I hang out on VWVortex a lot and came across this thread concerning the new Max....thought i'd share


Clicky here

 

You know what's absolutely hysterical about that link and all of the very opinionated posters? There was only ONE, count them ONE poster that actually DROVE the car!! Amazing, utterly amazing. These people all have their minds made up and most haven't seen it in person let alone driven it. What's more amazing is the one guy that did drive it contradicted himself in his posts. First he liked it and then when he read a review that knocked the Max, he changed his mind. I give up. All I know is I continue to get extremely favorable comments about the car and its looks.

 

Yeah, pretty funny. That lame Money magazine reviewer hasn't replied to my email either, which leads me to think he is more of a loser, and that the odds are high that he didn't drive the SL at all, just the SE stick.

Here is what my last 2 days have been like-

Yesterday 2 women came up to me while I was grabbing a burger in my car cause they wanted to check it out. And they actually love the grill. One of them has a 2003 Altima, so maybe they are biased, but they loved it.

A woman at the grocery store said "Nice car, I really love these new maximas. I want to trade my 2001 in on one"

On the way to work I stopped at Circle K to get coffee and a guy stopped me and talked to me for 5 minutes about the Max vs the G35. I told him what I thought about the G35. He loved the max.

A guy at work was talking about his 03 that he put a supercharger on and I over heard him, so I jumped into the conversation and started talking about the 04s. Then I told him I have one, and he said "that is yours out there?" yep, he was checking it out.

I have driven a lot of cars, but this is the first that has gotten so much attention.

 

It's nice to see that they are passionate about it. Against it, yeah mostly, but passionate. They don't want to like it I am tempted to go ver there and tell them that the Altima and Maxima are different, Maxima being more of a Premium sports sedan, but I can't bother registering etc. And why is this guy even comparing a TSX to the Maxima?? Jeez, the TSX is smaller than the new Accord, and this Maxima is bigger than the Accord. Not only that, but TQless 4 banger compared to TQ heavy V6 which genreates way too uncomfortable TQ steer

DW

 

I was gonna reply, but I didn't want to waste my time either. I found someone on another thread at another site linked to my website to show my car... LOL I went there and said, hey that is my car.

 

Don't pay any attention to these negative posts. I own a 5th Gen and I like the new Maxima. I have driven both, a 6 speed SE and an SL auto.
I found the 6 speed to shift smoother than my 2K2. Not to mention the much improved handling than my 2K2.
The SL, well, it's nice but I prefer to have a stiffer ride and a manual transmission.
I love the looks as well, especially the back of the car. That just looks so aggressive! These people that say you have an Altima look-a-like, I think that is just not true. A true Maxima enthusiast can tell the difference between a 2004 Maxima an Altima.
I see the difference and I like it.

Enjoy your new rides.

 

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/show...5&pagenumber=1

 

And??? These guys are in denial. We had an LS400 that we were bored with and it was ready for retirement. Car just had no soul, although it was a beautiful car, I can't explain it, but it was just a boring car to drive. Lexus has nothing that interests me now. Fortunately, I got my wife over the RX300. We got her an 04 Maxima. True, it isn't the seamless quality of the LS400, but the Lexus cost nearly twice the Maxima 10 years ago. I would've expected materials quality to be superior. However, in terms of amenities, comfort, style, handling, power (usable, on demand power) the Maxima has it beat. We've given up nothing; only the "Lexus" mystique and that is it.

 

My Buddy has a mint '02 Maxima, and even He can't wait to get an '04. May it be a bit 'O Jealousy???

 

Maxmann, I couldn't agree with you more. First off, those guys at the Lexus site are snobs, it just comes across so clearly. There is no way they'd ever be able to admit the Maxima is a great car and give their Lexus' a run for their "money". I can make a case for my objectivity since our other car is the 02 Lexus ES300. Although I can honestly say the Lexus materials are a bit better, the Lexus is simply not nearly as much fun to drive. If you are looking for isolation from the world, the Lexus is the place to be (and there ARE times I feel that way), but if you're looking for involvement and kick, the Maxima is the place to be.

 

My next car was supposed to be the ES300 until I saw the pic of the 04 Max!!! I loved the looks of the Max before I saw it in person and loved it even more when I did. Sooooo much that I bought it the very same day. Now the ES300 looks very boring to me. I did like the wood trim of the Lexus, however, if I got everything in the Lexus that I have in the Max, it would have spent about $5K more. As for the GS series, I never understood what everybody saw in that style. I just never liked it, but I would never say that it was an ugly car. I have some respect for those who like it! I've always wanted a Lexus, now thanks to Nissan, I have extra money in my pocket and I'm driving a car that I feel is the best looking autombile on the road

 

I see we got the same color in & out LDLDL. Yeah, I used to love the look of our ES and now it looks a bit plainer than it did before. Still nice, but lacking the aggressvie look of the Max. I think you chose wisely.

 

A few more things, Lexus service was top notch and I always got a loaner when I went in, so I got to drive several ES's and RX's. They were quite capable but they have have a different target. I just couldn't warm up to them. Also, I always thought I'd keep the LS forever. It only had 125k on it; however, things were starting to go. Lexus quality isn't perfect either. It was always a joke between me and my wife that Lexus doesn't need to stop "pursuing perfection" to quote their former marketing phrase. Some things that went wrong: Cassette player stopped working at 48k miles. Never fixed $400+ and rarely would use it anyway. Electro-luminescent gages- needles no longer lit up. Radio- the LCD screen was all splotchy, like when you push in on one, there was always a rear-light out light on even though they worked fine. Driver power door lock worked about 10% of the time. Sound system was woefully inadequate. I always had bass up full blast and you wouldn't know it. It was starting to lean in on one side for some reason, it didn't sit completely level; looked odd. And had a few emissions problems over time, and the steering wheel always groaned when turned in. Just quit worrying about it after a while. Mechanically (engine/transmission) though, very sound. And the body- paint was in great shape, very few chips. Oh, and the rear window since about 50k miles would get stuck down part of the time. Plus the chrome wheels were showing their age and needed to be replaced. With all the little things that were starting to go, and the fact the miles were piling up and the fact we were ready for something a little more exciting, decided to go for the Max. I already had my 02 and 01 before that and my wife reluctantly admitted a while back how she much preferred to ride in my car when we travelled. That sealed it for me...time for a NEW MAX!!!

Seriuosly, I'm not knocking Lexus in any way, they do build a great car and you can't deny it. But they just aren't for me, as is obvious.

So, long story short, it wasn't perfect, either! I'll take my lumps with the Maxima because at the end of the day, it is a very satisfying car to spend time in.

Oh, and I might agree with you on the snob factor of the salespeople. I drove up in my Lexus looking at the RX and they wouldn't even let me drive the car until I filled out paperwork. I told the guy I wouldn't need paperwork because I was prepared to pay cash if they could get me what I wanted, but they were total idiots and very, very, unpleasant. I don't get it, but they certainly didn't want my business. They didn't get it, either!
srm

 

What do you expect from a lexus forum?

The rebadged Toyotas are not worth the $$ that they charge for them. I didn't drive any of them during my buying process, frankly because none of them appealed to me.

 

You mean to tell me that you did not even consider the beautiful Avalon with the standard 15" wheels (16" as an option)??