Help - Maxima 3rd&4thGen for 11 years, now what?
 

Folks,Dudes,Dames,

I have driven a Maxima for 240,000 miles in the last 11 years. My 3rd gen I sold at 155,000 miles, my 4th gen has 135,000 miles on it now. I am going on 40 years young.

After driving these incredible versatile vehicles for a decade it really is time for a change, so I ask for your help.

I am an agressive driver in boring central ohio. I must have fwd if not awd. I have to have performance and handling and negligible maintenance concerns. I would consider something like the A6 4.2.

The car could be modded, but must have longevity. Please help.

Are you also considering the 2k3 maximas?? The all new 2k4 maxima will be out soon as well, so you might want to take a look at that too...:)

Yes, I'd definitely hold out til the new Max comes out next year.

You never know...

Re: Help - Maxima 3rd&4thGen for 11 years, now what?
 

If you're looking at the A6 4.2, here are some others to consider if buying new or near-new now:

Acura TL-S - Discussed to death here.

Audi A6 2.7T - Easily modded to be faster than the 4.2 with a chip and 6spd available, for less $$. Supposedly almost as fast as the 4.2 stock.

Cadillac Seville STS - Northstar V8 powered and Caddy styled Bonneville

Honda Accord EX V6 - I'm sure that there are suspension mods available now or "Real Soon Now" (TM) to meet your handling needs. Power mods right around the corner in droves. Maybe below the status bar set with the A6

Nissan Maxima - Say no more.

Pontiac Bonneville SSEi
Pontiac Grand Prix GTP - Supercharged 3800 V6 in size and garishness of your choice :) Maybe below the status bar and reliability bar set.

Saab 9-3 Vector
Saab 9-5 Aero - High performance from snow country

Toyota Camry/Lexus ES300 with TRD Supercharger and suspension kit.
Pricey? It has warranty, and certainly looks sleepy.

VW Passat 1.8T (chipped/modded/whatever), but if you're sinking that much $$ into it, look at the W8, and get AWD
VW Passat W8

Volvo S60 T5
Volvo V70 T5
Volvo S80 T6 - High performance cars from snow country

Also, the Volvo Rs are due out next year, as are new Pontiacs with 280HP/280Ft-lb. The new Maximas may be on us by then as well.

All of these are below the price point set with the A6, which IMHO costs too much.

Just to compare, price a Mercedes-Benz C32 AMG (yes, it's RWD, but check the prices)

Re: Re: Help - Maxima 3rd&4thGen for 11 years, now what?
 

The new AWD BMW 300* series thats coming out. Sporty, fun, great car!

Re: Help - Maxima 3rd&4thGen for 11 years, now what?
 

00' audi s4???
i'd love to have it!

oh!
can't forget the *suburu impreza wrx sti*
coming soon to north america [285hp! (at the crank of course)]

g35 sports coupe
check out my future car

How about the Evo VII or the WRX Sti- I think that both of those cars would give you all you want

G35 Sedan or Coupe, especially the coupe. Fun (6 speed manual in the coupe), Fast (up to 280 hp), AND bound to be RELIABLE(Nissan:D.) Same VQness. The germans can be more fun, but they still need to work on the reliability part. I mean, isn't fun also knowing that your car will be there, day in and day out, no matter what you beat out of it? Sheesh, even the brand spanking new M3s blow up. You'd think that BMW would pay speciall attention to the building of their premium 3 series. That just plain sucks. Nissan really rocks in the reliability respect.

DW

EDIT: Forgot that you said FWD or AWD. Oh well. No G35 then:)

How about another Maxima:wall:

Re: Help - Maxima 3rd&4thGen for 11 years, now what?
 

Any update here?

Re: Re: Help - Maxima 3rd&4thGen for 11 years, now what?
 

I have looked around and cannot find really what I want.

I would like a 300 hp, all wheel drive, sports sedan.

The sedan needs to do 0 to 60 in about 6 seconds. It also needs to be big enough to haul around 4 full size folks.

The A8 and the A6 4.2 are about all of the selection I believe that I have, but I would also like significant reliability, and I would like to stay below $40K.

So no, no real update, I don't think they make the car that is what I am looking for.

Re: Re: Re: Help - Maxima 3rd&4thGen for 11 years, now what?
 

That's funny. I think Nissan is looking right at you.

The next 6th Gen Maxima will have to have a 5 speed automatic and available 6 speed manual, 270-280 3.5 V6, and rumour has it that AWD will be an option, if not fully standard. And you know the price won't be up at Audi levels.

[Voice of Al Pacino]Just when you try to get away, they pull you right back in![/end voice]

:D

DW

Re: Help - Maxima 3rd&4thGen for 11 years, now what?
 

If you got the Caysh$$ you've got to go with "The ultimate Driving Machine", A BMW. BEst car I've ever owned(sorry MAx buds). I owned a 1985 ,635csi, back the early 90's. The car was way ahead of it's time.

Re: Re: Re: Help - Maxima 3rd&4thGen for 11 years, now what?
 

Volvo S60R and V70R will fit the bill next year. 300HP, AWD, 6spd
VW Passat W8 "GT" or whatever they call it will be there as well. Not quite 300HP, but supposedly a 6spd available.
Otherwise, today, an A6 2.7T + chip may be the only way to go. As far as reliability, I'd check out vwvortex/audiworld to see if anyone's having issues with their chipped cars. Everything I read suggests that even the chipped cars are set at "conservative" levels.

For your checklist, below $40K may not be doable on a new car.

Thanx Philipoe, I will keep my eye on the new Vulva's coming out.

I am not sure what their reliability is but I know they are tanks.

The W-8 doesn't have any balls as far as Car and Driver is concerned so I question it's capability, and I think that VW is priced way high for what they are offering crap you might as well buy an Audi.

The W8 has balls. It's just that they weigh 4000 lbs:laugh:

DW