http://autos.sympatico.ca/reviews/13...-it-used-to-be

Interesting article that says that there are a lot of lower priced alternatives that are making the Maxima less relevant in it's market segement.

 

none of the cars mentioned by the writer to compare with the maxima doesn't even come close to it.

the max is a big car with a lot of presence, it really looks like nothing else on the market. When fixed up it can keep up with the infiniti M.

Just saw a black a35 the other day and boy did it look tough, staunch wide quarter panels flaring out make it look so good.

car looks hot in stock form, can't even imagine if it was lowered with some staunch wheels.

 

actually he nailed it. "While you won't find a comparable V6-equipped sedan, there are several good choices with turbocharged fours that may give the Maxima a run for its money."

No comparable v6 sedans. good review.

 

I felt he missed on only a few points.

He bemoaned the lack of 'at least paddle shifters.' Paddle shifters come with both the Sport and Premium packages, and any person who is serious about driving this car like a sports car will opt for the Sports package.

He made a major issue of torque steer. This Maxima has not shown me torque steer in three years of driving. Even my earlier generation Maximas were not quite as bad with torque steer as the car testers always seemed to say.

He failed to really bring looks/appearance into the equation. I consider that to be the most glaring omission of the entire review. Show me a Maxima driver who says this car's looks did not factor into their choice of the Maxima, and I will show you a prevaricator (nice word for liar).

He also failed to address the fact Nissan changed their purpose for the Maxima with the 7th gen, and intends to sell only around 70K copies of the Maxima each year. That gives the car a little uniqueness, in that there won't be hundreds of them in every mall parking lot, like there will Accords, Camrys and Altimas.

Other than those oversights, not a bad review.

 

Well maxima production has been well under the 130K units it use to be 01 and prior, it has been 80 something K per year give a take a few thousand since 02 intentionally done by Nissan as a part of the starting of upscaling of it. So maximas havent nor never will be a dime a dozen or see 2 or 3 at each group of cars that you are with at the stoplight. Those cars sell 300 to nearly 500k per yr, wow! The Max will always be that "tweaner" car that it has been known as since the 2nd gen.

 

Exactly. Robert Frost said it this way:

'Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.'

I have never been one to run with the herd. I have never owned a car that could be found on every street, in every parking lot, and on every stretch of highway.

Whatever my views may be on any subject, if I find I am seeing things the way everybody else is seeing them, then I take a step back and reconsider my view. I will never have that 'herd mentality' or almost desperate longing to 'belong' that seems to permeate our society.

As you said, there were years the Maxima was very popular, but never 'Olds Cutlass' or 'Toyota Camry' popular. There was always just a tad (or more) of uniqueness or pizzaz about the Maxima.

And when that uniqueness is combined with reliability and performance, then I'm all aboard for the journey.

 

Exactly! The Altima in its 6th yr has way more soul and drives better than its main two competitors, I recently had a 12 Camry as rental for work. Light can I say boring to drive, I dont see it as an improvement over the 07-11 Camry in that front. So many Vanilla people in this country that buy that bore along with Accord to drive yearly, mainly based on "perceived" quality of it/them.

 

Same thing for me, my Max doesn't look to familiar on the streets, as my RIP Saab 9-3 Aero used to be!

Really appreciate when people ask me, what's that car, german? naaaa, and with the ride de-badged in the back (maxima and cvt sign removed) plus the little spoiler on the trunck.... wow... hell of a ride that max is compared to camry's, accord, regal etc.... lovin it, plus so easy to do some minor mechanical mod that are very cheap and realy does something (BOP and phenolic spacers of CoryXavier, racingline Ypipe....)!