Frank Fontaine

It dawned on me when my buddy came over this weekend. He showed said my 18's are sweet. When I told him they were $129/ea he said dang they look like they'd be over $300. I told him they were in late '99--they're discontinued rims so they were cheap.

Anyway he showed me his Roundel mag, and I was fascinated how many vendors there are for BMW. One can buy 2k2 repplica M3 rims for an E46--price?? $200 ea. He told me to subscribe when I want to get a new BMW. $35 magazine subscription = $500 rebate on E46. $1500 on a 745 (I know, big whoop, but show me a Nissan car club that has ANY pull with the mfg. the way BMWCCA is "in" with BMWNA. They got the E46 steering racks retrofitted that's how in tune they are.)

Competition keeps the aftermarket prices honest. Sure, Dinan may cost as much as a stillen. But somehow I don't think a person is gonna get burned on a Dinan SC the way some have had troubles with Stillen's.

imho all a person has to do is look through one issue of Roundel and it's obvious we have little available to mod a Maxima. It's always the same old vendors with their lame not liable for your problems after the sale attitudes. Our aftermarket prices are kinda unreasonable--use the $200 M3 replica rim for comparison. my .02

ericdwong

Yup my thoughts exactly. Nissans are definately not an enthusiast car. Not on these shores that is. Your right we're limited to the amount of vendors and they're all super high priced/and or of bad quality. Sux. Had I done it again, I definately would not have bought this car.

undercvr

JMAX95

Stock 2k2 M3 18" rims are worth peanuts. My cousin decided to keep his because there's no market for them.

Frank Fontaine

There's a big market for them, that's why there are replicas made in Italy. Discount Tire sells them for $270/ea. That was my point, it's nice to be able to pick up a magazine, see various vendors for parts, and find alternatives so easily. Instead of taking the web's word that $270 is a good price, you flip-through page after page and there's a place that has the knock-offs for only $200.

UglyMax

I would imagine that the reason there is no market for these parts is for two reasons:
1) It is a 4-door car and most people couldn't imagine spending money to fix up a 4-door(I understand there are people that fix up 4-door Civics and such as well, but I think those look terrible)
2) Most people can't afford a new Maxima with base price around ($22,000 or whatever your area is) when you can buy a cheap a$$ Civic and use the rest of the money you would have spent on the Maxima, souping up the Civic.

I wish there was more of a market for it as well, but it just isn't there.

Mystical2k2SE

Yeah, I came to the same realization you did when I flipped through an issue of Sport Compact Magazine. Literally hundreds of ads in that sucker and only two or three of them included a Maxima (a body kit for some late model).I'm pretty much disgusted with the lack of aftermarket support for this car.

If you're single and enjoy moding/personalizing your car, don't bother gettin a Maxima... waste of time, unless you're loaded.

AznWontonboy

I wouldn't be so sure about that. Maximas are 4-door cars that compete with Honda Accords/Toyota Camrys.. and in that case I think Maximas do real well. Enthusiast cars? 300zxTT, 240sx, new 350Z, G35 Coupe 6 speed..

02MaximizedVQ

I wouldn't say that. Berk intake for $55 shipped. And you can always find good deals on wheels and tires. Remember the 2k2's are just barely a year old. The 2k3 model year will be great for us because more 3.5L Maxima's will hit the street, Nismo will be here in the fall, and things like Y-pipe and more cat back exhuast choices will be coming. Trust me people will realize the 3.5L is a hot rod motor and the longer we wait the more competition there will be for Maxima parts. You have to remember this is a first year production engine.

Jesse

Maximus1000

Well, I think the Maxima has some decent aftermarket support considering its class and peers. Would you believe it that there are people who actually mod Camrys? What about the new Impalas? Intrepids and Stratus'? Yep, they do. There is an aftermarket for nearly every car out there except maybe Daewoos, but are those really cars? I'll save that for another thread.

I see your point though. It sucks that we dont have alot of parts available for the 3.5L yet. But the Maxima, while sporty, doesn't comjure up images in most peoples heads of Camaro beaters. Its, rather, a sedan with alot of power. As others have stated, with the 'corporatization' of the 3.5L much like the 3.8L over at GM, the aftermarket grows stronger each car sold.

Mystical2k2SE

What bothers me most is the lack of committment by aftermarket companies. Only one company has really committed to the Maxima, and that's Steallin. They've pretty much thumbed their nose at the 2002+ Maxima. Nismo? I highly doubt they'll make anything for the Maxima. The 350Z, Altima, and SE-R is what finally brought them here, not the Max.

That's why everyone on the ORG has virtually the same exact mods. How about more than one or two options with a bodykit? How about superchargers/turbos? Even the Accord, sedan and coupe alike, have literally hundreds of choices for performance and appearance mods. Your rarely see two moded Accords that look identical. I see this all the time with the Maxima.

Sorry for ranting, but I think you get where I'm coming from.

Mikie

Lets be realistic. They produce for the bigger selling cars. There are not a lot of Maxs sold in comparison to some other models. That will keep body mods to a minimum.. To those companies that realize that since there are few making it, they may bet back their investment.

But... the fact that the same engine is used on multiple models, I would think you would see more coming down the pipeline. They are selling lots of Altimas.

Max8MyCash

iTrader: (3)

Well....here is my take on it...


Nine different intakes available
Eight different types of springs
Five or six different strut tower brace/sway bar setups
Five different coilover systems
Four y-pipe systems
Four or five different catback/rear section exhaust systems
Various bolt on interior accessories
Various internal modifications
One type of supercharger
One turbo (being made as we speak)
Five different strut/shock combos
Various exterior lighting setups (clears, euro clears, half red half clears, diamond clears, etc..)
Various grills
Various body kits

To me, this doesn't sound like a lack of aftermarket support?

02MaximizedVQ

Its been the best selling V6 import sedan 16 years running. I don't know what else they want?

Lime

THIS THREAD IS STUPID

Gr8bone

LOL you go Lime!

SkylineGTR

ya know, the maxima may not have as much aftermarket support as lets say a honda/acura, buts the aftermarket on maximas have gone a LONG way. Honda/Acura owners didnt always have aftermarket support, in the early 90s there was no "bolt on turbokit" everyone had to go out and fabricate their own setup, much of which some maxima owners have done. And now that there is a bolt on turbo kit available, various types of exhaust, several intakes, and thats a lack of support? Not too long ago, honda/acura people were probably saying the same thing you are, saying things about fords/gm having so much support versus honda/acura.

bill99gxe

iTrader: (1)

I wonder how much outrage there would be if I had stated this instead of Erica.

Lime

but BILL, I'm cute and cuddly!!!


and jaded and b17chy

max95q

iTrader: (10)

But see you have to see it like this. You didnt buy this car for aftermarket support. You bought it because you liked it and it does have performance to it. But you got it becasue you wanted it. To buy a car or decide if a car is bad because of the Aftermarket support is well kinda dumb. The aftermarket support for the maxima has grown since The org. Maybe before then. BMWS are a symbol of a performance car so of course there will be superior after market support.Since the Beginning of the bmw theyve been well known for their Performance and sports car handling so of course, major enthusiast, major support. Plus Maximas are mostly known as family cars and/or grocery getters and havent all ways been the pick for sporty upgrades. Look at my 1988 Nissan Maxima. It wasnt even a thought of being a performance car, we had wagons built in my cars design. But a 1988 Bmw, hey performance sports car because of its heritage. If you really wanted a performance sports car with lots of aftermarket support you wouldve been already thinkin bmw or any other sports car out there. Not the Maxima.

Mystical2k2SE

You're wrong. The 3-series Bimmer is not a sports car. The Accord V6 is not a sportscar. Neither is the Acura RSX-S or Lexus IS300. But they all get more support than all the generations of Maximas put together. There's something about this car that keeps aftermarket companies away, and it's got nothing to do with the four doors.

bill99gxe

iTrader: (1)

You said he was wrong, yet you leave the answer open-ended yourself.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

so is bill

Mystical2k2SE

Not sure what you mean, Bill. All I'm saying is that other sporty cars get crazy aftermarket support, yet Nissan's "flagship" sports sedan gets bread crumbs. This after 5 generations of class leading performance. I don't get it.

Lordrandall

iTrader: (4)

Look how many Maximas sell compared to all those Hondas/Acuras.

bill99gxe

iTrader: (1)

Your statement in the previous post seemed open-ended to me. I thought you were going to give an opinion why the Maxima gets breadcrumbs in the aftermarket world.


But nevermind, I see your point now.

bill99gxe

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, right, like you aren't a cheap piece of jewelry by now, either.

SkylineGTR

honda/acura....their cars that get mad aftermarket support are usually the ones that get lots of support IN japan. Honda gets most of their cars to the states, or at least the more popular ones, and since the parts are already in existance it just requires someone to bring it here and distribute it with just a little bit of modification to the original designs. BMW is kind of in the same boat, their most popular cars have much aftermarket support, and most of their cars make it here. Now the problem with Nissan, is that their most popular cars in japan, havent been coming stateside, minus the Z car, which if im not mistaken DID have a rather large aftermarket. It traces back to the roots of the car, and what it was made for, and sorry to say, nissan didnt have performance parts and aftermarket in mind when they designed the cefiro/maxima.

mattC

iTrader: (2)

such anger... DAMN that RAP music!!!!




- M

Mystical2k2SE

That last sentence in your post pretty much sums it all up. But it still doens't make sense why the Maxima never caught on with aftermarket companies like the Accord did. Oh well, no point in worrying about it. I'll be watching the release of the 350Z, and the subsequent response by the aftermarket community with interest.

max95q

iTrader: (10)

Lets put it this way


Maxima has mainly Family Enthusiast, not alot of support.

Frank Fontaine

Don't get so uptight people. It takes some stones to take care of business. I may be mistaken, but this is probably the best Maxima forum in existence. But it's really somewhat powerless to provide any real means to an end. It's got some technical support, like when clears were popular there were group deals so everyone could change their lenses and such. That's a joke...

imho there is too much rationalization and acceptance of the status quo. Again, for example, BMW's market research said that they should lighten up the steering on the 330i and Ci. Buyers were outraged after they lived with those cars that got fitted with the overboosted racks. the car club BMWCCA got BMWNA to retrofit the cars with the loose steering. Instead of getting Nissan to pay attention to styling, this forum chooses to accept it and say the 5th gen grows on you, it looks good when you're drunk, it's beautiful not goofy. Maybe the average age of the BMWCCA is over 30 or something. I almost don't want to know what the average age here is.

I don't think there's anything wrong with thinking that the Maxima is the greatest car in the world bar none. It's also ok to constructively criticize it. How else will it improve?

theblue

when you go to the swimming pool do you check to see if there is water before you dive in?

Lime

who knows, who cares. We still like our cars. If you don't like your ******* car, SELL IT, FFS!

I still maintain that...

THIS THREAD IS STUPID!!!

Lime

coincidentally, Nissan's other "performance" cars have extremely different setups (suspension, engine, but brake systems are similar, hence there have been cross-drilled and slotted rotors out for the Maxima for a long time) from the Maxima, while all Hondas until very recently have all had extremely similar setups. ALso coincidentally, the aftermarket interest in Maximas has only increased recently; economy rule: if it doesn't sell, don't make it.

Mikie

Strictly volume of sales. There are a lot more Accords sold than Maximas. Volume of possible sales. Also it may be the clientel that purchase the Max (us enthusiasts probably make up a very small percentage), statistically, it may be sold to the "class" of people that do not usually mod their cars. Again, read my lips... Volume of potential sales" lol.

SkylineGTR

Accords have 2 engine setups, and 2 body styles, one which in my opinion was strictly geared towards younger buyers, not only that the coupe also has 2 separate engines, 4cylinder has a very low price, and the V6 is pretty low price too, the Accord in general covers a very wide price range if u include both engine setups and both body setups. i guess that goes towards "volume of potential sales." Cheapest Maxima costs close to a fully loaded V6 Accord, and for the maxima it just keeps going up from there. Even if the percentage of Accord Enthusiasts to total Accord owners was same as percentage of Maxima Enthusiasts to total Maxima owners, number of Accord Enthusiats prevail. im just restating what mikie said. total number of accord owners is far greater than maxima, mainly bc it has a much lower starting price, and as for mods, even the accord has its share of problems, the V6 accord has far fewer mods than the 4cylinder, aside from the body mods which are compatible regardless of engine, Accord V6 dont have a whole lot more variety in engine parts than us maxima owners. They have 1 or 2 Superchargers, no Turbocharger(correct me if im wrong), various intakes(just like us), 1-2 headers(once again correct me if im wrong).

NightRider

iTrader: (6)

You are exactly right! What makes everyone think that the Accords have a huge aftermarket support that the Maximas don't have? If you listen to many of the Accord owners, they will tell you that the support for the Maxima is even greater than for the Accord. The only difference that I can see is for the older model Accords and their ability to swap a H22 for their stock engines. The aftermarket is growing everyday. Members of the .Org are helping by contributing and some even manufactuing products themselves. That's a good thing. Where do you think Honda support companies like HP Racing come from? They come from Honda owners and enthusiasts. Import performance only grows on its enthusiasts. So in closing, if you think there is no support for the Maxima Community, try contributing by giving ideas instead of complaining all the time.

deezo

iTrader: (3)

Well, those Accord owners aren't looking hard enough. Look in every compact car mag or aftermarket website and all you'll see is stuff for Civics and Accords.

Mikie

You just hit the nail on the head (better than on your finger eh?)
Younger buyer. Most can not afford a Max and there are more younger buyers of this type of car (sedan) to do mods than older buyer percentage-wise. A bigger market.