Shelby280Z

Hi All, I'm Shelby and I'm looking to get a little education on Maxima's. I've had a couple of Datsun's so far, but I'd like to get a Maxima, I rented a 2018 recently and other than the 'Lane Departure Warning system" ( which can get old really fast ) I would like to get either an old Pre CVT edition, or a 2016 up. I've read a book full of research on the different models and (Please don't flame me) the lone standout is the 2004-2008 which has a running lead over any other year for defaults and ****-poor design and unreliability so I'm now in search of some just plain common advice into a 2012-2018 Maxima? The Maxima and the CVT is a truly disappointing story. Coupled with the escape artist Carlos Ghosn and his idea to stick a CVT in anything Nissan built, once again shows how when you hire some to run an Automobile company who knows almost nothing about Automobiles other than the tires are round and made out of rubber, there's bound to be a rough patch every so often. And I was watching a internet show that does road tests of new cars, and was featuring a 2018 Maxima and he said something that sort of explained in some sense the whole CVT issue, he said that Nissan has so much money tied up in the research and development in the CVT, that they just cannot walk away from them ?. . . which makes some sense. But on my own during the past year or so, I found something odd about Nissan as compared to virtually any other automobile manufacturers, and it is just this, no other ( well very close to no other ) company bolts a CVT to an engine that makes more than 125 HP. The best CVT on the market is Honda, and they make their own transmissions, as well as Toyota who uses 'Aisin' who just like Nissan who uses 'Jatco' manufactured transmissions, is a Toyota owned company. And Jatco is partly owned by Nissan 73% Nissan ownership, but no one put a CVT up against the engine making 310Hp like in the latest Maxima's for a really simple reason that somehow completely evaded Mr. Ghosn, and that is HEAT !.


Now you could say it was just inexperience, but not for 15 years and I believe 2-3 class action lawsuits. You could not miss a Lawsuit that directly states the oblivious, the Nissan VQ V6 engine is so good, it has remained all most untouched since 1995 I believe, it was first designed. The engine in almost every Maxima is a legend unto itself. I have driven a number of Maxima's back in the late and early 1995-2000 Maxima's and they were just like the embodied Tail light feature on many new Maxima's "A four door sports car" is emblazoned into the plastic of the tail light lens. But even up to todays cars, where Nissan has introduced a mechanism into the CVT to make it feel like it's shifting gears. . . Why not just put a really good automatic transmission in it ???. And while I enjoyed the 2018 Maxima I used, the CVT really doesn't feel like it wants to go out and play, it is wishful thinking that they could offer a manual transmission. So please, tell what is (if you can) what is the most enjoyable Maxima's out there ?


Thank you,

realmac

Short answer - Maximas with a typical geared or automatic transmission ended in the 2006 model year. If you go by the website car complaints these had 895 complaints (https://www.carcomplaints.com/Nissan/Maxima/2006/) 154 of these were transmission problems. That's a 17 year old car... I would not buy one. Your best best would be a lower mileage model from 2016 on. Would see if maintenance records are available showing the transmission had been serviced. The used market is also in a bit of a bubble. Under 60k miles is around $22k. If you're that disappointed in a CVT I would just buy something else.
Long answer:
-Nissan / Renault invested a lot into the CVT technology from design to manufacturing and wanted to recoup the cost of that. It gets better gas mileage than a typical automatic transmission and for a while was a unique selling point of the brand. It's also cheaper to manufacture and presumably weighs less since it has fewer moving mechanical parts.
-Nissan started manufacturing CVTs in 1997 and I think they expected the tech to be a lot more reliable than it turned out to be.
-The CVT is still in active development by Jatco. There is a new version the CVT-X that was released last year - https://www.jatco.co.jp/english/rele...0630_1247.html
-The VQ engine has gone through a number of changes since 1995. Even in the latest version used in the 2016 model. (https://usa.nissannews.com/en-US/releases/all-new-nissan-maxima-engine-named-to-wards-10-best-engines-list-for-2016)"
"The 3.5-liter VQ-series V6's 61 percent new parts, reduced friction and weight, and new intake manifold (versus the previous generation design) among key factors in the Maxima's inclusion on this year's list. The engine applies lessons learned from the legendary GT-R, such as sodium-filled valves, to meet the needs of the higher compression ratio and combustion temperatures."
-Naturally-aspirated high hp FWD cars are going the way of the dinosaur. Most of them are moving to turbo or AWD.

Maxima is a spirited drive, it goes quickly in a straight line. Not a sports car but it is sporty. It's not going to offer the best handling around corners since it's FWD but it's way better than an econobox. Test drive one, either you'll like it or hate it. If you want handling like the Datsuns from yesteryear, go with a more recent 350 or 370z or Q60. If you don't have crazy high expectations I think it's a great upgrade over an Altima. If I had to buy one again today I'm not sure I would. 14 years after my first Nissan with a CVT I still see stories about it blowing up so I'm not sure I trust the brand anymore.

Shelby280Z

Yeah, Thank you ! It comes as something of a shock, (to me at least) How you could take a really nice car, a 4 door sports car of such, and just design into the junkyard. I've done a lot of reading and research, and it all points to what you say, if you like the Nissan VQ V6 engine, but not so crazy about the rest of the vehicle, better start looking at a Infinity G37, or M37 Or just go with a Q50 or 60. That is the only way to get the perfect V6 and an automatic transmission. It just surprises me that Nissan recently started to install a mechanism in the CVT that makes it feel like it's shifting gears ?, why wouldn't they just install an automatic transmission ???. At my age, it wouldn't be the first carmaker to design a perfectly good car into oblivion. I never understood why they did away with the 5 or 6 speed manual transmission, but then I assume I am among the few who like a stick shift car.

Thank you,

realmac

I think the car's design is great. It stands out from the competition or at least it did when it made its debut in 2015. The engine is great, I honestly have never had problems with any of Nissan engines. I would be hesitant to buy an Infiniti G37 it was discontinued 2015. The Q70 which is based on the M37 also is vintage. Maps aren't being updated anymore, infotainment is super outdated. There is an SD card you can buy for $300 on the 2016 Maxima to get CarPlay but 2017+ have to built-in. The Q50 design is also old, only receiving mostly minor updates since 2013. Cars overall are built a lot better than they used to be, but finding electronic components for a discontinued model with limited parts availability can be challenging.

Infiniti basically had decade of tiny changes there when the competition has released 2 or more generations in that time. The lackluster sales reflect that, consumers want new and exciting products. Q60 came out in 2017 also with minor changes over the production run. Infinity's sedan lineup is stale and their SUVs only recently got some updates. The QX30, basically a rebadged Mercedes didn't make it after 3 model years. Most people under 40 don't know how to drive stick and limited sales volume makes offering another transmission option cost-prohibitive. 127k Sentras (there is a 6 speed manual option) were sold in 2021 vs 16,386 Maximas. Toyota discontinued the Avalon with slightly more units sold in 2021, so the Maxima is probably close to the chopping block too. Tesla is eating everyone's lunch. A 2.0 Honda Accord with a 10 speed transmission is faster than the Maxima and starts at $28,580 vs $34,350 for the base Maxima S. Plus it's going to be more reliable in the long run. Not knocking Nissan / Infiniti but I think most of the lineup doesn't hold up well vs competition in 2022.

Shelby280Z

I can't agree more. In researching NISSAN and MAXIMA, you would swear the Nissan management were in a dizzy to ruin both the company and everything in it. And the new guy, Makoto Uchida has a perhaps impossible task ahead of him. Bring the company back from the edge and refresh the product lineup in time to save the company is a herculean job and if they insist on offering only disappointing products they may very well in vain and be one of the first Japanese auto companies to fold. If you look at how a company like TOYOTA operates, they start a product, and then over the years REFINE AND PERFECT it. Not Nissan, they create a product and even if it is not needed, they want to do crazy things like the CVT and no matter how many years and class action lawsuits pile up, they thunder on it pursuit of a very distant and useless end. Why would you install some mechanism in the CVT to make it feel like an fully automatic transmission ? Why don't they just perfect the automatic transmission so it is more fuel efficient ?

. . . And that is because the CVT is cheaper to manufacture. Cheaper isn't Better, and as soon as your future customers feel the CVT and then learn of all the drawbacks, they move on to something else. Not too sure about Apple Car-Play, but that is just another instance of customer out of touch syndrome they have been suffering from. Simple idea is if your going to enrich the company executives and ignore the product line, you'll need to update your CV cause your going to need to send it to different headhunters to see if they can find a company who is looking for cheap, and ineffective leadership.

mudassir.brandy

Welcome and congrats on your purchase!