From Car and Driver:

"My wife and I lease a 2001 Acura 3.2 TL. Last week, the xenon headlights were stolen from the car. The bumper was ripped off the car, the fenders bent, and the lights stolen. The damage was $4300.

This is a pervasive problem in north New Jersey and perhaps elsewhere. The Newark Star-Ledger published a story saying the lights are being stolen because Acura designed them to be interchangeable with the Accord, one of the most highly stolen cars in America. At the body shop, I found seven other Acuras there with the same problem. The owner of the shop said he is getting 10 to 15 cars a month with the lights stolen, and this has been going on for about a year.

I contacted Honda of American and my local Acura dealership to inquire about trading in my TL model for the RL. I am willing to pay more per month to have a car I can park in public. They will not help me (or anyone else) in the lease without the standard costs involved in breaking a lease. My friend has the same car and has already been hit twice.”

Michael Bernstein
West Orange, NJ

I know that Acuras are our mortal enemies, but I still think that this is totally disrespectful on behalf of all automobile owners. It's disturbing that things like this (perhaps not as severe) like keying, paintballing, and whatnot are becoming more common. What I'm curious about is whether any 2k2 Max owners have had their lights stolen out of their cars.

On a seperate note, this months Car and Driver has a good write up on the G35 (maybe I'll post snippets in a seperate thread). If any of you guys are thinking about the G35 as your next vehicle (since the next Max will likely be larger and perhaps less sporty), you guys should pick up this month's edition of Car and Driver.

Oh one more thing, some guy wrote in saying:
"More chaos--Motor Trend clocks manual Altima 3.5 at 6.28 seconds (0-60), while Car and Driver limps the automatic version to 60 at 7.3! That's a heavy disparity for a different tranny."

CD responds:
"P.S. Motor Trend's test track runs downhill."

Something to chew on.

Chuck

 

It's not my TL

I quoted it out of this month's Car and Driver, some guy wrote it in.

 

Why dont you just sell the car out-right for the lease payoff then get whatever you want.

 

Uhhh...dude, it's not my car....jeez, you ppl don't like to read do you?

I would never, for the life of me, buy an Acura.

 

DUDE
No I dont like to read, I realized it was a quote after I already posted the response... oh... if I could only turn back time...

 

Cher

 

I'm not saying to vanalize other cars BUT what are the chances that any accords running around town with acura hids were puchased from the dealer (the hids)? I would love to either re jack back my hids or put a Hammer time on them!

 

LOL MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY

 

Well how about the 2000-2001 Maxs with 2k2 HIDs? Most normal people wouldn't believe they'd buy um for 800-1000 instead of just getting a Phillips HID kit for like 300..

 

Yeah...I read that reader's letter, too...

A much more interesting article was printed by Jaime Kidman (Automobile or Road and Track???) I think he's with Road and Track on the inside back cover. It's titled "Le Buzz Kill" and it scorches Carlos Ghosn (CEO?? of Nissan), his reputation for cutting costs with car companies he's worked with (Renault) and the outcome of his efforts being the demise of his employer (GASP! NISSAN?!?).

Mr. Kidman proceeds to totally RIP on the new Altima and Xterra for using the cheapest plastics (something I somewhat agree with) and that Ghosn is going to pull Nissan down just like he did to Renault (you don't see Renault selling cars in the US anymore!!!)

MORE food for thought. If I had the mag in front of me, I could quote him, but alas...I'm at work

 

Today this kid in my school was tellin me about puttin HIDs in his b!tch integra (140 HP model) He got ground effects and was bragging how he is going to buy stolen headlights from a TL. (the irony is that his dad drives a Type S) Id be p!ssed if someone stole my headlights. He was also saying how you have to do so work to the front of the 00-01 Max's to have the 02 fit. Is that true? Want to prove this punk wrong.

 

The '02 headlights fit perfectly in the '00 and '01...its just a wiring thing that you have to do...the assembly itself is exactly the same size.

 

I disagree, Nissan has been doing excellent since Renault took them over. In fact, you could say that Nissan has done a 180 and gotten back to what got them into the market in the first place: affordable performance (not to mention attractive/unique styling). If you look at the entire Nissan lineup, there is not one car in their respective classes that is not the leader in terms of HP:

1) Sentra (180/165 HP) vs. Civics, Jettas, Corolla, etc.
2) Altima (240/180 HP) vs. Camrys, Taurus, Even Accord
3) Maxima (255 HP) vs. Camrys, Taurus, Accord, Avalon

Let's not only talk about HP, lets talk suspension. Once Nissan ditches the rear-beam on the Max for fully independent front and rear suspension, there is no car in it's class that can even come close to any of the Nissan cars in terms of performance.

What about pricing? At the same price, would you take a V6 Camry over a 2K2 Max? HELL NO!.

As for plastic, it's plastic, live with it! Damn, what do you want your car to be made of? Glass? Wood? Steel? Silver? Gold? Titanium? Platinum? WTF? It's friggin plastic. It could be a lot worse, when's the last time you were in a Ford, Buick, Chrysler, or any other American car? After having a Ford rental for a month, my GF will never go back to American again!

And you know what? I think the Nissans have, by far, the best looking interiors of any of the cars in competing classes. Okay, the Altima is a little controversial, but hell, the Max looks 10 times better than an Accord inside and out! I like the symmetric, clean, geometric layouts of the Nissan interiors.

I have to say I thoroughly disagree with what you're saying. Nissan is doing a total about face. They've focused on delivering afforadable, performance minded, and at the same time functional vehicles that are (IMO) very reliable, attractive, and fun to drive. With the release of the 350z, Nissan only helps to boost this image tenfold. Let's not forget that starting with the G35, Infiniti will be gearing up to compete with the king of all entry level luxury sports sedans: the highly tauted 3-Series and if you've read any of the previews of the G35, then you know that Infiniti has a good shot.

All in all, I think Carlos Ghosn is doing an excellent job. Oh and the reason Renault no longer sells in the US has nothing to do with Carlos Ghosn.

 

Yep.
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....1&goto=newpost

Since Ghosn took control Nissan posted their first profit after many many years of debt. Just looking at the future products looks very promising (which could also be due to the firing of Jerry Hirschburg from Design...)

I gotta disagree with you on the plastic tho, there's a distinct line that separates GM fit/finish from the Japanese makes. But the Altima friggin got confused and went to the wrong side. Unfinished edges, hollow/thin/flimsy plastics, doors are no comparison to Toyota in solidity. Like ur gf, no one wants to sit in a cheap feeling car...Nissan screwed up bad on that.

I agree with you about the design tho, I really like the whole symmetric thing...Q45, Maxima, Altima, G35 all very nice. I also like the ES300 and SC430 for this simple reason (plus others). When I saw the first article on the 5th gen Max the exterior looked fugly but the interior looked sweet. Camry and Accord had nothing on it.

 

To be honest, I've never seen the Altima interior up close so I can't really say...but when's the last time you took a look inside a Ford Focus . When I go to movies and they play that "Detroit Techno" commercial, people laugh, sad, sad Focus.

I agree with you on the 5th Gens...I remember seeing it for the first time in person at the NYC International Auto Show in 99 or 00 and I didn't really like the rear end. Now it's kinda grown on me.

You're still up? I think I'm going to get some ZZZ's

 

Focus quality seems about right, esp for a Ford product...and it's a cheap car anyways.

I think I set a record for most posts per day for me today lol...that's what happens when you stay home all day

 

Altima interiors are alright; but compare to a Focus it's way better than that. However, I did get a chance to drive a Altima SE 2002 and I must say the steering is too light; it doesn't drive like sports car.

 

I hope that crap doesn't spread.

 

How many 2k2 Maxima Headlights have you heard of been stolen to date?

 

damn, that really sucks for TL owners.....

 

None

 

I also disagree with the notion that Ghosn's employment will lead Nissan into an abysmal spiral into oblivion.

The fact is, he's been doing exactly what Nissan needed him to do: He's kicking ***. From a performance standpoint, Nissan is offering the most bang-for-the-buck. The new Altima is already seeing record-breaking sales. I can't quote the exact numbers but it was said that in the first few months of it's release, it almost eclipsed the the amount of units in which Altimas were sold in 93, the Altima's second-best selling year. The past two years, Maxima sales have increased more than 12%. The Sentra SE-R is a very well-rounded car that's selling far better than the piece of **** 200SX "SE-R's" it's replacing. The Maxima clone, the Infiniti I35, is Infiniti's best-selling model. The only area in which Nissan is struggling, is the Infiniti line as a whole and that's something that will take time to improve. The advant of the G35 and GT-R will bring credibility to the Infiniti line, something that's been lacking for the lux division. That's a consequence of Infiniti's avante-garde attitude. When the Q45 came out, laced with active suspension, 280hp and 310lb.ft and capable of sub 15sec 1/4 miles it was seen as an oddity. You have to realize after it's release, BMW bolstered up the 5 and 7 series. The G20 has always been a sporty, reliable car. Sometimes, originality doesn't sell cars. Lexus went the easy way and basically stole Cadillac and Lincoln's consumer base at the time when those 2 divisions were doing very poorly.

Ghosn is forced to undo half-a-decade's worth of falling off at Nissan. He's been doing a great job.

 

how stupid to break the lease just because your lights get stolen. Pu-leaze, let them steal, insurance will pay for new ones.