. Not sure what it is, but the quality of materials seems to have been lessened.

I have a few little quirks like the non chrome door handles and the bing sound when key is in ignition.

Seats are comfier than the previous ones, but less sporty. Prefer the ones from the 2000 to this, but I think the 4th gen had the perfect balance.

Added technology on the inside like the memory seats, compass, mileage, are alright additions.

Switching the radio to one from 2000 as the 6CD doesn't work and I overall don't like the little changes to the radio system.

The simplicity of the 98' and 00's design will forever be my favorite, the layout and amount of buttons was perfect. 03' is pretty much the same, but the little changes affect it negatively in my opinion.

Metal pedals, very premium.

Exterior-

Prefer the front of the 2000 to the 5.5 gen changes, only difference with rear are the lights which I think look good with the silver color.

HID's are nice

Titanium wheels look very good, probably the best looking stock Maxima wheels.

Under the hood-

Dislike the big engine cover, the little plate on the 4th and 5th gen was perfect. Placement of everything is mostly the same, no gripes there.

Driving-

This is where the 2003 shows off. While I prefer the VQ30 to the 35, it's hard not to be enthralled by the power of the 6 speed paried to it in comparison to the 4 speed auto paried to the 3.0. The HLSD just further enhances the experience and will be a nice feature in the winter. The 6 speed transmission actually feels quite a bit better than other 6 speeds I have driven, not sure how it compares to the old maxima 5 speed. Also highway gas mileage is slightly better with the addition of the 6th gear. The driving experience is unparalled compared to the 98' and 00'. Really feels like a "Drivers car".

I know the others are FWD as well, but I don't have any complaints of this being FWD, RWD would be nice, but not practical for a 4 season car. The 350z and the G35's are for those limited months. I think this was the best way to go for the Maxima, at least at this time when AWD wasn't common for many cars.

I may have a lot of bias due to my time with the 98' and 00', perhaps sentimentality is getting the better of me. Maybe once I fix all the problems, maybe swap in some stuff from a 00-01', this one will grow on me.
I know it's been a couple years and the car is a bit old by now, but at the moment I feel like the 2003 is less refined and could have benefitted from a little more development time. It has so far had quite a bit more problems than the 2000 (As in the time I have had it, it has had way more problems in the same period of time) with more than double the mileage of this one.
The biggest pro I can give it is just how fast it is and it's 6 speed, the driving experience is fantastic, plus it's absolutely insane this car can keep up with a 350z. Can't wait to see how it handles with a couple of upgrades.


The list of what to do is a long one, most importantly i have to gut the pre cats, and change to the red line MT-90 fluid as per members suggestions on here. What do you guys think of the 5.5 v.s the 5th gen?

 

Swap your 5th generation brakes on it so you can fit some light weight 3rd gen stock 15s on it.... that's A half second right there. Some more weight reduction and headers and you got a 5 second 0-60 car easy, no tune needed. Enjoy!