I tell you, the fold-down rear seats in the Max are sooo useful. I had to go get 10 8ft.-long 2x4's the other day and the car just swallowed them up with no problem.

A guy in a pickup at Home Depot looked at me funny when I rolled the cart out to the Max with those 2x4's (like, right - those are gonna go in your trunk!), but I had the front seat reclined and the back seat folded down, and in they went. I don't think he'd seen fold-down seats before, and he's probably still scratching his head over that one.

Mike

 

Heck when i first got my Max i did something that I felt strongly against...I stuffed a christmas tree in there. My girl is a holiday fanatic and she was bugging me for a christmas tree this past holiday, so i bought these huge painting floor covers, bought this huge tree wrapped it up in the tarp and slid it right into the car without difficulty. When i looked at the tree before i bought it, I laughed mentioning how that crap was not going to fit in the Max...

 

I love the split folding seats just in case I need to do like you said Mike. rears and passenger front all the way down. This winter my rear 60 has been down a lot. Perfect for my snowboard and room for 2 passengers.

That would be priceless watching you make those 2x4s disappearing in front of that guy.

 

My 1985 Maxima was my first car offering this versatility. Drop the front and rear right seats down, throw an old towel over both, and load up the timber.

I was putting up ten foot high walls with thick insulation, so loaded up dozens of ten foot long 2X6 Douglas Fir studs at a time (and tacked a bright red flag to the rear of the studs). I felt very 'constructive' as I drove along the highway with these loads.

I have even carried a dozen bags of cement mix in a Maxima. That gave a real 'lowered' look to the rear, but made the steering a little touchy.

Beginning in 1989, my wife has owned nothing but trucks, and my Maximas have been out of the construction business since then. Now we find antiques fit rather nicely into a Maxima.

 

I hate to be the negative guy on the forum...But I love this feature but I don't think they allowed enough of a hole. The unibody gets in the way a little bit when you fold the seats down. However, this does ensure the seats feel secure rather than flimsy because there is no metal to rest against. Just my 2 cents.

 

Yeah, a hatchback it ain't, but it's a bunch better than "normal", non-folding rear seats. No way I'd get 10 8ft. 2x4's in my other 4-door cars!

Mike