This question came to me after reading the newer Car & Driver mags. Every interesting car that is in production or about to be produced has the soul of a "sports car". Cars like the Subaru Forester 2.5XT are able to do 13.8 (or quicker) in the 1/4 right off the lot. The Forester is faster than the Maxima! Ain't that some shyte! The new Benzo's and Bimmers are close to seeing 600 HP from the factory and you will see these cars at the track. Trucks are in the game too. The FX45 runs the 1/4 in 14.7 secs.

Back to my question: When will you finally decide to give up on the Maxima?

As many of you know, the aftermarket options suck for the Maxima as far as performance goes but it is getting better. However, we still don't have enough companies that are willing to get involved with hopping up the Maxima. Of course you're limited with limited funds (and those without limits can obviously keep up) but how far will you go to keep your current ride in the standing with cars that are becoming more powerful and faster by the second?

 

I gave up on the Maxima the day the G35 came out. This was reaffirmed when Nissan introduced the '04 Titanic fwd Maxima . Right now the only thing keeping me in the Maxima game is that the resale sucks so bad.

 

When I have enough money to get the car I want. Right now bang for the buck is still the MAX.
Yes MB is close to 500HP stock but at $150-180 per HP thats going to be a bit out of my league for a while.

There is a E55AMG at RBM in Atlanta that was titled but for some reason the the deal fell through or the guy changed his mind. Yea right, gotta make you wonder if their trying to make more on the car... The car is now for sale used and the price tag is... Drum roll please.








$92500.00

With the options it has thats about 7k over MSRP.

I also have a customer that has been on the waiting list for one for about a year. He is now 18th on the list and their getting 1-2 in per month.

 

But yes my next car will most likely be a G35c.

 

I will have my max til the day it dies *knock on wood*

 

That's why I'm keeping my Max forever. I can't get crap for my 97 with 127000 miles.

 

when I have enough money to buy something better

 

Nevar! asdf

 

I'll never give up on the Maxima. Seriously though if anybody bought a Maxima because of it's performance potential then you bought the wrong car. The aftermarket has never and may never truly imbrace the Maxima with aftermarket parts the way they do to Honda's, Toyota's and VW's. Hell even our own manufacter could care less about the our cars which is evident with Nismo having no parts for the Maxima. I'm mean for goodness sake if we owned a Camry then we could get a factory supercharger from TRD. Personally I'm very satisfied with the performance of my car and for the minimal mods I've put on it I've been very pleased with the gains. Of course I didn't buy the Maxima in the hopes that it would be the one of the fastest family cars on the planet. There are many cars out there that can beat us and of course with technology there will become even more cars out there that can beat us. It's just the nature of the beast. You especially can't own any car older than the year of 2000 and expect that you'll still be the fastest car out there. In the last 3-4 years there have been advancements in cars that are astounding. Who would have thought that only 6 years after the death of the Supra TT that now there would be 3 little turbo'd 4 cylinder cars (Subaru WRX STi, EVO VII, and NEON Srt) that could compete with it. So am I giving up on my Maxima....hell no. Anyway that's just my 2 cents about the whole thing. If you agree good, if you don't, oh well.

 

I've already pretty much given up. No more mods are being done. I'm just trying to kill my car payments as fast as I can so I can keep the max as a winter beater and buy something turbocharged and possibly AWD/RWD.




But if SSR Engineering builds that 4th gen kit, this all may change. If not, then it all stays the same.

 

I don't plan on getting rid of the Max. What I would like to do is get a G35C 6-spd as a graduation present for myself and keep the Max as a winter car. My 98 hasn't even hit 60K and to me it is a shame to let a second owner have a car that is very well maintained.

 

we all know the capabilities of a max there is one right now producing in the realm of 550hp at the crank thats close enogh to 600 for me

if my max were in a wreck i would not even consider anything other than a max

 

As long as I keep in mind what it is and what my plans are for it, then I'll keep it forever probably. I've already chopped up enough of the frame that nobody else would want to buy it (other than another Maxima freak)... resale is crap on a car with almost 200k miles. it was crap when it had 50k miles too, but that's a different point.

The car's not worth anything now if I did try to sell it, so there's no point. Enjoy it for a classy 10 year old car that still turns heads, is "quick", and different. A Maxima is NOT a sports car, and there are a lot of people on this board who haven't learned otherwise. a sports car can NOT be FWD and weigh over 3000lb! period. learn that, and you'll be a lot better off.

 

no matter what....there will ALWAYS be something better.

so if u bought that E55 or the M5...in 2-3 years they will crank out a faster and better one...then what?

 

The way the market is these days there are definately alot of cars coming off the lot much faster than ours stock, but when it comes to cars, change of this nature is inevitable. So what do you do? Well I guess you re-evaluate what your intrests really are in the car you own. Why did you get the max? Did you get it to play the role of Predator to the majority of cars you ran into on the street? Did you get it because you loved the way it looked and the appearance of the japanese machine made you super excited when you pondered the imense "Hookability" potential it possesed. Did you purchase it for durability? Comfort? ect.... I think the answers to these questions will ultimately decide for an individual when its time to move on. I for one didn't get the car for performance. I fell in love with the 4th Gen Look at first and was simply amazed at how sexy it looked stock. Couple that with the only reason I've ever purchased a car, Dependability, and I was sold on the machine from the start. I didn't truly realize the performance aspect of the car till I purchased it and took my buddies Mustang one night while on base. Ear to ear smile? Hell yeah, but the reason I choose the max and continue to keep it till this day? Not quite. Im sure the priorities of why people own there maximas differ amongst us all about as much as the type of Rims you choose to put on your ride, but for me, dependability and good looks seals deal and Im satisfied.

Wanna keep up with the newer cars? Put more money into the max. Is it worth it? If your a true enthusiast i'd say yeah.
Don't wanna put all that dough in the ride? Get another car.
Wanna look Good and somewhat unique? Keep the max!
Think your look is gettin old? Get another car

Now don't get me wrong, there really are a lot of NICE cars out there now, and in a perfect world, I'd buy a few of em in a heart beat, BUT, for me, in that perfect world the 4th generation maxima will always have a garage to park in as well.

 

My max fills a bigger role... reliable transport for me, wife, 2 kids, groceries, vacations, luggage, etc... It's a bonus that it has the engine it does but even at 50 or 60hp less I still probably would have bought it.

Of course the choices you pointed out are going to make the next car interesting, but that's then.

 

I am going to drive mine until it dies. Good, reliable transportation to and from work.

 

Good replies fellas.

I see it this way: I did buy my Max because of my love for the 2 gen. The car was sweet. Then the 4th Gens came out and I got one. I got it because of what it is and being tall, I needed the space. I didn't have my own family when I bought it but now I do and it serves its purpose well. I have gone to the track but I didn't buy my Max for that purpose. Honestly, my car isn't my priority right now even though I've purchase a few big mods to compliment driving this car.

 

I'll give up on my '98 SE once I finish college and find a higher paying job, then i'll keep it as a spare car

 

My car will be around forever!!! there arent many cars around that are as roomy as our cars and performance oriented. my next car will more than likely be a 2 year old rs6 so i dont mind waiting. if your max is boosted you are still beating most of the cars on the road anyway

 

You just have to do things for yourself.. I went turbo to keep up with 90% of the cars on the road and I constantly change the car around to keep a sense of style up. There is always bigger and badder, simply put you have to do what makes you happy.

 

Please, you're in the same boat as me. We can't sell the cars. Too many permanent changes that aren't removable.

Our cars are so weird, they're worth probably $3.50 to most people. So unless some enthusiast is willing to pay what our cars are "worth" we'll be driving them until they die.

 

It took me almost year to think of what car to get and a half a year to find my Max. At first I wanted the 6th gen accord coupe but the v6 came only in auto and I really wanted to have a manual car, then I thought of a mazda mx6 because it was fast and nobody else had it. I finally came to my senses and bought a MAX, why? Because it was a 4 door spacious car that can hold my gf, friends and crap, I also needed to hold more crap when traveling b/w college and home. I also hate getting out of my seat so other people can get in the car, how annoying is that? I also wanted a car that can go if I wanted to and also a fuel efficient car. I understand cars like corvettes n lamborghini's can go really F'ing fast but what's the point when yyour gas mileage is in the single digits?? Especially when gas prices are so damn high now. Another point is that it will not be a target for thieves like an Honda can be (integra) so I can sleep more peacefully at night.

And lastly, who else in a 5 mile radius is likely to have a 5spd Max?? I love the max, not many people have a modded maxss around and I appreciate the uniqueness. The car is nicely balanced and affordable too!

Bottom line: The car wins in every category!

 

I'll keep mine until it starts to become too costly to fix. Every car reaches a point where the repairs are overshadowing its value.

However, I doubt that will be for a long time. I plan on keeping this car 7 or 8 years. In 3 or so I would like to get a sprots car and keep the max as daily driver.

 

I'm hoping I can get out while the max still has some value...I'm a little lucky being that I have a 5-speed SE fully-loaded (down to the heated seats and gold emblems/exhaust finisher) that's still in good shape, but it does have 107k on it now. A friend with a 3rd gen is still pretty interested in buying it come summer, and provided I graduate in May as planned, I may take that option.

Of course, having to drive the max into the ground wouldn't be a bad consolation prize by any means But I don't need the practical aspects of a sedan at this point and would like something smaller & more nimble (ie, probably not FWD).

 

With the lease being up on my 2000 GLE I was really going to get a ’04 Maxima. But they were just too big and that 3-pod dash turned me off. So I went with the G35 coupe and have never been happier.

 

Their is a guy in my condo complex with the same car and it is beautiful.

 

Maxima is/was a great car(any gen). It's only now that it's platform/engine is starting to show it's age. Deez, are they putting a good engine into the Legacy also?

 

I've already given up on it. As my driving experience evolves, so does what I want in a car.

With it's 150+K miles...there's no way I'm selling it. Hopefully, I'll be able to afford a new car when the Maxima reaches 200K. When that time comes, the Maxima will still be around, taking me to work, Home Depot and through the crappy winters.

 

Give up? haaaaaaaaaail no! I love this car. It's lightweight, fully loaded, bose sounds great, the VQ rocks, and it's a 5spd. It's worth more to me than it is to anybody else (except another ORGer maybe). It suits me just fine and I don't plan on selling anytime soon. I didn't buy this car to smoke every other car, so who cares if new cars are faster? Most people don't even buy those ultra-fast cars anyways, and this old Max holds its own against most other cars in its class even to this day. My jaw dropped too when I saw that Forrester 2.5XT report (13.8), but do you know how many of those I've seen? NADA.

Modding potential? Maybe one day if I'm getting bored with the car I'll add an intake and y-pipe, but I'm not even to that point yet. The stock performance has been more than satisfying for me. This car hauls below 80. It only starts to get weak above 80, but since I hardly drive above 80 it's really a moot point for me. The "street performance" of the Max exceeds its track performance at least from my perspective. Yeah, what little aftermarket there is isn't all that great. But the Maxima sure does very well with what little it has. How many Accords or Camrys do you see running 12's or even 11's with their "superior" aftermarket?

I think I am going to pay this car off and then just keep it. Eventually I'll get something else, but I'll probably keep this one as a spare or beater car. I really would like my wife-to-be to be able to drive both of our daily drivers so my next new(er) car will probably be an auto but I'll need another fun/manual car for myself in that case. This car will serve that purpose very well.

 

Never.

I'd like to pay off the max, get a G35, and then stick the max in the garage and turbo that bish.

 

I didn't see any info on it as of yet but give it a little more time. I was surprised as fark when I read the the Forester 2.5XT specs this morning on the train.

 

It sure is. Here's a pix:

 

IMO the perfect Maxima would have been a RWD 4th Gen followed by a RWD 5th Gen.
But Nissan insists that Northeastern drivers want FWD.

 

What? A Max is a sports car? My 2k GLE is a daily driver, and a nice one at that. I purchased it for that so I'll give up when it does. Last DD had 239K miles on it (Ford Taurus) so at 67K I have a few miles to go yet. And hey I use my "Z" to satisfy my sports car urge.

 

From what's I've read (a buddy runs one of the scooby boards), the engine in the 2.5XT is the same thing as the STi pretty much right down to cams and even the sodium filled valves. Turbo is different though, ECU, tranny, but the engine is the same. Imagine the potential. They massively under-rated that thing...it has way more than the stock ratings.

 

My wife wants me to buy one.

SR20: Nissan got that idea from us people that thougt FWD and 4WD were the best things that ever hit the roads in the late 70's and early 80's.

 

g35 sedan 6mt down the road is my future

 

i'm 18, first year college, won't give up my max until i finish college. the VQ engine just serves me great. it's reliable and gets me from point A to point B in comfert and safety.

modding the max is only for my own interest and design the max into my own personality. it also help me grow and learn about my car more. although it's costly, but for the last year, every mod was worth it.

my next car would probably be altima 3.5SE or G35 coupe, depends on my budget. i can't describe how much love i have for VQs. even though it won't be a maxima, it'll be VQ for sure.

 

Reliability, Looks, and V6 power were what made me get a Max. That was 6 years and 130k miles ago. It's still running well with regular preventive maintenance. Sure there have been a bad o2 sensor or starter over the years, but overall it's been trouble free. Most of the mods I wanted to do have been done. No more are in the future as I just don't have the time now.

I doubt I'll ever get rid of it. It'll probably be passed along to a family member or kept as a backup vehicle.

In a year or two, who knows what I'll move on to..