Hi

I saw that one poster has said that this car is one big blind spot, another worried about the view through the back window...can anyone else chime in and let me know if they think the car has blind spot issues and rear view vision issues? Any owners or test drivers care to comment on this for me...it has me worried now...

Thanks in advance to anyone who posts back

 

It's an increasing issue with all new cars, driven by design parameters such as roof strength, side impact, etc.

I didn't notice it being much worse than my 7th gen on my extended test drive.

 

Ive had mine for almost a week now, and I have not noticed it being any worse than my 7th gen, which I didn't think was bad to begin with. You also get blindspot warning, so that helps even more

 

As long as your mirrors are set and used correctly, then the blind spots aren't any worse than any other car.

 

i've had no real issues with visibility on my SR. the only thing you need to get used to is the visible humps on the hood due to the curvaceous design. you sit pretty low in the cockpit, so it's a bit difficult to see the front end, but the front sonars do help in tight parking situations.

 

Like everyone else said....

If you want a blind spot issue, try a Taurus!

 

YES the humps on the hood and also the front pillars. It doesn't really affect driving at speed, but trying not to curb your wheels coming out of a drive-through is scary. Makes me wish for those extra cameras like the Plat has. As far as other blind spots, its actually better rear view mirror visibility than my old 2007 and the blind spot indicator lights are amazing for the sides.

 

The surround cameras are so convenient.. It should have been an option on the se.

 

I have a feeling most upscale cars will soon have surround cameras. The technology is not that expensive, and helps the driver so much. I bet it is added to the SR and SL by the 2017 model, and possibly to the SV and S at the same time. Something even more 'miraculous' will be added to the Platinum at the same time so some buyers will still want that version.

I have never used my outside mirrors to see behind the car. I have always had them directed to the 'blind spots' on both rear quarters of the car. I use the inside mirror to see what is to my rear.

 

To see the blind spot where do you tilt the mirror,toward you or away from you?

 

How many feature shuffles happened like this mid-cycle during 7th Gen?

 

My guess is, None.. but I could be wrong.

 

Yep, the blind spot sensors are great. They come on as soon as the car leaves your sight as you are passing them, and goes off as soon as you pick them up in the side view mirror. A great feature. I'm not sure which models they are on, I have the SR as well.

 

Once I bought my '09, I didn't pay attention. But I do know the TPMS system was replaced with a much nicer and more informative system around 2012. I'm sure there were other changes, but probably not significant ones.

The primary reason there will be changes during the mid-life of the 8th gen is because Nissan has changed their generation system. In the past, the Maxima had a new generation every four or five or six years, with the four year interval being the most common. That left little urgency to change in midcycle, even though there were major changes at midcycle for the 5th (power train) and 6th (CVT) gens.

BUT,

the pattern was interrupted for the 7th gen, when the new CVT being 'road tested' in the Altima proved to have problems that Nissan could not allow in their flagship Maxima. So the 8th gen Maxima was put on hold, and when much time passed by before the solution was nailed down, the 2014 was released virtually unannounced and unchanged. This delay finally resulted in the bypassing of the 2015 Maxima altogether.

THEN,

MONTE (who has some inside info at times) told us Nissan had changed its philosophy. With around twenty different vehicles to constantly update, they were releasing several new generations every year. That was a little messy, and resulted in their advertising campaign for each new generation being split between several Nissan products. This would also have their design and engineering departments working on lots of different models at the same time. As a result, Nissan will now release new generations of the Maxima (and most of their vehicles) only every six to eight years, with the 9th gen probably being the 2023 model.

SO,

There is no way Nissan allows any version of the flagship Maxima to stay the same for that long a period. They do not want to repeat the misfortune of the 7th to 8th gen conversion. We WILL see significant changes during the life cycle of the 8th gen. Count on it.

 

I took one for a test drive yesterday and I found the rear view mirror was positioned very low causing reduced visibility. Anyone else notice this?

 

I am 5'10" and see to the rear very well.

 

I did. I noticed everything people have said, headroom isn't great, visibility isn't the best due to sitting low and the low profile of the car (from what it seemed) but i only spent 15 minute in the car, so its hard to me to say for sure whats what Hard to adjust everything on a test drive. I agree that around view camera in the platinum seems like it may be worth it.

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but the isn't the surround view only active whilst the car is in reverse?

 

You can get the surround cameras going forward by pressing the camera button. If you press it a second time you will the a view of the front right tire to avoid hitting curbs and other objects

 

 

You can use it going forward and it will go off when you go faster than 6mph.