Thanks monty for catching me there. I have too many different models in my head and I was actually thinking for some reason about the TL when I was talking about the Altima but your corrections are correct. My whole point was, that on the whole, Nissan tends to tweak and make changes during the 3rd model years, but as light pointed out, with the way the economy is and how car designs seem to age quicker now then they did years ago, that schedule of course could be changed at a whim by Nissan.

Anyway, it doesn't matter. The Maxima is selling very well for Nissan and this 7th Gen is excellent in almost every way, except for the sport enthusaist community who want the damn thing to be a G37 copy cat for some reason!

Anyway, there are only a couple of minor things I'd liked to see Nissan change on the current Max for its refreshening in 2011 or 2012. For me its namely the tires. I'd love Nissan to do what Infiniti finally did with the M37 after people complained and complained, but some damn Michelin Primacy's on the Maxima as OEM instead of these **** poor RS-As. They get so loud sometimes, especially on secondary or rough patched roads that I yell, "Shut the Hell UP!"

 

No prob bro, yes those Tires are crappy! They installed them on the 4th gen SE's 97-99 I know for sure and they were crap then. Nissan has a recent history of putting crappy tires on the Sport/SE version of this car, 7th gen Crappy RSA's, 5th gen SE has those just as crappy Potenza's that made you scared to drive while wet out etc etc. Sport version should mean a decently good tire!

 

nobody answers my questions...

 

Not sure Flip if I can answer your question or not. They might do something for the anniversary year or they might not. They have a lot on their plate with the Leaf, Quest, and Juke coming out by the end of the this year so I don't know.

I guess the best answer I could give is maybe!

 

Flip, there could very well be an Anniversary Edition for 2011 but again, do not expect a refresh. The AE that was done back in 2001 was not a mid-generation refresh. It was more about slapping on a ground effects kit, jazzing up the head and tail lights, and some different interior touches. When 2002 rolled around and the 5.5 gen came out, Nissan delivered a better looking (in my biased opinion since I had a 2002) Maxima than the AE.

 

I think you have the few 2009 to 2010 changes right. As for the 30th anniversary, if we weren't in the throes of a miserable depression, I'm sure Nissan would do something to commemorate this auspicious occasion. But times are really tough (unemployment now 10.6% and still rising in Georgia), and I'm not sure if they have any special plans.

If I had any say-so, I would at least have a '30A' package option that would have a few discreet markings, distinctive wheels, and a set of attractive aerodynamic body molding pieces. There would certainly be those folks who would pay extra for such an option.

But we may see nothing. Sad.

 

Most people here seem to know much more about Nissan history and trends than I do being this is my first one. Does anyone have any speculation to why there is not trim badging on the 7th gen? I know exterior features pretty much tell the story ( if you have side view mirror turn signals it's an SV, a black glass roof it's a premium, 19" rims it's a sport ) but is this the first time they have left this off? I like it without it but i was just wondering.... Do you think they left it off because it is so obvious which trim level it is by the exterior looks and no need for 3.5 because they are all 3.5s?

 

LOL what's in a "name". Too many different badges across all the brands now. SE, SL, GT, GL, GXE, SV, LS, TL, VL, LE, LX, LTE, LXE, LTD, ST, STE, SI, GX, EX, EX-L, LT, 1LT, 2LT, 1VL... You get the picture.

All that crap would make more sense if all manu's adopted the same "designation" for different but similar package sets. Then it would actually be more useful for comparing features across cars.

I call mine, the Maxima SV-GT-LXE-007-LDY-ATTRCTR

I say screw the "worthless" badge.

 

Interesting thoughts there Flip! I always found it odd that the new Maxima didn't have a S or SV on the back trunk lid myself to distinguish the different models but I guess you can tell with the differences and really don't need to have those letters on the trunk. Its interesting though that all the other Nissan products till designate the different models on the rear trunk lids with chrome letters. Most likely Nissan will either eventually add S or SV onto the Maxima or do away with the trim level designatations on all the other Nissan models like they did with the current Maxima. Who knows with Nissan!

 

I heard those are hard to find but have a higher resale value

 

Who needs trim designations? They just confuse the uninformed masses. Even if you did throw in the SV designation, it would not mean much due to the different packages and the difference they make in the way the car looks. It's a Maxima, that is all people need to know.

 

Absolutely agree with you on this. Nissan has so many different trim levels with different designations, etc that unless your a Nissan owner, no one knows what each of them is or means!

Just having the name of the vehicle on the back is more than enough and that is what people know. The Maxima has such a long great reputation in this country that all you need to tell people is "I drive a Max" and they know what that means!

 

some led tails would make it current

 

What are you talking about, LED taillights are already standard on the 7th generation Maxima.

 

I was ready to say this is the first time model designations have been omitted, but when I tried to think back to my 1985 Maximas (I owned two of those), I can't recall the 'GL' being on the back of the 'luxury' version, or the 'SE' being on the back of the sporty (blacked out chrome) version. I just remember a small black rectangle with 'NISSAN' followed by the chrome letters 'MAXIMA.', both in the same location the word 'MAXIMA' appears on the 7th gen.

I do recall hearing a conversation between two Nissan 'presenters' at the time the 7th gen was being introduced (March 19, 2008). They said there had been conversations regarding the badging, but the decision was made to keep things simple.

As info, several folks here on the ORG ordered chrome characters the same size as those used to spell 'MAXIMA on the left rear of our cars, and put them on the right rear to give balance. A few put simply 'SV' on the right, but others added various things such as 'SV 3.5', 'SV-S' (for sport), 'SV-P' (for premium), and other combinations I have forgotten. I thought about putting 'SV-Pt' for Premium and Tech on my Maxima, but then I decided I like less clutter.

 

Not sure light about the 95 models. My Uncle till has his 96 so the next time I see him I'll check out the back of his trunk lid and see. I could of sworn it had GLE or GXE on it, but I could be wrong. I know the fifth generations had that stuff, not sure about the third or forth though!

 

2GoB4, I think you're in the wrong thread for your comment. LOL, there's already a thread on that.

 

oh...my bad.....moved to proper thread...thanks!

 

I'm very knowledgeable on this topic and I have a brochure in a box on every year Maxima since 85 and Z's since 83.

Badging since 2nd gen
2nd gen:
85-86= No badging on GL or SE in rear, just Maxima emblem
87-88= No badging on GXE or SE, Maxima emblem

3rd gen:
89-94= No badging on GXE or SE, GXE had Maxima billboard style in red trunk light and had red tailights, SE had it in black along with black tailights.

4th gen:
95-96= No badging on GXE, GLE or SE, had Maxima lettering billboard on trunk only
97-99= No Badging on GXE or SE, only on trunklid of GLE and smaller Maxima billboard

5th gen:
00-01= No badging on GXE (red tailights), SE (black tailights) and GLE (red tailights) had trunk lid badging and Maxima lettering
02-03= No badging on GXE and Maxima lettering, (chrome tailights on all) SE and GLE had had trunk lid badging and Maxima Lettering

6th Gen:
04-06= Trunklid badging on SE and SL, Maxima lettering
07-08= Trunklid badging on SE and SL, Maxima lettering

7th gen:
09-10= No badging, only Maxima lettering

 

Great stuff, Monte! I should have all the Maxima brochures somewhere in my piles of stored boxes, but just don't have time to search through them. I just happened to have the brochures for 1985, 1986. 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2010 lying on the table near my PC. I did look at the '85 and '86 brochures last night, and was surprised to find they only showed front and side views.

Hang on to those old brochures. As time goes by, they will be harder and harder to come by.

Interesting that badging is actually fairly new for the Maxima. Memories are sometimes fuzzy.

 

I will Light, I have loved Maxima's since the 2nd gen and Z's all except the 260Z. I have a box readily in a closet with all of those brochures if needed. Yes you are correct they did not start the badging until 97 and only on the top of the line GLE. I saw a lady in an 86 GL the other day at the gas station and that thing was immaculant, she stated that she has had it since it was new!

 

Interesting you saw an '86 in prime condition. The only way to easily distinguish the '86 from the '85 is the '86 added a high-mounted brake light. Although I moved tractor trailers around my uncle's trucking company lot (between loading docks) during the 1946-1948 period, I didn't begin driving on public roads until 1949. Although I have owned and driven umpteen scads of vehicles since then, the only one that absolutely stole my heart was my '85 GL. I put well over 200,000 tough miles on that car, and then saw it being driven locally for several years after I let it go. Every time I saw it, I became overwhelmed with emotion. Of all the many cars I have ever owned, that was probably the only one I actually became deeply attached to emotionally. I loved that car with all my heart. I still think about it all these many years later.

 

Wow light, I knew by the way you handle yourself here that you were very mature and had some years under your belt but I had no idea it was that many... I figured you were in your 50's... A man with age ( experience ) as yourself and you still enjoy some new nice things. I respect that. Others get real set in their ways and do not enjoy change of any sort. Sorry to put you on the spot and you don't have the give an exact if you don't want but what is your years of age?

Thinking about that, I would be curious to see what a poll would show for age average here on the 7th gen... What would you guess would be the predominant owner age of the 7th gen? (I appologize for being so far off topic.. Sorry)

 

Yep, I looked at it and asked her. She liked my Max as well. You are very observant as I am, I know the little details that distinguish the years that most would not know and you are right about that brake light! The 2nd gen just always wowed me (still love that side light that came on when you put your blinker on that stayed on for a few secs after it stopped blinking), it had so many features and that wonderful voice that said fuel level is low etc...lol. Nothing from Japan at that time except the Cressida matched the Max in features,not even the then new Acura Legend. Sometimes I say if I can find a 2nd gen in good shape I may purchase it, it was my 1st car (had many jealous of me at the time do to my age) I loved that car as well and it was fast for its day!

 

No need to wonder, post one up.

 

I bet that the average age will be 45 yo. The distribution is bimodal: a heavy blip in the early '30s, then a blip in '50's.

Light is his own blip.

 

I never give my age (except when the police booking seargent demands it), but you can slide me into the 'over 75' group.

I went through a period where I let the disappearance of all my long-time favorite products from store shelves bother me, but decided I needed to simply move on and accept progress, whether I felt it was an improvement or not.

When it comes to changes in vehicles, my background in geophysics helps. For instance, I can easily understand why a non-shifting tranny (such as the CVT) holds the promise of better acelleration and economy than any shifting tranny. The secret is learning how to drive it. There is far more to driving a CVT than simply starting the car, putting it in drive and mashing the gas pedal.

By the way, before I owned my first Maxima, I was driving manual tranny Datsuns, which was the nameplate used by Nissan from around 1960 until 1984.

 

I loved that light also. The turn blinkers on the front and rear were rather normal, but that bright light on the side of the front that came on with the turn signal pointed out about 45 degrees to the side, and gave an excellent view of whatever driveway, street, etc, you were signaling to turn into. I even used it to check out things beside the road in dark areas when I had no intention of turning. It reminded me of the 1948 Tucker, which had two headlights in the normal location, and a third headlight in the center of the front that pointed to wherever the steering wheel had turned the front wheels. As to that incessant voice in the '85/'86, my wife named it 'Frieda', after a woman she was not fond of. But I called that voice 'Hildegarde', after a certain young lady in a certain classic of literature.

 

That's funny what your wife thought/called that voice...lol, I use to do the same thing with that side light at night!

 

You guys are definitely more experienced with Maximas and Nissans in general than I am. My first memorable encounter with a Maxima was in 1992. I had a 1987 Sentra Sport Coupe at this time. While I was walking to my car from the grocery store I came across a beautiful brand new 1992 Maxima SE. After walking around the car a couple of times and peeking inside the windows, I swore that I would own one one day. Now it is 18 years later and I still get that feeling of awe every time I look at my car when it has been freshly detailed.

 

totally forgot

 

4gen se-limited also had special badges for 1yr only.

 

Yeah the 99 SE Limited had them on the front fenders and the 01 Anniversary Edition had badging on the trunklid.

 

THEY DEFF NEED TO GET RID OF THE CVT SHYT AND THEY REALLY NEED TO PUT THE G37 ENGINE IN THE MAXIMA AND MAKE IT REAR WHEEL OR ALL WHEEL DRIVE THEY NEED TO PPUT MORE OPTIONS ON THAT SO U CAN CHOOOSE WHAT IT IS YOU WOULD LIKE CAUSE THE BODY STYLE IS TOO AGGRESSIVE FOR THAT FRONT WHEEL DRIVE VEHICLE NOT ENOUGHT POWER KINDA DISAPPOINTING FOR ALL THE MONEY THEY ASKING FOR IT THEUY SHOULD OF DONE A BETTER JOB WITH IT THE BODY STYLE IS REAL NICE BUT THE PERFORMANCE IS NOT ALL THAT IS DONT GO WITH THE LOOK IF IT HAD THE ENGINE OF A G37 IT WOULD B PERFECT ALL THE CAR IS GOOD FOR IS LOOK CAUSE AS FAR AS ANY POWER ITS WACK .. IF A CAR IS OVER 40G THEY SHUD HAVE MORE POWER THAN THAT. SHUD HAVE 300 HORSE POWER AND BETTER

 

Hey your first post! congrats! you'll diffidently make friends here

 

the 2011 should get the anniversary edition treatment just like the 01. LOL

 

they did ALL of that, its called the infiniti G

 

woow.. some one is really anger... IMO.. i feel for the price its at now .. its pretty good!!! relax go sipp on a silly straw or something man!!! just kiddin!!

 

The 2010 Maxima 'S' is selling at dealers in the Atlanta area for prices ranging from $22,864 to $23,888. A LOADED Premium '10 can be driven out for around $34K. And the Maxima is a great buy at those prices.

FWD is superior to RWD for family sedans. That is one huge advantage for the Maxima over all the RWD race car wannabees. I certainly will not be buying a RWD vehicle.

AWD adds to the initial price, gives more things that can go wrong, and does not give all the advantages some claim. I certainly have no used for AWD.

290 HP is EXACTLY right for this car. If you want a powerful race car, your Nissan dealer can find you a GT-R. Or you can add $10,000 to the price and shop for an overpowered race car wannabee.

The 2010 Maxima is the perfect combination of features, styling and performance for the family that wants a sharp car that can get out of its own way. Any of the changes you suggested removes this car from the shopping lists of hundreds, if not thousands of prospective buyers.

 

Yea, what light said. go light, it's ya birthday, not really but go light