Nissan’s new Maxima, which went on sale earlier this year, has already had a bumpy road.
Last week, the automaker announced it would be recalling around 6,000 cars for an improperly installed fuel tank 0-ring that could leak and ignite after a crash, according to AutoGuide. Nissan hasn’t identified a fix for the problem yet.
That may be in addition to (or the reason for) a stop-sale on the Maxima in July for an unspecified “quality assurance” problem with the cars. We reached out to Nissan for a comment and have yet to hear back.
Early owners have reported minor problems including moon roof noises, headlight issues and electronic woes.
This isn’t the first generation of Maxima models produced in Smyrna, Tennessee, nor is it the only model that plant produces. But any further hiccups in initial quality could damage the car’s tenuous position.
What did you expect….it’s a NISSAN
For that shot, pick any brand you don’t like.
I thought that this type of kiddie loyalty comment was restricted to the American Big 3.
You forgot the requisite abbreviation spell-out, like “Found On Road Dead” or “Fix It Again Tony.”
The side view is not bad.
But that front…is Nissan trying to out-fugly Lexus?
No seriously. I saw this the other night and wanted to get out and punch the driver in their stupid face for buying that thing.
http://www.nissanusa.com/mobile/cars/maxima/features/media/2016-nissan-maxima-exterior-signature-lighting.jpg
Early production flaws. It will be okay by next spring.
Never buy a model in its first year, demonstrated.
Yaaap.
@ Joss: don’t know if you were joking, but it probably will be.
I’ve had many first year cars that were ok, and some that weren’t. And I had a last year car that was terrible.
It’s a crapshoot. My wife and I both owned Scion Tcs when we were dating. Mine an early 2005 (first year) and her’s a late 2006. Mine was far better quality-wise than her’s.
I had a RAV4.3 that was so new, they did not even make the v6 model yet, and there weren’t tires for it anywhere (which I found out by catching a nail on the 2nd month). It was completely fine mechanically. That said it was made in Nagoya, I think.
On a different topic, if I’m going to buy a Nissan, the last thing I want is a huge Nissan badge on the front.
Such crass, much America, not want.
Yeah, stupid American carmakers with their huge badges. Should be more like Mercedes and have the badge take over the whole front of the car. Looks like a giant Mercedes emblem going down the road, as classy as a Nissan Sentra on 22s.
The huge Merc badge loudly tells people that you’re rich, or at least it used to, and to people not car guy enough to know what a CLA is yet it still does.
The huge Nissan badge loudly tells people that your credit rating is in the 600s.
Crass is one thing, crass and stupid another.
Large Audi badges look excellent. On the 90S it took up damn near the whole grille.
Audi – doing big badges before it was cool!
http://zombdrive.com/images/1994_audi_90_sedan_s_fq_oem_1_500.jpg
I dunno. Does Nissan have an illuminated front-badge option?
Every manufacturer is going big with badges. I don’t like it either, but it is not unique to Nissan.
+1, Marone. I think Mercedes and GMC were the initial offenders, followed soon after by Lexus, but unfortunately it’s a widespread phenomenon at this point.
I want a JEEP logo that _serves_ as a grille on the jeep.
Right, the illuminated Mercedes-Benz logo is ridiculous as well.
But those huge stars at least send a message.
A huge Nissan logo does not. A logo of that size belongs on a Titan.
The options packaging on these is just bizarre. It’s impossible to get a sunroof and the sport suspension on the same car.
Waiting for a BTSR’s comment :). He’s got something to say about that.
You mean other than the fact that it’s a stylistic hot mess?
Say what you will about Nissan’s styling, love or hate it, but one thing it has done successfully is to build a visual brand identity. In traffic a Camry/Accord/Optima/Legacy/etc look fairly interchangeable to the layman. A Nissan LOOKS like a Nissan/Infiniti. Altimas share curves with QX80s.
You’re right, Nissans do look like Infinitis. And we wonder why Infiniti is floundering. Maybe it’s because a $40K Q50 looks like a $20K Altima.
But if a Lincoln looks like the Ford its based on (and they rarely do), its a travesty. Funny how one automaker’s virtue is another’s vice.
In the same vein, Lincoln constantly gets flack for it’s MK- naming scheme, with commenters complaining that it makes no sense, that the [last] letters are seemingly chosen at random. But, that’s not a problem for Lexus. The letters of their cars (ES, LS, IS, etc) are just as random, but that’s just fine, because Lexus. Its not like Im in favor of random alphanumeric names, just pointing out the double standard when it comes to American cars vs. the rest of the world’s.
The worst offender in my book is Infiniti. Basing their entire lineup’s names off an unsuccessful earlier flagship that few people outside of those of us who follow the industry can remember is stupid. I rather liked the old scheme, as alphanumerics go, because it was pretty well established and the numbers corisponded to the engine size (as does Lexus’), so a G37 had a 3.7L, an M30 had a 3.0L, etc. Now, its just confusing. Im wondering if the whole idea was to make people forget the large hole in their lineup once occupied by the original Q. They dont really have a Lexus LS/BMW 7-series compeditor, but that is now obscured as people try to guess which Q they do like and which one they dont.
Lincoln violates the fundamental rule of luxury car alphanumeric naming: The price and status must be instantly obvious with many opportunities to pay more for incrementally more status. Bigger number and later in the alphabet is more expensive and desirable. 7>5>3. S>E>C. Lincoln alphanumeric naming is confusing for a luxury brand because it lacks an obvious status hierarchy. MKZ<MKS? Might as well name them all MK-meh.
This. That is what BMW does better than anyone else, at least with the sedan/coupe names (the CUV and sports-car names are a lot less clear). It’s obvious that 750iL is more expensive than 740i, which is more expensive than 535i, which is more expensive than 335i, and so on. The goal is to make the consumer feel bad if he doesn’t pick the highest possible price point.
They play this game with options too within each model line. My LS460 is a prime example. One of my very favorite features of the car, and one I touch and appreciate every single time I drive it, is the door armrests/pulls made of high-quality leather. I would have felt cheap every single time had I bought a car without them, even though the alternative is very high-quality soft-touch plastic. I bought the car used, so getting them was not about money but about finding a car with them. But they were a VERY effective tool for separating new-car customers from their money. They were only available as part a $3,620 package that included cooled, power-adjustable rear seats, that in turn required another package with a high-end stereo and nav that could be either $5,645 or $6,325 depending on what’s included. My car had the latter, so the first owner essentially paid $10,000 for the privilege of using those beautiful door pulls — or, more accurately, to avoid feeling bad about having plastic ones in a top-end luxury car.
Maybe it’s obvious by badge but not by visuals. The only easily identifiable BMWs are the 7 Lis, the X3 and the GCs. Everything else suffers from too much “same sausage different length” syndrome. Is that a 4 series coupe or a 6? 3 series GT or 5? 5 series or 7? Most of the cars in BMW’s lineup have lost their identity.
Who needs visuals when you have the badge? The goal is for every owner of a 428i to feel a little bit bad when he sees a 435i or a 640i, so that he will buy the more expensive car next time.
The psychology of luxury goods is really a bit abusive. And it works.
I even feel it just a little when I see a LS600hL, even though I really have no interest in a car that’s like mine but with a leather dash and an additional 900 (yes, 900) pounds of curb weight.
The 640i coupe and/or GC is very sexyful, and is the desirable BMW model other than the 4-Coupe.
The appropriate color for any 6 is white, with red or brown leathers.
Sorry, that thing looks precisely like the buck-toothed offspring of a Mazda 6 and a Kia Optima; both considerably better looking cars. Hardly original at all.
My wife and I just finished buying a new car. Nissan was OFF the radar due solely for their use of a CVT.
Honestly, I think the CVT works really well in this application. Marketing aside, it’s not remotely a sporty car, and the CVT is super smooth.
I can’t get past the idea of paying up for a fussy Altima with weird styling. AND the quality control is a mess? The TLX is starting to look better every day.
This is one case where the knowledge of platform sharing can lead you a bit astray. The Altima and Maxima feel very different. (The reason? The Altima feels almost like it was engineered on purpose to be utterly free of anything resembling refinement. The Max is reasonably refined as FWD midsizers go.)
This is the first Maxima style job I’ve liked since the ’89-’94 model, so put that in your quality assurance joint and smoke it!
You buy cars based only on styling? What do you drive?
I’m reasonably sure the recall and the stop-sale are related, but we’ll see.
Nicely appointed car and luxurious for $39,000. The CVT was the deal breaker but it works well with this engine. Yet I purchased the XTERRA pro. RWD and 5 speed auto. It’s still on my one to watch list .BTW replacement parts are much cheaper than Merc, Volvo, BWM and Lexus brands.
BTW replacement parts are much cheaper than Merc, Volvo, BWM and Lexus brands.
*Dies from shock.*
I thought maybe they were being recalled for being ugly. God forbid, the Altima and Sentra will also soon resemble this lumpen weird mess of a car. I think the radiation from that nuclear reactor spill is starting to affect Japanese car designers. It’s the only rational explanation for the ever increasing style abominations emanating from the land of the rising sun.
The one dealership I never visit. I just can’t stand Nissan CVTs, even while those from Subaru and Honda seem fine. Then there is the VQ V6s. Is there a less refined V6 being used regularly anywhere? It sounds and feels like they pulled it out of something green and yellow and usually found on a farm. It’s no better in the Infiniti models, but at least they have better soundproofing.
I concur on the CVT. For me, I would even consider the car. I don’t really disagree on the VQ engine, but I would exclude the 370 from this conversation. That is legitimately the ONLY Nissan I would consider these days.
To me it looks fat, not in a good way like big boned, but overweight. It feels like the body was styled by Omar the tentmaker to hide all the bulk of the muffin top under it and to my eyes it ain’t foolin no one. I even see some Honda Crosstour in that 3/4 front view shown here. But to each his own I guess.
I warned everybody.
I knew from day one this car was trash.
Because it’s not a Mopar.
What does 1st year build issues/gremlins have to do with the new Maxima being “trash”?
It has largely gotten quite positive reviews (putting aside the polarizing sheetmetal).
The MKZ, RLX, etc. have had their issues for their early production runs – so it’s not like Nissan is the only one.
Heck, the venerable previous generation Odyssey had 6 recalls for its 1st model year.
Now, still being wary about Nissan’s CVTs would be another thing entirely.
Hmmm…. the 21st Century version of the Datsun F-10.That’s what’s wrong with it.
What happened to the Maxima was, they listened too hard to us high school internet commenters that want swoopy crazy styling on every Camry, Accord and Altima.
Then the real buyers showed up and got disgusted with this mess of a car. That it has serious quality issues is just icing on the cake.
Seeing the new Maxima’s styling was cool for maybe about a week. Now every time I look at a picture of it my eyes hurt. Let me attempt to understand the details of why this design is awful:
1. The side profile tried really hard with a “floating roof” concept, but the lower half of the car is too bulky and has too many character lines that don’t flow. The line coming from the front fender curves down, then suddenly goes arrow-straight. Moving rearward, another line starts out of nowhere.
2. The window line ends abruptly but the chrome line continues rearward. But not before starting off with a sharp angle that does not have any context.
3. The front end goes all big-grille, but it clashes with the huge headlamps. When you accentuate something by enlarging it, you need balance by shrinking the styling elements around it. And then the huge U-shaped chrome bar is as out of place as Acura’s beaks circa-2009.
4. The fish-tail split in the headlamps and taillamps are too derivative of everything else in Nissan’s lineup. They don’t belong on this “styling exercise,” at least not on that scale. The headlamps also have a nonsensical chrome piece snaking around inside. It has no context. It doesn’t even match the C-shaped LED ring that is three inches away in the same headlight assembly.
A shame, really. Nissan’s interiors were starting to become pretty classy too.
People who wear 5 gold rings on one hand, wear 4 gold chains at the same time and prefer gold trimmed sunglasses will flock to a this gaudy Maxima. Does it come in gold?
I’m with BigTruck on this one.
The dialogue during quality meetings between Japanese chief management and American management must be quite exciting. This is a huge embarrassment for Nissan and its flagship. Nissan has its great trends in engineering, but when it goes bad, it really goes bad.
This is why a 240SX is my 4th car.