Nightline

Why are there so many %$@#(* ALTIMA commercials???????

I have nothing against the Altima, but goodness grief, lets see some MAXIMA commercials out there, afterall, the MAXIMA is the "Flagship"

And.. why did the 07 Altima get the PUSH button for starting, but not the 07 MAXIMA. I love my new 07 MAX, but just dont get why the Altima is getting all the good stuff before the Flagship gets it..


Sorry guys, just had to get that out, I think I just saw 3 commercials in a 5 minute period.

2LEET4U

iTrader: (4)

thats a good question.

Now we know why the Altimas are Nissans top seller... there freakn advertising.... as a matter of fact, i have only seen 1 6th gen max commercial.

the one i saw was introducing the new no shifting feature. The girl putting on the lipstick and the driver making the shift noise with his mouth...

That commercial was

But in retrospect. I enjoy NOT seeing a hundred maximas on the road. Its nice to pull up to an Altima or Sentra. I feel like showing off when the light turns green... VRRROOMM..... I bet there altimas or sentras cant do that.... LOL

NiZMo1o1

iTrader: (45)

I heard the 07 is the last year for the Maximas.. the New Altima is the replacement ... They are doing away with the Maxima.

The New Altima is now the flagship.. and the coupe would be out soon.

LA02MAX

iTrader: (3)

maybe because the altima outsells the maxima by a large margin and was just completely redesigned? I've seen more than one article on the altima saying something like "Why would you buy a maxima over this?" After looking at and driving both the new 2007 maxima and altima I can understand why. The maxima just needs an update...

SmokinMaxSE

iTrader: (1)

Who cares. Nissan can drift the Altima in that commercial all they want. They won't get rid of the Maxima because no one will spend 33K on a loaded Altima.

Majestic06

I wouldn't be surprised. When I took my Max to the dealer for it's firdt oil change, I roamed around the lot and checked out the 07 Maximas and Altimas. The window stickers on the maximas still said "Flagship automobile" but the Altimas said "The New Benchmark." Sounded like a hint to me. When I bought my 06, the dealers told me that 07s were coming out soon but they didn't have a timeframe. If I had known about the 07 model changes for the Maxima, I probably would've waited. If I had waited and seen the 07 Maxima and Altima, I probably would've bought the Altima.

LA02MAX

iTrader: (3)

Yet they would spend 36k on a similarly equipped, lower performing maxima? I'm missing out on your logic.

lightonthehill

Must be a lot of folks under age forty here. I feel that explains why so many do not understand the world of autos.

Nissan is pushing the Altima hard because:

1 - It is a new generation model, and it is important that prospective customers see how nice it is, buy the car, and get it on the road where other prospective customers can see it. By contrast, the '07 Maxima is an '04 with a new interior and front facelift. Doesn't anyone here remember how Nissan flooded the airwaves with the 6th gen Maxima when it first came out?

2 - The Altima is the volume leader for Nissan. They intend that it be the car for the masses, and hope to sell around 250,000 copies. The Maxima, by contrast, is being moved ever closer to luxury status, with a sales target probably around 100,000. Makes sense there would be more ads for the Altima.

I see four different '07 Maxima ads on a fairly regular basis in the Atlanta area. As the Maxima is being moved 'upmarket', the ads are placed more selectively. We won't see them very often on shows such as Southpark or Desperate Housewives or Lost. I sometimes see them on the National Geographic, Discovery and Biography channels.

But understandably, there will not be as many Maxima ads, because Nissan does not plan to sell as many Maximas.

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The push button starter is a gimmick that has been around over fifty years. It is no big deal. To have added it to the '07 Maxima would have meant yet another design change on a vehicle generation that is in its fourth year. A design change with little practical improvement over what is already there. Not a reasonable expectation.

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There are those in this thread who feel Nissan is planning to drop the Maxima. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Nissan has been very busy redesigning many of its vehicles, and sort of let the Maxima changes slide longer than I feel they would have wanted. The '07 changes should have been on the '06, kept for '07, and the '08 should have been generation 7.

But the changes were delayed until the '07 model, and Nissan does not make the kind of changes they made to the '07 and only keep them one year. So we are faced with the '08 Maxima arriving this summer with virtually no changes from the '07.

But the 7th generation Maxima will arrive in about fourteen or fifteen months (spring of '08) as an '09 model. It will be a complete redesign, bearing little resemblance to the traditional Maxima styling. It will essentially be a luxury vehicle, and will indeed be a true flagship for Nissan.

Many traditional Maxima lovers will not be happy with it. It will be larger than the '07, have only a CVT trannie, and will probably have a base price over $30,000. I do expect it to have a noticable power boost.

Several posters here did spot one thing: Nissan does intend that the upscale versions of the 3.5 Altima will be the replacement for the Maxima as we have known it over the years; a four door sports car with lots of zip, and available with a manual tranny.

The Maxima will morph over time, and the clientele it appeals to will gradually change. But, unlike the Pierce-Arrow, Cord, Auburn, Hudson, Tucker and Henry J, it will always be with us.

SmokinMaxSE

iTrader: (1)

36K and all you can think about is performance? For 36k it better have everything,07 Altima features and 07 Maxima features. I think your missing the logic. Similarly equipped? does it offer the elite package, 18" rims? Standard options are different. If Nissan dropped the Maxima right now would you spend 33K or more for the 2007 Altima.

What sounds better to me is giving the Maxima the Altima's performance and then ask buyers for more money .Altima is going against the Camry now and the Coupe against the solara. The Maxima will have to keep up with the Avalon.

Killing the Maxima would just show that Nissan can't compete with other car makers/category.

SmokinMaxSE

iTrader: (1)

I agree. The Altima can not fill two segments; therefore, the Maxima will stay. Maybe not as we would imagine. Also, people forget the VQ3.5 is pass 300hp now. Nissan can play the "5 more HP" game between these cars until we are blue in the face !

LA02MAX

iTrader: (3)

Most people don't care about heated rear buckets and the max needs 18" wheels to look right because it has some big ol' sheet metal. Yes, I still agree that the altima and maxima have very similar options but the altima betters the max in pretty much every category. 33k gets you an altima with every single option on it, but 28k gets you a pretty damn loaded one. What does that get you with the maxima? The base model. I wouln't hesitate one bit to spend 33k on an altima over a 33k maxima and I'm betting many people won't either.

Once the 7th gen is released, they better step it up big and make it a real flagship, because right now it just is not cutting it. I'll never buy a maxima again because the name is officially ruined, but I will be happy to see nissan move in the same direction they are now, which is making the max a true luxury car and the altima a 4DSC.

NIKV69

Not only that but it's cheaper and they think they are getting the same car. I have two friends who drive the Altima and I give them so much grief about it. Diet Maxima, poor man's Maxima, Maxima lite. They hate it!

I highly doubt it.

SmokinMaxSE

iTrader: (1)

You want the Maxima to remain a sports sedan and that's all. Nissan wants to make it into a Luxury sports sedan. The only fault I see Nissan did was get rid of the manual option. That's like getting rid of the "sport".

As far as options goes. Does the Altima have dual front power seats? NO. Heated steering wheel? NO. Power folding outside mirrors? Auto dim outside mirrors? Auto tilt in reverse outside mirrors? No. Altima's mirrors are manual folding,heated mirrors with turn signal indicator.

Does it have color LCD monitor/information center even without navigation option? NO. Are the rear windows auto up/down? NO. Does it have Driver's seat entry/exit system remote control activated with two settings? NO. Does it have Aluminum door sill plates? I don't know but it does not mention it on the options list. The Elite package adds exclusive option's. No the Altima does not have this option.

But you would pay Maxima money for the Altima anyway????????????

The G35 has it all. Rear wheel drive with manual trans. All the luxury and power you want and more.

LA02MAX

iTrader: (3)

Make excuses all you want, but where in my post did I say I wanted the maxima to remain a sport sedan?

Direct quote from my previous post: "I will be happy to see nissan move in the same direction they are now, which is making the max a true luxury car and the altima a 4DSC."

The current maxima is no more a luxury car than mine is. Right now it's hiding in the new altima's shadow and unless nissan steps up their game with the next maxima and ACTUALLY makes it a luxury car, the same thing will continue to happen. I could care less about pointless features like power folding mirrors ( ) And so could a lot of people when they drive both the new maxima and the new altima (both of which I've done). It's just stupid that nissan is doing this; releasing cars that are SO closely related. The maxima needs to put some distance between it and the altima to succeed and I hope that happens.

Glude

iTrader: (5)

I dont think they are pointless, ive come close to hitting my mirror on poles and other stuff in drive-thrus and what not. Its a cool lil feature to have, It was honestly my favorite option when I first got my car. Of course the heated seats and wheel gained that position as soon as winter came around. Im not gonna say one car is better than the other but how can u claim certain things from only driving the 6th gen? I owned a 5.5 gen for 3 years and droke it back to back with my 6th gen. Hands down the 6th gen IS more luxurious, a luxury car?? No, but more luxurious? Yes.

LA02MAX

iTrader: (3)

but in what way is it more luxurious? If you mean options, then yes it's more luxurious. But I have come to find that the 04-06 maximas were pretty (don't get offended when I say this) cheaply made, something that a luxury car should not be. The '07 is considerably better, but in terms of fit and finish I think it's right there with the altima still which should not be true IMO. Also, the ride was actually rougher than the altima's and the altima handled much better. Curious, but hopefully nissan will adopt this new quality with all of their cars in the future.

SilverMax_04

You're right about the luxury and power -- but the G35 does NOT have "it all." It lacks the interior size of the Maxima. My wife likes our 04 because it is smaller outside than our previous Oldsmobile while being noticably bigger inside.

light is correct in all he posted above in # 8. The one thing I would add to his points about the Altima advertising -- it is designed to get the customers to the Nissan dealers' showrooms. Once there, it is up to the salespeople to show those who came both the Altima and the Maxima. I went in to look at the Altima in May of 03 and came away owning an 04 Max -- because it was obviously better, for not that much more money. Given the current two models, Nissan needs to again make the difference between these two models reflect this "performance and luxury value" for the Max. (But without a manual trannie in the Max, I will only be looking at an Altima -- next time I need a new car.)

LA02MAX

iTrader: (3)

right on the money. In 2003, The altima was not superior to the maxima in very many ways. It should be the same today...

Glude

iTrader: (5)

Well, options are a big part of luxury IMO. The things that stood out the most to me were the abundant amount of rattles and the road noise. I kinda agree/disagree about cheaply made, I found the interior on the 6th gen to be nicer but it wouldnt be a fair comparison since I had cloth in the 5.5 and leather in my 6th gen. I like the look and size of the 6th gen interior while the 5.5 had better materials used on certain things. I guess its all about what YOU want, some people prefer different things.

Zargon

I have seen A LOT of 6th Gen maxima commercials. They played tons of the commercials where the people would touch the Maxima and all these scenes would zip through their head about how sporty the maxima is.

And then there is the CVT maxima commercial, where the lady is going to put her lipstick on, she is waiting for the car to shift, but it never does.

I've seen those commercials a lot more than the altima ones, though they have been playing the altima one more of late.

clayman88

iTrader: (1)

Push-button is definitely a gimmick, but its a great gimmick and adds alot of "cool-factor". I think most people love this idea even though its not really necessary.

BTW, I RARELY see 6th gen commercials in Omaha...mostly just Altima. I understand why that makes sense for Nissan's marketing.

4MySwee

iTrader: (2)

Same here

+1