4 Toyotas, 3 Hondas. For Nissan to get on anyone's 10 Best list, well, there's about as much chance as a poor boy like me getting Phillie's opening day tix!

But seriously, John Q. Public makes many buying decisions based on the research pub's opinions. When I think back upon Nissan's ads over the last 10 years, I can't figure out who they're trying to appeal to. They're always a bit bolder than the competion, but imho they'd reach high schoolers the most?? I dunno. But I may actually be buying another Nissan product, for real! Yep, me, the German lover.

 

If they got it in their minds that you cant have the same engine in their entire lineup of cars then MAYBE they would get there.

 

^why not?, we've got a better V6 than honda or toyota.......

 

Even though Nissan came back with a wider range of cars and with the top 10 best engine as long as we can remember, we still get the short end of the stick. Some of the magazine are bought out by Hondas and Toyotas.

Now which Nissan product you're getting Frank? G35?

 

<office space> thats great, peter. </office space>

 

Ill never buy another nissan product EVER again.

 

I think my point is that no doubt, Honda and Toyota are excellent vehicles. But the irony is we all feel that they have "reserved" some spots, ie have reservations to the lists. Nissan is like Jerry Seinfeld, Elaine, George, trying to get a table at the Chinese restaurant yet watching people who come later get seated earlier!

Since I want a sports car and plan to keep the 98 Max, I have been doing some hard numbers on the Z3, Z4, 330Ci, all used, and guess what, a Boxster S in the 3 yr. old range. After all these calculations I have come to realize you truly do have to be well, RICH, if you want to BUY one of those cars, even used. Leasing is a whole 'nother story. So I am considering the 350Z, the car I have said got dropped by Automobile and Car and Driver off their 10 Best lists. But that is reality!! Brand-spanking new vs. 3 yr. old with growing maintenance costs on any of the above Germans. From my research you load up a 6 spd. Touring Z and it's not easy to break 35k. And I also said to myself, heck, what if a person doesn't get a Porsche until they are 45 or even 60, is that really so bad??

So I am setting out to get another Nissan I guess. Have to save up some money...I am at least 12 months away.....

 

or may be you should learn how to drive a car ;-)

 

I'm not surprise about Hondas or Toyotas being in their ranking. I'm sure there are different spectrum to evaluate on the car. I think where Nissan falls short is the quality build especially 04' Maxima had rash of quality and fitment issue. I know you guys are gonna flame me on this one but think about it, it's true. Hopefully Nissan will turn things around when they realized they need to focus on improvement, what their prodcut means to them and to the market. Perhaps that's what Nissan probably trying to target a certain demographic.

 

Just FYI on the info in Consumer Reports:

As a brand, Nissan products rank 10th in terms of problems reported for 2003 models; 9th for 2001 models (3 y.o.); and 5th for 1999 models (5 y.o.). Going by those numbers (and that's only for problems reported to Consumer Reports by its own subscribers, not the entire buying public), Nissan as a brand is right there in the top ten with the other usual suspects (Toyota, Honda, Lexus, etc.).

I think the poor performance of Nissan trucks (the Frontier) and the Sentra (specifically the 2003 model) brings down the high marks received for the Maxima & Altima.

Being a very biased 4th gen Max owner, you can guess what my satisfaction level is for Nissan as a whole.

 

OK, that was probably a bit harsh...

but true, none the less...

 

Nah, dwong is a post-***** and he's bitter. He managed to kill two birds with one post.

 

What? No Nissan on the list? GOOD!

The hype will continue to surround Honda and Toyota products and the lemmings will go there and not come here and Nissan shall remain undiscovered. The TL even won entry lux, and the Accord still got a piece of the Family sedan section, so that will keep all the ultra-sensitive cry baby if they don't win everything Honduh guys happy, which will also make moderation on those forums easier for me.

Honda/Toyota prices will remain higher, meanwhile Nissan/Infiniti prices will go lower, and that means I'll be able to get a better deal when it comes time to buy my next Nissan/Infiniti because all of the hype will be surrounding the others.

May be a moot point though, because I think I'm going for a Legacy 2.5GT anyways. Hmm....only 1 Subaru on the list. Still pretty good. Geez look at all those Honduhs and Toyoduhs. Now imagine what would happen if the STi had beat out the Focus SVT. Lordy, that would have been a disaster.

 

NO WAY!!! Frank did a 180!

Let's see.....

Certified Pre-Owned 2001 BMW 330i manual, $32k, 46,000 miles
Brand NEW 2004 Infiniti G35s manual, $30k, 0 miles

You mean paying that much for a CPO 330i with 46,000 probably beat to hell miles just doesn't appeal to you? Well I think you're in good company, because it doesn't appeal to me either. If you can afford to "BUY" them new then you're getting a good deal. Full warranty, included maintenance "I think", and resale is so good that you can hand it off in 3 years to somebody else without taking a hit and get yourself the latest and the greatest. Meanwhile one out of warranty repair on your old one and the person that just bought it is screwed on top of just paying big $$$ for a USED car.

I'll be sticking with non-BMWs until the day I can afford a brand new one, and I'm not holding my breathe either.

 

lol...blame it all on the sentra

IMO bimmers are overrated...in price at least.

 

consumer reports is operated by honda and toyota. they even give the isuzu, aka passport high rankings. that said, it's bad for us, because our resale value will keep plummeting. i am not driving a 300k ferarri to be in some exclusive crowd.. i am a driving a maxima, that after a few more reports such as these, will be worth even less (and not that i care since i bought the car for me, and has given me 0 problems in already 20k miles). sadly, there are people out there that actually listen to CR. And on the other side, everyone who doesn't have a CR top 10 car/product calls CR a lying sack of corporate suck ups, and righty so. So, it's a yet another issue of CR, like all the previous ones. I bet you the yoyo scion will make the top 10 too, next year as the best new car designed for 16yo kids with no individuality, or common sense. Y'all know toyota wants 400$ for cold air intake (aka WAI) on the scion? i am sure it varies with the dealership, but that's the general price as of this moment. And i am sure it will receive high rankings..

 

Anyone have the top 10 list to post? So far I have gathered that there are 4 Honda's, 3 Toyota's, and a Subaru. Dang, any american cars on the list???

 

American cars? Well if Chrysler can show me the car with the 300C then we're talking.

 

riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight

If you want unbiased and completely objective reporting at its finest, it doesn't get any better than CR. They rate cars with the general "family" buyer in mind and not enthusiasts, so I guess their style of journalism just doesn't suit you. It doesn't mean that people are stupid for listening to them.

So are you saying that Toyota is stupid for buying into the hype and getting a piece of the younger market? Thanks to idiot ricers and F&F/2F2F, it seems like every 16yo these days wants to get a car and put big rims, farty exhausts, and intakes and other garbage on it and somehow are getting the money from somewhere. Don't blame Toyota.

 

CR.com was down last night so I couldn't access the list but here it is now:
Ford Focus - small sedan
VW Passat/Honda Accord - family sedan
Subaru Forester - small SUV
Lexus RX330 - midsized SUV
Acura TL -upscale sedan
Lexus LS430 - luxury sedan
Honda Pilot - three-row SUV
Toyota Sienna - minivan
Ford SVT Focus - fun to drive
Toyota Prius - green car

 

It's a conspiracy against Nissan!

 

The maxima is an enthusiast's car? Tell, me then, what actually makes a car an enthusiast vehicle, and not a family sedan, in the eyes of Consumer Reports and the likes.


I never called toyota stupid. I just gave an example of what i think will still receive high CR rankings, only because it's a toyota, not because it's a sensible vehicle. But of course, whether the scion is worthy or not is only my opinion, consideting it's not even on the market yet.

no it's not bs since in 1996 CR was sued after labelling the rodeo or whatever it was unsafe. Now, a few years later, the same car is sold under the name of honda passport, and gets high rankings.

 

I will ONLY buy nissans...i got 2 and lookin at a TITAN as my tow ****!

 

The Maxima is an "enthusiast's" car?

Well compared to a Camry or Accord I guess it is.

The 350z is an enthusiast car, but it's way too hardcore for most "family" buyers since it only has 2 seats, very little trunk space, and a firm even harsh ride. So it's ranked well down on the "sporty car" list, and the Focus SVT actually wins that category. It's a sporty car that's much more practical for the "family" buyer. That's how CR rates.

You don't have a clue what you're talking about.

First off it's libel not "labelling". Secondly, it was the Trooper, not the Rodeo.

So I guess that means CR is owned by Toyota then huh.

 

Frank, buy a Nissan?


bwahahahahahahaha...

*breath*

....hahahahaha

First Russ with the G35, and now this




Frank - what about the RX-8?

 

In his defense, I think he did mean "labeling"...CR was sued by both Suzuki (for the Samarai) and Isuzu (over the Trooper, which was also a twin of the old Acura SUV...the name escapes me) for libel because of the rollover problems with these vehicles. I believe the Suzuki suit has run its course, while the Isuzu suit continues to run its course even though one judge in the proceedings said, in so many words, that Isuzu was being an a-hole by persisting with their legal action.

 

What? There were only 2 recalls that I know of and I have an '02 GXE Sentra from a dealer (5sp. ). The 1st was for clutch-chatter on a few 00's and 01's, but I didn't have that problem, since my car wasn't at risk. The 2nd was for a faulty lining in the ECU box, which melts and causes shorts. I received a notice for that one. Is this the "poor" performance Consumer Reports glared upon? My car is great, and except for a squeak from a loose door panel, I love my Sentrarri. I do wish for more power though, or some bolt-ons.

 

but that is really only your opinion.. both accord and camry have potent engines, so see steve, you really keep talking about something you don't have a ground to stay on. in all your zeal to run off post after post of 'slap me' smileys, you failed to provide any fundamental reasoning as to why nissan did not in fact, even made the list.

"labelling" can very effectively be used to identify a thing, give it a denomination or associate something with it, and has nothing to do with libel. you can label something, and not come anywhere near any activity that would constitute libel.

Toyota/Honda (which you both own), don't have to own something to have an influence on the reviewers. It doesn't even have to be any sort of real pressure, but think of it as a mind set. Because of track record for the companies, it is easy for someone to overlook few shortcummings, while the same would be made an example of with other auto makers.

I am now off to out of state to enjoy what is left of my spring break, so i will likely be off the forums till monday, unless i put that t-mobile wireless card to some use...

 

Hmm....someone else mentioned the RX-8 and said all the mags seem to like it more. I guess Mazda is really uncharted territory for me....

I know, I know. When you really crunch numbers hard, short of knowing that one is rich, I can't honestly see BMW. 2 guys in the office bought used BMW's and they love the cars, but constantly complain about the high costs in keeping them. The dealership expects you to have the plastic to pay for the maintenance. When one guy's 540i (he bought it used for low 30's) had to be towed away because it couldn't start, that was the first wake-up call to me. Whether you are rich or not, once that happens, you might as well pretend you're rich because that's the only way the car is going to get back to you!

 

First you back track off of previous points, and now you shift your arguments to something else totally different and make it sound like I say something that I never did. Whatever.

You realize that there's more to cars than just the ENGINES right? Yeah, Nissan builds some damn good V6 engines, but that doesn't mean they should be on any top ten CAR lists because they still don't build cars that are as good as Toyota and Honda (<--- my opinion, but I've owned all three and have the perspective to make that call with "reasonable ground to stand on", do you?). Ward's Auto rates engines. CU and other mags rate CARS.

 

The '03 Sentra is on CR's "Used Cars to Avoid" list, based on the number of complaints from buyers as reported to CR. Strangely, in CR's own detailed ratings of specific reliability factors, the '03 Sentra scored either "very good" or "good" in every category except for body integrity, in which it still scored "average". In previous model years ('96-'02), the Sentra had more problems reported for electrical malfunctions, body integrity, and brakes; based on its overall recent history, the Sentra's reliability rating is "worse than average".

Go firgure....

 

I don't know about u all but i'd rather drive a Focus SVT over the G35C as well. Who wouldn't. All that Ford goodness packed into. O screw it, i can't even finish. Consumers reports seems to be bought out. It's like how Motor Trend was with the Viper.

LEMAR

 

meeeeeeeeeeee tooooooooooooooooooo, fucc american cars, most of them are garbage.....this is my second nissan and a second maxima, and plan to keep it going no matter how bad they think the nissans are. also looking into getting the 350 z sooon

 

This must be the attitude of the 'real' SE-R crowd.

I too will only buy Nissan unless I was shopping for a third or fourth vehicle. Perhaps then I would consider a BMW which is my second favorite auto maker.

 

"all that ford *goodness*" hahahahahaha

 

My friend got one--definitely a car to avoid. He had a coolant leak and all 4 rims were recalled by Nissan. Lots of rattles etc. If a person is shopping in that segment a Hyundai Elantra would definitely be a better car. Civic of course would be better but that's more like an Altima shopper's price range.

 

I like reading magazines and buying whats on the top of the list, without even test driving it.