I just meant bare bones with a stick is all I would need. If I were free to deck it out with options, however, I'd make it more luxurious. Like the leather everything.

 

My LS is in the shop so I grabbed a rental for a couple days. I have to say, the Nissan Maxima is a really disappointing car. I owned a 1998 Maxima SE and also a 1999 Maxima SE 5 speed manual (both are identical cars, just owned about 4 years apart and one was a stick) and those cars were awesome. White gauges in the SE, Bose sound system, a fun car to drive. I also remember the earlier Maxima (like 92-94) which was dubbed the "4DSC" for 4 Door Sports Car. You could also get those in stick - they also had the white gauges and were fun to drive.

What they have now is a completely uninspiring car with weird interior materials - and I could literally move the driver side armrest (where window controls are) by pressing my left leg firmly against it. Just no feeling of quality. On top of that, the driving experience is just completely lackluster.

What used to be a great mid sized sedan with sporty feel and fun driving dynamics has become a very forgettable car. Really a shame IMO. They could stand out against the Accord and Camry but instead they chose to create a very bland car that doesn't stack up to either of those.

 

Interesting. Order as many cars and buy the one that first. Clever

 

Since the 1998-1999 period you mention, you can basically blame one thing for that deterioration in Nissan products...Renault Ownership.

 

Yeah it's hard to compare against those maximas since the quality was so high vs anything going forward.

 

Your review makes me sad a little.
What happened to them I don't know.

I always admired the Maxima and that was supposed to be the model with extra performance and luxury features.
From what you are saying it sounds like they have lost their way.

 

1995-1999 Gen 4 Maximas were fabulous cars, I had one too. I've said all this before but the interior was just about like a Lexus inside how nice it was, the car was light and the engine was amazing. Very fun car to drive, mine was a stick and black on black. The white dials were awesome looking and the Bose stereo rocked. They went extremely downhill after that.

Also people need to remember how different it was then, this was before luxury SUVs and trucks when lots of people still loved cars.

There was the Maxima SE and the next step up was the 5 series, people called it a poor man's 540i and it is my opinion that was accurate.

Great car. I hear they turn into rust buckets and don't see very many anymore. Other than my current cars, Maxima was my favorite car easily after them. Styling is subjective but I thought they looked amazing in SE form especially like this below.

 

Not a fan?

I have driven only one 911, a 991.1 Carrera 4. So, it was with the base engine and had few options - just the PASM (adaptive suspension) and Bose sound system, as far as I could tell. It was still one of the best overall cars I've driven. Though somewhat loud as expected for a sports car, it was reasonably comfortable, easy to place on the road, and in general very easy to drive. And it did the sports car thing very well - sounded amazing and let me feel something through the chassis while in the mountains. Really awesome car - could be a daily-driver sports car for someone with the means to get one and no need for usable rear seats.



I definitely would like to have one some day. Even though this one was ten years old, it felt very much still in its prime.

 

I've never owned one but it was high up on my list for a while.
Always went instead with more speed and trucks for my needs or in some cases went more practical, however I always wanted one.

Like you say, the gauges looked good and body style looked awesome.
I didn't know they had a Bose system so I would consider that Permium feature.

I know right?
That's like near blashphemy. lol

 

Oh that Bose system was one of the best things about it. It rocked, anyone who owned one usually mentions the stereo. People can't discuss that gen Maxima and not talk about the stereo.

 

I can confirm it's surprisingly good, my grandparents had a 1995 all the way up to last year and it had nearly all options.

 

I dunno. Just the overall look to me. I see so many of them. Last night I saw another…I totally respect that there there are those out there that love the look. To me... I think a S class coupe is more interesting.

 

A Maxima GLE (the fully loaded luxury version) of that generation was pretty much a luxury car, or good enough of one for 80% of people IMO. The wood was fake but it looked real. The leather in those was great also. The engine was fantastic as I said, smooth as can be and potent. It was a very high quality automobile and they were everywhere.

The Bose stereo actually was better in the '95-'96s because they had the tweeters on the A-pillars. To cost cut in the refresh for 1997 they moved the tweeters to the door "connected" to the larger speaker in the door. It was still excellent but the first of those cars had the better Bose system with the tweeters in the A-pillars.

 

Their community has a ring road linked to a backroad though some orange tree farms and I always drifted the car though there at least once per visit to "road test" the car. For a FWD it's very fun and easy to control

 

Saw this tonight. Tragic.