As stated, I drove a 14' Altima SL 2.5 and all I have to say is..... how in the world is this car so close in price new to a Maxima S? Sitting down in this car made me feel like I was getting out of a Bentley (Maxima) and getting into a 99' Kia..... I also understand why there is so much CVT hate, the tranny in that car feels nothing like the one in the Max. It was a little jerky and it took much longer for the power to kick in when you pressed the throttle down any more than 1/4. It was fine for grandma driving though. The only other Nissans I've sat in recently before I got my Max was a GT-R, Q50, and models that were older than 2010. I just kind of assumed Nissan had really stepped up their interior game in their newer cars but I was very very wrong.

I think the interior on our 16' Maximas is going to spoil all of us.....

 

I had a 14 Altima SL 2.5, It wasn't a bad car...
I traded it in for my Maxima SL , yes the Maxima is better.

 

I didn't think it was bad, I was just shocked how much better the Maxima was considering how close the prices are.

 

Wouldn't a 2016 Altima be a better comparison of the two cars, than one that is two years old?

 

If you're going to compare and Altima with a Maxima, you should use a V6 Altima, not a 4 cyl. I had a 2013 3.5 SL and it was a good comparison to the Maxima. The restyled Maxima adds a lot of styling, inside and out, and a lot of luxury compared to the Altima, but not that much different to drive. Obviously the Maxima is quite a bit better, but the Altima handled and performed very well. And it had some nice features the Maxima doesn't have.

 

google the 2016 Altima, it looks similar to the Maxima inside and out.

 

This and with the added features to the 16 Altima and retunded/upgraded suspension parts to the 16 Altima, especially the returned SR Altima things could get very interesting once more!

 

This aroused my curiosity. I may have missed something. What are the features the Altima has that are not available on the Platinum Maxima? I would guess power folding outside mirrors might be one. I miss those.

 

The Altima is a decent car, I had two '13's. It has more interior room, a larger trunk, a dash you can see over and easier to "feel" the corners of the car. When compared to my '13 Maxima it is a newer and better thought out car IMO.

 

I've been thinking about this since I posted it and off hand, I can only think of two:


1) Lane departure warning


2) Much better USB music folder list (Maxima will not give you a list of artists, just a list of the folders that actually contain music files. No depth to the folder list)


It also had paddle shifters, but that's no great loss and you can get them on the SR, just not the Platinum.


I didn't know about the power folding mirrors

 

Thanks, Max8. I am a little surprised the new Altima has lane departure warning. In the traffic around where I live, that warning would never be off. I think we will eventually see that device either modified or dropped. I am getting tons of warnings as it is on my 2016 Maxima. There are radars and sonars ringing bells and buzzers and horns every where I turn. Even entering and exiting the garage warns me of the door opening, the outside columns, the neighbor's mailbox, etc, etc. But I understand each noise it makes, and am happy to endure the false alarms in order to receive the important ones.

The Altima is a fine 'everyman's car', and for those who don't mind finding themselves in a parking lot filled with other Altimas, it makes sense. But, despite the proclamations here, the Altima is not a Maxima. Period.

 

Lane Departure Warning and Blind Spot Warning on the '13 Altima can be individually turned off in the vehicle settings or both turned off at once with a button in the dash. Good for heavy traffic areas.

 

This was my coworkers car, we went out to lunch and he let me drive it. Yes, the new Altima would be a better comparison.

This is just my thoughts on the transmission and the interior, I was just shocked at how low grade the interior was of a car that was new last year and only a couple thousand cheaper vs the maxima.