I can appreciate what you are saying, but IMO, the interior of the latest gen Nissan Altima, Maxima, and Murano are CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP! Not worth cent over 20K! I shopped extensively for a new Nissan, but I hated the gauge cluster of those three vehicles. Your '02 Max still has a very nice interior and guages, and more than enough power! I had a '99 SE-L that I loved, but after it was totalled I picked up an 02 Infiniti i35. I fully appreciate the extra 65 hp that I gained, but even with leather seats, the Infiniti will not replace my '99 SEL (she was paid for!). It's still an excellent car!
So, since I what's under your hood because it's under mine also, you will not notice the 'alleged' 15 hp increase. What's more, you still have the better car, and it will be cheaper even if you refinance the residual. Furthermore, let's be practical; wouldn't it be better to have a heavier car in an accident?

 

I don't agree that they need more powerful engines to compensate. The quickest cars are almost always the mid size not flagship. The 5 series and E class out perform the 7 and S. Sure you could put a 4 ltr V6 or a V8 but do you want to pay the premium just for a larger engine you don't need and will barely out perform the 3.5. It might be marginally slower than the Altima but not enough to matter. As for luxury rest assured that it will be up there in features. Look at how much the Altima went in one gen and imagine where the Maxima will go. Build quality will be equal to the competition(whatever that's worth), and cabin space will go up. The engine will be from the lastest VQ so power will be higher than in the current version. As for price I would expect a small premium in line with what has happened every year a new model came out.

 

basically what they need to do is to make the new max into something like a 3rd gen and a 4th gen... meaning that size with v8... i dont wanna diss anybody with 6th gen but they are a freaken spaceship.. the 4th gen is basically almost the size of an Accord...

 

Like I said before, I AGREE that the flagship doesn't need to be the best performer, and most of the time it's NOT the best performer, so I don't get why you are bringing that up again. Flagships almost always offer more powerful engines, just look at the engine choices for the 7-series vs 5 series, and the S class vs E class, clearly the 7 series and the S class offer more powerful engines, but it's not the best performer, which is perfectly fine.

More luxury + more features + more room + better safety = more weight
More weight = more power needed so it can stay in line with its siblings in terms of performance.

Don't get me wrong, I WANT the Max to stay, and I hope Nissan will find a way, but it doesn't look promising at this point.

 

Too many here are bashing the Maxima, when the reality is they are not aware of how Nissan is positioning it.

To bash the 6th gen Maxima as not being as 'sporty', or not having the acelleration of the '07 Altima only shows there are those who are not keeping up with what is going on.

Nissan made a decision over five years ago to move the Maxima gradually up into the luxury class.

The plan was to have a 2.5 Altima for those who had grown to love the dependability and good gas mileage of the old style Altima, and have a 3.5 Altima that would assume the long-time position of the Maxima.

That is exactly what has happened. All we need do is open our eyes.

Those who would continue to bash the 6th gen Maxima and compare it with the '07 Altima are tilting at windmills for two reasons:

1. The Altima is a completely new design, while the '07 Maxima is essentially the same vehicle as the '04 Maxima, which actually began rolling off the Smyrna assembly line in January 2003, and has been on dealer lots since March 2003. Those who would expect a design that old to best a brand new design have the same thinking capacity as those high in our government who thought we could win a war against bitterly opposed religious sects simply by superior hardware. We know how that went.

2. The Maxima is no longer SUPPOSED to be the 4DSC it was for around twenty years. To try to 'wish' it so will not work.

Those who want proof of what I am saying need only wait until the 7th generation Maxima arrives. It will be heavier and more powerful than the 6th generation Maxima. It will not have any form of manual tranny; In fact, it will have only the CVT tranny. It will (even in base form) be absolutely loaded with accessories.

The base price of the 7th gen may well be over $33K. There will be fewer options, as most things will be standard. This will truly be the flagship of the Nissan line.

Those who want the excitement of the old Maxima will need to look at the ever-improving Altima 3.5, for which Nismo will offer all kinds of add-on options for those who want a race car or a 'super-looker'.

No, lots of long-time Maxima fans will not be following the change to luxury. Nissan does not intend that the luxury Maxima sell more than around 75,000 to 100,000 copies a year, while they hope the Altima in its various forms will reach 200,000 to 250,000 per model year.

Nissan does not make the type of changes (such as a whole new interior) they made on the '07 Maxima and keep it only one model year. So we will have an '08 Maxima arriving in five or six months which will be virtually unchanged from the '07.

But the '08 model year will be short-lived, as the completely redesigned 7th generation Maxima will arrive in spring of '08 (just about 15 months from now) as the '09 model year. And it will not be aiming for such sedentary vehicles as Camrys and Accords.

The 7th gen Maxima will be competing with Avalon and various Cadillac and Lexus models. Upscale.

When we look at what Nissan is doing with the Maxima, we may or may not like it. But to bash it as not being a 4DSC is a waste of time; Nissan does not intend that the Maxima continue as a 4DSC. Period.

 

That's one of the few insighful posts I've read so far in this entire thread, and I agree with you, it's not fair to compare the aging 6th gen Max to the new '07 Altima, but this is what we are stuck with for the next 1.5 years.

If there will be a 7th gen Max, it will in no doubt have the latest and the greatest, which is needed to stay on top of the Altima, and to achieve all that, it will most likely hit the $30K mark (before taxes and fees) for a base model, and it will take a lot of advertisements to convince the average consumer that the Max is a luxury sedan.

 

As always, Lightonthehill's analysis of Nissan's plans for the Maxima is absolutely correct. However, MaximaExposure's comment about Nissan having to convince people that the Maxima is an upscale luxury car illustrates the flaw in Nissan's thought process.

The Max has always had its own little niche as a high feature, high value sport-oriented sedan. Being the "4DSC" is what put the Max in that position. It has had very few direct competitors in its product lifespan. It has practically sold itself to those who maybe wished for a BMW or Audi but found them just out of reach... or didn't want to see a nearly identical car with a plebeian 4 cylinder parked next to it... or just liked having a car that could carry a family but still had a great motor and could take a turn without wallowing off the road. Pushing the Max in the direction of the Avalon, ES350 or - dare I say it - the Buick Lucerne, I think Nissan will both lose a substantial portion of its (so far) devout following (particularly SE loyalists, myself included) and also find it very difficult to convince the folks shopping for that type of car that the Max belongs on their short list.

For a long time the Max has been the big fish in its own pond. The water that Nissan has set its sights on has quite a few well-established predators already swimming in it. Giving up on (or at least de-emphasizing) the Max's sport-oriented image and taking on Toyota/Lexus at their own game is going to be a tough, tough sell for Nissan. I'm not saying they can't make that car if they put their mind to it... just that convincing people that they have will be near impossible.

Even now as the 6G has edged in that softer direction, Nissan advertising still shows people getting a "rush" from just touching the car and clings to the SHIFT_ campaign. I get it... most of you get it, but I know that people naturally inclined towards an Avalon or ES350 are scratching their heads, if they are paying attention at all.

Personally, my hope is that Nissan finds a way to take on Toyota in terms of fit, finish and public awareness but still keep an SE worthy of the name in the stable - something akin to the Type-S TL - for those of us that have no interest in an Avalon, an ES350 or (no disrespect intended) an SL. I suspect that I shouldn't hold my breath for that.

 

2002 Acura TL class: Premium Midsize Car*
2002 Toyota Avalon class: Large Car*
2002 Audi A4 Class: Premium Compact Car*

*as classified by consumer guide
www.consumerguide.com

2002 Nissan Maxima Class: Midsize Car

Wanna guess what class the accord, camry, legacy, taurus and 626 are according to the consumer guide? That's right, Midsize Car. Given this was also the first year that the Altima was bumped up to a midsize car as well, but Maxima blew that out of the water too. I think the fact that you wish to compare a stock midsize sedan to 2 premium grade cars and a large car rather than anything else in its class only proves my point that it was far advanced beyond it's class at the time.

 

Well said, you are correct it has always been niche car in its own class as it really does not have any direct competitors with the closest being the TL. since 02

 

Yeah, not too long ago someone asked me, "so what, that max is suppose to be in the same class as accord? camry?", and I argued that that was the altima that compared with that...the only thing I could back it up with was that a max came with a v6 standard.

i'm loving the 08 altima coupe....

 

I was just saying they don't have to have bigger better engines. I wasn't trying to argue and no disrespect meant.

lightonthehill makes my point in a much more eloquent manner. The Maximas role has changed and it will never be what it was and that's not a bad thing.

 

I love Maximas. That would suck if they are fazed out.

 

AHAHAHAHHAHAA.......AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHAH

~Alex