[Lucky93]

Its sad to hear that the Nissan Maxima is now finally ending production next year in 2023. Nissan Will End Production of the Maxima Next Year

I had a 1997 Nissan Maxima that I drove for 10 years as it was passed down to me from my Dad as a teenager as well. It was the best looking maxima to Me Interior and exterior wise. For an automatic it was really fast too. I felt they really killed the maxima in 2000 and after as that design to me was not pretty at all especially the rear end and taillights. The 97 Maxima was sleeky and aggressive looking espcially the sport model with a spoiler. The one car that comes close is the 2009 through 2014 Maxima as it for a brief moment has found its roots besides the CVT. Overall the 4th generation was what made the Maxima a Maxima and it was even featured in the first fast and furious franchise movie.

The reason the 4th gen will always have a special place in my heart is because it was the first VQ ever and that’s what made me fall in love with cars especially Nissan and the new VQs. The 4th gen 1995-99 Nissan Maxima was what had saved Nissan as they put everything into that car because they were in deep financial troubles at the time. Every Maxima after did not live up to the standards that the 4th gen had especially it being not too large like a really big oversized sedan, it was sleeky and sporty. What happened now was that what the Maxima was and used to be was now called the Infiniti G35, G37 and Q50.

 

[Pillboy]

The end of anything equipped only with a CVT is welcomed in my mind.

 

[JNR]

Bought the wife a new 2014 Maxima SV and she still has it. Been a good vehicle so far, although it's still only at ~30k miles. Has the sport package and the video game shifters do simulate 6 "gears" reasonably well. No issues with the CVT, other than it takes a little getting used to in normal operation especially with you floor it. The rpm's immediately jump up to redline and it stays there without any shifting, etc...Definitely would prefer a conventional transmission and too bad these weren't RWD.

Do wish she'd take care of the exterior more, like wash it sometimes, lol.

 

[Avedis53]

Bought the wife a new 2014 Maxima SV and she still has it. Been a good vehicle so far, although it's still only at ~30k miles. Has the sport package and the video game shifters do simulate 6 "gears" reasonably well. No issues with the CVT, other than it takes a little getting used to in normal operation especially with you floor it. The rpm's immediately jump up to redline and it stays there without any shifting, etc...Definitely would prefer a conventional transmission and too bad these weren't RWD.

Do wish she'd take care of the exterior more, like wash it sometimes, lol.

My wife expects me to wash her car. She hasn't touched a wash mitt in 40 years.

 

[Pillboy]

It's August and I have yet to hand wash either car this season.

 

[jcb]

The end of anything equipped only with a CVT is welcomed in my mind.

Hopefully the Max will gloriously return sometime in the near future with a real transmission! I can also dream of the Manual option! Remember I got a great deal on my 2000 because their classic bait and switch was to advertise a super low price on the Manual Trans model...99% of consumers show up and say oh I need an Automatic! I was more than happy to take that manual and would have likely paid more to get it!

 

[G37]

Sad to hear. I wouldn’t be upset if a “Maxima Wagon” was to replace the sedan, but no, people today somehow prefer poorer-handling, poorer-braking, less attractive and more rollover-prone SUVs that are necessarily worse on gas than a wagon counterpart with a comparable power plant- that goes for EVs too.

 

[Mac-Q50]

Not surprised. Had a '96 5 speed, amazing car. Also had a 2002 Maxima SE 6 speed. The '96 was a great car, the 02' was ok but not nearly as fun.

 

[Ronin47]

Back in 2005 I think I was in the market to buy a Maxima SE-R with a 6-speed manual and my only issue was the fact that it was front wheel drive back then and who does that!?! . But I waited and got my G35S with all the trimmings and never looked back. To this say, I would have liked to have purchased a Maxima, but that CVT was a definite no-go for me.

 

[G37]

Not surprised. Had a '96 5 speed, amazing car. Also had a 2002 Maxima SE 6 speed. The '96 was a great car, the 02' was ok but not nearly as fun.

I know, I’m not surprised either. Like you, I had a ‘96, an SE which had to be an automatic for the wife as I has a 93 Probe GT w/manual before then and it was all about starting a family…. What a reliable, fun (for an automatic) and great-performing car (for the class) that SE was. They will be missed.

 

[G37]

Back in 2005 I think I was in the market to buy a Maxima SE-R with a 6-speed manual and my only issue was the fact that it was front wheel drive back then and who does that!?! . But I waited and got my G35S with all the trimmings and never looked back. To this say, I would have liked to have purchased a Maxima, but that CVT was a definite no-go for me.

You mean a Maxima SE or a Sentra SE-R?

 

[Ronin47]

Whooopsssyyyy!!! It was the Altima SE-R with the same 3.5HR engine

 

[G37]

Whooopsssyyyy!!! It was the Altima SE-R

That was a cool car too… A shame it wasn’t developed further!

 

[nickdaria]

I mean, the Maxima has kind of been a shitty slightly plus-sized Altima for a while now. It's literally one inch longer and one inch wider than the Altima, yet the Altima has more interior space. Makes sense for them to kill it and then migrate it's name over to electric if full size sedans come back into demand.

 

[G37]

I mean, the Maxima has kind of been a shitty slightly plus-sized Altima for a while now. It's literally one inch longer and one inch wider than the Altima, yet the Altima has more interior space. Makes sense for them to kill it and then migrate it's name over to electric if full size sedans come back into demand.

No doubt. It’s been $h1tty ever since it was removed as the basis for an Infiniti sedan. While an under-the-skin Infiniti twin, it had the best combination of performance, reliability and value out there. Back then, it made a Camry/Accord purchase seem silly. Since then, it’s been largely neglected and styling was mixed as “SUVs” laughingly became “popular”.

 

[darien87]

I had a 2018 SV for a couple of years. The engine was great. I wish the Q50 had the same NA engine. But the FWD and CVT drove me nuts.

I really liked having Android Auto. Kills me that my Q doesn't have it.

 

[nickdaria]

I really liked having Android Auto. Kills me that my Q doesn't have it.

Big news dropping in a week or so on that.

 

[BigHeadClan]

Was just reading up on this, can't say I'll miss the Maxima all that much in its current form it had waay to much over-lap with the Altima from the 2002 redesign
onwards. Moving it to an EV platform makes a lot of sense IMO.

 

[G37]

I had a 2018 SV for a couple of years. The engine was great. I wish the Q50 had the same NA engine. But the FWD and CVT drove me nuts.

I really liked having Android Auto. Kills me that my Q doesn't have it.

I love the VQ in all it’s NA glory - I have a G37S Coupe 6MT as my fun car. The problem with the Maxima was its front drive configuration. With the sedan’s declining popularity over time, the Maxima wasn’t gonna get the budget needed to capably handle the greater power that engine makes in Infinitis, certainly not as well as say a Civic Type-R effortlessly handles gobs of front-drive power. As you probably know, the Maxima has basically sustained little more than styling changes and minor upgrades over a very long period of time. And that’s a shame because it had such a great starting point as a four door Z decades ago.

 

[Lucky93]

Whooopsssyyyy!!! It was the Altima SE-R with the same 3.5HR engine

I dont believe the Altima SE-R ever had the VQ35HR engine, it had the VQ35DE which is different.