After losing my 95 SE to an accident in December, I found myself in the market for a new car. Saw the G35 at the LA Auto show and considered it, but went for the Max when the $1,000 rebate went into effect. Some impressions:

Availability

I wanted a Sterling Mist SE with black leather interior, sun roof, and upgraded Bose in-dash CD (these options are intertwined). And floormats.

This car turned out to be impossible to find in Southern California from mid December to early January. And I needed to get a car for my work.

After driving a GLE I determined the suspension was stiffer than my old SE (new car versus old, probably). I've never liked the spoiler on the SE (all show). I went with a Grey Lustre/Frost GLE. Only options were the sunroof and the floormats.

Dealers

Bought from my local dealer, Performance Nissan in Duarte, Ca. I bought my last car there. At one point or another I visited Glendale Nissan (small selection and no salesman approached me in the 20 minutes I was there), Universal City Nissan (better selection but still no salesman showed up), Cerritos Nissan (salesman all over me immediately, took me out to the back lot, etc. couldn't get rid of the guy), El Monte Nissan (liked them the best in terms of people, I offered them a good price -- similar to what I got my final car for -- but they didn't go for it. I walked and they didn't follow.), Irvine Nissan ((?) -- by the Fladabeaught sp? dealers) ("oh yeah, we got the exact car you want on the lot" turned out it was sold and gone -- as was the guy who told me it was there -- by the time I got there an hour later. Yeah right. I just looked at the guy delivering this news and said "what bulls**t!" loud enough so the other folks thinking of buying cars there had something to think about; seemed to have a good selection though, at least as viewed through my rear view mirror), Tustin Nissan (closed when I was there; small selection), and Van Nuys Nissan (nice, helpful salesman, and good email communications when I was looking).

Performance has a huge turnover in salesman...though they don't really sell cars, they just show them. The sales guys come in after that grunt work is done. I probably chattred with 5 different sales guys at Performance while doing my research.

The Purchase

The usual "oh, we can't sell cars at that price...we'd go broke!" routine. I pretty much followed the instructions on this site, which I highly recommend: http://www.carbuyingtips.com/

I ended up walking and the show-the-car guy pulled up to my truck and said "we've got to sell you this car!" I met with sales guy number 2 (sales guy 1 went away) who accepted the price I had offered.

I paid $26,033 (list was $28,617) and kept the $1,000 rebate (used it for part of my down payment). I knew what the CarsDirect.com price was, so I knew what my upper limit would be. Yeah, I know you hear of some incredible prices here once in a while, but I felt good about the price.

The trip to the finance guy was a surprise I wasn't prepared for. I typically use a credit union to finance. They were at 6.35%. I figured this would be a quick stop. He wanted to sell me an extended warranty and finance the car at 5.59% (I couldn't get the 0.9% since I got the rebate). The net cost of the extended warranty, factoring in the lower interest rate, was something like $240. So I went for it.

Was this the way to go? I'm unsure; I never anticipated the warranty issue coming up, but it became coupled to the interest rate and the sales guy was suggesting that he wouldn't do one without the other. The car tips site recommends third party extended warranties.

The pricing for the G35 came out the day after I bought the Maxima. I'll admit it made me wince a bit, but I've convinced myself that equipping a G35 similar to the GLE would have meant a significant price difference. And that the dealers would be tacking on charges intitially, etc. Please don't show me where I'm wrong about this.

Features and Styling

My SE had leather, so that was a wash. I like some of the luxo amenities in the GLE (power seats both sides, two person seat-settings memory system, and auto-dimming mirror). I can take or leave the wood trim. I LIKE the fact that there is no spoiler. The sunroof switch (move it halfway, the window opens halfway) is neat. I use the radio controls on the steering wheel a lot. I have kids so the hooks for their booster seats are useful. Love the built-in garagedoor opener feature. I prefer the speedo/tach from the 95 SE.

The center armrest/console has a compound lid that is a bit ungainly to use. It also has this feature where it can raise up a few inches. I keep hitting this accidentally with my elbow and the thing pops up.

The Bose radio gets mixed reviews. I like the 6 CD in-dash feature, the controls, and the general sound quality, but any power to that woofer and you get all kinds of rattles; I never take it past +1. And the manual isn't clear on all the features on the radio (or maybe I've missed something).

The tailights. I think they look best on the Sterling Mist or the Super Black. Anything else, I'm not sure. Love the HID headlights. The little cargo net in the trunk gets a lot of use.

Following the idea of someone who posted here, I bought a "3.5" badge that comes on the 2001 Pathfinder ($29 at Performance) and stuck it on. Looks great. I wonder how many other 2002 Maxima owners wonder if their car is missing something, either on the trunk or under the hood when they see it!

And I was really pleased the 2002's have maintained one of the GREATEST features EVER offered on a car: the ability to roll down the windows before you get to the car using the key fob remote.

Performance
The power is magnificent, though I have yet to really tromp on it. My '95 had 190HP, but I don't recall the experience of torque-steer. With the 2002, I have been surprised a couple times by it.

Cornering is a step down from the SE. I've ordered a Stillen RSB ($239) which I hope will take care of most of this by this weekend. Like I said, the springs seem stiffer than my 95 SE's so I'll leave those for now. Stock struts are the same on both the SE and the GLE, right?

The other possibility is the tires: Bridgestone Turenza (unsure of spelling). Recommendations?

I find a strange, neutral, floating quality in the handling at around 80 or so on the straights. This is new to me and I don't like the feeling. Maybe the spoiler actually did something?

Future

The only thing I'm thinking about is a FSTB. I'll probably wait to see what Stillen does. As far as an intake, I'm not sure. What's the downside of just getting a stock K&N filter? Are the other intakes (Wolf, Stillen, Franken, etc) that much better?

Remember, I'm almost 47. Wife, two kids. Wear a suit.

There you go. Hope this is of some use to someone.

 

Gald you like it! Definitely a great color combo choice
FSTB is a must after the RSB. Intake is definitely a good way to go. The Frankencar intake shows greats gains and a decent price. As for the spoiler, it does nothing but sit there and try to look good. Happy modding!!

 

Lesson 101: "And I was really pleased the 2002's have maintained one of the GREATEST features EVER offered on a car: the ability to roll down the windows before you get to the car using the key fob remote."

Nissan has maintained ****. My 93gxe rolls the windows down with the door keypad(it would open the sunroof too if I had one). Your 95 was a "Maxima". After that nissan started making "Minima's". 2K brought back to near Maxima level....the 2k2 is not a Minima.

poor poor 4th gen owners.

Don't flame me

 

Another word from you and you'll be staring at my double barrell[sp] 12 Gauge .You are correct about the 93 GXE i used to own a 92 GXE and it was loaded with feature's that i miss in my 98SE what happened Nissan?As for the guy with the 2k2 i understand where you are coming from good choice of car and option's.

 

You got an absolutely sweet deal and an awesome color combination. I think you did every single thing you couldve possibly done 100% correctly.

 

Out East the lots typically have 70 or more Maximas. I really think the 5th gen is very homely. There's just no way to see it in any other light. Like I said, that really came out when they parked the '02 GLE next to the '02 Altima 3.5. You are correct though the spoilers are not only cosmetic, they are out of style. Hopefully the SE will not have one on the next generation.

Creative financing makes us all rich people

I mean I see TV ads for 2002 BMW 525i $409/month. A high-school kid could do that if he/she really wanted. Not a bad number because your typical $24k car with 10 grand down is about $420/month for 3 yrs. It's nice not having a payment, now that's freedom.

 

Are you noticing any rattles from the interior?
How is the interior noise level driving on the highway?

 

The only time I hear rattles is when I turn that woofer up! Other than that no problem. The only suspected problems turned out to be 1) my sunglasses were rattling in the sunglass/eyeglass holder; 2) stuff in the upper part of the center console/armrest was moving around in turns and it took me a while to figure out where the noise was coming from.

As far as interior noise on the highway, I can only speak in a relative sense. Relative to my '95 the '02 seems louder inside. More tire noise?

 

I think the most I ever saw on a lot may have been 15, maybe 20. The average...8-10? No wonder the best prices I've heard here came from back East.

From the outside, the Altima does indeed look a lot snappier. For example, the modern lighting on the Maxima seems sort of tacked on, while it was integrated in the design of the Altima from the outset. Where the Altima has yet to usurp Maxima territory is the interior.

I considered an Altima until I sat inside one.