Not counting the CVT and not having Manual as an option, this should cut that part of that conversation down a whole lot lol.

For me being brand new to the 7th Gen it's the little things, and I mean little things so far.

Not having a Soft touch Turn single
*(tap the turn single and it will blink a couple of times) Lower end cars have this feature

Doors don't unlock when put into park,
*I read a post about this and some like this feature and I for one do not.

Wind noise - (almost a big thing for me)
*I know, it's supposed to be "Sport" but hell, I don't think the car would've been that much slower with a couple more pounds of sound damping stuff.

Optional Autostart
*Really? The Altima get's the option first? I think this should be an automatic on the cold package. And yes, I've learned about the Dball system which i'm going to do.

Nav
*I can find it on a paper map before I can enter it in by voice or touch screen.

I almost forgot my BIGGEST gripe with this newer model….
NO SUNGLASS HOLDER!!
* Are you freaking kidding me? No!, I don't want to put my sunglasses in the center console.

Trust me guys this is NOT a Bltch fest for me, I love the car and most importantly my wife loves it. Just always wonder why it seems car manufactures take a step back sometimes and didn't put the little things in a car.

 

Panoramic sunroof: looks awesome, but super noisy when open above 30 mph.

 

Probably the bumpy ride and the engine braking. Would of made sense to ride this way for only the sport maxima. Should be more of a smoother ride for the Premium edition.

 

SR20Power - Most of your points are due to this 7th gen Maxima being a 2006 design that underwent road testing in 2007, began full assmebly line production in Jan 2008 and began public sale in June 2008. The delayed release of the 8th gen Maxima is the thing that has put today's Maxima a little behind the curve.

As to the Altima, it is a new generation. It so happens that the problems with Nissan's new, stronger CVT in this new Altima are the primary reason for the delay in releasing the 8th gen Maxima.

 

the sunglass holder was taken out?

 

Explain this to me, I have no idea what this is.
I'm confused, did you like this or not like this? Btw, you can turn this feature on or off, though the unlocking will only happen when the car is turned off. I'm sure you know that though.
I can't tell the difference between wind noise and road noise, though then again, I never really thought about that. But I agree with you: Half the time, when I have passengers, I do want lower noise in general. Driving alone, I never really though about it.
Lightonthehill has this covered. As for the DBALL route, someone has requested a write up and some pictures. I'll get to it as soon as it stops raining and I have time, most likely this weekend. The process is fairly straight forward though.
Agreed, the Nav takes a while to start up, and will get outdated after a few years. Would be nice if we could get low-cost upgrades or free upgrades, but Google Maps or other services have that covered. Also the Nav Traffic from XM/Sirius/Whatever does not cover enough routes. Even my old Garmin GPS has traffic in more places than it..
I assume you mean center console as in the box near your seat or to the rear of the gear selector. Unless it is different on your model, but on my Sport Package, there is a sunglasses holder near the sunroof controls/map lights.
Lightonthehill also has this covered.

In addition to some of your gripes:

• Paint quality.
  I already have chips on the hood (car is just over 2 years old), two major ones about 2-4mm in diameter on the hood. What is this, my 4th gen never had these, and it has seen much more.
• No easy access to replace bulbs.
  The front headlights you have to bend back the wheel well liner a bit. My 4th gen you could open the hood and change it from there.
  Tail lamps, you must remove the tail lamp assembly as far as I can tell.
• No passenger side autodim.
  I am self-diagnosed OCD. I need things to be consistent.
• Leaking turn signals on side view mirrors. I have had these replaced 5 times now. 3 For drivers side, and 2 for passenger side. This is silly.

I may have more, but I need to go to work, so I'll stop here for now.

 

I've never owned a car that was perfect, every car has something that doesn't suit perfectly. In the case of my 2010 SV with 54k on it, I have only a few...

#1 - I have the panoramic sunroof and I hate it. Wind noise when open is totally unacceptable. the little pop-up wind deflector is useless, made of perforated material, it's too short and does NOTHING to reduce the wind noise. Also, when closed, as it is most of the time, see above, there is a constant rattle in the rails that the dealer greased last time and that helped for a few weeks.....

#2 - Wind noise from open windows. I can't describe what the wind does to the sound in the back of my car when travelling at 40mph with the rear windows open and the sound system on. But if you have a 7th gen, I don't need to tell you.

#3 - Front end shimy, they are telling me the wheels are out of balance. May not be the fault of the car.....

#4 - the location of some of the switches. Two problems here. On the left side, on the bottom of the dash are controls for mirrors, trunk opening, steering wheel heater, and disabling of traction control. What a PIA to reach these, and you can't see them, and I just hate what is done in the name of style.....The other location is the front of the console, in front of the shifter, under the climate control switches are switches for the seat heaters, seat A/C (seriously why only the drivers side?????), and the rear window screen. Again, hard to reach, and the seat heaters have like 27 notches for various levels of heat and cold, and I can never remember which way is cold and which is hot so I have to experiment (and there is nothing in the owners manual to help on these).

#5 Steering wheel radio controls. Is it just me, or is volume control the most important control on the steering whel for the radio? If so, why is it so small and poorly placed? The paddle to control the selection SHOULD be the up down volume control like it is in my Land Rover.

#6 I am also not fond of the door locks not opening when you stop.

As the other guy above said, this isn't a b1tchfest, I do love this car, but the 6 items above stand between it being awesome and it being incredibly great.

 

Only thing that really bugs me is the 30mph thump.

 

I guess it's called "one touch" But here you will get the idea, you don't fully push the turn single all they way to signal unless you want it "on" I think of this car it should've been included. I really like having this feature
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYZyB4grToA

Sorry, I do NOT like this feature. I want the door to open when I put it into park. It's just a preference of mine. I've searched how to allow the doors to open when put into park and I couldn't find it for the Maxima as it was noted it is not a feature on this car, if you know a way to do it for the Maxima 7th gen by all means share.

Well, I guess it's the road noise that kind've bothers me. If someone in GA is good at sound damping i'm down.

It was me that requested this, I can't wait for for the write-up to be done and I know I can do it now but I wouldn't mind a guiding hand.

Well higher end cars which I understand is NOT a Maxima, you can say the whole address in one shot and a good system will pick it up, but to go everything one at a time???? WTF. State - Street - City - Number of street.

What are you F-ing kidding me? Add that to my new list of "I HATE" which is I HATE the way the Maxima was packaged for this model. Why wasn't a sunglass holder installed in my package near the sunroof controls where I was expecting it to be. Ugh…
Update: I just searched and there is an Youtube video on "interior storage" and yes it's available "If so equipped" WOW, why WOULDN'T such a simple feature be equipped on all the trims.

 

Agreed. Obviously this is very subjective and some of these are just what you were used to prior to this car. I agree it is a great 8 yr old car design :-)

 

The car battery is a throwback. It should be maintenance free like in other cars.


The car lacks a engine oil life monitoring system causing oil changes that are too frequent. My 2005 Buick Lasabre had a engine oil monitor.


The Goodyear GS-A tires have poor hydroplaning resistance.


PS it is still a great entry level to the luxury car class and is a great value for the money.

 

Headlights, mine are not the HID

Air conditioning could be stronger

Mirror control switches should be on the door, not low in the dash

Stereo is very weak . The Bose system is a joke

Paint chips easily. Front fascia plastic particularly.

Heated seats don't get hot enough

I'm comparing the Max to my recently traded Mazdaspeed 6

 

-Agree with previous poster, on the steering wheel the volume and station selector should be switched, my brain insists on using the station selector for volume.

-Yes, doors should unlock when vehicle is put in park. period.

-The wimpy plastic air deflector for the sunroof is useless. First time I hit the freeway with the sunroof open thought it was going to rip off....

-Bose system leaves much to be desired.

Overall, I really like the car, these are just nits I can easily live with.

 

I don't mind the wind noise if the sunroof is open I guess I expect it. But to be honest, when I had my 2000 Maxima I almost NEVER opened that thing.

I will drive it and see what you are saying, my wife drives the car mostly.


I did not encounter this yet. Car is less than a week old for me.

I can agree with you on this all day, why are the side view mirror adjustments NOT near the window switches??? And I would like to say to Nissan defense I can see it as (if you have programmable seats, which I do) you only really need to adjust once and set your preference, but they are times when I have to adjust myself and then change the mirror and lean over to do so.

I agree it is small, I always end up hitting the selection button to turn up the volume to only change the track on Pandora

Not just when you stop I don't want that, but when I put it into Park I want the doors to open or as someone else mentioned, at least auto open when I pull on the door handle, I can live with that.



I'm adding this one, the Shifter paddles on ANY CAR!! I look at is as nice fake **** on a chick, looks nice, functional but feels nothing like the real thing.
Either make the car a Manual or not, I didn't find this car lacking power to find the need to shift down to get around another car. Just keep it on the gear shifter when its moved to the left and Jog it up and down <--- Still lame IMO.

 

You are right about most of the things above but I don't really care about them.

I just want my car defect free, and so far I see the dealer every month, and i can't see the end of this. Defects are making me miserable. Never had such problem with any used car I've owned. NEVER so many trips to a mechanic (dealer in this case). Made in america for me means stay away from this product. I will rather buy a car made in mexico next time.

I like the design of the car. Quiet and powerful. Even with all my frustration, I have to admit the car drives very quiet and sophisticated and composed. I put 225 tires on 17" wheels, you know, but still, I'm driving a subaru loaner for a few days now and with smaller tires its much noisier in every aspect.

 

The dealer can reprogram this to unlock the doors when shifter placed in park using their Consult III tool. I have had this done twice -two different cars- at no charge. Interestingly in the new gen Altima you can change this function yourself.

 

Well, when I go pick up my other Key FOB (which the sale agent try to slickly NOT tell me about) I will ask about having this done.

Yeah, I am already looking to upgrade from the speakers that came with the car.. Bose my a$$, more like "Blows"

I understand that but 3 years later and all we got was illuminated entry sills? LOL

 

Lots of you have good points and even pointed out some things I noticed lately but ignored, such as the engine braking. My gripes are the location of the switches under the steering wheel and in the center column, like stated before they are out of sight and hard to adjust if you have big hands. I have to readjust my mirrors whenever I use the reverse tilt feature because they point either too far out or too far in.

I also don't like that I can't open my trunk when all my doors are unlocked and I don't have my key on me. My wife's Optima has this "intelligent" feature why not the Maxima? The cooled seats are a joke and I've tried them on several cars. SR20Power, you can have the dealer program your doors to unlock when you put your car in park. I had this done in my 2010 Murano and they were able to do it for my Maxima as well.

 

I agree with the above and to add I'd say the build quality is horrible compared to Maximas of the past.

Lack of rear space from prior 6th gen.

Trunk is stiff to open and stiff to close, so it does not help either way. Also, very un-refined latch.

Battery is a POS!

Designing a cover over the cup holders is silly, I might as well rip the cover off. Who keep that thing closed? On that note, no storage space in from of the shift lever like the Altima has.

Material of the dash is too porous, like sticky. The Altima material is much nicer.

All in all I'd buy a 3.5 Altima over a 7th gen Maxima, it's just a better car. I know many disagree talking "Infiniti based this and that but I owned two '13 Altimas and feel they are a better car. To be fair they did have CVT issues because they use the new CVT but that CVT is miles more responsive than what we deal with.

 

I don't like that the Altima is faster... granted it's lighter, they coulda did something to make us still beat their 1/4 mile time.

I don't like that the passenger seat isn't cooled, if you gonna cool my driver seat, let my girl's *** be cooled too lol.

I don't like that the steering wheel only comes heated, i want it cooled too, summer leather hurts lol.

I don't like that the back half of the pano roof doesn't open. Would be sick if it did.

I don't like that my Nav costs $200 to update... should be free.

I want my rear seats to fold down in my premium, I don't ski so the ski hole in the back armrest isn't helping me at all.

 

Remember the Altima sells way more than the Maxima, so it makes sense to try to bring it up to speed, no Pun intended.

Yeah, i'm selfish, I don't care along as my the drive is cooled…

Remote start with A/C already on.. Treat it like you would in the winter.

That would've been sick, but people already complain about the noise it makes.
Very sure someone will find a hack, and I can already see myself using my phone any way.

Funny, when a sale rep told me I can use it to put my Ski's. He obviously didn't notice I was black, I guess I can put them next to my hockey sticks I don't do either.

I guess is there isn't such a thing as the "perfect car for YOU" I guess the answer will always be no.

But I can honestly say I think it's a very nice looking car and that color I have turns heads. So that being said, I can't wait to detail it this weekend (Denomination write-up) I expect everyone's car to be shiner after that write up.

A full detail will be later one to buff the swirls out ect..

Back to topic, I am hoping in some Nissan wet dream that manufactures read what enthusiast like us have to say about the car and decide to make tweaks on the newer car models. Yeah right I know!..

Does anyone know anything about the new body style which should be coming out soon? I couldn't find anything besides concept cars of it.

 

I checked my '10 has a sunglass holder...

 

My '10 S has a sunglasses holder as well (though it might go away for an extra screen/buttons... hehe).

- Paint/clear coat quality. I'm getting a fade line on the roof by the windshield and a light spot on the hood. I'm pretty meticulous about waxing the car every 3 months or so, but I guess I need to do it more often. Really not digging that. I'm sure a good buff/polish will fix the fading for now. Dat Hawaiian sun gets hot, tho.

- Eagle RS-As - bastards almost killed me in the rain. Okay, that might be a bit extreme, but I hydro-ed on them on the freeway going about 50-60. Bad toe in the rear also contributed to that, just to be fair.

- Factory Battery. For all the previous reasons stated. It just didn't last, even with proper fluid maintenance. I too went with a higher CCA rating (700).

- Seat bolstering. This is just being nit picky, but after sitting in those Nismo Juke & Nismo RS, those Recaros! It'd be nice to have at least the Nismo Juke quality seats.

- Base model didn't come with HIDs. At least they come ready for them.

- Also, as posted above, headlight and taillight bulbs tedious to get to.

- Steering wheel switches protrude too far out and are too easily hit sometimes when turning the wheel. Or perhaps my steering technique needs refining.

 

I enjoy threads like this. Not because I like to complain about a car I love, but because it illustrates areas of improvement that, maybe (hopefully), Nissan could conceivably take into consideration.

First, I'll address your points.
Soft touch turn signal: a nice feature, but I can live without it. At this price point (and considering it is mentioned in the manual), it should be included.

Doors don't unlock when put into park: they do unlock when you shut off the car, which admittedly, has taken my wife some getting used to.

Wind noise: agree, but I think it has more to do with the fact that they didn't choose laminated glass. Compared to my Corvette, the Max is almost silent.

Optional Autostart: I'm guessing you mean auto stop/start. My dad has this on his BMW and usually leaves it turned off. It only amounts to about 5% better fuel economy, and only if you do a lot of city driving. It is annoying in heavy traffic, btw.

Nav: you do get used to it. If you adjust the settings just right, or change the way you use it, it isn't bad. So far, I haven't seen anyone do the OEM nav well. Truth is, Garmin, Tom Tom, Magellan, et al, all do a better job.

NO SUNGLASS HOLDER!!: mine has this (2013 SV Sport Tech). It doesn't fit some of my shades, so I put them in the case they came in/carry the case in the door pocket of my car.

My gripes: center console led display- it'd be nice if simplified nav directions were there, like on the Altima (I believe).
While I'm on nav, it talks too much. On the interstate, it is always telling me to stay on the interstate at every junction (and sometimes for no apparent reason, like there is a rest stop).

Paint: I have areas where it isn't quite totally covered (thankfully, only if you look for them).

Fit and finish: certain parts don't quite meet up right. My old Honda was remarkably perfect. Every panel gap was exactly the same no matter which side it was on (left and right side of the hood for example) and equal across every panel.

Hands free: sometimes my hands free system thinks I said "one" when I say "go back". Sometimes it thinks I said "two" when I said "four", etc. I figure that technology isn't quite ripe yet. Nicknames don't always dial the person I want and if I use the car's downloaded phonebook, I have to say last name, then first name. What is this, Russia?
It's also a little sluggish sometimes, but again, no one does this perfectly yet.

The ride could be a bit less harsh and squirmy over bumpy roads under acceleration/enthusiastic driving. It's Nissan's way of telling me to dial it down a notch, I suppose.

Fuel economy: this could and should be better, but everyone always wants power and a fuel sipper.

Rear seat foot space/room: the backseat in my smaller, older Honda Accord was superior in every dimension. It was more comfortable and my size 13's could easily slide under the front seats. The Max takes a little more care to fit into the back. But I stay out of the back, so it's not my problem; it's my passenger's problem.

Trunk: I wish my trunk lid opened more than a few inches. When I pop the trunk, I'd like it if it simply opened all of the way (or even halfway would be an improvement).

Steering wheel/information panel: it has taken me over a year to figure out a seating position that is both comfortable and doesn't require that I cut off the top of the speedometer with the top of my steering wheel. Maybe I'm just oddly proportioned, but this is a minor annoyance that could be engineered away (like it has been on the 370).

I'd love it if the paint was a little tougher to scratch.

I'd love it if the wheels were tougher to scratch. A friend of mine has awesome wheels that are a little bit more inside of the tire's sidewall, and they are still perfect despite the fact that he lives in the city and parks on the street every night.

I wish the front seats had both heating and cooling on the passenger side as well. My butt stays cool in the summer. My wife's butt gets warm, which makes her complain. Turning up the stereo real loud doesn't make that noise go away for long...

I wish Nissan wouldn't keep confusing the packages. I spent lots of extra cash getting a sport/tech so I could get the smoked tails, rear spoiler, and sweet wheels.

That little lip just in front of the windshield where the hood ends always accumulates water, which turns into spots, which looks dirty. It's always in my sight lines. It makes me feel like I have OCD.

I wish this car ran on regular instead of recommending premium. It's not a huge deal, but saving 20+ cents a gallon would be nice.

I wish I could control the radio using voice commands (especially XM). My friends Verano does this. It's pretty cool to hit a button and say "XM Radio channel 100" instead of flipping through presets.

That's all I can think of. 100 more horsepower would be nice. So would AWD.
I'd also like three blondes in bikini's to come by once a week to wash and wax my car, but so far, no car company has made this an option.

 

^^^^ nicely done. Love these cars and I get extended warranty so I don't have to worry about a lot of stuff!

 

I've had my '14 for a couple weeks now, and noticed a few things I don't like

1 - The unknown noise from the front end as soon as I hit 30 MPH. Supposedly a systems check, but I would expect something a little less noticeable on a $35K+ car. Nissan needs to come up with a fix for this, as it's annoying.

2 - The Bose stereo is not all that I expected it to be. It's compromised of highs and lows, and the volume and quality isn't something I'd expect from a $1K optional stereo. I was in a C7 Corvette, and the Bose system in that car absolutely blows the one in the Maxima away in terms of quality and volume. I haven't heard a non Bose Maxima sound system, but it must be really bad.

3 - Switch location. I hate the location for the heated seats, they should be closer to the arm rest. I don't like that the power mirror controls are on the dash and that the lock switch is located behind the drivers door handle.

4 - I know that the 7th gen Maxima is an aging design, but the SV models (IMO) should have standard memory and teloscoping wheel along with a remote start.

5 - Requirement of premium fuel. I knew this before buying the car, but it's not turbocharged, supercharged, or a high performance engine, so I don't understand why Nissan recommends at least 91 octane in this car. Oh well, if that's what is recommended, I'll use it.


No car is 100% perfect, and I don't hate my Maxima at all. Sure there are things that I don't like, but so far it's a good car for what it is. Would I still have bought this car if I had to pay sticker price? Absolutely not. For the price I was able to get my Maxima at new, it was too good of an offer to pass on. There wasn't another car out there new that compared in looks, style, and amenities.

 

My #1 grip with the 7th gen...far and above ANYTHING ELSE....the da** doors. These darn doors - all of them...don't stay open for anything. If you park on a 1% incline and open the doors, they slam shut on your leg as you are getting out and holy cow does it pi** me off!! I HATE HATE HATE the door holders on this car. I've had the car for 3 years and 115K miles and have never gotten used to it. It pi**es me off just as bad every time. You have to stick your foot out and hold the door open as you are getting out of the car. And you better get out REAL fast or that BI*** is gonna slam closed on you. FIX THE DOORS NISSAN!!!! Aweful aweful job there.

The pain scratches sooo easily....that's not just the Maxima - it's a Nissan thing.

Everything else rocks!

 

hahhahah i hate the doors too

 

Wind noise is horrible at 80 mph with sunroof open. Deflector is useless.
Really wish this car could be a 6 speed manual damn would it be a blast to drive.
Other than that it's **** on a Ritz in my book.

 

I've had my 2013 SV for 6 months now, the only thing I will get the dealer to adjust is the setting of the door locks to allow them to unlock with Park.

I've learned to live with the overboosted steering, the occasional rocking seat, the creaking clacking noise from dash on rough roads, the info display that only allows forward scrolling of details (my 2004 Passat let me go back or forward !)

Overall I am happy with my purchase, I saved $13K CAD to get a 1 year old car vs a new one. Love the style, the comfort, the vroom of the engine.

Spend enough time with anything and you will find faults or a wish list for next time.
I've been with the same lady for 25 years.....get my drift?

 

The new breed of Maxima owners who consistently complain and whine about Nissan and Maximas in general.

 

1. Soft suspension.
2. 3.5L reliability, mine started knocking at 30k and repair was not to my satisfaction.

 

Amen brother... You got the cash for a Benz or an Audi go get one!

 

Also some of the complaints listed are based on trim level or packages which is hilarious suspension too soft or hard. Others are complaining about options that don't exist e.g. cooler steering wheel. I think this thread should be moved to the "I bought an accord like everyone else because" it seems too negative now. Like an earlier post said "you live with something long enough you are bound to find faults". Don't forget some of those faults are what you kind of like about something or someone too. Happily (sometimes) married for 12 years!

 

Here's the real thread we should use

https://maxima.org/forums/7th-genera...r-7th-gen.html

 

I posted in the other thread too about what I like about this car. So SR20Power asked what we didn't like and I put it simply in this thread too. Don't like what you read here go to the other thread.

 

Hence the reason I started the other thread. I don't mind talking about improvements but complaints about things they really have nothing to do with the car seem asinine to me. Talking objectively about the mirror switches being not in a suitable place while in your proper seating position seems like a good idea. Why this car doesn't have a cooled steering wheel or the ride quality without more info about your trim and mods doesn't give credence or a baseline to analyze. I noticed it become more of the latter than the former. I'm not angry or hurt just feel like this car is better than any other in price, amenities, style, power, ride, handling, etc. for it's price range. Make sense?

 

I don't like the wiper blades that came with my 2014 Maxima, way too streaky.

Wish I never bought the damn thing!!!!!!!



To be serious, the car has a lot going for it. That is why most of us bought our 7th Gens. But if you go through this forum you will see that there is also no lack of issues with the vehicle. Maybe there is a reason why many of us got a great deal on the car. Way below MSRP. If the vehicle is so desirable the dealers would not discount it so heavily. Don't you think?

For what I paid for the vehicle I am pretty happy. If I had paid anywhere near MSRP I would be pretty disappointed.

 

:d

 

I gotcha. I rent a car almost every week so I sample a lot of different cars. This week I had a malibu, nice suspension on the rental spec but man its dog slow. So where I would like to see is the non sport have more control of rebound motion in the dampers. The initial dampening is great but its offset by rebound. I'd love some Tokico Illumina or D spec struts. Adjust them to where I like.