5th Gen is listed at 15.1 cubic feet in the 2001 sales brochure.

I suspect that the OP (27 y/o, NYC region) isn't ready to sacrifice too much performance and/or style, and may well NOT be inclined toward minivans, SUVs, or even crossovers. In a vacuum, one might suspect that any mfr's flagship model - which in Nissan's case is now turned much more towards the luxury end of the spectrum - really ought to be able to function as reasonable transportation for as many adults as it has seating space for. Having to take two vehicles around NYC where one ought to suffice is something you might not want to always have to do.

That said, I wouldn't want to have to sit in the center rear seat in many cars at all, and forget about it for a longer distance trip.


Norm

 

6th gen trunk space is 15.5 CF, Rear legroom is 36.5 inches.
Norm, you are correct about the great majority of "5"-seat sedans. Most are not fit for a fifth passenger for any length of time. However, for the few times I take a couple along in my car I'd like for them to be comfortable. The rear seats in 7th gen are great--somewhat reminiscent of the Elite set-up--but I would have liked a bit more rear legroom--at least as much as my 6th gen has!

 

Per , and anyone else for that matter. I'm in the market for a new car and I'm looking at all these test drive posts about the 7th gen and leg room, back seat, trunk etc. and I'm getting a little concerned about which max I should test drive first.

It appears that the 6th gen interior is a little bigger than the 7th gen. If I test drive the 7th gen first I'll probably want one hands down. If I test drive the 6th gen first and then a 7th gen, will I be dissapointed by the overall size, interior etc?

Coming from a 5th gen 2000 SE. Whose has a 6th Gen and not liked a 7th Gen, or whose done a test drive on the 7th Gen and 6th Gen and picked a 6th Gen, and vice versa...... Whats a guy to do?

 

 

They tried to make the 7th generation sporty and therefore they had to cut down the size. I like it a lot, it feels compact and sport like even though it's a large car.

 

LMAO. I'm amazed that someone wouldn't buy a car because of the middle rear seat headroom.

 

If you test drive a 6th Gen you'll be driving a used car.

 

Why would that be so hard to understand? After all, the only thing that the people responding to this thread necessarily have in common is enough interest in a Maxima of some generation or other to become members here. Nothing else can be inferred without the risk of making wrong assumptions.


Norm

 

If you test drive the 7th gen first you will want a 7th gen hands down

If you test drive the 6th gen first you will STILL want a 7th gen hands down

Not only is the 7th gen better looking from the outside but it also has a much nicer interior compared to the 6th. BUT a 6th gen will be like HALF the price of a 7th gen. If your gonna fork out the money for a 6.5 then might aswell pay a bit more and get a 7th

 

I drove a 6th gen for five years, and have now driven a 7th gen for 5 1/2 months. The 6th gen had a high arching style passenger compartment that gave it an edge over most sedans in headroom, but resulted in less strength in resisting a side impact in crash tests.

The 6th gen also has a narrow edge over the 7th in rear seat knee and foot room, but I have had passengers 6 feet tall ride in the rear seat of my 7th gen without complaint. Of course I have the Premium option, which I think gives more headroom because of the double panel roof. You may want to check rear seat head room more closely if you are not considering getting the Premium package.

As others here mentioned, the 7th gen is shorter, wider, and at least seems to be slightly lower. If I were you, I would drive them both. You may be influenced by little things. For instance, the top of the rear window in the 6th gen comes down unusually low (for stylistic purposes), and made it difficult for me to see very far behind the car when driving on freeways. In the 7th gen, I can see traffic for miles behind the car, but can't see where I need to see to back up without the backup camera, which is available only as part of either the Premium or Technology packages.

Both handled very well, although I am sure the shorter, wider 7th gen would post better slalom times, and seems very firmly rooted to the road.

In summary, I give the 6th gen a slight edge in overall room, and the 7th gen the edge in most other areas.

As for reliability, after a few months of getting initial bugs addressed in my 6th gen, I had not one single problem of any sort the last four plus years, and that car was absolutely perfect in every way when I traded it in. My 7th gen needs the pretensioner adjusted for the left rear seat belt. So far, everything else has been perfect.

Also keep in mind that Maximas through '06 were either manual or automatic, while all Maximas since '06 are CVT only, and the consensus I am getting here on the ORG is that the '09 CVT is better than the '07 and '08 CVTs. I know I love my '09 CVT. Primarily due to this CVT, the '09, even with 35 more HP, gets one more MPG in highway driving than the 6th gen.

Lots of things to consider here. I could ramble on, but . . .

Good luck wuth your decision.

 

The 7th gen has about the same interior space as your 5th gen, except rear headroom will be less unless you get the dual moonroof. If you get a 6th gen Maxima, you will be getting a used car--doubt there are any new ones left--if there are, you should be able to get a huge discount.
How important are the option packages to you? You can get a new 2009 Maxima for less than $26k, whereas we bought our 2006 for $20k--but we needed the manual tranny. A loaded Maxima will run into the mid $30k. The 2009 Maxima has many improvements, and a gorgeous cabin in Cafe Latte. Up to you whether a new Maxima is worth it.

P.S. The 6th gen Maxima also gets slightly better highway mileage than the 7th gen.

 

Per meant to say the the 7th gen gets slightly better highway gas mileage than the 6th gen.

There has been a lot of confusion on this point, because the government changed the way they rated MPG after the '07 model year, and the 6th gens that had been rated at 27 MPG highway during the '04, '05 and '06 model years came in at a more realistic 25 MPG under the new system used in 2008. The '09 comes in at a slightly better 26 MPG highway.

 

I was going to rent one this past March while in Florida as I had a free premium rental with my Air Miles at Alamo/National. My other choices were: 1. A fully loaded Toyota Avalon, Chrysler 300C, Buick Allure. I went with the Avalon even though I love Nissan's and I have a modded 6th Gen SE. I could not get comfortable in the new Maxima. I had difficulty seeing over the hood and I'm 5'7". Plus the trunk was way larger in the Avalon. We had the car for over 10 days and I must admit the Avalon was a pleasant surprise. Powerful, quiet, Comfy, roomy and it had some cool features such as reclining REAR seats! I will have to wait and see what the 8th gen is like.

 

Couldn't agree more. Wow - I can honestly say, until reading this thread, the comfort/discomfort of a 5th passenger sitting in the middle of the rear seat didn't even cross my mind...and certainly wasn't a factor in my decision-making when I bought my '09 Maxima.

Honestly, if I were purchasing a car with the intent of regularly having a 5th passenger in the middle of the rear seat, I would not get a sedan. In our case, that's why we have a mini-van, but there are other more suitable options for this besides a sedan.

 

Well stated! As edmunds.com declared, "The Flagship is Back!"

I was never much of a 'car person' until purchasing the Maxima. I've always appreciated driving, but I also always leaned towards being overly pragmatic with my car purchase decisions. And along those lines, the day I purchased my Maxima, I had actually gone to purchase a Honda Accord. Went to the Honda dealer after working out a deal with them on the phone and being told they had the exact car I was looking for sitting on their lot.

I went down to the Honda dealer simply to finalize the deal we'd already come to and to drive my Accord home. Only after getting there and waiting for an hour or so for them to pull my car around to the front of the dealership did they come to me, sheepishly, apologizing that, "Boy, we sure thought we had that exact car in stock, but I guess we don't. We can get it tomorrow."

I couldn't have been more ticked off. The Nissan dealership was across the street, and the '09 Maximas had come out 48 hours earlier (this was June 30th, 2008). I went over, test drove the Maxima, and was driving my new car home less than 2 hours later.

Now it's been over a year - and now just past 36k miles - and I'm as thrilled with the Maxima as I was that first day of ownership. Owning this car, I feel like my eyes were opened up for the first time, and now I can't imagine ever making another Accord/Camary-type car purchase again.

 

Accords and Camrys are very nice vehicles, and also practical. Of course Consumer Reports says the Altima is a better vehicle than either the Camry or Accord. But none of those three fine cars makes any kind of 'statement' on the road. The only time I notice them is when their driver does something to draw my attention (such as wandering into my lane).

By contrast, despite a few naysayers (some with questionable motives), this '09 Maxima makes a statement to me, and based on the looks I get on the road, it is very noticed by other drivers also. You chose well.

 

vagabundo94 - In case you may not have caught on to what happened, this thread started as a 'plant.' Rather than make his post in any of several applicable threads, the original poster began a new thread with a title that reflected badly on the '09 Maxima. He did this knowing our responses would keep it on the front page, where folks glancing around, considering whether to buy the new Maxima, but not having the time to read all the thousands of posts on this board, would get a negative image of the '09 Maxima.

This is a classic case of a 'plant', including the fact the original poster doesn't own an '09 Maxima, obviously has no intention of buying one, pans the Maxima on a point that has no bearing on the car's intended usage, then never comes back to respond to any subsequent posts. On many boards, this thread would have been locked fairly quickly.

 

Another clue?


Edit - he's not the chattiest individual.

 

Great catch, Norm. I hope he has time between classes to find the cheapest possible rotors for his second millenium ride. Those were good Maximas, but a different world than the '09. In some ways, I understand the kid panning his dream car because he can't even afford to keep brake shoes on his dozen year old ride. I spent many decades going through that type situation. I wish him well.

 

Hello people. Usually I don't post response on my own thread because I don't want to bump it up over and over. But this time is different. I'm trying to get the brake job done cheaply because somebody is buying my car. I'm nice enough to change everything first before I sell. I'm getting a new car this year. My point is if you don't have something useful to say, just keep it to yourself. That guy probably used his life saving to buy the new Max. I can understand that he feels sad when I said something against his dream car. It's sad.

 

But occasional acknowledgement of any help provided by others is worthwhile. Lets us know that you bothered to read what we took the time to put together, some of which are a few steps above texting and twittering in terms of thought process. Oh for three is not a great batting average (guess I'll have to call it one for four now, though).

Call it a life lesson rather than me being a hard-a$$ just for the sake of being one.


Norm

 

I love driving my Max. There's only one seat that matters IMO. 4 passengers isnt a typical situation for me anyways. Its my car not a bus. I can however see how someone who has a typical full car situation could have some concerns.

 

You are doing the right thing with fixing the brakes before letting someone else have your car. That is to be commended.

As to 'that guy', I assume you mean the poster, which is me. Yes, I bought only used cars for most of my lifetime, and kept them going with spit and baling wire. But a lifetime of hard work and careful investments changed things. I have bought a totally optioned-out Maxima the first model year of each of the last four generations. In each case, could just as easily have purchased a BMW or Mercedes or whatever I wanted. But, in each case, I chose the Maxima because, after careful analysis, I found it to be the best buy out there for a stylish, strong, reliable car I really enjoyed driving.

I understand the Maxima is not perfect. All cars have shortcomings. But there is no reason to denounce the entire car as 'dissapointing' in headlines because of a detail that sporty sedans were never intended to address. The Maxima is a typical sporty sedan, in that it is designed to carry four adults. Anyone carrying more than four full-size people on a regular basis should be looking at either an SUV or a minivan. The fact the center rear seat of the '09 Maxima is not a good place for an adult to ride has no bearing on the overall rating of the Maxima, as that is exactly the situation one expects to find in sporty sedans.

One thing that bothered me with your original post is that there were several threads going which were specifically intended (and so titled) to allow all folks to express their opinion of the '09 Maxima. This was so we could avoid every one of the thousands of users here starting his own thread, which turns the board into total chaos, with meaningful or interesting threads dropping off the front page in just hours.

But I appreciate that you have returned to explain your position. That makes things better.

 

anyone else here not care about the folks in the back seat?

 

When I was, oh, about age 24 up through 30 or so, I don't remember that rear seat habitability was much of a priority at all. We - meaning me, my wife, our siblings and friends, etc., were all smaller and much more limber. And our children were under the age of ten. So there was no problem with compact 2-door cars. Think Pinto, Vega, Maverick, and Challenger. That was then.

Now I'm 61 (and the wife is still a bit younger - funny how that works). Anyway, we're both a little heavier and a lot less mobile these days. We still have occasion to seat four adults, none of whom are teens/twenty-somethings any more. And some of the grandchildren are still required to ride in either child safety seats or at least on boosters (those things take up an adult-size space).

lightonthehill has offered up the suggestion of maintaining a minivan or SUV for those occasions where you have greater passenger requirements. That's fine in many peoples' cases, though it is far from being a universally happy solution. I don't think there's a salesman alive could sell me one of those things and get me to keep it.

I know I'm a little stubborn about some things, but I doubt that I'm alone in not wanting to impose undue compromise on the part of my rear seat passengers. Not in ALL of my cars.


Why I mention all that is that once you start needing certain rear seat habitability, you won't ever fully outgrow that need. And you won't always be able to offer folks the "choice" of "either put up with my back seat for what it is or walk". Right now, you probably can, as we could, and people adapted. But wait a decade or two (your turn's coming).


Norm

 

I know I don't but my situation is a bit different than people in the rest of the country. I'm only one of two people in my circle that even has a car here in NYC so anyone in the back s/b happy they're not on the LIRR out to the east end. And no, the driver's seat does not move forward any further.

 

I was going to say the same thing.

In general, I think manufacturers expect people who need to fit more than four to opt for a crossover these days. You'll find plenty of room in a Murano. Not my personal preference, just sayin'.

 

I could have sworn you said somewhere else you were like 6'7" Light.

 

The only exception is the Nissan Versa; the headroom is even too much!

 

angrye - I can't find that thread again, but that was a typo that someone asked about, and I corrected later in the thread. The actual number I had mistakenly posted was 6'11" instead of 5'11". Wow! Had I been 6'11" (or 6'7"), I would have played basketball for my beloved Tar Heels. But then, at 6'11" (or 6'7"), I probably would have to be driving an SUV or something. That would make me very sad.

 

Without meaning to slight my wonderful '09 Maxima, when sitting in a few '09s without the double panel roof, I had the feeling there was not quite as much headroom in either front or rear as there was in my roomy 6th gen. But I don't know if the official measurements would show that.

 

I agree, headroom is the least of the worries with the new Maxima. They went toward the sporty area, can you really expect a ton of headroom?

 

worthless review.... want head room, get an SUV!

 

As a review, it is one man's opinion and entirely valid. Think "single vehicle review", not a summary based on any known comparison.

I have to wonder just how many people actually cross-shop SUVs against more conventional cars when it's the primary transportation being shopped for. I suspect it's lower than you think, people I know are either more "car people" who stick to cars or really are "truck people" who look at SUVs/extended cab pickups from the get-go. Tril may dislike SUVs as badly as I do, making SUVs a "non-starter" for him as far as new vehicle shopping is concerned.