Reliability on 8th gen maxima and overall experience so far
 

Hey guys, long time participant here. I used to have a 2000 Maxima which till this day I miss. That was my first almost new car that I bought after high school with 30k miles. Sold the car with 180k. I then moved to a Sentra, then 350z, then a new VW CC. Currently own a bunch of cars that you'll see in my signature.

Moving forward, I'm really bored of my Camry and I find myself driving my Mustang more. So with still a year of lease term left, I've decided to lurk around and start researching for my replacement vehicle. I'm either going to finish the lease on my Camry and get the next vehicle next year or trade it in to purchase the replacement vehicle.

I tend to spend a lot of time in my DD since my commute is about 80 miles a day both ways. So I want my next vehicle to be comfortable and fun and more importantly reliable. My mustang is a beast but I baby it and it's slowly becoming more track oriented due to my mod habit.

My question is, are Maxima still as reliable as it used to be? I had 0 issues with my 5th gen and want that satisfaction again. My concern about the new max is that it's now made here. Although I love American vehicle but I always preferred my DD to be JDM due to their star reliability. I would like to purchase my max since I plan on driving the hell out of it. I would like to have a reliable DD and keep Mustang for weekend fun.

Please offer suggestions and thanks for your help.

Camrys are made in Kentucky. I just traded in my 2014 Camry for my Maxima almost a month ago so while I can't offer much in terms of reliability I can tell you it's quite an upgrade for those long commutes and your main concern isn't exactly valid unless you are having issues with your Camry now.

I have owned all Maxima generations except the first, and all my Maximas have been reliable. I had no problems with my 2000 SE, only one problem worth mentioning with my 2004 SL, no problems with my 2009 Premium, and, so far, no problems with my 2016 Platinum, which I bought six months ago.

But Nissan adds more and more things every generation, and I suspect that all the newfangled electronics they have on this 2016 Platinum may eventually give a problem or two. There is so much stuff on this new Platinum that I haven't even used a lot of it yet.

I love the seating in the 2016, but a few taller drivers here have their right leg bumping the side of the center console. Since you commute so far, be sure and check that detail when you test drive.

Thank you for the response fellas. You both pointed out some valuable items.

I currently have 0 issues with the Camry and so it is a great comparison factor to the maxima. So that's a win.

Also, I will be test driving one end of April when I have vacation and will be sure to keep the knee rubbing item in mind. I'm 5'11 so not that tall but not that short either. I'm really awed by this car and I'm beginning to fall in love with it more and more.

The minor tech failure I don't consider as a problem, I call it wear and tear. A problem to me is a drivetrain failure. 👍

Unless something recently changed, the Camry has always been half and half. Kentucky and Japan.

If you believe that 1990 is recent.

I can't talk about reliability on Maximas since this is my first but what I can say is that this is the perfect highway cruiser. My commute is 90 miles roundtrip and it has plenty of power, smooth acceleration, while giving back great MPG's in my opinion. Just got 28 MPG and my car is still breaking in (approx. 1000 miles). I can get better MPG's but it is hard to stay under 80 mph.

I wonder what the prices will be like on the 2016s once the 2017s come out. Dealers around me have a lot of 2016s on the lot, most since last summer- I'm wondering if i should wait until he 2017s are on the lot- are there any expected changes or upgrades?

Every Camry as of 2011 and earlier were Kentucky and Japan made. Not as many imported vs made here in the USA, but they still had them made in Japan. My beater 2000 Camry is Japan made. Posting correct information helps....

http://autoweek.com/article/car-news...-imports-japan

How exactly was my information incorrect? Did I say that EVERY Camry sold in the US after 1990 was made here? No. You said as far as you knew a Camry was either comprised of half american parts and half japan parts, or that only half the amount of Camrys sold are made in the US and the other half in Japan.

1990 saw Camrys produced without the need of an imported engine which would also reduce the need for imported cars as a whole reducing the likelihood that a Camry purchased here was made in Japan. 2007 further reduced those odds when Subaru's Indiana plant began manufacturing Camrys as well (definitely not 50 50 now) Even your insightful little article states that imports accounted for .5% of total sales in 2011.

OPs leased Camry is a 2014, it was made here, most likely in Kentucky, possibly in Indiana, not in Japan.

Posting information relevant to the thread would be beneficial for everyone.

All the electrical gadgets... What happens once they age? After ~5 years have fun

Can't admit when you are wrong eh? I was just saying in a previous post that some were made in Kentucky and some made in Japan. And you said if it was before 1990 they were. You were correcting me and no where did you say they were made in japan too. You even posted above that all were made in Kentucky with no mention of Japan in your original post. And now you are changing it to parts? I NEVER SAID PARTS. Again, like I said, you can't admit you were wrong, so now you are causing disruption.

2012 and up they stopped importing Camry's from Japan.

Awww and take your own advice....

I worried about that when I bought my 2009 Premium built in Sept 2008. But when I traded it in SEVEN YEARS later (Sept 2015), everything was still working perfectly. That car had more electronics and gadgets than any car I ever owned. Of course the 2016 has added quite a bit more stuff, so we will wait and see . . .

I haven't seen or heard of any changes for the 2017 model. If we look back at the last seven Maxima generations, there were almost never any meaningful changes between the intro year and the second year. We will see a few changes the third model year 2018, as Nissan has always made changes the third year of each Maxima generation.

We probably won't see the 2017s released before August. Many dealers have a supply of 2016s on hand, and, at some point (September? October?), there will be good deals on those. By November, the few 2016s left on dealer lots should be very good deals.

I noticed this as well, when test-driving a 2016 before ultimately deciding to go with a 2014 model. The 7th gens have more knee room than the 8th gens. That was something I was specifically looking for, since my knee was constantly bumping up against the center console in my old car (a Mazda 3).

I think you will also find the door sill is wider on the 8th gen than on the 7th gen, and the 8th gen doors are heavier. That combination makes it a little easier getting in and out of the 7th gen.