So I went and drove the new Altima this weekend. Automatic... no manual tranny cars available yet. VERY impressive performance and general driving dynamics. The exterior looked much nicer in person than I had imagined it would based on the pictures. The interior, however, is hurting. El cheapo plastics, textures and leather. I'm almost certain it wasn't real leather (at least in "charcoal). It seemed like textured vinyl to me. The door handles were cheap, the gauges looked kinda goofy and plasticky in person. It drove REALLY well though, and that's definitely what's going to sell the car. The one I drove stickered at (a shocking) $29,600! Ouch.
I expressed my dismay at the exorbitant sticker price and the sales guy suggested that I look at the '02 Maxima. What the hell. Wow.. What a car! The facelift makes the front look downright mean, and the little chromey bezels around the tail lamps do wonders. Or maybe I'm just getting used to the car finally. Interior was beautiful, especially when compared to the Altima. Much better quality surfaces and it just looks classy. Optioned the way I want it, the Altima is $26,500. (Manual, leather, bose, HID, SUnroof, no wood). The Maxima is $29,900 when optioned the way I'd order it (6spd, LSD, Bose in-dash, leather, sunroof). Comes down to about a $35/month difference on a 36 month lease. Looks like I'll be driving a Maxima again!
I've got a few months left on my current lease to ponder, but a car with 255hp, a 6-speed, that bad-*** exterior and superfine interior will be hard to ignore.
Now if they would just do something with the wacky swing-beam rear suspension on their "flagship" car!

 

First of all, 30 thousand is not exactly nothing© For many people that's about 5-6 months salary© 2nd, there are many choices today for 30 grand© With leasing, unfortunately, it seems people throw these numbers around as if it's a no-brainer whether to spend 15k or 30k on a new car© Sometimes less is more©

I haven't seen the Altima yet, but your critique let the wind out of my sails© I'd rather spend money on a car that makes it seem as if you used your head, not went in over it© Look at the Hyundai Elantra GT, it's crazy for the money© Leather is standard© Its muffler is like a 528i© Where the heck do their engineers come up with the wherewithall to do that? Meanwhile Nissan is tacking on gaudy fake chrome to their tailpipes, like a Pontiac Grand Prix or something© Little touches do matter, and I hope they know that for 2003! With respect to quality, Nissan has become a Japanese version of Ford© They need to stop installing Sentra interior parts in the Maxima--that is a no-no for a flagship©

Again, if Altima falters, let's put our chips on the 2003 Maxima© Hopefully it wont be like 00 on a roulette wheel©

 

Oh no....here we go with the Hyundai again.