hey newbie here... my friend said the 4th generation maximas are made in japan and the 5th and 6th are not which makes them generally better cars ...is this true???

 

1. Your friend doesn't know what he's talking about.
2. 4th and 5th Gen Maximas were both made in Japan (4th in Yokosuka, Kangawa, Japan).
3. 6th Gen Maximas are made in the U.S. (Kentucky?)
4. A car is not "better" depending upon where it is made. Period.

-Cyrus

 

You first three points are facts but your last one is your personal opinion. My opinion is that Japanese workers take more pride in their work, have higher quality control standards, and in general produce a superior product. American workers are fat, lazy, pigs who go crying to their union in order to get something for nothing. They take no pride in their work and are just waiting to get off work so they can get drunk and beat their toothless wives.

 

omg u are so right....lol im gettin a 4th generation now definatelty

 

i dont really agree with all that ranting, i go to school just south of the nissan plant in smyrna tn and it amazes me the number of employees at that plant that still buy/drive domestic cars even when nissan gives them a huge discount on their vehicles. i do think that japanese cars are generally of a higher quality than american cars, this is the main reason i drive a maxima as a daily driver and not a camaro.

 

American workers are fat, lazy, pigs who go crying to their union in order to get something for nothing. They take no pride in their work and are just waiting to get off work so they can get drunk and beat their toothless wives.


- ditto on that opinion!!! How often do you see imported cars broken down, sitting along the interstate??? I've never ever seen a Max' being left alone!! No Audis, no Bimmers... It's all Chevies, Fords....

 

Why does everyone have the sterotypical common misconception that American cars always break down. If that were ture, then VTEC is as great as the discovery of electricity and Honda owners should get a tax cut for making such a great decision in car buying

I've heard so many times when people buy cars that they stay away from domestics because they break down. I ask myself...do you really know that, or is that what you've heard.

 

Uhm, well you are comparing cars that are in totally different price ranges, so honestly I'd hope that if I was to buy a car for 40k+ that it would last longer than one that is 15k. Also, any car can die if it isn't properly taken care of, someone who buys an American car for cheap IMO is less likely to keep up with maintence and other repairs so eventually the pos barely runs. Many if not most american cars are relativly low priced, so obviously they just can't compete with high priced imports. If you look at the more expensive cars that come from American companies, there is absolutly nothing wrong with them. Take the Escalade for example, American made obviously.. In somewhat of a recent test (Motor Trend I think) it beat out all of the high end SUVs overall, including the Mercedes G500, which probably costs 20g more to boot. Im not even going to argue that 10 or 15 years ago American cars were better, because they weren't, but we've caught up for the most part.. assuming you compare cars in the same class. Oh, and the comment about American union workers being drunks etc. .. well, Japan has problems too, and as a whole I'd say we're much better off. Show a little pride for your country.

 

None of the Nissan plants in the US are unionized. And Nissan workers take pride in the job they do, I have seen it first hand. Nissan treats their line workers with enough respect and benefits that union talks have failed several times because the workers keep rejecting to have the union.

However, I agree with you that unionized workers may not have the same pride in their work. About the domestic abuse, I wouldn't know but you seem to know it somehow? Your union comments are irrelevant to Nissan (at this time).

And I agree with Vyrus (it is not his opinion), it doesn't matter where the car is made period. Look at the quality of the manufacturing line and the workers themselves. And you may not think it, but the quality of the design is important as well. 6thgen is built in Smyrna, TN.

If you still think Cyrus's statement is merely his opinion --- Fact is, I could take an entire plant in Japan, transplant it to the US along with the workers and start making cars in say, Utah. Does that mean the cars are now built like crap? Must be something in the air then, huh?

I think it is your personal opinion to dispute the quality of the cars built in the US.

Would I go out and buy a Ford? Perhaps not because I don't have the confidence in their unionized workers, their design and build / manufacturing quality. But me not having confidence does't mean that they don't have it. ... and I won't say outright that they do. That is an opinion. Just like at the store, would you buy Vaseline or the generic brand for your battery posts? - they're both petroleum jelly. Everyone is predisposed to think something is better than the other ... and it is difficult to change that; it is human nature.

 

 

I have worked in a few plants and he summes it up right.GE workers go on a strike if they have to pay $10 more a month in health care,they are way overpayed and sleep half their work shifts ,this is a fact.
The japanese have a lot of honor and pride go to a plant where say a toyota vitz is being made low price , then go to a american plant where a mercury tracer is being made from engineering to attitude it is subpar in the american plant,its not that we couldnt do better, its the bottom line americans look for bigger profit, and enginneers build first for profit not a good idea.
Tell me one thing why is GM buying honda engines in droves now,and why is the malibu SS getting a 3.5 liter honda engine.American car companys worry about building a good truck but not about their cars.

 

The Japanese love their cars and take great pride in making them to high standards that have been there for generations. You actually think GM's TOP priority is putting out a quality product? Hence the name, GENERAL MOTORS. They have so many different cars that they can't (or choose not to) focus on each individual design and make it truly great. Quantity over quality for sure. And as for Nissans being made stateside, it doesn't matter where Nissan's cars are built. The designs are Japanese and that's what matters.

 

Look guys I also believe Japanese cars are of better quality.

But the point is, that's my opinion. You cannot judge a car as "better" - Better in what aspect? Short-term reliability? Long-term survival? Chassis or engine? Paint chips? - you cannot just say it is "better" because of where it is made. When most people talk about "unreliable" American cars, they are talking about high-power sports cars. Yes those are unreliable, but so are their Japanese competitors. Don't even try to tell me an Eclipse is going to have less problems than a Firebird. Some people make the Maxima (as well as all other Japanese cars) seem like its invinsible. I know the Japanese have more pride in their work and J.D. Powers says they are better overall quality, but they are only opinions too. Fact is, no car is "better" upon where it is made.
-Cyrus

 

well, when everyone says that american cars are worse, this opinion is turned into a fact cuz everyone agrees wid it.... the bottomline is that american cars are worse than japanese and i dunno y that is....i think the japanese people are just more hard working and are not only upsest wid making money like american workers... { no offense to anyone}

 

I'll tell you what, my 94 Tbird was simply awesome, got it at 80k miles and I had nothing go wrong by the time I sold at 120k. Strong as the day it was born, no broken interior pieces, no engine problems at all. My max is awesome and I wouldn't trade it for anything, but I've had more little problems with the Max than I ever had with my previous domestics. Tolerances are so small these days and cars are often built mostly by machine that the difference isn't as large as everyone wants to think

 

I thought the 6th Gen was built in TN!

 

im never buying a new nissan again because they dont make the cars the same anymore. for example, my dad has the 2.5 altima and its only a yr old and feel its a piece of junk already. theres different sounds from the engine and its just not good quality.... it only looks good

 

I think the phrase "You get what you pay for" holds true in this case. The Altima is clearly not Nissan's best effort. He can't buy a 2.5 Altima and expect the fit and finish to be of I35 quality. What else would he expect from a car with a base MSRP of $19,000?

 

My mom's 90 suburban ran fine until she sold it at near 200,000 miles, my dad's suburban he sold at like 150 and the only problem he had was with the brakes(his year was notorious for bad brakes, they changed them the next year). Point is that not ALL american cars are bad, just the cheap ones like cavalier's and saturns and stuff.

 

So many people on here think American cars are crap. A lot of them are. But many Japan manufactuers build cars over here in AMERICA!!

Take Honda for example has been building cars over here in Marysville, Ohio, for quite a while now. Nobody seems to have crap quality from them. Not that I have heard of. Honda, Nissan, and Toyota, that I know of are not apart of the Union correct. As far as I know only the REAL American companies are. GM, Ford, Chrysler.

I guess I should never buy a Honda Accord (not that I would) since they are built over here, because they are just such crap, because fat ***, lazy cheesburger eating pigs are building the cars.

 

The civic's reliability has gone down some in recent years. Maybe being built in the states had something to do with it?

 

true, civics quality is not the same

 

You're wrong on your assessment and on the "Honda" 3.5L engine. The GM 3.5L is an Oldsmobile Aurora based engine, not a Honda engine. It was designed, built, and tested by Oldsmibile as a replacement to the 3.8L "pushrod" type engines that are currently in most of GM's lineup.

 

It all depends... My Dad has had a couple of Caddy's never a problem, goes to an 2000 E430 benz and its problems galore. My Mom's two suburbans have never had a single problem, but her chrysler minivan before the suburbans was the type of thing you hear about on 20/20 (one week after getting it you could peel the paint off it while driving leaving bare metal). Then my sister's chevy cavalier was just a pos. Her first car- my first is a 2k Max, not fair is it?

 

FORD= Found On Road Dead.

Ive had crappy cars in the past & here is the list of what What Ive had and what happend to them In chronological order.........

1) Ford Mustang- blew up, rebuilt it, blew up
2) Chevy Cavalier- Just all around crappy,constant minor problems- eventually totaled.
3)Suzuki Samari- Treated it like $hyt!!!!! Rarely changed the oil, always in a mud puddle, flipped it and put it back on wheels drove home and only had body damage, had nearly 200,000 miles and gave it to my mom
4) Dodge Avenger- blew transmission, blew valve gaskets, sunroof always leaked.eventually totaled
5) Nissan Maxima-quality so far, good build quality. squeky brakes


I do love American trucks though. I belive you get what you pay for, I also beleive *on average* if you spend 20-25K on an American car and a foreign car the Foreign will last longer and put up w/ more "hard driving"
Since I am American I would rather not have this opinion but thats how I see it

 

I firmly believe, its not the person who builds the car its the way that its designed. American cars are designed to break, why do you think that they advertise service and not the car. You are correct that Nissan NA Plants are not unionized, however, Toyota and Honda are so explain that. I'm not defending the American Crap Cars, I honestly hate american cars. Chris

 

Hyundai and the like love to overshadow their cars with BS. Those stupid 1,000,000 mile powertrain warranty gimmicks just crack me up.

 

You do realize that Hyundai is the second most reliable car manufacturer in the entire world, right?

 

You have a typo, one extra zero.

 

I know. Didn't bother correcting it cause I meant for it to be there. And as far as being one of the most reliable cars in the world, show your sources and I shall stand corrected. I just pointed that out because the commercials focus more on the warranties than on the cars themselves in an attempt, it seems, to overshadow them. "Hey the Tiburon sucks ba**s, but it has a 10-year warranty to back it up." It got last place or close to last in nearly every sport-coupe comparo. The ONLY two that keep it competitive are it's price and warranty, A.K.A. sales gimmicks. That's what I was getting to.

 

My bad...they are "tied" for second overall.

Here's the link below...



Reliability Ratings

 

Hmmm... Interesting, and I must say surprising too. But would YOU go out and buy one?

 

All foreign cars are better....huh I guess that I will go buy a yugo or Daewoo.

All domestic cars are better....hmm I guess that I will go buy a chevette or an AMC.
A car is better based on build quality and reliability alone. I would take a Maxima over a Grand Prix. I would take a WRX STI over a Camaro SS. I also would take a Buick Grand National over a Supra of the same year. I would also take the Cadillac Escalade over almost every other SUV.

 

Now there's an intelligent statement.

 

According to the last consumer reports the Escalade reported more problems than any other SUV in the industry.

There was a statments about a Mercedes in the previous statement and I guess Consumer Reports said it right again by calling them number three on the worse reliable car manufacture overall. I guess here in this forum we take pride in driving the most reliable car in the nineties.

Who ever said they would take a grand national over a supra

 

Supra of the same year! A grand national will roast a supra of the same year we aren't talking about 90's Supra.

It is funny when people here stand by a report when it says what they want it to and then make excuses like they just don't know how to drive.

Also, I was just saying that you should compare models of cars to models of cars (i.e. TL vs. Maxima vs. Grand Prix, not Japanese vs. Domestic).

 

Where does this thread start talking about driving skills

Consumer Reports are pretty accurate at least I found them to be. I don't care what you say. You want to compare domestic to Japan. Let's see who's got better quality.

Cadillac vs Lexus - Lexus
Nissan vs Chevy - Nissan
Toyota vs Dodge - Toyota
Honda vs Ford - Honda

You can boil these down to specific cars and I don't know that you will find anything that's more reliable to Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Subaru. I don't talk about Mitsubishi because they are not a great quality car.

 

the grand national (turbo?) is one of the greatest sleepers of all time. if i recall correctly it only came in one color: black, you know your a badass when they only make a model in one color

 

Anyway, a car serves a purpose whether that be reliable transportation, speed, comfort, space, whatever. IN SOME ASPECTS AMERICAN CARS ARE SUPERIOR STOCK VS. STOCK. I am not saying that American Cars are better overall but, some american cars are better in some aspects. I chose to buy the Maxima because it was quick and I got a great deal. I got a better deal than I did on Grand Prix GTP of the same year(Better resale GTP or MAXIMA, GTP). This doesn't matter to me because I buy used rather than new.

By the way I love Nissans now, and would consider all manufacturers when deciding on a vehicle purchase. I was once a guy that said, "I will never own a foreign car." But now I see that the Car is more important than the country in which it is made. My dream car used to be a Camaro or other american muscle car, now I like the WRX STI.

I am not going to change your mind, so enjoy your Maxima as will I.

Yes, the Grand National was a turbo 3.8 liter V6, not a V8.

P.S. I am not including the Neon because it is not a "great quality car."