[...]I recently attended an auto show and being that I own a 2003 Nissan Maxima, I … Corvette owners aging, younger buyers not … 2011 Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet; 2011 Range …[...]…

I recently attended an auto show and being that I own a 2003 Nissan Maxima, I decided to skip the Nissan presentation. The Toyota/ Lexus and Honda/Acura presentation caught my attention immediately. Toyota is taking no prisoners regsrding design and performance. I remember when Nissan was the Asian benchmark designer and performance leaders of the sports sedans. I’m totally put out with the direction the Maxima 2004 -07 are taking. And what’s with the huge price tag? And there is almost no visual difference between the Altima and the Maxima, so why buy a higher priced car? Is this anyway to treat loyal owners? The price is going into the TL, C-series, 3-series, & ES series area. Guess which car I would NOT buy?

The Maxima looks like a bloated boat with wheels or Altima. And I detest the headlights and grill (looks like bug on steroids and is still disgusting-2007). The car has lost it’s theme regarding sports sedans. It seems that Nissan is forcing the customers to turn to the competition for better designs and performance. Please place the vehicle on hiatus until designers bring the REAL Maxima back.

But now let me say the bad things about the car. The cheap interior materials and body gaps despite the price that reaches infinity territory. Just because the interior has changed does not mean that the aesthetically displeasing body gaps will go away. The options list and refinement for a car that ranges from 30k to 35k should be in a par with cars in those price ranges, and the maxima is not. The maxima sport suspension is below par with sport suspensions in less expensive cars. That is why you hear people say that the maxima is not a true sports car–and it isnt. It has the outer edges of being one and gives you small hints of being one, but overall it is not a sports car. Mr. carlos has given cost cutting materials with high prices and has managed to fool the public this long. The maxima in the NY Auto Show is an improvement, but an extreme disappointment. I also predict sales will go down in half because of this, because the objective was to reach refinement in par to the avalon, and Mr. carlos did not do it.

And lets admit it, Mr. carlos is the main honcho at Nissan, so lets not pretend he had nothing to do with all these decisions. Perhaps nissan is planning a new generation maxima in 2008, but at least the maxima could have not embarassed itself by at least matching the avalon. And what is this about HP going down to 255?? In a world where maxima owners buy this car because of the beauty of the vq engine, it becomes an insult and I must admit a machismo thing that the HP goes down.

Mr. carlos, you let maxima owners down. If your stearing the car towards a more lux direction, then so be it. My wife owns an 02 Altima SE V-6 and its time to trade in the cheapness of the car and I have my 05 Maxima. But Im moving over back to better craftsmanship and refinement sometime in September to the toyota camry, avalon, the ES330 or perhaps the TL. My wife wants the new Camry, which has 268 HP and virtually no body gaps. Loyalty only lasts so long.

Take this message like you wish, I said my peace.

Then they came out with that ugly as sin radically redisigned Altima, and proclaimed it to be a “beautiful” design when it was ugly as sin and then for some crazy crack-smoking reason, they made the Maxima look like its evil twin, ruining 2 of their lead models at once! I was shocked that they actually had the balls to call their own design “beautiful” and advertise this aspect when it looked like a complete donkey to me, ESPECIALLY that retarded Sunroof(more of a vertical slit than a sunroof) and at-that-time trendy taillights.

Now they’re retreating from these outlandish designs but the new Maxima is still based on that platform and overall I simply wished they went back to the much more attractive 2002 model and updated that one instead.

Thank GOD they changed the front end as it really now complements the excellent rear end (chisled rear windshield and C-pillars). I do agree with the poster above (canut4ever) in that they should have redesigned the out of place rear tail lamps — total mistep there.

This could be the first step to me liking the Maxima again. Until then, the G35 is a much finer car.

Unless that’s a base model with a low MSRP, which includes buying defective knobs from the reject line.