When you got your Max, what other cars did you consider?

I was between the Q50 and the Max.

 

It was between the Charger Scat Pack and the Max.

Went with the Max cause everyone and their mother has a damn Charger!

I like to stand apart and the Max deff delivers on that!

 

I like the Chevrolet SS- thats really what its between for me- but I'm gonna end up in a Maxima- just felt like a better built car- and the resale issue with the SS- they have trouble moving 1 of them at a dealership- so the resale just cant be that great.

 

My first choice is the Maxima. Probably an SR. Was looking at the Kia Cadenza SXL, but not sure if I want another Kia. The new Accord V6 touring w/the 19" wheels caught my eye at the Philly car show. $35k loaded. Not really a Honda lover though.

 

I was between the Q50 and the Max too. The Q50 had less trunk space and cost way more than the Max to get the same options. I really wanted a car with AWD though. That's the only thing I wish Nissan would add.

 

I would probably be in an Acura TLX if I hadn't found the new max.
Once I saw the max up close, no more decision making.
For a 4 door sport sedan, the maxima hands down has so much more value.
And looks better!

 

Q 70.(Old Style, no double panel Sun Roof) Acura TLX (No heated steering wheel or power steering column adjuster, no double panel Sun Roof, horrible to use Navi) and Honda Accord Touring ( All the above except Honda partnered with Garmin on the GPS making that part a real winner). The Honda Touring (Light discounting around here) has the most going for it but the Max won out on features and real world pricing

 

Came from a 2015 C300. Didn't really have another "choice" because I just wanted the max or would have stayed in my Merc. But next car will be looking at a 2017+ Q60 Coupe, a 435x Grancoupe, possibly a Tesla 3, or back to Mercedes.

Possibly, if the Maxima gains AWD and 400HP, that would be worth coming back to

 

I was mainly debating between the Maxima and the Honda Accord V6 Touring. The Accord has more tech features and was just as "nice" inside, but the handling of the SR was just a lot more fun. My primary goal was to get a 4 door family car that wouldn't disappoint me as a daily driver

 

the accord touring does look nice.
but when i sat on the maxima, i immediately forgot the previous car.

 

Charger Scat Pack. Chrysler 300S, Merc C300. Tesla 3 would have been considered if I had a garage.

 

If that max had 400hp and AWD it would be 50k easily id guess- would be awesome though.

 

Agree. I'm very happy with my 7th gen and plan on riding her into the ground but the only way I'll get rid of it before that point is if they come out with a NISMO Maxima, which, they probably won't but man that would be awesome.

 

When the weather is decent, I often spend time before church on Sunday mornings (while dealerships are closed and there is no salesman hanging over my shoulder) wandering car lots looking at anything on wheels. I look at Mini-Coopers, Subarus, Infinitis, Acuras, Hondas, Fords, and several other brands. I scrutinize the window stickers checking content and prices, study the styling from all angles, and if a car looks interesting, I make a note to look up reviews for that car online later.

But, truth be known, I have owned nothing but Maximas since October of 1984, and I have yet to see anything I would prefer over the Maxima, especially when I consider the great Nissan dealership I have to keep me happy. If I lived way out in the country, and there was no Nissan dealership nearby, I would hope to be near enough to a Subaru dealer that I could drive a Forester. No, not anything like a Maxima, but the cows and horses around me probably would not notice the difference.

 

Since the Maxima was not ready when I wanted to buy, I was looking fairly seriously. I drove a Kia Cadenza, Impala and a Hyundai Genesis and Azera. The Genesis was very nice but much more expensive when comparable options were considered. The Impala was nice and could be bought for much less, but that would affect me on resale as well. I liked the Azera as well, but the one I tried to buy was the Cadenza - and would have if we could have found a Limited in the color combination I wanted and at the right price.

Even today, the local dealer has only 3 Cadenzas, and 1 Limited. The local Nissan dealer has 27 Maximas.

I bought my Maxima at the end of August for about invoice, before any incentives were available. When I saw the debut of the Max at the NYAS, it made waiting even longer a little easier.

 

The only other choice for me was the Mini Cooper... just kidding. Briefly considered the Q50, looked at Lexus, but could not look beyond the Max and it's looks. Perhaps I am biased. 10th Maxima since 1987.

 

It only took me sitting in the Q50 to realize it was the max. It just seemed very bare and just ordinary. Also, it did not feel like it had 33 hp more.

Not bashing the Q.

 

I came from a 2007 Camry SE, so I looked for a stiff sporty ride, tested and ended up buying the SR.

My original intention was to buy a Honda Accord (we have an Odyssey which we like), but despite being great on paper and having CarPlay, it really wasn't fun to drive. Great engine even in 4-cyl, but ride was too soft and handling was "too stable". My wife described it best - it drove a lot like the Odyssey. The Touring/V6 was a bit better.

Another major contender was the Mazda 6 Grand Touring with Tech - it was coming up to around 32k. Downsides included a weak engine - they really should have offered a V6 or a bit more HP. Also, the entertainment system was pretty annoying and limited, and lots of things on the touchscreen were disabled while driving.

My main remaining contender was the Acura TLX. Great Drive (compared to the Accord). But I felt that they dropped the ball on the 2016 by making it essentially identical to the 2015 - many safety features missing in the FWD (which is supposed to have a better gearbox), and the tech features are years behind Honda. For example, no Carplay even though it's the same hardware. In contrast, 2016 Accord is very different than 2015.

I also considered Toyota Camry XSE - Drove great even at 4-cyl (like my old SE). But I hated the interior design, and Toyota still does that stupid thing where even at the top of the line you need to get 6-7 packages to max it out. Closest match was 1000 miles from me. What I like about the Nissan is that you can drive the stock model.

I thought about a Q50, but price for all the features I wanted made me turn away.

Also drove:

Chevy Malibu - Great entertainment system and engine, but suspension felt like I was driving a waterbed
Hyundai Sonata - Great features, but the drive wasn't very exciting and didn't like the internals
Subaru Legacy - AWD, but bad interior and the drive was unexciting. It reminded me of my 1990 Subaru Legacy.
Ford Fusion - Really great car, but I think the next model will be much better. Also suffers from the fractured packages problem, hard to find a model with everything the Maxima offers. If it was the next model, I may have gone that way, especially with the new entertainment system.

 

Overall, a very comprehensive and interesting post. You found a few shortcomings in what were otherwise good vehicles. I especially agree with you that replacing their old entertainment system fixed one of the primary reasons the Fusion was not in play for lots of folks. That was about the only 'American' brand car I actually considered when buying my 8th gen Maxima.

 

I think the "American" brands are making huge strides, and when it come to electronics and entertainment they get the younger market's connectivity needs much better than the foreign brands. Heck, the new Malibu's dash is essentially an iPad. I am perplexed by why they are still consistently behind foreign brands in safety. Almost none of the "American" cars is an IIHS Top Safety+ Pick, and when you look at the government ratings they are also behind most of the foreign brands. e.g., compare the Maxima/Altima to the Fusion.

I think Ford (and Toyota) could have a much better story if they just had fewer stock models with a particular tier of options in each. It's one of the things I appreciated about the Nissan. Trying to build a very decked-out Fusion, comparable to the Maxima, was very frustrating. And my feeling is that options don't have the same resale value as a base model. But I definitely think the 2017 will be a very compelling car.

 

Ford is my favorite 'American' brand, probably because my wife has owned and driven ONLY Ford trucks for over thirty years, and has had very good luck with them. I like the new Taurus, but, unless it is in 'Police Interceptor' form, it rides a little on the 'bargy' side, so the Fusion is a better size and seems to be more driveable and spirited than the Taurus. Except for reliability, Dodge/Chrysler has some nice looking and able vehicles. Chevy has so many different models that I cannot keep up, and when I visit one of their lots around here, I am usually confronted with thousands of vehicles spread over a hundred acres. Not my cup of tea.