2003MaximaMan

w/ Nismo badge and a Turbo.

george__

iTrader: (1)

^
To save a couple extra $$$

Chris Alexander

These Maxima designers got it down on the style at least. The 6th gen looks mean from the rear and the 7th from the front. I was hoping the 8th gen was more aggressive from behind the front end is nearly perfect except for that grill.

Propa Teknique

I'm glad they did what they did to the car. This gives all the "designers" and modders on the site to make it that much for customized, aggressive, sexy, and true sport!

theWalkinator

The 7th gen has a fat butt and squashed face, ugly headlights, it is the worst looking Maxima, and performance is not better than Altima, besides that, it is way too expensive, for +40k price tag, I have a lot of more choice...

Chris Alexander

theWalkinator The 7th gen looks like a big parrot from the rear

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

dude if you're paying 40K on a 7th gen, you better be investing in Vaseline or something. New 2013s go for less than 30K.

Propa Teknique

Right. I don't know any fully loaded Maxima that will sell for more than 30K. They are probably dropping prices more and more now that the buzz is beginning to start with the new 8th Gen.

theWalkinator

I didn't pay attention to what price they really sell, but the MSRP is more than 40K for a well equipped new 7th gen Maxima. Nissan must give deep discount/rebates/incentives. I know all car manufactures offer some sort of incentives but Nissan is just offering too much, wonder why they don't sell well and why they have to price the car so high to begin with, making customers feel they get a good deal or what? I don't get it, is it a good marketing strategy? I doubt it, car shoppers may get sticker shock and immediately turn away not knowing that the car can sell much lower than MSRP, in addition, you need to negotiate hard to get that price I guess.

Wishbone

I just bought a new 2013 last week. I got $10,000 off sticker and zero % financing.

Propa Teknique

How much did you end up paying? What made you choose the 7th gen?

rkyat

iTrader: (3)

I don't know about not selling. It's still currently the best selling non luxury v6 in the US

lightonthehill

You must have missed Carlos Ghosn's public announcements back in 2002. The Maxima was taken upscale to near-luxury, and it has been Nissan's intention for over a decade to sell as many Altimas as possible (over 250K), but have the Maxima as a more focused and special vehicle with a sales target of only 70K.

Some folks may have had to negotiate very hard to get the optimum price, but I stopped doing that over thirty years ago. There are 28 Nissan dealers within 1 1/2 hours of my home (with one only four miles away and one only six miles away). I send in a written offer on a specific car identified by VIN # (with every item and option listed with list price), and my offer price. Either they take it or they don't.

My last three Maximas were purchased through my nearest dealer's Internet Manager, and, from our experiences back in the 1990s, she knows I do not negotiate. With my '00, '04 and '09 offers, she simply responded by asking when I would like to sign the papers and pick the car up.

It takes only minutes, because I simply hand her a check and sign a few papers. I always pay in full in cash - I would never pay interest. If I don't have the cash on hand, then I will not buy anything. Yes, I was alive during the Great Depression, and I learned the value of money the hard way; by walking to school barefoot, for instance. That was common in the 1930s.

Anyone who pays over $34,500 for a Maxima with an MSRP of $40K has not received the best deal possible. The exception would be the first few months of any new generation, when demand is high and folks who don't value their money will pay above MSRP just to be first to be seen in a new generation Maxima.

Chris Alexander

The competition is getting fierce the 8th gen better be on top of its game there is not much room for error.

stix_clgi

Just thought I'd give an update concerning the 8th gen Max.

My saleswoman emailed me for the 45 day 100% satisfaction today, asking that I recommend friends/family to her and blah blah....I mentioned in my reply I wanted to trade for the 8th gen when it comes out. She replied to me a few hours ago and stated that the new model would be here in November/December, and that the owner of her dealership has already seen the production model. The owner says it's a completely different car and that it's really nice.

Don't know how true any of it is, and as much as I'd like to trade up to the new Max, I think one year might be too soon...unless they offer a really good incentive or buy-back program.

02whitemaximase

iTrader: (38)

I agree to an extent with not paying interest when you can buy something for cash in full but there is a bigger picture that may make it not the wisest decision. I assume that if you have 30k+ to cash to buy a car then your credit is at least good but probably excellent. With good credit, you should be only paying 2% or less, especially on a new car finance. You surely can yield much more than 2% on a 30k investment.

So you have to ask yourself, why give up 30k cash to avoid paying a 2% interest rate when you should get at least 5 maybe even 10% return on investing that money?

lightonthehill

For many (if not most) folks in many (if not most) situations, what you say can make sense.

But I am at a stage (very old) where I have all the money I will ever need, but am not willing to invest in anything that is not fully insured and guaranteed. When we read all the fine print, many 'sure things' are not sure, and many 'guaranteed' things are guaranteed only as long as the investee is still in business.

Most of the truly guaranteed investments are currently paying very little (less than 2%). I-Bonds are an exception, but each individual is limited to only $10K per year in I-Bonds. Treasury bills and notes are currently paying virtually nothing. Other than my stock funds (of which I already have too high a percentage of my portfolio invested), even my funds at Vanguard and TD-Ameritrade are doing very little

There is also the hassle of procuring a loan. I have excellent credit, but would have to unfreeze my account with whichever of the three credit agencies my dealer is using, have the loan officer at my dealer set up all the piles of paper to sign, then after the deal is done, refreeze my account at the credit agency.

I just don't need the hassle. I have well over 90% of my money already constructively and SAFELY invested, some at rates I locked in eight years ago, before investment rates dropped to almost zero.

I think being a child of the Great Depression made me approach money differently. I would walk or ride my bike before paying a dime interest on a car purchase.

My wife and I are considering buying a retirement home on a beautiful golf course (Madison Lakes) over an hour east of Atlanta, and we are negotiating many things. But one thing we neither one would ever consider is taking out a loan of any kind. It will always be cash up front or no deal with us. There have even been times we have been able to get prices lowered further than normal *IF* we are paying cash upfront.

But I will agree that your premise makes sense for most investors, especially those still building their portfolio, and who are willing to take some risk.

97_GXE

LOL...that's what makes it look so bad ***. Even the Maximas now are looking that way. You have to have the looks to drive this kind of vehicle. If you're lame, it might not fit a person's style lol.

Propa Teknique

I agree. Those who don't like it should just settle for a Camry or an Accord. You can have a basic and reliable vehicle and never worry about getting a compliment or a complaint on the look except from those who vehicles are ahead of the curve and changing the game. People want to a vehicle that pushes the envelope but yet they are scared to buy a vehicle that does.

The inspiration of everything in life comes from only two things: Nature or our own thoughts. If you want to change a vehicle, become a vehicle designer. Otherwise, just accept what is in front of you and find something that you DO like about it.

I'm looking forward to this release. It's been a long time coming and I do feel that Nissan feels the same and that they have no wiggle room for error.

I just hope they keep that pano roof. I can't live without it!

stix_clgi

I agree. Of course everyone has a right to an opinion, that's what makes these discussions that much more interesting. I didn't like the 6th gen Max, but I loved the previous and current generations. IMO, the 7th gen doesn't look much like any other car on the road, except for it's stablemates (Infiniti), which isn't a bad thing to me. I think anyone can drive the car, whatever they look like lol. I don't consider myself lame, but I'm not a star either lol. I liked my Camry when I had it, other people liked it, etc; it's the same with my Max, although I definitely get more second looks in the Max.

I'm looking forward to the 8th gen, whether it's actually released this year or next year. Hoping for the same or better tech from the Altima, same roominess and big trunk, not worried about performance so much. Here's looking towards the future!

stix_clgi

Just an update people...

My sales lady said they are receiving their first shipment of 8th gen Maximas in November. I grilled her as to whether or not this was the new body style etc. She didn't give me any numbers regarding performance but it's not that big of a deal. Nissan isn't going to let the Maxima completely out class the Q50. I told her I want to be the first to hear when she gets them in.

So I guess we will be seeing the 8th gen this year hopefully....

Propa Teknique

I so hope that this is true!!!!! I'm really excited to see the final product. The Maxima has been out of the spotlight for so long it seems as if Nissan is unveiling a new flagship called the "Maxima." LoL.

stix_clgi

Same here! It's time for the Max to be in that spotlight again!

george__

iTrader: (1)

stix_clgi gets to drill sales clerk for leaked information

stix_clgi

Lol I'm pretty sure I said grilled lol....but she's actually not bad looking. She has FIVE kids.....if that's any indication.

She got my hopes up to see the production 8th gen Max....I'm going to be really disappointed if it's a refurbished 7th gen again lol

lightonthehill

We can rest assured there will be little resemblance between the 7th gen and the 8th gen. Not that the 7th gen was bad. I actually have thoroughly enjoyed my 7th gen 2009, and am still getting compliments on it from total strangers fairly frequently. Of course I try to keep it shined up and looking good.

The competition in automotive design moves much faster now than it did back in the 1950s. Back then, every car changed every year, but it was often simply moving chrome around or reshaping it. And the competition was between only a few manufacturers.

These days, there are dozens of makes of cars from all over the world beckoning for our attention. It is imperative that Nissan step well ahead of the competition with the 8th gen, because it will be their flagship for half a decade or so.

Although my 2009 has been a flawless, wonderful performer, I am very excited in anticipation of the 8th gen. I have owned all Maxima gens but the first (but rode to work in a 1st gen diesel Maxima for years in a car pool in the early 1980s). I drove Datsuns (a Nissan product) from the late 1970s up to 1984 before buying my first Maxima (I bought two 1985 Maximas in Oct 1984 - one for my wife).

Not only will the 8th gen Maxima have totally new styling; it will have all the significant technology developments that have arrived in recent years. Nissan knows how important the 8th gen is. That is why the release has been delayed until the new CVT being road-tested in the Altima has all the bugs out.

george__

iTrader: (1)

^
CVT = barf

lightonthehill

The CVT is not all that different than automatics, and is smaller, lighter and cheaper to produce than the automatics.

As to a possible manual Maxima, Nissan gave us a manual in the Maxima up through the 2006 model year, even though folks stopped buying manual Maximas in meaningful numbers around 1998. By 2004, dealers would no longer accept manual Maximas from Nissan. By that time, most dealers simply took a loss to get rid of manual Maximas so they would have display room for a car that might sell.

The growing traffic congestion in so many places had a lot to do with the demise of the manual Maxima. But probably the biggest factor was that the Maxima sort of metamorphosed from a 4DSC to the primary family sedan for most families, and most families have at least one member who does not drive a manual.

holeinone

Jealous

holeinone

Even more jealous