boo

Here are the Pros/Cons:
Remember these are just opinions!!!

Pros:
- Looks good from the outside, nice curves, back end is the best
side of the car and that’s a major change for the MAX.
- Interior is nice, I like the texture on the doors/dash (BMW like)
- Space is good in the front cabin
- Overall interior fit and finish is excellent

Cons:
- I couldn’t find it at the dealership because it blended in with the Altimas.
- Dashboard reminded my of my old Probe, it hade a semicircle look and the
dash is very deep.
- Gauges seem too similar to other new Nissan cars/SUV’s and looks a little cheap.
- AC/Stereo/CD reminds me of a tower PC. I wanted to plug in my USB MX700 mouse
in but there were no ports available!! I was in the car with a lady who was looking to buy
one and she said it also reminded her of a computer. Another guy peeked in the car and
said the stereo system setup had to go.
- A little square looking throughout the console.
- My biggest criticism is fit more towards me, I’m 6’3 and when sitting in the back seat
my head hits the roof of the car. This is because of the slight curve of the roof near
the back of the car. I wouldn’t be able to travel in the back because every bump would just be a little painful!!!
- Steering wheel controls seem a little awkward and are better placed on the 2003.
- Seats felt a little hard but they were cloth and leather was not available.

I did not have time to drive it so I am unable to compare the ride.
My parents, whom are somewhat old (65, 70 not that this really matters ), were with us
when we went to look at the 2004.
I asked them to give me their opinions on the 2004 max compared to the 2003, their choice was the 2003!

Well that settles it! If mom says the 2003 is better then 2003 is better!!

max...to the ma

yeah it is really similar
at the official nissan website i mistaked the picture in the left hand top corner for an Altima! http://www.nissanusa.com/vehicles/Mo...s/0,9443,20383|31001|,00.html

i•maxx

Well...I guess you won't be trading for the 6 gen an neither will I. I'm going to write Nissan an see if they will allow the public to help them with the7th gen Max in 2008.

Raven

I'm confused again. Nissan is saying that the 6th gen max will cater to a more mature crowd, am I write?

So, I'm hearing some people call this a 4-door 350Z and some people telling me that their grandparents are looking at it...

I don't get it. If its a 4 door sports sedan, why are they looking for an even older audience?? Whats wrong with my logic?

MONTE 01&97 SE

iTrader: (1)

Funny my neigbor mother in law and father in law all non biased said the same thing. They like the 03 much better!

slickrick

iTrader: (12)

my grandparents said to me " why didnt you buy a honda?" but thats because they own a honda dealership.

max...to the ma

cool! can u get me an S2000 for free?

Anuj

"grandpa..i like power"

bonzelite

iTrader: (2)

i have not driven it either, but i do not care to. the maxima has an identity crisis. the car is not totally bad, but it does not know what it is. it is not as bad in person, but, then again, it is bad enough to make me reply in this manner. i saw two of them in glendale at the dealership. it has some nice traits here and there, but that does not redeem the mistakes made by nissan designers, especially in the front fascia. the rear is nice. but the car is for retirees. it is like a cheap mid-size lexus. how insulting to say that, but it is true. thank god for the G35 coupe. no more skyline GT-R, no more Silvia. only Z car and G35 are left.

for that matter, to make it different for 2008, nissan could go the other way and redesign it to compete with the cooper mini. why not? at this point, who cares.

Zeks 97SE

agreed, i thought back in 97 the maxima should move in an even sportier direction...98,99..then we get 2000..01..02..and it seemed that the maxima model continued to move away from my liking, again, not that my 97 is sporty ..just thought that nissan should have went that way ...like the BMW feel ...real sporty and classy ... so i agree the maxima today is family car .. but i dont count out the ability to mod and make a unqiue max from any model ...

enjoy ya rides !!!

F23A4

I had a chance to checkout the 2K4 Max yesterday, and I have to say that I dont dislike it as much as I did before. I sat in a "base" SE similar to my "base" 2k2 SE and it felt....nice. The only things about it that I dont like are:

1) The front grill (1st mod would be a billet grill)
2) The skyview roof (I'd opt for a conventional power sunroof)
3) The rear end (BUTT ugly; but then again my 2K2 has an ugly rear also)
4) The dashboard cluster (looks to be pulled right from the Maurano; no thanks)
5) The fog lamp setup (looks like the face of a person whose eyes are too far apart)

Other than that, its not too bad of a car. And those 18" wheels look SHARP!!!

Peace

bonzelite

iTrader: (2)

"agreed, i thought back in 97 the maxima should move in an even sportier direction...98,99..then we get 2000..01..02..and it seemed that the maxima model continued to move away from my liking, again..."


-- yes! you articulated my thoughts more clearly! that is just it: after the 3rd gen, i liked the 4th, but it showed signs of growing "fatness." less agile. less sport-ish. yet i think it looks cool, especially modded. then the 5th came on. the profile of it is bad-***. and i like the back end, if you can believe that. the rear lights look best, to me, NOT chrome or "cleared" out looking on the later ones. the bezel thing looks best the color of the car's paint or just black. the 5th gen lights look best with black bezels and black car body, or black bezels with pearl white body color. yet the car, overall, especially the non-SE models of the 5th gen, look too fat -- skewed to "luxury."

now the max is all-out "luxury" LOOKING -- "i am retired and have grandchildren" is the knee-jerk opinion of it's image. don't get me wrong, the car is not bad, as i have said on other threads. but it is now fully in the throes of soft-middle-aged retirement luxury "lexus" market.

and i have read from others that it handles great and has loads of power and is a pleasure. but i don't care. maybe in 20 to 30 years when i retire i will consider getting one. by then, it will be a classic and will have a cool 'retro' look. then i will suddenly love it and have a newfound fondness for it.

Maxmann

Well, I guess I'm in the minority on this thread because we just bought and 04 Max..an SL to boot! You know the demographic of the Max has been 40'ish, married men with no kids at home. That is me (almost..kids still at home). I can appreciate your opinions and guess won't be seeing you guys on the 6th gen thread much longer. Hey, maybe those of us that are left here will meet for lunch and play chess in the park...yeah, that's a good idea. Next Maxima meet for the 6th gens will be at the Valley View Retirement Center and we'll play horse shoes and chess...who's in?

LOL

srm

boo

I guess since I'm in my thirties that I'm in a
Mid Maxima Crisis!

boo

e_marston

I'm hearing alot quotes saying , "This car is for an older crowd ...." I'm in my 20s and have a Onyx 04 SE and love it. Every one of my friends in their 20s likes it and it's the older people I know that don't. So when people are talking trash about how it looks non-sporty and huge I'm wondering where they come from. Most people tell me that it doesn't look that big from the outside, but is spacious on the inside.

People walk up to me and make nice comments about it when I gas up and ask if they can take a look. Most of these people are 20s-30s. So for those who say the 6th gen is for an older crowd I will have to respectfully disagree.

-Ed

sapoo96

I love this car!I traded in my 01 se.There is no comparison at all.

Raven

I agree with Ed. I don't know if "different" crowd = "old" crowd, necessarily. If that were the case, I don't even know why Nissan would give an option for a 6 speed manual and some bad *** 18" rims.

Its a sporty car and albeit more $$ than altima, I know a lot of mid 20s people that have been hoping for something like this. Personally, I like that its bigger.

If I got a 6th max, I think I'd feel like I was driving a monster with a lot of growl, not some old-guy Caddy.

bonzelite

iTrader: (2)

the beauty of the forums is the diversity of ideas and opinions. ---god bless you all. i will now migrate back to the 3rd gen pages. i, too, am in my 30's.

now >>>> a truly ugly car is the AMC Pacer. now that is ugly.

long live the Maxima and it's new identity crisis.

2004BlackMax

I have a black 04 SE Elite myself and I agree. All these negative comments are amazing. When I gas up, or even park in a public place, I get a lot of comments and questions from people. I never got those comments with my 01. People think it is a beautiful car. It is quieter, more refined and smoother then my 01. It’s all around different. One guy, who drove an 03 Altima, sat in my car and loved it. Of course, everyone will think I am biased because I own one.

And by the way, I am 34 years old, far from a grandpa.

MONTE 01&97 SE

iTrader: (1)

Like Maxmann said the Maximas main buying demographic is 40 something year old men with income of 80,000 or more so yes it appeals to them. This is nothing new as all previous Maximas has, we are a very,very small % of Max owners here and most of us just happen to be younger.

1SICKLEX

I finally saw one. It's not as ugly as when I saw it at the auto show cause it was black. Looks like an Altima without the chrome window trim and the tailights. The Headlights are weird and the grill is ridiculous. But in Black, it was not that bad. Just huge. I mean, damn the Maxima is big now.

Triocet

sorry guys but i'm gonna have to be a little rough on Nissan this time, eversince some french dude took over thing over at nissan have been going down hill, the complete overhaul of the skyline and almost ever other car in Nissan's line-up, they are moving their cars to higher segments (from compact sedan to midsize sedan...etc), and they're trying to achieve a somewhat of a "NISSAN LOOK", if you check out Nissan's other japanese and european cars, they all have the almost same front facia and the all new "MODERN" look to them, i own a 95 SE, not to be too biased but i think the 4th gen was the peak of Maxima.

i must admit though that most of the people i see driving maxima's are old people, but i never thought the car catered specifically for them, it seemed more of a neutral car, nice and cozy for your granny, but able to blow away the opposition (think psycho granny), a true sports sedan, a wolf in sheeps clothing, but thats all starting to be lost as the Maxima moves on to new frontiers and the Altima moves up to take it's place.

i dont think nissan knows the saying "dont mess with something thats not broken", instead of continuing the tradition, it tries to change it, and without much thought as it seems, i dont really know whats going to happen to the Maxima, but sadly i've already started to make my own plans, unless they do something drastic, i'll be trading in my Max for a Lancer Evo8.

realtor

It looks like a cross between an Altima and a Chrysler Concorde. Retired people will love the new Max.

max...to the ma

yeah it was at its peak then and while the 5th gen is nice (i own one) i think it had to change because of the altima. the thing i hate about this is that the maxima's sport/lux combo is better than that of the Altima (which i am neutral to) and the max has much histoy. problem is they had too many sedans but the max may be popular cult-style but not accord-style. this led to Ghosn creating a car that was more popular in the Altima and left the max without a spot. now there are certain sugggestions such as "maxima trim" but u are right that it started with the "french guy"

Triocet

by the way, so far the Maxima isn't the only sport sedan that (i think) got it's looked somewhat trimmed down, so far things are going from agressive looks to "ROUND", besides the Max, the skyline got trimmed (as you know) and also one of my other favorite cars the Primera (Infinity G20 in the US), the car that one numerous touring car championships around the world now looks like a car that only a french highschool teacher would buy, we all know that US, European and Japanese cars all have their own distinct styles, and Nissan, although being a japanese company, has now (almost) successfully moved towards the Euro look.

sorry about this, but everytime i think about what happened to the Skyline i just get really ****ed off, and now it's happening to the Maxima.

ps. i hear they have left hand drive Lancer Evo 5's in Poland for $10-$15K, anyone wana do a group deal???

motectransam

Park an Accord EX, Crown Vic Sport, Marauder, Passat GLX, new Grand Prix, Camry XLE, Audi 1.8T, BMW 325, and even G35 next to the new Maxima and basically you'll see that the Maxima is overall the most appealing from the standpoint of authoritative presence (thick GS430 like look, esp. 3/4 view), techno modern cues (headlight reflector), classy styling (grille), and more.

It's easy to critize the Max all alone. But the Accord looks too plain. Passat is even more invisible in traffic. Honorable mention goes to the Crown Vic Sport and Marauder admittedly look tough and well balanced but without the techno slick appeal of the Max. Audi 1.8T don't equal the presence of a new Max. Same goes for BMW 325. And G35? Well think of the G35 as a swimmer's figure while the Maxima is a rugby player in a custom tailored business suit. Camry XLE is most elegant but it is anything but sporty looking. Finally, the new Grand Prix production model is not anything like the awesome G-Force concept when it comes to details...goes to show how much details matter.

bonzelite

iTrader: (2)

"It's easy to critize the Max all alone. But the Accord looks too plain. Passat is even more invisible in traffic. Honorable mention goes to ..."

-yes. it easy to criticize it, and all of the other mediocre-to-tasteless movements in automotive design: like the camry. or the (yawn) boring looking passat. so the max does stand out, i admit. it is "innovative." and as is often the case, something new is not always welcomed warmly by a comsuming public that is familiar with an "old reliable." but that does not redeem the maxima in this case.

perhaps the most heinous crime of all is what they did to the "skyline." as a stand-alone car, with fresh history, the G-35/Skyline coupe (not sedan -which is, to me, a totally different G-35 from the coupe) is not bad. the G-35 coupe is actually cool looking. i like that one (it is surprising, too, that nissan went to the extra trouble to nearly make a different car for the 2-door version, as they designed the sedan to be too long to be 2-doored) but it is NOT a Skyline by any stretch of the imagination. there are no echoes of the Skyline heritage in this newest redesign. but, sadly, all things must change. or die. or whatever. it is just too bad that the maxima, a youngster of a nameplate compared to the skyline, had to go so soon into oblivion fatville.

long live the R-32 GT-R style -- the slender, aggressive-looking pace-setter. and the older maximas, which harkened to this concept. my eyes now turn to the new STi WRX, the Evo, SE-R, the 350-Z, and the G-35.

i said i'd migrate back to the 3rd gen pages, and i would have had comments about the skyline not been posted. generally, i am finding it futile to debate this because the 6th gen is being bought and sold whether i like it or not. my protest vote is to not buy one. and it will be a never-to-end debate like the one on other threads about putting the RB25DET v. SR20DET in the 240SX.

Triocet

you're right, it IS easy to criticize it, i strongly believe that the Maxima was at the wrong place at the wrong time, it's a high performance sports sedan aimed at older people, who IMO dont realy care much about it's performance, you can see this by how many each of it's trims are sold, so far i've seen more GXE and GLE's that SE's, almost everyone goes for confort, not performance, you can even see this in it's ads, heck even the Camry's ad emphesized more performance than the max.

you said all things must change or die, things are indeed changing, they are going towards getting newer customers at the expense of the devoted old, although i'm sure there will be some max fans that would buy the 6th gen just because of loyalty, just because it's named Maxima.

boo

Maxima's are definitely not for the older crew.

Want proof! I did not see one Maxima in this scene

Your best bet is to right click --> save as.

The real cars older people buy!