Power and comfort...affordable performance and sharp looks

high maintenance...

I love this cars performance and awesome handling! Be advised it is a high maintenance car. If you want a car with performance and comfort that looks great but are not worried about often repairs then jump on this car! I love mine...with some exceptions...the automatic transmissions in these cars are garbage. The japenese maximas were rear wheel drive and they shipped the USA front wheel drive cars and the trannys weren't made right. The injectors suck and get clogged up easily. None of these repairs are cheap. Luckily I haven't had to do those repairs YET...I have had to put a new pieve of exhaust on mine...It has 106K miles on it.

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My opinion follows most of the magazines for a change: Powerful Responsive Engine. Durability / Reliability. Smooth ride. Interior Room Sound System (Bose)

Styling Clumsy ergonomics, not like Honda, Acura or BMW: switches like headlights and wipers are not intuitive and don't feel as good either. Confusing heater and climate controls

I bought the car with 46,000 miles on it and now have 135,000. It is my wife's driver and suits her needs perfectly (50 years old). A little floaty which disappoints me in the summer but which is perfect in winter and on the rough roads in Western New York. This car has been maintained according to factory recommendations, and it drives like it's new: engine is ultra quiet and uses no oil between changes. The tranny is also very impressive, which isn't always the case with fwd cars with this mileage. It's also a extremely good winter car with ABS, heated seats, and very good traction Unlike the 2000 Saab 9-3 I had(I also use 4 winter tires). maintenance has been very low, just basically routine stuff. The engine is as good as the mags said: excellent driveability and response and it sure feels like it's going to last a long time.

Good engine (190hp) smooth. Solid car. Well built. Roomy. Everything is powerfull, even the heat and the gauge lights. Very comfortable on long trips. Hnadles good in all seasons if you have Dunlop A4's or Potenza 950's.

Replacing the back speakers was incredibly difficult. I had to take the whole friggin car apart. That stupid shifting problem ARRGGHH!!

Very nice car. It makes everything else I've ever driven feel like a toy. It's nice to finally drive a real car. The GXE is the entry model. Mine is a basic GXE with a 5 spd manual. Same great engine, same 4 wheel disc brakes. handling very smooth but not as solid as the SE. This model is actually supposed to be quicker than the SE because it's less weight. I bought it with 93,000 on it and traded it in with 138,000. It still drove smooth and quiet like a brand new car. Unfortunately I did run into a bizarre MAJOR problem but I think I'm the only one. The clutch would engage less than an inch off the floor and it's even worse in the cold. I always had to shift slow and carefully with my foot rammed to the floor on the clutch. Even then it would grind here and there. I had the clutch replaced and it was better (for a month). Then it was just as bad as it was before. I had it looked at again and found out what the real problem was. The bearing where the axle goes into the tranny was broken. There was litterally a chunk missing. Because of this, the seals wouldn't hold and I was leaking fluid constantly. Since I liked the car so much I brought it to a tranny place and said "fix it" do whatever you have to do because I want to get another 100,000 miles out of this car. After 2 weeks of waiting and $3,000 out of my pocket, I had my car back with a rebuilt transmission and a new axle bearing. It was better, not great, just better. On cold mornings it was just as bad as it ever was. So I brought it back. Yeah I was pretty mad at this point. Had to pay $45 a day for another whole week to drive a stupid saturn rent a car. They took the whole tranny apart again and fixied something. It was now pretty good. Not great, just pretty good. After a few months it got real bad again. The all of a sudden one night when I parked on a hill my clutch went totally limp. I barely made it home that night. I had to replace the hydraulic clutch hose and bleed the whole system. Then it was better (for a while). As soon as the weather got cold it started getting more difficult to shift. Screw it. I traded it in for a minivan for the wife. Sure I loved the car but no matter how much money I threw at it, that stupid shifting problem would NOT GO AWAY! Also, nobody was ever able to tell me why the axle bearing broke. So who's to say that the problem wouldn't happen all over again? So now I'm driving my wife's old P.O.S. and I plan to get another Maxima as soon as I quit smoking. Sometime you have to dangle a carrot in front of your nose. I'd say a 2000 Maxima is a good carrot. Wouldn't you? or maybe a 2002 with (255hp)hmm...

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Looks, engine power

Listed above, bad customer service

I thought I was purchasing a reliable vehicle from a good company; well I was wrong on both parts. Problems! Problems ! My first encounter with Nissan Consumer Affairs was to deal with bad leather seats that were pealing away. Now my Maxima has around 33K miles and I live in North Carolina where the heat from the sun is not that intense, plus I us a car shade. I called to set up an appt. prior to my 3yr anniversary, 3 months prior. They put me off until I was past warranty and they will not cover it, since we are past warranty. I fought it with Nissan, they did this investigation??? And denied the claim. Now for a more serious issue, the service engine light came on indicating a misfire. Come to find out the engine coil springs (coil packets) need to be replaced. My local AAA service center called Nissan and they were well aware of the problem. I called Modern Nissan and they will also aware of this issue, HOW BOUT A RECALL? I will need to fight this also with Nissan. Right, will shall see

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Econmy, power, comfort and fuel consumption.

Road noice. My Mercedes was really quiet on this particular spot. I've been recommended to by Michelin tyres insteed of Yokohama.

I've driven more than 8.000 miles (about 13000 kilometers) with this car and nothing except for regular service is raplaced yet. Before this Maxima I've driven Mercedes E280 (I drove more than 290 000 kilometers and had a thougt of buying a new Mercedes again, but it was too expensive). and before that Volvo 960 and before that Toyota Camry V6. I've nothing to complain about yet.

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Horse power, smooth ride, quiet, gas mileage, performance, lots of interior room, plenty of trunk space and the instument lay out is okay. Nice interior storage compartments.

Cheap mirrors that breaks very easily. Costly to replace broken mirros ($250). Steering is little to sensitive. The drivers seat is beginning to squeak. Depreciates very quickly in value.

The Altima is nice. We went from a Maxima to Altima. In my opinion, this was a mistake. The Altima ride is smooth, quiet but the steering is real touchy. You have to get a feel for it. The car is made out of very cheap plastic, such as the mirrors that we have had to replace three (3)times on the driver side. The mirrors stick out far and is all plastic. It cost two hundred and fifty ($250) each time to replace the mirror. Nissan seriously needs to reconsider the design of the mirrors and issue a recall. I'm a Nissan man, but there is no comparison to the Maxima. If you ever owned a Maxima, don't waste your time with the Altima. It is not the Flagship of Nissan.

EVERYTHING, HANDLING, POWER, STYLE, FEATURES FOR THE MONEY, XENON HEAD LAMPS...INTERIOR ROOM.

TURNING RADIOUS (POOR)

This car is the bomb let me tell you. i leased the 2000 maxima and as soon as i got out of it i got the 04 maxima SE in the radiant ember love that color, and black interior with the driver's prefered package. heated seats, heated sterring weel, power lumbar...everything exept navi and heated back sats. 18in wheels standard 265 horse power engine that flies and a lot of torque 255 lb/feet. solid ride very firm love that. great sound system 320 watt BOSE with 8 speakes including 2 subwoofers instead of one like the previous years, best stock system i have heard. great style, it turns heads all the time everywhere i go. i have had it sice august of 03 knew i was gonna get one and i did as soon as i returned my 2000 lease. i had the 2000 for 3 years and never gave me any problems i don't think this one is going to give me any. i love this car. everyone should get one. POWER, STYLE, AND VALUE OF AN EXPENSIVE SPORTS CAR.

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Power. Reliability. Features per dollar. Interior styling.

Exterior styling. Less than great handling.

The '03 Maxima SE is a great blend of reliability, performance and practicality. This is my second Max and both times I bought one, I researched and drove and compared many many vehicles. I actually ordered a new '01 BMW 3-series, then cancelled it. As much as I love the BMW, I just could not justify the price to product ratio. When I bought the '03, I was greatly tempted by both the BMWs again, and the new Infinity G35. In the end, I went with a Maxima SE with EVERYTHING on it, leather, heated seats, heated steering wheel etc. Even loaded, it was almost $10 grand less than a G35, which has the same engine. Although I'd rather have a rear-wheel drive car, in Minnesota winters, there are times when the front-drive Max helps greatly. With 255 horsepower, and a generous torque curve, the Nissan has plenty of go. It's not the greatest handling car, but the '03 SE is much better than my '00 was. I also like the gated shifter, which lends itself to working like a manumatic. I really like the heated seats and steering wheel on cold mornings. It's a big interior, large enough to take five people to lunch comfortably. And the Bose in-dash 6 CD stereo is the best I've heard in a factory system. Sure, the looks are dated at best, ugly at worst, and there's not a lot of prestige attached to them. And the driving experience is decidedly less exciting than a BMW 3-series. But it is also one of the most reliable cars made, with an award-winning engine that is very strong, and I can put the seats down and haul quite large items in it. In short, the Maxima is a car that does most things very very well.

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Good handling, responsive acceleration, plenty of headroom(I'm 6'3"),good sound system, roomy interior, overall feel, good looks.

Fuel economy. But I knew this going in and if I wanted 30 mpg then I'd still be driving my Accord.

After doing a certain amount of research and a few test drives I decided on the Max. I was driving a 2000 Accord 4 cylinder with a 5 speed which was a very "functional" car but was just too generic and boring. I wanted more of a drivers car with more luxury and performance and the Max more than delivers. It may not be a BMW 5 series but it's pretty darn close. This car has the 17" SE wheels so it's a blast to take on turns and corners and push this car a little bit. It would be nice to have the 2002+ engine with the 3.5 litre engine and 255 HP but I'm not complaining. This car will still get up and boogie. This car is the Meridian Edition so it's got heated seats, traction control, 6 disk CD changer, moonroof, side impact airbags,Bose system ETC. On the freeway the car stays fairly quiet inside with only minimal wind & road noise entering into the cabin. Besides I normally have my tunes cranked up anyway so it's a non factor. Fuel economy is on par with my '96 V6 Camry that I owned previously. Around 23 city, 27 highway using regular unleaded. I'll try premium and see if there's a difference. I bought the car with 27K on it as a "salvage title". When I typed in all the info on the car including "salvage" the blue book value came in around $16,500 so I feel like I got a great deal. The past 4 cars I've purchased have all been salvaged so it doesn't bother me. Bottom line is the Maxima is a great car for the price no matter what. Nissan has always delivered more performance for the money then Toyota or Honda with about the same quality and refinement. The Avalon is a nice car but it just lacks the overall performance & exitement that the Maxima offers.

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excellent power great looks really comfortable super nice with all the features the roar of the motor at about 5000 rpm its just amazing and really sexy !

NONE !

It's a great car, excellent power, have beaten 6 cyl probes, accords, camrys and even a jetta vr6, golf gti, and so on, you name it. The thing its that is great, pretty comfortable, great looks (chic's dig em). I got the SE version, it looks great with the sunroof, the back wing, its black with dark gray leather, and I really love it.

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