Smoothness of engine, handled great, lots of power.

Brakes, seemed squeely the whole time I had it, but not really a problem

My Maxima was an excellent car. I run my cars into the ground. I drive crazy, never get tune ups and never wash my cars. This poor car was put through hell and handled it like a champ. I bought the car with 80000 miles on it which is alot but it still ran very good the entire 5 years I had it. The only reason I got rid of it is because I wanted a brand new car and I couldnt afford a brand new Maxima, I ended up buying a sucky Jetta, dont buy one. During the 5 years I did have to get the brakes fixed once because they got really squeaky. Other than that I had no problems. The car ran smoothly, handled very well on the freeway and had a lot of power(my favorite). Great car.

Brakes Safety Horsepower Audio controls on steering wheel Diming rear view mirror

Big steering wheel Independed suspension in front, but there's beam in the back, which makes the ride a bit rough

After test driving a number of cars, I ended up purchasing a brand new Maxima. The horsepower is the best thing from the car at 255 hp; it accelerates very quickly. The size of the car is great, so I never have to worry about whether about whether my passangers are comfortable. The brakes are also great; you can stop in an instant. Also, I love the audio controls on the steering wheel. For those of you concerned with safety, I have to say that this car saved my life. While I was on the freeway, I had to come to a complete stop because there was traffic. A minute later, a driver who clearly wasn't paying attention hit me from behind and pushed my car into the truck in front. The seatbelt held me in place and the airbags functioned wonderfully, which ultimately prevented any serious injury. Needless to say, the car was totaled, but I will not hesitate in buying the 2005 maxima.

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It was my first car--got it when I started college.

acceleration, looks, bose audio, comfort, reliability

automatic transmission, gas mileage, premium fuel, no rear cupholders or ashtray

Great car. I love my maxima. I've had 3 honda's and liked each one. Accord doesn't compare with smoothness, acceleration, and fun to drive factor. I have not had any major problems but have had to replace a/c compressor ($300), front axles ($250), tune up ($60). I agree with the other complaints about the auto transmission not wanting to downshift. I hav a pearl white one on black leather. Great color combo! I have every option except the heated seats and mirrors.

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1991 Accord EX (still running w/300k+) 1997 Accord LX (excellent car) 1999 Accord EX (excellent car) 1997 Stratus ES (garbage) 1990 Talon 1998 cabrio (don't buy a VW)

Engine,automatic climate control.

Read summary.

I owned a super black 1999 Nissan Maxima SE Limited with 50,000 miles for almost two years, the VQ30DE engine runs very smooth and according to Ward's Auto World magazine and many automotive engineers this is one of the very best 6 cylinder engines EVER designed (along with the BMW M3 I6 engine) and unlike my father's Lexus ES 300 V6 engine, the engine in the Maxima is not prone to engine oil sludge (shame on you Toyota!) .The perforated leather seats in this Limited Edition Maxima are of higher quality than those in the newer Maxima (2000-2001) , I could not believe when I found out my Nissan came with no ABS brakes (this is a $ 28,000 dollars vehicle and Nissan flagship automobile! ) but I supposed Nissan was cutting expenses when they build these cars as they were close to filed for bankruptcy at that time (Thanks to Renault and Carlos Ghosn's intelligence that invested billions of dollars to save Nissan and Infiniti), anyway the first Nissan Maxima was build in 1981 (Datsun 810) and although the Maxima is quite popular here in United States it was only sold for a few years in Japan in the late 1980's and then was discontinued, as far as I know the Maxima that sells in USA is not available in any other country with this body style, however Nissan used to sell for a few years the Infiniti I30/I35 as a Nissan Cefiro in Japan and as Nissan Maxima QX in Europe and in a few others countries but mostly with smaller output V6 engines. I did have a few reliability issues with my Maxima, on the first one the engine would not start, I did have to tow the car to the dealer and pay $ 76 for a computer diagnosis to find out that the Nissan Immobilizer chip embedded in the key malfunctioned and was necessary to pay another amount to reprogram the key with the right code to be able to start the engine again, after a few weeks of peace of mind my check engine warning light came on, I took the car to one of my local Nissan dealers and paid another $ 76 for diagnosis and found out that the rear oxygen sensor needed to be replaced for $ 280 including labor , again after a few weeks some of the cheap fake wood trim on the dash started to loose its color and fell due to damage from the ultraviolet radiation from the Sun, there goes another $ 230 to buy red walnut genuine wood trim online, the car ran fine for a few weeks when the engine start to run very rough at idle, I cleaned the fuel injectors, replaced the sparks plugs, PCV, cleaned the throttle body, replaced the battery, air filter, drive belts and still no luck, one of my local Nissan dealers was unable to fix the problem even after they charged me $ 250 to clean the fuel injectors using a "high pressure" technique, I did sold the car and later doing some research online I found out that the "rough idle" is a very common issue with the 1995-2001 Maxima and is due to faulty ignition coil/coils, there are six of them and is a common procedure to replace all of them at the same time for around $ 700. Overall I have mixed feelings with Nissan flagship sedan, I do love the engine performance but reliability is extremely important to me, I still do recommend the Maxima but keep in mind that ownership is not going to be trouble-free, for your information the Maxima automatic and five speed manual transmission are very reliable, the Bose sound system is mediocre ( Actually the in dash CD player is built by Clarion), the paint job is mediocre, and as I mentioned earlier the non ABS brakes performance is mediocre too. You can find lots of useful information about any Maxima at www.maxima.org and at www.nissannews.com . Fortunately I drive now one of the most reliable cars on Earth : a 2001 Chevy Prizm (same as Toyota Corolla) at a fraction of the price of a Maxima. Peace.

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99 Honda Accord EX V6(Very reliable) 01 Chevy Prizm (Very reliable)

I hate this car too much to consider that it has any.

overrated, poor reliability, gas guzzler, lousy dealers

I have driven my Nissan Maxima for 4 years. It has only 49,000 miles on it. My alternator first started to fail after 3 years. The red alternator light would intermittently come on but mysteriously go off when I got to the dealer's. One day my entire electrical system failed but I got the car started. My dealer said that he knew it was the alternator but the diagnostics checked out so there was nothing wrong with the car. He told me I could choose to have the alternator replaced at my own expense but the dealer would not replace it under my extended warranty. 5 months later my car was conpletely dead after I came back from vacation and it could not even be jump started. It had to be towed into the dealer. Fortunately I pay extra for the premium AAA towing service to tow me up to 100 miles. The dealer replaced my alternator under the extended warranty. Now my car will intermittently not start. It may start on the second or third try. It may not start for up to 3 hours. Yes, the Dealer says there is nothing wrong with my car because it starts when I take it in to them. I am getting rid of this car and will never buy another Nissan product. What could be worse than a car that intermittently won't start? If you should make the mistake of buying a Nissan product make sure you live walking distance to your dealer or make sure you have a towing serice which will take your car there without additional charges. You will be a frequent visitor.

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98 Mercury Villager, 95 Ford Taurus, 90 Mercury Sable

Power, performance, handling, fun to drive, nice ride, enough (nip and tuck) room for someone 6'5",

Sunroof is FUBAR-ed Tires were pricy to replace ($230/tire)

First of all - I LOVE MAXIMAS!! I have driven nothing better - of course domestics can't touch it. I traded my 1998 Maxima for my 2003 and loved both. The 255HP moves like nothing else. I have had a couple of minor issues with it. First, my drivers memory seat module failed and was replaced under warranty. I now have 100,000km on my 2003, so I drive alot. A couple of months ago my sunroof made a loud BANG as it was closing. Since then, it will no longer slide open, though it does still tilt. I'm very sad that its going to cost me $1,000 TO FIX A $1,000 OPTIONAL ITEM (though my GLE came with one standard) - so I'm not going to fix it. My check engine light came on for about a week and then went away, so I ignored that too. Other than that, the car has been absolutely fantastic. I love Nissan so much, I convinced my business partner to get a Murano, and it rocks as well. His wife's Jeep's have been garbage (they just bought a 2004 V8 so we'll see how it stacks up). My wife drives a '93 Grand AM that, while its had major issues in the past, has been a pretty good little car recently and is about 1/3 the price of mine....that's pretty tough to justify a $30,000+ purchase. Enough about others cars....I must recommend the Maxima...solid, reliable, good in snow (though 4WD is definitely something I'd like to have for our Canadian winters (Murano will be my next vehicle), heated stearing wheel is BEAUTIFUL, heated seats, blah blah blah...it has every option. Drive one...that's all I can say...the novelty of owning one NEVER wares off.

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1998 Maxima, 1995 Mystique (blah), 1991 Z34 Lumina (fun but unreliable)

Engine, reliability.

poor gas mileage. I have a V-6, 195 hp, and only get 20-21 mpg. Handling is so-so.

Overall, very good car. The engine is smooth as silk. However, the gas mileage is disappointing, and handling is only so-so for an expensive car. Even though I have no major problems with the car, not sure I'd buy another one as there are too many other good choices out there that are more fun to drive.

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Pontiac Grand Am

I love the GLE model. At five years old, almost six now, the leather is still in perfect condition. No chipped paint that I could find which was one of the foretold flaws about the Maxima. It has great steering. I can take sharp curves with ease. The safety rating is very high for the vehicle, but I am still glad it came with the ABS. Because I got it through a known dealership, I still have a forty thousand mile warranty and they are going to darken the window tinting for free. I felt this was a neccessity for leather interior. It is a gorgeous car and drives very smooth. Outside noise while driving is almost non-existant..don't know if that is a strength though. Some people I guess would enjoy the quiet. I prefer to know when cars are schreeching by..lol

The only flaw in mine at this point are the color and body style. I wish it would have had a silver exterior and a more sporty look..spoiler would have been very nice!

I owned a 92 Ford Thunderbird given to me by my mother last year(I was in desperate need of a car at the time). It has now totally fallen apart...the door arms are like jello and a long list of mechanical problems. So, I researched several hundred reviews at Car Review from brand new vehicles to used, from a Chevy Prism to Toyota Avalon. I test drove the 2004/5 Honda Accord-Great car, just didn't have the Maxima feel or curve ratio; 99 Chevy Prism-sweet little car, zipped around curves with ease, but the ride was not even in the same class; 2001 Toyota Avalon-nice but overpriced in comparison; 2005 Nissan Maxima-hated the new body style. I decided to buy the 99 Maxima because of its reliability and performance. Out of all the reviews I read including ones for new Maximas, this particular year and model rated the best to me. I also believe I got a great deal as the blue book value was over what I paid for it-($13,200 with 62000 miles with optional sunroof and ABS) I will continually update my review here as time passes @ every 6mo or so.

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82 Toyota Celica (210,000) miles and still going strong) 92 Ford Thunderbird-it lasted a while, but junk now.

- Smooth Engine even after 100k miles - Very quick acceleration - Easy to Change Oil - Easy to do Maintenance/Repairs - Tight Turning Radius - Reliable - Engine is smoooooooth - Cheap Tires are available

- Auto Transmission is weak (misses shifts) - Braking is adequate at best - Handling is adequate (Keep in mind my vehicle has 100k miles, so handling and braking have aged with the vehicle). - dashboard rattles - suspension sqeaks and rattles - $10 per spark plug?!?!

I purchased this used '97 Maxima in 2000 with about 27,000 miles. It has been an extremely reliable vehicle compared to some of my previous vehicles. The performance is above-average. My car has about 100k miles on it and the engine runs flawless. I fully expect the engine to run another 50k-75k easily. The engine always starts and runs smooth and fast. The transmission shows a lot of wear and slips a lot so I don't really expect the transmission to last much longer. The vehicle doesn't handle as well as some other cars I test drove, and the braking is just above-average. Maintenance Items: - Starter Replaced at 50k miles - Front Strut Bearings Replaced - Brake Pads Replaced - Battery Replaced (Routine) - This is all I have done to this car in 100k miles. Repairing this vehicle is a snap. Changing the oil doesn't even require a person to climb under the vehicle. The oil filter is right at the edge of the motor near the front passenger side wheel well. Changing the belts does not require any major disassembly of the motor mounts and all other maintenance items are relatively easy to tackle. Another complaint that I have about this vehicle are the rattles and squeaks. I have a Honda Accord with the same mileage and the body integrity of the Honda seems to be much better than the Maxima. After 100k miles the Maxima has a lot of rattles that I wouldn't expect with a Honda/Acura product. Overall I would purchase another Maxima of this year. I would definitely recommend the 5-speed transmission instead of the Automatic. My auto-transmission slips a lot and doesn't allow the full power of the motor to be transferred to the axles.

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Mazda 626 ES V6 (1993) Mazda 626 (1984) Honda Accord Coupe (1998)

everything good all around car

NONE

I had this maxima since 93! I absolutly loved it! I had this maxima and it had 142k plus miles on it. Unfortunatly it got totaled in a car accident! but this car gave me no problems except the normal maintanence problems it was the most relaiable car i've ever owned. My mom got the 03 and gave me her 94 and I neve rhad any problems i loved it! I can;t say enought about it. It had a power button for more power and it was a zippy little thing! it also had little rust and was very reliable and was fun to drive! I can't say enough about this car it also was kind of cute I took this car everywhere the air and heat were great even at those miles and nothing was replaced except the 2 back tires and had new breaks! I would recommend a maxima to ne one. Also was good in the snow

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03 maxima, 98 jetta, 83 accord, 99 plymouth voyager