and saw that the radiator hoses were made in Mexico. I think Nissan can not be taken seriously as a top-tier Japanese mfg. when they have things that obvious. Make the parts in Mexico, fine, but don't have it so obvious when someone lifts the hood. This Maxima is supposed to be the flagship.

 

What's wrong with Mexico? Would you rather it say Thailand or wherever else they farm out work to? Or would you just rather it say nothing at all? Also, who gives a s#it?

 

Who cares? It's no secret that parts come from all over the place. At least the car wasn't assembled in Mexico. It looks like you are grasping for any chance to bash the new Maxima.

 

....

 

Ya know its funny, I test drove a 06 Mazda 3 (fanfreakingtastic car BTW) before settling on another 3rd gen maxima and the sales guy was bragging how this car was made and assembled 100% in Japan.

I don't really care where the parts are from, but at least assemble the car in Japan, or USA. I'll take a *slightly* lower quality car if it creates some jobs in America...But I won't buy an America car, I do want some quality

BTW Were is the New Maxima’s assembled? I assume its in the USA somewhere.

 

lol, I agree.

 

It doesn't really matter where its made. Its unreasonable to assume that just because a part is made in Mexico that it is of substandard quality. Nissan does have certain standards for their parts, and if the manufacturer can't meet those standards, then you won't find them in the car. Many companies now outsource their work to other countries such as Mexico because it is much cheaper to run a factory there than in the States or Japan. Additionally, labor is much cheaper in Mexico. To be honest, why would Nissan want to spend $30 on a radiator hose made in the US or Japan when they can make one in Mexico for $10 of the same quality (yeah, I exaggerated the prices a bit, but you get the point).

Back to the point about the obviousness of the radiator hose being made in Mexico. We're living in a more and more globalized world. 15 years ago, we were used to seeing all of the parts on Maxima's made in the US or Japan. However, Nissan (and pretty much every other auto manufacturer on the face of this world) has realized that there are other countries where they can source parts for cheaper. Hell, VW now makes their Beetle in Mexico (not that I'm saying its of the best quality, but it still is assembled there). Regardless of the fact, people still buy VW's. If it weren't for countries like Mexico that can produce these parts for low(er) prices, we'd be paying $40,000 for a new Maxima. As long as these radiator hoses in the 2007 Maxima's don't leak or crap out for 100k+ miles, then I could care less.

 

It's just a radiator hose dude...

 

I believe they are assembled in Nissan's Smyrna, TN plant.

 

You wanna see a disaster ? How about the Ford Fusion being built in Hermosillo , Mexico ( nothing against Mexico, just kinda worried when Ford couldn't build its cars right in the 'USA' )

Now THAT's a quality concern. And that's the whole car. Not just the radiator.

Its funny how history works...once upon a time Japanese cars were considered inferior to American product......

my how times change lol.....

 

On the one hand, I agree, it probably doesn't matter at all.. on the other - when you're paying a dude a few bucks a day to work, do you really think he cares if your product is of high quality? I doubt it, and why should he. Granted, Nissan might not buy a hose of low quality, but then again, it's a damn hose, how many varying levels of quality are there? I'd be worried about quality control at the plant - more defective products coming out of there than maybe somewhere else. Again though, I wouldn't be too concerned..even though Mexico does have a bum rap..

 

First of all, FORD sucks anyways, and it doesnt matter where you build it but who and how they design it, if you want a panel to be 24k gold, you can get that build here in mexico or china it does not matter, and if you ask for cheap crappy plastic panels thats what you get here in mexico or china.
What im trying to say is that its in the hands of the designers and engineers and quality control that the company has to offer.

 

I agree with everyone who want to be idealistic, it doesn't matter where something is made, plus with all the leasing going on who cares, the hose wont fail when the 1st person has possession of the vehicle anyway or under the basic warranty.

But let's not just go to the other side of the fence when it's convenient. I've seen people here make blanket statements like Hyundai are all bad without having ever driven one, and tools not made in USA or Germany are no good.

If you're buying a Porsche, do you want it made in Finland or Germany, if you can help it? And you're right, you can't help it, as more than 3/4 are not made in Germany (some will even say Boxsters are not real Porsches, but that's for another day).

I don't have a favorable impression of Mexico when it comes to cars because my friend's Sentra required 3 wiring harnesses (2k2 purchased new). The 3rd one was out of warranty and he was po'd when the checkbook opened-up. Also, you don't want to know what the list price on this Maxima was--for that price, I prefer USA or Japanese made parts, or even easier, a top-tier car like the Acura TL. That's me, I'm done changing the world....

 

?, last i heard, was that those cars have the worst tranies in history

 

You base your impression of Mexico based on a friend's experience with a Sentra??? How about the incidents of tranny failure that are documented on this site? Does that give you a bad impression of Japan since 5th gen Maximas were made in Japan??? A "top tier" car like Acura or Lexus get their parts from the same parts bin as their non-premium lines. Who is being idealistic here?

 

Its not like the parts were thrown together in the streets of Tiajuana next to a donkey show.

 

Not gonna get into a debate on why 1 car is on a C&D 10 Best, JD Power, etc., and why another never will be. Or why another mfg. never will make any car on that list. But I kid you not, I was suprised to see made in Mexico when I opened the hood of the flagship. Made in USA would not have surprised me at all.

 

When I was reassembling my VQ35, I saw that the oil pump said, "made in Mexico"...

 

That would be interesting

 

......

 

Again, with the blanket one size fits all statements. Sure, 1999-2003 had problems.

If I were in the market for a 2k7 Maxima, um, I'd be looking for a 2k6 or newer TL.

 

And you're not using the same type of argument to argue about radiator hose?

"I don't have a favorable impression of Mexico when it comes to cars because my friend's Sentra required 3 wiring harnesses (2k2 purchased new). The 3rd one was out of warranty and he was po'd when the checkbook opened-up."

Sounds like a blanket one size fits all statement to me, but WTH do I know?

 

Face it. As unappealing as parts from Mexico may be, its a fact of globalization that we're going to have to deal with. Once the Mexican economy starts taking off and labor prices and capital costs increase, companies are going to go to other nations that can provide the cheap labor. Hell, I wouldn't be suprised to see parts being manufactured in some country who's name we can't even pronounce thrity years from now.

But rest assured, the quality of these parts aren't going to regress. Sure cars may seem less reliable than they were back in the day, but cars have become much more complex - requiring many more sensors and electronics. The more complex the system, the more possibility of things going wrong. You've got more variables to interact with each other and cause things to go bad. But simple parts - like radiator hoses - are being manufactured with fewer defects today than back in the day thanks to advances in manufacturing processes. Its much easier to achieve tolerances of 0.1 mm today than it was 15 years ago. Now that manufacturers are able to reach these tolerances easily, it just becomes a matter of price. The cheaper a company can source a part, the better off they are (generally speaking). For the most part, part reliability can be primarily attributed to part design. A poor design will result in poor performance and potentially reliability.

And with respect to Acura TL's - they haven't had the best track record either with their transmissions (just ask Mike, blackbirdvq). Not sure if its a manufacturing problem or design problem, but all companies (even Honda and Toyota) have problems with their cars. While they may not be as frequent as other manufacturers, they still are present.

 

My brother used to work for a company in Brazil that supplied all sorts of rubber hoses (including radiator hoses) to Ferrari. Does that make Ferrari an inferior car? Would it have been better if the radiator hose was made in Italy from genuine albino alligator skin? Would you rather take a Daihatsu with Japanese radiator hoses over a Maxima with Mexican radiator hoses? I don't think so. So why string yourself out?

 

i just found out my floormats were made in Kuala Lumpur, I almost spilled my coffee.

 

.

 

Non sequitur...

 

well it doesnt really bother me, althought i do think it looks somewhat cheap, id much rather see made in japan rather then made in china, mexico or w/e. I wish the maxima was still made in japan but unfortunetly thats nothing we can control.

 

I would be be upset if I saw: Made in France.

I would then Zidane headbutt the windshield and walk off the lot.

 

Well said and to the point.

We all know that although the USA doesn't make a lot of things anymore, we do make hoses and belts, filters, etc. So personally, although I don't think a Mexican hose will fail because it's Mexican, I would rather have a USA made hose, belt, filter, just as I prefer a USA made hand tool. I would also know that I paid top dollar for a 2k7 Maxima where Nissan Motors put less expensive parts inside without passing the savings on to me. Hyundai does pass the savings on to the buyer, as their comparable models are always less expensive. Nissan's are not, well, at least not without haggling. But their products in the end do show the lower bottom-line, model for model, and my point is that will not change with their practices. Heck, an XTerra is about 4 grand less than a comparably priced FJ Cruiser, and they are direct competitors. Then again, an FJ sells for list, and an XTerra is way below invoice by the time it gets sold. Thats the Nissan way.

 

A freaking radiator hose????
Is this thread for real or is this just a joke?

 

Clearly...

 

:......

 

My Chalula hot sauce was also made in Mexico. Should I be worried that the ingredients weren't assembled correctly?

 

Chalula isn't stoich...

 

Why should they pay Japanese manufactures lets say .10cents to make a hose when they can pay .05 in Mexico..Everything is business..Does it really matter where the hose is created? Honestly?

 

This thread stinks like my jock strap after football practice.

 

the 89-91 auto trannies were absolute crap as well and they were 100% made in Japan. the 92-94 were a bit better, but were still junk if you did anything more than grandma driving.

and the 5 spds on all 89-99 cars are known to much bearings on a regular basis.

there's not much difference between US, Japan, Mexico, Taiwan, or Indonesia when it comes to this stuff. it's all made by the lowest bidder, which means they cut costs and hire high school dropouts to assemble these things.

 

Add to that, Ferrari's engine blocks are cast by Teksid of Italy, who has their casting facility where?....Mexico. They also cast the aluminum engine blocks for the Mustangs.

 

Reading Moroney Stickers which disclose percentage of foreign content of the vehicle > You