I have owned my 04 Max for 3 months 7k mi. and have been satisfied. Prior to my purchase, I thought about waiting for the Acura Tl to hit the market, but I fell in love with the looks and performance of 04 Max. The only issue I have is the "infamous shimmy" between 50-60mph, which is not serve enough for me to give up on the car. I have had my rotors turned, road force balance done and tires rotated, but still have a slight shimmy. I feel confident over time Nissan will come up with the resolution for this problem. After seeing so much positive comments on the tl on various publications and even members on this forum, I thought maybe I made the wrong buying decision, until I took a look on the acura-tl forum, "Comprehensive list of build problems". Their long list includes; vibrations at various speeds "shimmy", dash rattles, transmission problems, heating not working properly, etc. I am not bashing the tl. I think it is equally as good as car as the max, but not better. I think the interior is nicer than the max, but much smaller. The exterior, I perfer the max, but that is my subjective view. Performance pretty much equal. Anyway, why is the 04 Max slighted? Sure we have some quality build issues, but so does any 1st year model car.
Just my 2 cents!

 

tl is better in every way possible- dont fool yourself
its ok to love your Max-but its ok also to admit
the TL outshines it

 

if this gets to be a p1ssing match or a mud slinging contest i'm closing the thread.

 

WTF?! Build quality statistics won't be out for a few years. Basing your opinion of an entire gen of car on the posts of a few internet forum geeks is ridiculas.

 

I don't think we'll be surprised when we see the terrible ratings of the 6th gen's build quality.

 

Every first year its built in a new plant, it will always have problems, look at when the Mercedes M-class were first built, problems everywhere, but now theyre fine. It just takes time.

Id say TL will be better since the max is being built here for the 1st year, TLs have been built here since 1999 models came out.... Thats why I love my 1996 3.2 TL

 

Actually the M class is NOT fine. According to Consumer Reports, it's only gone from very crappy (1st year) to less crappy (current year).

But your point about 1st year production is largely correct.

 

It is if YOU believe that, which in that case you're speaking for yourself. WE don't. Please don't speak for everyone.

 

I trust honda more than nissan, they stand by their cars... the 5th gen 3.5 didnt have 255hp... and they didnt fix it. Honda had problems with their trannies (which affted like 1 percent of all honda/acuras combined in the us) so they gave everyone a 100k mile warranty. I am just tired of nissan now....

 

I believe it!!

 

Actually, if you read his post carefully, he stats he is from the future!

 

or vice versa...

 

I have to disagree w/ you. I've only read about and seen the new TL, so its possible that I might change my mind, but I for one think the Max looks sooo much better than the TL (I'm talking exterior). I admit the 04 Max grille could be better, but other than that (wich will be changed)the car is beautiful.

One thing we won't disagree on is your 02 Max....I just checked out your pics..... you got it going on, bro...that ride would be tough to give up...nice!

 

They did that, but, everyone who had problems needed new trannies around 20k-30k miles, which is very unacceptable. Im lucky to have the Generation TL w/o those problems, thats because mine came from japan. All the second and newer tls are made here, and thats when the tranny problems started, coincidence?

Anyways, my point is, between the 4th gen max and the 1st gen TL (both V6 models, and both fully loaded, both are from japan) I took the tl because the build quality was 10x better, it drove better, it just felt better, especially inside. Thats just my opinion, but acura/honda is known for their reliability. But with new cars and new automotive plants brings new things.....

Im not knocking nissans, ive loved them my whole life, they were my first choice, but when it comes to reliability I wanted something I could stand by for years to come. My next car probably will be a 2k2 or newer max or a 2k2 or newer Altima. The VQ will always be the best V6 around, nothing can beat it, but when it comes to build quality and reliability, Acura/Honda has the lead.

Thats my .02

 

I agree with you totally, but atleast they took care of it.... and thats what boosts my confidence in them.... their design at times might be too bland... but that doesnt stop people from buying the new ugly camrys. I think it maybe a coincidence that the US built tranny went bad.. but that the same time it could be anything... i mean they may have tried to use a different method of making it to save costs.. who knows... as long as they fix it and you dont have to pay for it im up for it... i mean hey, it means a new tranny for me (thats how id look at it)... besides, theres a lot of maxima owners that had to change their trannies also.....

thats my 2 cents....

 

WTF? Why do you even participate in this forum? I don't understand why someone who does not own or is not interested in the 04 Maxima would even post here. I traded a 2000 Corvette, which also had some quality issues, but it was the best car I ever owned. During my ownership I frequently visited the corvetteforum to learn more about my vehicle. The same reason I am here. Regarding "build quality' I am not speaking of "future quality statistics", I was pointing out what is present now! I do not want to start a "****ing match" , but If you are have more interest in the the Acura tl or any other vehicle, please feel free to interact with them.

 

perception ... Honda has a good image, they sell to the masses with a good product, hence, more people are exposed to thier quality. Nissan doesn't sell to the masses, so less are exposed to the quality. Most of Honda/Toy car's are for people who want to get from A to B with good gas mileage and few problems as possible and "cheap".

I have been on the fence between the Max and TL since 95. The max always wins.

Driving them back to back new, the max felt better (space, fit & finish, ride).

I haven't driven the new TL ... so my opnion is limited for now.

What is interesting is the response I get from people who are not Honda/Nissan ... bigots. Wow this is a Maxima, interior exterior ... Some are current TL owners.

As far a reliablity goes, I look at it two ways. 1. Keep it simple and repeatable with weak designs and performance(not saying the TL is slow). 2. Push the envolpe of style and performace, but do it with engineering and processes.


To me Nissan is great at #2, Honda #1.

In the game of statistics, the larger volume of sales of Honda will reduce the percentage of lemons impact on the whole. So Honda could have 3x the number of defects, yet Nissan will look worse do to the number of sales.

I believe it is safe to say all companies have "issues" on first year production, but as one companies sell more, the few the were lemons are forgotten pretty quick.

Last, I have owned 2 nissan trucks, 2 sentras, and 5 maximas no problems.

I expect some, but ...

The maxima to me is not a first year car, the altima took a lot of hits for the max

texmax you are spot on. I will not go to a TL board to bash it or what ever, I would go to listen if I wanted one, or just wanted to see how things are going for the TL.

 

Texmax...you're the man

Once again, I can't figure out for the life of me why people would come into the 6th gen forum and bash the car when they don't own it, unless there are some jealousy issues that some are unwilling to admit.

 

Get a grip man, its okay, Jeff can do whatever he wants because he is part of the maxima.org family.... and being a moderator helps a lot too... besides, hes had a lot of good posts....and good points.

 

think of it this way, we dont even talk about toyota, and they spanked both nissan and honda to grab the spot for num 2 auto maker...

 

I would go bash it.. infact i did... good thing i did it.. and didnt post it.

 

or it could be because they like the car but not as much as another car... why does it matter if he owns the car or not.. just ignore them if it hurts your feelings.

 

YES, please close this thread so Oxidizer doesn't have to respond to every post in an attempt to win Jeff's love, Thanks much

 

Just kidding guys, take it easy.

 

Ill kill you!! actually, i was responding so i can get to the 1000 post mark. And its not like I best friends with jeff, hes closed down some of my threads

 

no need to get offended fellas- we are talking about 2 first year production vehicles- and their build quality?WTF

I dropped my .02 cents cause its useless to compare the Max to the TL- they are on different levels of refinement(hence Acura) 5th geners are guilty of doing the same w/ last gen TL-

For some reason Maxima owners "want" to compare them
when this vehicle is going for ~$6K more and worth every penny of it- Honduhs 3.2 V6 has a nice track record to go wit it also- not to mention that stock runnin' 14.4's

 

Thanx- Supa Blak is by far the sexiest color for the '04's -good luck!

 

Yo manny, im in Binghamton Ny, how much snow you gettin tonight?

I would compare a maxima to the TL because theres no real competetion for us besides the TL.. The accord is okay and all, but Maximas are the real competetion to the TL (Japanese to Japanese).... just because the i35 hasnt been updated yet... but thats my opinion...

and i agree with what you said above but im scared Blaxima is gonna say im trying to win your love....

 

man snow is no joke out here- I'm counting my blessings that i came across this townhouse...cause i'd hate to be shoveling for 2days straight....we've had 8" and still going strong.....

Performancewise 5th geners could talk smak about the TL-they where evenly matched- But the '04 Tl hauls azz compared to the heavier 6th gen Max-
" I guess the "no replacement for displacement" argument is out the window here-

Then again... this is a build quality thread

 

lol... im really missing Tennessee now.....

 

i hear ya-south would be nice about this time- i signed your guestbook

 

haha thats great, i was getting tired of signing my own guestbook!!

 

I love my 04 Max and it is my third one in 4 yrs. Unfortunately. I don't see how one could say that the TL will have poorer build quality. I have driven the 03 Accord several times and based on the historical quality of Honda and Accura, they are second to none in build quality in this market. No offense to anyone, and I would not give up my Max, but Nissan is not quite up to the level set by Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus. WAY more personality though!!

 

next TL vs whatever thread will get locked w/o delay.
i'm not even going to bother moving to OT.

you guys can't even act like adults.

 

I too love my 04 Maxima. It is my second Maxima in two years.

When I bought my daughter a car in January, I chose a 2002 Civic. I picked it because I'm confident that with regular maintenance, she can enjoy 4 or 5 years of trouble free driving. I think that can be said about most everything Honda builds to include the TL. I'm sure the TL is a state of the art mass production car. Kudos to Mr. Honda et al.

I don't care! The Maxima has grunt! With the Maxima I got a good looking, high quality, large sedan with a stick and a VQ35! What the hell is wrong with that combination?

 

 

Both are built in America and reading both forums, it is incredible people buy them (Maxima/TL) for over $30,000 dollars considering the amount of problems both have, from little things to panels not aligned to big things like trannies dying. Yeah, many are satisfied (THEY SHOULD spending 30k) but the forums are simply plauged with threads of **** not working.

And the Benz ML was THE WORST Benz built in history. It has one of the worst reliability records or ANY CAR/SUV ever built.

Toyota is on some other ****. It is very profitable and it on it's way to being the #1 carmaker. Their hybrids are the way of the future. With the way they have handled Lexus, it is clear their management is vastly superior to the other Japanese carmakers.

 

Depends on which forum you're on and/or which car you own.