Best production V6, period. Fit/finish. Interior room. Agressive styling(I like it) with super 17" wheels.

Warm idle speed too low for 5-speed. Very little driver feedback from clutch.

This is my 2nd Max SE, and it is electrifying. I didn't think the engine could get much more refined, but WOW. And with a 5-speed transmission, I'm convinced that there is not a car under $30K that can touch this car. The manual transmission is something that takes a little getting used to (the engine is so quiet at idle, and gives virtually no response through the clutch, sometimes the only way to know if you're giving enough throttle to release the clutch is to look at the tach, or turn the radio down and listen to the engine) but is well worth the effort. The automatic shifts too early to take advantage of the REAL power of this engine, which is the top-third of the power band. This is where the engine really is a star. You can rally feel the thrust above 4500RPM.

The Bose stereo is definitely worth the extra expense, especially if you're not looking to excessively upgrade the stock system. For the extra money, I doubt you can do much better. The extra woofer in the Bose (not a true subwoofer) is competent, and really makes a difference over past Bose systems (I have one in my 95 - well, my wife does now).

The paint is soft but pleasing. I went with the Sherwood Green. (I definitely recommend Zaino Bros. polish. This stuff just can't be touched). I also recommend a vinyl nosemask (Nissan only) for highway driving and long trips.

Overall fit ant finish is tremendous. Why people buy Infinity I30's is beyond me. A loaded SE/GLE is just as nice. And you can't get the I30 in a 5-speed.

I happen to like the styling of the 2000 model. The smoked lenses of the SE taillights are pretty cool, and these cars DEFINITELY need a rear spoiler. I really believed both the 4th and 5th gens were designed to have them. The ones that don't look odd, like something's missing from the car.

Overall, this car just gives tremendous bang for the buck. The best V6 in it's class (by far), luxurious appointments, and aggressive styling, in stark contrast to the vanilla Accords and Camrys that have been running around for it seems like forever. And a better value than Avalon and 3.2TL.

Enjoy the ride.

Similar Products Used:

1995 Nissan Maxima SE. Tested: Accord, Solara, 3.2TL, Avalon, laughed at Ford dealer after amusing myself with Taurus.

Body Design, Build Quality (most of it, anyway), Engine Power, Lack of Torque-Steer

Lack of heated side mirrors, center-console armrest is weak, poorly painted aluminum wheels, sloppy A/T between 1st & 2nd

Price: $30,000 - 5-year lease, leasing $18,000 of that.

Compared with my 1996 Maxima this one has been improved in almost every way, although I am still sitting on the fence regarding the styling between the two. I "bought" this one off the lot, without a whole lot of dealin', but I have seen other people getting a better price. Also, I have to wonder why the sporty SE with a 5-speed and 17" wheels, etc. is $3000 less than this one? I question Nissan on that one.

As I mentioned Build Quality is very high, with an exception or two. My biggest concern is the sturdiness - or the lack therof - of the pop-up armrest on the center console. It seems a bit wobbly and poorly engineered to me. I can't help but wonder if it will be broken in the next five years. I mean, I don't sit on it or anything, but it still seems that it's not going to last very long. My other main Build Quality issue is the paint on the wheels. It seems that they were only painted on the face of the wheel. These wheels have large openings between the spokes and you can see into them, right to the point where the spraying stopped - it looks like overspray at that point. I expected that they would have been painted all the way through since you can see the wheel all the way through. Also, the paint stops about 1/4" short of the edge of the wheel at the bead of the tire. The painting of the wheels must have been done at an American factory somewhere by a union employee who just doesn't give a crap. Also, on the subject of the wheels, the lug nuts are so short and the lug holes so deep that it's a pain getting the lug nut on the very tips of your fingers to get them started back onto the studs. What's up with that, more cost-cutting? Too cheap to put lug nuts on the car that are about twice as long? I can just imagine trying to put these lug nuts back on in freezing weather when your fingers aren't working too well to start with.

On the maintenance side, there has been a slight un-improvement. On my '96 the oil drain plug and filter where on the right side of the engine facing the wheel. I mean, you didn't have to get under the car at all to change the oil and filter. Well, somebody decided that that was too easy so they moved the drain plug to the rear of the oil pan and now you have to get under the car again to drain it. I didn't think that we were supposed to be going backwards on innovations.

The automatic transmission is very good and smooth when driven normally, but when you decide to get on it hard I feel that it stays too long in 1st gear and sorta' slips & slides and takes too long to get into 2nd. I would prefer that it have a driver-selectable "Normal" and "Sport" setting to chose from like my 1987 Toyota Supra did. As it is, it is tasked with "Sport" duty whilst permanently stuck with "Normal" valving. Once you are in 2nd and beyond the tranny is pretty well setup, allowing the engine to pull strong - close to redline before the next upshift.

I feel that this car - with this kind of price tag - in all trim levels should come standard with heated outside mirrors that come on when you turn on the rear defrosters (again, like my 1987 Toyota Supra had), but instead you have to get a heated seats package. It makes more sense to me that you are defrosting the rear window and defrosting the mirrors at the same time. This may seem trivial, but try pulling into traffic on an interstate when you can't see out of the side view mirror...

Compared to my '96 which had lots of torque steer, this one has virtually none at all, even when the wheels are turned left or right. This is a great improvement in my book, that even with the increase in HP the front wheels are not going to be pulling any surprises on me.

Overall the car is a great improvement over the '96. I would prefer a full set of gauges instead of just "fuel" and "temperature", but I am a person who does his own maintanence and therefor I look at a car a lot closer than most people. That's why I have these so-called nit-picks about the vehicle. However, there is nothing that would keep me from highly recommending this car to anybody, except to say, do a better job at wheeling & dealing than I did and you can get a better price.

Similar Products Used:

1996 Maxima GXE A/T

VERY SMOOTH AND QUIET RIDE. ACCELERATION IS EXCELLENT. VERY ROOMY FOR ME I'M 6'6" THE 17" WHEELS ON THE SE GIVE BETTER TRACTION. IT MOVES LIKE A
LUXURY CAR. LOVE IT

WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A COUPLE MORE NOTCHES TO MOVE STEERING WHEEL HIGHER. MINOR AND A LITTLE PICKY.

I HAD A 99 HONDA ACCORD V4 EX AUTO. IT WAS NOT VERY SMOOTH. THE HANDLING WAS JERKY(TRANSMISSION)THE 2000 MAXIMA SE BLOWS IT AWAY. I HAVE ONLY HAD THE MAXIMA A SHORT TIME, HOWEVER I AM VERY PLEASED WITH THE PERFORMANCE A I REALLY LIKE THE ROOM IN THE BACK SEATS TOO. DRIVE THE CAMRY AND ACCORD, THEN THE MAXIMA. YOU WILL DEFINITELY SEE AND FEEL THE DIFFERENCE.

Similar Products Used:

CAMRY AND ACCORD.

PRICE,POWER,AND POISE. IT DRIVES YOU! ITS ALMOST ADDICTIVE. LUXURIOUS. AND ITS STRONG!

NONE

THIS CAR IS THE BOMB! I HAVE THE DEEP FOREST GREEN IN THE SE PAKAGE AND I LOVE THIS VEHICLE. ITS SMOOTH, RESPONSIVE AND VERY WELL BUILT. YOU FEEL AS IF THE ROAD BELONGS TO YOU AND YOU ONLY.THE BOSE SYSTEM IS OFF THE CHAIN! I STEEL IT FROM MY WIFE JUST TO RIDE THROUGH THE CITY AT NIGHT. I HAVE TROUBLE SLEEPING BECAUSE I WANT TO WAKE UP AND DRIVE IT. I DROVE A HONDA CRX BEFORE THIS CAR AND ITS ALMOST UNFAIR TO COMPARE THE TWO, BUT THE ACCORD IS NO COMPETITION EITHER. I AM SO FORTUNATE THAT NISSAN IS DRIVEN. OWE AND THE LADIES LOVE IT ,TOO! DON'T TELL MY WIFE!

Similar Products Used:

ACCORD EX, CAMRY

Offers Manual transmission with a V6. Great gas mileage AVG 29 MPG. Acceleration is very quick. Offers 4 wheel disc brakes.

Tires need to be in good working order or the steering gets a bit unsettled.

Well I have 91,000+ miles on the car and its running just fine. Still have original brakes and clutch.

When I was looking for a new car at the time, there were very few cars that were 4-door, Manual trans, V6, 4 wheel disc, ABS and alloy wheels. Only the Mazda 626 was close. After a test of Altima, Accord, 626, Camry, SL-2, Neon. Maxima won very easy.

I will get another one at some point. I would point people to this car if they want a manual and a V6. I would not have believed that I would be driving a Maxima when I grew up. My first love was a Celica. My first Car was a used Volvo GT. I wanted more power!!! Only to find out the Celica was 25K for 130 HP :(

Similar Products Used:

Ford Taurus, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Buick Century, Mazda 626, Nissan Altima

Engine !!!, fit/finish, history of reliability(confirmed), ride&
handling on highways, acceleration, brakes.

Transmission downshifts very smoothly when you floor the gas
pedal, but hesitates a little with normal acceleration.
Minor thing anyway. Somewhat soft paint on the hood, especially when brand new - birds droppings easily etched
if not immeditely removed. Could have had such niceties like
auto headlights off or auto doors close when start moving.
Not clearly defined center steering wheel position. A little
choppy ride on imperfect pavements. Those are not major problems either though.

Because of the $2000 rebate at the time the price paid was $18,800 plus tax which I think was fantastic for the car this quality. Honestly I have to admit that the sly dealer compensated somewhat with the inflated prices for some accompanying services which I should have not accepted.
Though I do not drive much (6K in a year) everything seems
to be working very smoothly and reliable. Considering the
car's affordability it is an outstanding value for the money.
Would recommend the MAX to anybody except for that person who gave 1 star to a really good car. Offcourse everyone has his/her own opinion, but I think such 'opinions' should not be taken too seriously as they unfairly affect the rating. It is difficult to believe in so many defects in a 6 months MAXIMA as that customer listed.
As for my next vehicle - the MAX is on the list as well as
TOYOTA's Avalon and Camry V-6 or with some luck Infinity J30 or Acura TL.

Similar Products Used:

Only Ford Taurus 1987, offcourse no comparison because of
too much age difference between the cars.

Lots of power. Smooth engine and transmission. Roomy. Great Bose stereo system. Looks Great! Once again, lots of power for the price and compared to the competition. Higher ground clearance than other cars in its classs.

Back seat doesn't fold for extra room. The hood paint chips a little too easily.

15G for a 97 SE w/60K. No other car in it's class and price range can touch this car! This is absolutely THEE most bang for your buck! The only thing I hate is there aren't more readily available performance upgrades like there are with Hondas. Guess that's why they made it so powerful to begin with!

Similar Products Used:

97 Accord, Camry

Acceleration, Roomy, clean, simple dash. No gimmiky gadgets.

Injectors

Paid $12K 3 years ago for it, put on 40K miles and is still as tight as can be. Only issues were faulty O2 sensor and bad injector (quite costly to replace, should have replaced all 6 at the time). People are amazed it has 110K miles on it. Can't beat the V6 performance for the price. Would definitely recommend it. Next one will will be a leather SE.

Similar Products Used:

Accord, Camry,

Power, Handling, Quiet Ride, Interior Room, Sporty Design (SE) Model, Trunk Release from remote, and 17" Alloy Rims.

Not enough storage space

Went from a 4 cylinder Honda Civic to a V6 2000 SE Maxima, talk about a difference! The car is truly great and worth every penny... especially for out the door under $25K. If you drive it, you will will want to buy it. I got the purchased the SE model in the Sterling Mist.... love the car!

Similar Products Used:

Honda Accord, Toyota Camry

Very smooth engine. Sporty.

None

Maxima GLE fully loaded (except 6-disk CD changer) for $26,000. TL has the same performence but Maxima is a better value. Accord EX's interior look and feel cheap. Avalon XL feels cheap too while XLS is too expensive. Volvo S40 is very nice and quick but it is much smaller.

Similar Products Used:

Acura TL, Accord EX, Avalon XL, Volvo S40