Man where do i begin, this is my first nissan. I've been a honda/vtec loving dude for most of my life. I was real skeptical going to the Maxima because of the cvt and all the moans about it but I'm glad i jumped out there. This car has been a real pleasure to own for these first 30days.

I love the instant torque the CVT gives you, the fake shifts (i know its not real but people dissappear behind me so quickly, i laugh and say "its shifting" as i breeze away. Some people will say they wish it had a 6,7, or 8 speed but having this tranny is perfect for what you want to do most of the time.

Gas mileage is crazy, I'm averaging 24.5 in 50/50 city - highway driving and yes i am stepping on the gas a little.

I dont have the full on SR sport mode but when you press that button and the steering tightens up, throttle response is ready, man it feels good.

The ride is good, i still think sometimes my 03 Acura Cl-s might drive better or should i say handle the curves better (it is a sport coupe). Overall i think it is a smooth ride and the comfort of the drive makes me want to drive the long route sometimes. I figure once i get some 19x8.5 wheels on there, i will feel better.

The exterior design is universally sexy, period. Some may not like it but if you stare at them curves long enough even the haters with find the beauty in this sheetmetal.

I had a dude in a newer BMW 7 series say, "No bull**** Nissan got that car right inside and out", i couldnt had agreed more, she is solid pound for pound. Lots compliments and old max owners wanting to get back in the game.


I'm not going to complain about the little nick knacks that kind of bothered me (something in the lumbar moves sometimes, no dvds in the head unit, no tint on top of the windshield, weak regular radio when turned up loud, xm can have weak reception at time)because those things are minor in the grandscale of things.

Cars i was considering before i purchased the max

13 Lexus gs350 awd
14 Acura RLX
13-14 Infinti M37x
16 Honda Accord
14 Acura TL Shawd

I wanted all wheel drive but wheni considered i can drive a totally new vs used awd, i said i can drive in the snow like ive been doing in fwd cars all these years.

If you are considering this car among the others, i would say what my older bro told me "test drive it first, dont listen to those cvt haters". Im soooooo glad i at least gave it a chance.

This is a very solid car for the money, amenities and horsepower,

30 days = 2700 miles, i said i have to pace myself., lol

Thanks for this analysis bro. Good information. What trim did you get??

I got a SV, sometimes i wish i had the SL sunroof & amenities but it is something i dont have to worry about later, all trims are good enough tho.

You'll pay it off faster than the SL! Good friend of mine says the best car is the paid off car...

You can get a pretty good aftermarket sunroof when the time is right if that is important. Great report!

He/she is right about that, especially if its in good shape!

In my humble opinion, I think the CVT is GREAT for the 3.5 litre V-6 engine. By comparison, I tested the Cube a few years ago when I shopped for a car for my mom. The CVT pairing with the 1.8 litre i-4 engine was horrible. It was bad not because of lack of responsiveness but because it was so loud all the time. The acceleration in the cube was no slower than any other auto tranny with any i-4, but the droning sound just never stopped and it deterred us from buying the Cube. But with a V-6 engine, the car can be driven at a relatively lower rpm and in general the V-6 is only put in upper scale model (I leased the 2012 Quest and now have the 2016 Max) with better sound proofing, the droning sound doesn't really exist to my ears. Without the bad noise, the CVT actually feels more responsive and smoother than typical 5 or even 6 speed auto. Traditional auto tranny often suffers from mapping issues where there're unnecessary upshift or downshift when going uphill. I go to Lake Tahoe with my Mitsubishi Outlander V-6 with 6-spd auto and flappy pedals. Even with the V-6 engine, the Outlander drives me crazy with the upshift downshift every 10 seconds. Luckily I can resort to the flappy pedals so I can keep the car in the right gear manually. With the CVT, there is no such up/downshift problem and it is buttery smooth from the moment you start the car to the moment you put the car in park.

My Max is a SR model, so if anything I can still use the pedal shifters to mitigate any potential dissatisfaction, which I haven't experienced yet.

I mean if the shopper is looking at a BMW with the double clutch tranny, that's of course will be better (ie: sportier) than the CVT, but if buyers are comparing a traditional auto versus a CVT with a V-6 or better engine, I would suggest the CVT.

Just think about it, Lexus LS has an 8 speed transmission and GM just announced a 10 speed transmission. With that many gears jammed within the power curve, it might just as well put an infinite speed CVT there.

Nice post, well written and objective. I agree with almost all of the comments, especially other considered rides. We came from a 2016 Lexus 200T (the new turbo 4cyl addition to their line up). I know, we did take a $ hit but not as much as we thought we would and the deal breaker was the lack of engine performance (severe lag from a stop, dangerous making left turns with oncoming traffic) in the Lexus as well as the interior room. This maxima is the best car we have owned (after 6 months and 53xx miles), and we have owned a few.
Thank you Nissan for taking the time (missed a model year) to get it very close to perfect!!

MrDillons, 16Max and willie2323 obviously hid behind a wall when the 'CVT is crap' Kool Aid was being handed out. Most of the magazine car testers automatically downgraded the 2016 Maxima simply because of the CVT. They didn't even bother to suggest the CVT performance was inferior to what an automatic would have given. In reality, the CVT gives BETTER performance. Consumer Reports was particularly biased, which disappointed me. A few testers went in with open minds, and Motor Week said the CVT performance was very good, and eventually selected the 2016 Maxima as their 'Sports Sedan of the Year.'

After 59 years of driving manuals and automatics, I have driven the CVT exclusively for seven and a half years, and it has won my trust and I truly enjoy driving it. Yes, it needs to be driven differently than a manual or automatic, but I enjoy learning new ways of doing things. It is refreshing to see several posters here who clearly looked past the bias and judged the CVT strictly on performance and efficiency. Those are wise folks indeed.

Everyone knows that I am not a CVT fan in here, but I must say that the one that I have experienced in my 8th gen work rentals is head and shoulders above the old. I kept all of them in sport mode because I liked the faux shifts and especially the heavy steering feel at all speeds, unlike the 7th gen. It reminded me of the way the 5.5 gen steering feels in sport mode, which is great!

Agreed on the 8th gen CVT! I have had two previous Altima's and one maxima. There is definitely a difference (and advertised as such) with this 2016 CVT. As I have read, a lot of work has been done both mechanical and computer control on this CVT. Its always interesting to hear the comments of the "transmission releasing" when coming to a stop, yep, sure is and always has been but as mentioned above, it is a new way of driving an automatic transmission. I have always loved with all the Nissan CVT's of never experiencing the continual shifting, especially in cruise control with the 4 cyl. Altima's in the mountains. A great tranny in my opinion. YMMV.

I liked the new CVT, it made the car feel less "big", felt more responsive and the 10hp extra is a nice addition.

If you think about what a transmission does, and why certain gear rations are chosen, you realize that gears are a compromise. A CVT can select any ratio between two points. IMO, they are better.

This is coming from MONTE, who has been around cars for a long time, including those dreary years when CVTs were truly a big steaming pile. In theory, they were very promising. But development moved slowly, and reliability was lacking. Like MONTE, I was not impressed with CVTs of earlier times, even including the one in the 2007 and 2008 Maximas. I think the CVT in the 7th gen 2009 Maxima was the turning point, where it performed as well as most automatics, saved space and weight over true automatics, and improved fuel efficiency. The CVT in the 2014 Altima turned out to be a step backward (had problems), but the CVT in the 2016 Maxima has, in my mind, edged ahead of most automatic trannies for the first time. Even my wife has now decided she likes the CVT. Now we will wait and see if this CVT can be a reliable tranny over the long haul.