Lets see- resale, paint quality (read- aweful), reliability (tranny manny especially), ultra flex 2000 chassis, poor suspension design (rear especially), crash test results (95-96 especially), dim headlights... yup the car sux.

 

the C4 ZF tranny in LT5 /LT4 cars
T56- C5 + dodge viper + cobras use
Toyota Supra Getrag tranny... I know a local one pushing 1000 hp and its got the stock tranny

 

Thats probably because of your outrageous stereo system...


I'd like rear wheel drive. Thats all.

 

all 4 door family cars

 

the tranny is ****en garbage, it blew up on me from jus doing a couple peel outs. By the way nothing is wrong with fwd. Fwd pulls better off da line then a rwd. Either than dat i love it, its not bad for a family car.

 

You're F'ing kidding me, right?

 

He means he can peel out better.

 

I think Dave was referring to trannies in 4 door sedans.

 

cup holders, the leather, the hood to thin it rinckels
like an old lady, wheel gap,paint /abs not standrt,

 

I bought a 1970 Challenger brand new in oct 69 and I took the trans out very easlily and it only ran 13's. It was a great car, same color as the one in your pic and turned a lot of heads on the street but not on the track.

My 95 Maxima is running a stock auto trans and runs low 12's. Doesn't turn any heads on the street but sure does on the track.

 

Ok, I'll say something different. wide turning radius. If that's adjustable, someone let me know.

 

- depreciation/resale
- no ABS standard up to '99
- alternators
- no low washer fluid light std.
- bose (for the audio inclined)
- bad cd/cassette headunits
- option pkg's for '98+

 

lol i didnt know those were cupholders

 

Low resale value is a flaw if you buy new.
It is an advantage if you buy used !!

 

werd i bought ma 96 Gle with i30 interior for 5000 with 70k miles

 

And everyone says... AMEN.

 

I think only a couple of folks mentioned it and I'll join in, the seats are horrible, they don't have any support what so ever. I don't no of a simple replacement, besides going with $300 racing seats.

 

GAS MILEAGE... just thought about that when filling up my tank... how come my 3.0 sable was getting better gas mileage and it was an 88? Maybe cause its only 140 hp, but still, its a 1988!

 

Gas mileage is one of the Maximas strengths.

 

Especially considering how much power the VQ produces when compared to its rivals.
I'm sure there's a best MPG thread out there where plenty of members have topped the EPA estimates....then again most members have a heavy right foot.

FYI: I'm going to do the first RWD conversion on a MAxima..shouldn't be too hard, right?

 

Go ahead man, well be rite there behind u to support u. lol then again good luck

 

Actually, I let Infinti handle it over a year ago.
They came up with this: G35 sedan, MSRP: $27,950.

 

lol great job tink you could ask dem for a turbo?

 

1. fwd
2. needed to be a little lower stock, 4x4
3. need more HP
4. turbo systems are out of reach, to much money

 

No LSD.
Lack of body rigidity.

 

No, I don't think that's true unless you plan on keeping the used Max forever. You buy a 2yr. old SE for 15.5k, seems like a good deal,what, maybe 255 plus xenons? Another guy buys a 2 yr. old Accord for more than that, no xenons, maybe even 4 cyl, maybe 6. His car is cheaper to operate per mile. Only way you level the playing field is to drive the car forever. Otherwise, you sell again you lose more than someone who bought a used Honda, etc. Maybe what you mean is you don't have any more to spend than 15.5k so you get the Max, and the only way the price was that low was because of poor resale.

What do I think is the Maxima's biggest flaw? The looks for sure, it has never been better looking than its competion, it's always been behind the times. The handling would probably be its 2nd flaw. Steering would be 3rd.

 

how do you figure? most of the lost value in a car is in the first few years.

look at it this way:

buy a 1999 V6 Maxima (66,000 miles): $8,690
buy a 1999 V6 Accord (66,000 miles): $11,215

$2,525 in savings.

Drive it for 3 years, end up with 110,000 miles.

Accord: $6,380
Maxima: $4,655

You can sell your max for $1,725 less than the accord.

that may not have been the most exact method, but you get the idea.

and, chances are, the whole time, you will be blowing the doors off of Accords and just about everything else in its class if you took the money you saved on the car and dumped it into aftermarket parts.

my gripes about the maxima?

Where's the top end power?
High rise 4 wheel drive suspension.
The cover on the driver's headrest keeps coming undone!
A little noisy on the wind.
Where's the ABS (my previous car, a 1992 Infiniti G20 couldnt be bought WITHOUT ABS)

I love the engine, ride/handling.
Resale value works out great for me.

 

I don't follow your logic. Here are real TOC numbers for loaded 2k4 Maximas and Accords:
Maxima price, years 1-5
30831
8119
2539
2235
1981
1777

Accord
26751
4950
2297
2022
1792
1609

Yes, the Maxima takes a 8119 hit year 1 when the Accord only loses 4950. How is that an advantage to a used buyer other than it makes the Maxima less expensive to buy used? The pattern continues through year 5.

These are depreciation numbers. The used car market does not have to reflect them in a 1:1 ratio. Just like if the price of a barrel of oil goes down 10%, it's very unlikely that it will be reflected in the price of gas, because gas is a refined product and oil is a component of it. It's not a direct relationship.

Look at 5 year old Accords and 5 year old Maximas. See I think where this is going is people are happy because they get a 98 SE with every option for 7 grand or something like that and can't possibly get a Honda with those features, mileage, etc. at that price. But if that's a good thing, it's the same logic in saying gee a house that would be 750,000 in boston is only 190,000 in Dallas, therefore Dallas is better. That's pretzel logic!

 

Stock ride height

 

Biggest problems that cannot be fixed with easy to install/buy aftermarket parts on 4th gen:

1) Way too short 5th gear

 

i love my 3rd gen but i have always hated the stupid "automatic belts." early 90s cars had those, like it was some innovation. really it is ghey and annoying. it ****ed me off so much, i bought an S14 to have a car with normal belts. kept the max, though.

 

my point was the price of entry for a USED (i dont care about new car depreciation, i dont buy new) maxima is less. you can then turn around and sell it for LESS of a loss than you would a similiar accord. granted, the accord sells for more, but you lost less money with the maxima. as far as i am concerned, its a cost savings.

me, personally, i think the maxima is a better car. i wouldnt buy an accord even if it was the exact same price. how is that pretzel logic? it is something we like to call opinion. you get the same **** (and, IMO, some better things) than an Accord at less cost. How is that a bad thing? If you bought it new, then that sucks, but your loss is my gain. Wanna sell your max cheap?

and, FWIW, i think a house for $190,000 in Dallas IS better than a $750,000 house in boston. the one in Dallas is likely to have a bigger garage and parking (i'm a car guy), you wont have to deal with as much city crap (its smack dab in the center of Megalopolis) and my mortgage would be WAY less. Jobs in the tech field (what i do) are just as common there. I wouldnt have to deal with nasty winters, having to drive a winter beater to keep my car from rusting, i can own all the assault rifles i want and actually be able to fire the damned thing and the Gulf of Mexico is right there, a much better beach than in Boston. Why do i think this? because its my opinion.

and oil? i didnt say i saved money because i bought a bunch of metal at a 10% savings and MADE a maxima. what does that have to do with the price of eggs in china?

but i digress. I am glad you think my logic is pretzeled, those are tasty. Me, personally, i am glad i saved money, both initial and long run.

 

i am going to have to say...
paint and the MAF sensor

I am glad my maxima didn't come low...one reason is when you do lower it, it looks bad ***...and another is when you see somthing differnet it looks awesome...but if all the maxima's came lowered it wouldn't be as cool!

 

true about the lowering, except i dont like to spend money, ****.

MAF sensors kick @ss man, you dont need different maps for different weather, altitude, etc. it reads FLOW, so it is exact, regardless of conditions. MAP sensors read pressure (or lack of) and GUESS at flow. lame. if you tune it for 10,000 feet, you will run lean at sea level. if you tune it for sea level, you run rich at 10,000 feet. same goes for cold vs hot weather.

look at the car in my sig, 400+whp out of a stock bottom end 2.0L engine, with a reprogrammed factory computer. cant beat that!

 

i would say handling

 

Ok, you guys are going to have to follow me on this:

Depreciation For Maxima Buying at the beginning of year 2:

8119 Saving From Buying Used
-2539 Depreciation year 2
-2235 Depreciation year 3
-1981 Depreciation year 4
-1777 Depreciation year 5

Total Loss Due to Depreciation 413

Depreciation For Accord Buying at beginning of year 2:

4950 Savings From Buying Used
-2297 Depreciation year 2
-2022 Depreciation year 3
-1792 Depreciation year 4
-1609 Depreciation year 5

Total Loss Due to Depreciation 2770

This means that the Maxima owner who buys at year two loses $413 dollars due to depreciation where the Accord buyer who buys at year two loses $2770 due to depreciation. If you were buying new the depreciation would be more for the Maxima. The Maxima loses a total of $16,651 or 54% of its value due to depreciation by year 5. The Accord loses $12,670 or 47% of it value due to depreciation by year 5. So, basically you statement is incorrect in regards to used Maxima buyers like myself.

So, who is using pretzel logic?

 

holy cow. you're combining mathematics with philosophy. it took me a while to really get it, as i'm not very fast, but i see it now. i had to figure out the "depreciation" from year 1 (buying used) in order to understand how you got $413.

 

wow that's pretty amazing that you came up with depreciation fact...i love my maxima but i wish that it came with a better transmission to make up for all the mods that i put on this beast.

 

Well, I just used the information from that other post and some simple mathematics. I thought it was pretty interesting myself. I bought my Maxima used and was wondering how depreciation factored into it.

 

EXACTLY my point. thank you for explaining it in easier terms than i attempted to!

go $190,000 house! Err...i mean used maxima!