So this was my first "newer" car. I bought a 2009 Maxima SV with the "sport package" and 19" wheels on a pretty decent deal (CarGurus is kind of the **** if you're patient). I realize now I should have dropped the same money on an '08 G35, but I have to live with that now. Either way, my previous cars had been a '95 Park Ave, '01 Grand Prix GT, '99 Century, and a '94 Cadillac DeVille. Obviously I wasn't breaking lap times in those cars but I would regularly break the tires loose with the century and drove the Grand Prix pretty hard. The Cadillac chilled me out for a while, but I missed speed. I needed something practical that still had a silly amount of power in its practicality and I wound up with a Max. I read up on the CVT seeing that I had like 7 years of people driving them to lean on and decided I'd try it. I don't hate it. This may be attributable to me only driving 3.8s and one giant 4.9 that went 0-60 in 4 days, but I don't mind the noise. I can gun it to 45-60ish, coast, and seamlessly shift to a cruising rev rate and relax. The car wakes the hell up when you mash it. I had a completely clear 3 lane interstate the night I drove it home and topped it out in decent time. The simulated manual is fine, but I get smoother, more consistent power and acceleration with the CVT operating normally. I would prefer a 6 speed, but I actually like the smoothness as I throw the car around and am wondering if I'm just an ignorant aberration or if there are other people out there who enjoy driving this car.Mobdro Lucky Patcher Kodi

 

I have the exact same car, and enjoy driving it a lot. I bought it used (1 year old) and have had no problems except for the steering wheel lock which was replaced under recall. This is by far the most reliable car I have owned, all routine maintenance done at the dealership where I bought it. The body is rust free, and the paint is dam near pristine. It might not be worth much on the market, but it sure looks good, drives great, problem free and paid for. What else could you ask for in your car.

 

It's an elegant, and a stylish car, and I like mine alot.

 

I have a 2014 that I bought 4 months ago. I really like the cvt! Of course the torquey 3.5L engine doesn't hurt the situation either!

 

I just bout my 09 about a month ago with 110,000 on it. I absolutely love this car!

 

It's okay when it wants to run smoothly and not falling apart. Gotta replace a leaking radiator, both valve cover gaskets (leaking oil), bushing (cracked), left side front passenger axle (cv boot completely blew), drive belt and all 6 NGK spark plugs! Btw, anyone here knows the torque value to the spark plugs and valve cover bolts? Appreciate it if you can help out a fellow 2010 Maxima owner here.

 

That's not the car fault if owner(s) made a train wreck out of it.
Search the forums here for FSM.

 

@ mahanddeem - It's called 'normal wear and tear', which will eventually happen as time goes by with almost every make and model with the exception to perhaps... Tesla and any other electric cars out there? This car has held up pretty well for me since I bought it new, almost too well... then suddenly everything begins to need replacing in the same time span. It has been a very well maintained car with new front wheel bearings replaced, cvt fluid drained and filled every 30K miles, full synthetic Mobil 1 oil every 5K miles, new rotors and brake pads and other minor wear and tear parts replaced...yes a little overkill on some maintenance stuff but I sleep better at night knowing that they were done. Took it on many long road trips and still run as new as the first day I drove it off the lot. Now if I can only get what I mentioned replaced I'd be good to go for many thousands more miles. And yes, I do my own work except tire mounting, balancing and rotation, which I, of course, do not have the equipment to do those.

 

The plugs are only 14 ft lbs
The valve cover gasket has two settings...1st time tighten down to 17 INCH pounds and the 2nd time thru 74 INCH pounds.

 

Thank you LtLeary!

I finished taking everything apart and disconnecting a whole lot of connectors and hoses to get to the valve cover gaskets and the back three spark plugs and replaced a leaking radiator with a new Denso radiator I ordered from RockaAuto. I did torque the plugs to approx. 14 ft lbs and around 7 ft lbs for the valve cover bolts. I figured torque specs for those items were close enough and same as my Honda Accord. Was a challenge but finally finished a couple of hours ago. Thanks again for the info you offered!