maximadave

iTrader: (10)

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...val/index.html

lightonthehill

Nice followup on the report they did last spring. I was truly stunned at how uninformed most of those posters commenting about the article were. But then they obviously are totally unaware folks are driving the '09 Maxima out for under invoice. And having driven one for a week now, it is easy for me to spot those commenters who have been no closer to an '09 Maxima than when they happened to be riding (too young to drive yet) by a Nissan dealership.

The only problem so far was a TPMS light at 3,500(?) miles. Try to beat THAT in a Chevy.

Mick7

Not a one said they had driven a Maxima. As they say opinions are like...uh..elbows. Everyone has them. Most of those opinions have no basis in fact.

Expensive? My S has all I need on a car and was under 28k out the door. That was late November and the dealer has sold 1-2 more since..there are 65 new Maximas available in the Indianapolis area and most dealers haven't sold one this year if Edmunds inventory search is correct.

At this rate the 2010 models of all brands can be skipped. Tons of new inventory at all the dealers, domestic and "imports".

bandulu

what sucks about nissan is that this car is not longer made in japan.. is manufactured in tennessee........

madlaw1071

My wife has the same issue with the TPMS light. She ran over a soda can while backing out of a space. The light came on and despite me checking all 4 tires the light wont go off.

BTW, for a car in this class, the TPMS should specify which tire has lost pressure.

Torgus

iTrader: (10)

38k for a 7th gen lol.

dkmura

Don't underestimate the Nissan build quality of vehicles coming out of Smyrna. Their quality control is every bit as stringent as the Japanese factories. Even better, the A36 Maxima was specifically designed for North America and it only makes sense to build them here!

VQP0WER

My wifes Pathfinder is the same way, along with my coworkers new Xterra.

My wifes tires were at 31psi. Put 35pis in all four, light went out.

lightonthehill

What is GREAT about this car is that it is made in the USA by Americans using over 80% parts made in America.

These are our fellow Americans assembling these '09 Maximas, and they work hard to turn out a good product. America is desperate for jobs right now, and I am so thankful Nissan provides many of them. My 6th gen (made in Smyrna) had not a whisper of a problem the last four years I owned it (I loved that car), and I have every reason to feel my new '09 will prove to be equally well-built.

bandulu - Take the time to go to Smyrna and tour the factory. Talk to the folks that work there. They care about quality, and I was impressed with everyone I met there.

lightonthehill

madlaw - Yes, this would be useful information.

I am usually wrong, but I have a feeling this feature will be either on the '11 half-gen or the 1913/14 8th gen. This isn't as straightforward as we might think. People rotate tires/wheels, replace with aftermarket wheels, etc, etc. But it can be done by having fixed receivers near each wheelwell that receive only from the tire in that well. It will eventually happen.


Edit - Obviously we did not have Maximas in 1913 or 1914. I meant 2013 and 2014.
Thanks for catching that, Compusmurf.

Compusmurf

1913/14 8th gen huh? Light, I don't think you're that old....

lightonthehill

OK, OK, so you weren't around to share those wonderful years of 1913 and 1914 with me. Well, I guess I wasn't quite around yet then either. These century changeovers are tough on us old-timers. Here I am still writing '19', and we are in 2009.

mls277

The one thing I like about Nissan is how they treated me when buying and going for service. GM was ok, but Nissan really seemed to have their stuff together. Also, the salesmen don't "chase" you at the Nissan I bought from. There are a couple Nissan guys on the floor, and if you say you're just looking they let you be. If you want a salesguy, there he is. It's the environment that I liked above all others...and I visited GM, Acura and a few others....I would compare the sales floor experience to BMW. Same kind of no non-sense professional attitude. When I go in for service, they are thorough and get the job done, then give me my car back all washed up and ready to go. To me the DEALERSHIP sells the car first...

dkmura

Good points all. Do you want to share who and where this truly great dealership is?

Sorry to take this so far OT!

drakutis

My TMPS came on at around the same milage. I added the visual pressure gauges to each tire and so far they haven't reflected any pressure loss. I was looking in the manual at how to see the TMPS on the screen, but when you go into the system you can't find that option.

Also,

I've recently had my oil changed and week afterwards my oil filter message came on the display, so I took it back and they reset it. Last night as I was driving it came on again. Weird. But I still love the car!

dkmura

TPMS is now a federally-mandated system (thank Ford and Firestone for that). But only the warning light is mandated. Like the oil change reminder, the TPMS on the A36 Maxima only displays as an individual light.

Interestingly enough, the preorder 350Zs had a TPMS that would display individual tire pressures at each corner. This was incorporated into the multifunction gauge on top of the dash. I found it particularly useful at the racetrack to determine when my R-compound race tires came up to temperature (tire pressures would 'pop' up a few PSI) for maximum traction. There was also a audible warning together with the light if you had a tire going down. Truly a useful feature!

Unfortunately, on the '05-08 Z's and even the just introduced 370Z, this type of TPMS was deleted in favor of the ubiqitous warning light. So if Nissan has this technology in hand, why haven't we seen it more? As usual, the answer is economics. Saving a few bucks on design and production for a feature most people don't even use is the rationale.

NismoMax80

iTrader: (6)

i read them, but honestly most of the opinions are worthless since it's not even close to their budgets even with discounts.
Besides, if you don't test drive something, why bother commenting beyond aesthetics?
I'm kinda happy the price is high so I won't be tempted to trade since current payments are almost finished.

dkmura

Not sure which wavelength you're tuned into, but your post gets my vote for being the furthest off-topic all weekend!

NYPD-Arnold

iTrader: (8)

That's is very incorrect. Only the 07+ Zs did not have TPMS readings. 05s and 06s do. The 370Z does not have it either.

bandulu

that will b great to go there some time... i mean u always heard people complaining about the cars made in the US so u know its just my opinion.. but i own one 6th gen and so far no problems... and honestly i think i talk too loud who knows this new one max could prove evryone that it has improved in every single detail cuz the design its already out of this world IMO.. and i wish i could have one for sure

NismoMax80

iTrader: (6)

the topic is the motor trend article. my post was referring to the comments in that article. what are you talking about?

lightonthehill

Nismo and dkmura - The misunderstanding came about because this thread had split into totally separate topics. dkmura was among those discussing the TPMS system, when Nismo followed with a post about the original thread topic.

As soon as I saw Nismo's post, I suspected that those here following the original thread would follow what Nismo was saying with no trouble, while those who were deep into the TPMS discussion might be thinking Nismo had posted on the wrong thread.

Just a misunderstanding resulting from a split topic thread. No harm, no foul.

lightonthehill

bandulu - Until I retired, I had only dreamed of touring the Nissan plant. I had toured American auto plants on several occasions because I had lived fairly near several of them. But my wife and I spent a week on vacation in Nashville the last week of last March, and we visited the Hermitage, attended a concert in the famous old Rymon (sp?) Auditorium featuring Little Jimmy ****ens, Point of Light, and several other groups, etc, and while in Tennessee, we toured the Nissan plant.

That was the first week Nissan had allowed plant visitors to see the '09 Maxima, because it had not been introduced to the public until March 19th. When I first saw several '09s at the end of the assembly line, I almost fell out of the little train-tram that carries visitors around the plant trying to get a better look.

The day after we arrived back in Georgia, we went to the Atlanta Auto Show. My wife will confirm that, while she spent hours touring the entire show, sitting in dozens of vehicles, I kept circling back to the '09 Maxima, studying it from every possible angle.

We are frugal with our money, but I always try to find a way to buy a new Maxima the first year a new generation is introduced. Maximas are my one 'lavish weakness'.

As to American-made autos, there definitely was a time quality was very shaky. According to statistics from such groups as Consumer Reports, reliability is still not good on many (but but all) GM and Chrysler products. Ford has sort of broken from the Big Three pack in that most (but not all) of its vehicles are now average or better in reliability. Ford has actually passed some of the European 'luxo' names in reliability.

But those same Consumer Reports surveys of hundreds of thousands of American households show that most Asian vehicles assembled in the U.S. are either better than average or much better than average in reliability.

Times are tough right now, but hopefully some good things will come your way in the not-too-distant future, and you will find yourself in a 7th gen Maxima. Always hope.

po8pimp

It's obvious this whole report is crap. Who ever wrote the article refers to the new Maxima interior as being "Light Years Ahead" of the last model. I have a 6th gen and my interior is pretty damn close to being the same as the one pictured. Not to mention they got extremely ripped off on their purchase. I got quoted 32k, out the door,for a fully loaded 09 back in 08. The comments left were even worse. I wonder if anyone has looked into buying a G37 out of the bunch, because I did and I was quoted 44k for base model and 49k for fully loaded. People are ignorant. I almost registered to express my opinion. Comparing a Maxima to a G37 is like comparing the Prius to a topline Lexus.

po8pimp

ohh and to add to what lightonthehill said. Ford provides the safest cars on the market as of 09. They are coming out of the slump, but have lost a buyer for life,me, because of their aweful past. That is what hurts their sales not the new vehicles and the cheap prices but the crap they put previous owners through.

mwh

IMHO the 6.5 SE is by far the best looking and the interior is just as nice.

po8pimp

I actually think the 5th gen is nice

choice89

Hey po8pimp,

Have you had a chance to drive the 09 MAX? My brother used to have the 6th Gen MAX and it was nowhere close to look and feel of the 09 MAX.....even my brother wants to get the new ride over his, but he is almost done paying his ride off and does not want to start car payments all over again........I guess it is all to your own opinion in the end.......

and by the way:

Your info says your from Oahu, Hawaii...! What part? I am a local boy as well from the Leeward side......I graduated from Waianae! I miss da Islands so much you can't even imagine..... :-(

po8pimp

Yea it's nice out here. I'm in the service out on Ford Island. Haven't drove one yet just scoped a couple out at the dealership. Should probably do that huh. I am scared to though because just like your bro I am almost done with payments and I know I will hand the keys over if I do get in one. They look so mean and I bet they drive just as good if not better than the one I got. So for now I have to just look and not touch. That's why I am scoping out the 7th gen forums not the 6th gen right now. Curiousity sux. Ohh nice rims BTW. You should black out that red on the Tails too. Leave the white though just limo or smoke the red part.

dkmura

I stand corrected. The '03-06 350Z's had the TPMS feature with individual readouts for each corner. It was during the '07-08 restyle of the Z that Nissan decided to drop this useful feature in favor of a simple idiot light. I was very sorry to see it not readopted for the 370Z. And I stand firm on my opinion regarding why this technology isn't used on more Nissans.

Apologizes again for taking this thread so far OT!

mls277

That 370Z is one sweet car. 332hp and 2 doors...that thing must be awesome.

Torgus

iTrader: (10)

lol no g37 goes for 48k let alone 44k for a base model, it starts at 34k. sorry. whoever told you that obviously just wanted you out of their showroom. i'v done it before to customers who i know arn't going to buy **** and or are to poor.

mls277

First of all, I'm not that impressed with infiniti. I think they are nice cars, but I'm in now way interested in buying one. For the money you should be buying a BMW or a Vette. Anything over 40k should be reserved for the tip top cars...not an upgraded Nissan.

Torgus

iTrader: (10)

i'm not going to get into it here but you must have missed the fact that the g35/37 competes DIRECTLY with the 3 series and are close in price, performance, and luxury. also an infiniti is much more than a upgraded nissan to a large degree, it's the same as a lexus or acura etc. also it's like saying a g35/37 is just an upgraded maxima.

po8pimp

Here is the inventory list for the local dealer and allmost all of the g37s go for 44k +. These are not even the 09 models. Ohh and when I got the quote the stock market was up about 2k points. Looks like prices have dropped quite a bit here Lol. http://www.infinitiofhonolulu.com/ne...ventoryListing

CT Maxima

You can easily get an '08 G35 for less than $35k. Dealers have "hidden" money from Nissan to enable deals.

po8pimp

yea but I wouldn't get a g35 only a g37 coupe if anything.

po8pimp

saw this in the 6th gen forums thought I would share see what you guys think. Sorry didn't wanna start a new thread thought this would be the best one to put it in.

DConrad2007

Man that thing is sitting so low,if you hit a stick of gum in the road you'll total it.

po8pimp

yea that's why you either bag it or put it on adjustable suspension.