i was looking on Nissans website and don't get me wrong...i love my TL...i think its one of the hottest looking 4 doors out there, but what stopped people from getting the Nissan Maxima, the features that the car has are gorgeous and it has possibly all of the small things u wish the TL had.....

a few things are

- Power Wheel tilt and scope with memory
- Power Folding Mirrors
- Rear Bucket Seats
- Power Sunshades
- Bigger Sunroof
- Heated Steering Wheel
- Power Up and Power Down for all 4 windows
- Heated Rear Seats with center console
- When you walk up to the car and press unlock the seat automatically moves back so u can get in easily.
- Autodimming right and left side mirrors
- You actually get a choice between XM and SIRRIUS
- day time running lights
- Birdseye view Navigation

i mean don't get me wrong....i love the TL....don't regret anything, accept sometimes i wish we had these small luxuries. the TL looks much nicer and sportier than the Maxima but they both put out the same power, the TL's Interior is gorgeous compared to the Maximas which looks like a piece of shit but atleast acura could offer them as some kinda of optional features.

but then it goes back to my REAL question, what is it that made you choose the TL over another car such as the Maxima or the G35(even thought many people on this board consider the G35 to be in a completely different car class), Volvo S60 if you were debating between these.

 

easy styling, its butt ugly. someone too a beat it with the ugly stick too much.

 

as is noted above, it is really, really ugly. Here in L.A., the most ghetto people you can imagine drive Maximas

 

lol....no question about it, I would have never considered a Maxima....

 

holy sh*t my grammar is bad, i dunno what i was trying to type there.

 

Mostly useless gimmicks - heated steering wheel - give me a break.

The only options in this list I would like are: The choice of XM or Sirrius, and autodimming side mirrors.

What is birdseye view navigation?

 

as opposed to over view...its on an angle...and as for the features...

they are un needed features...althought i would love to have the feature where the seat moves back when u unlock the door and the auto-dim mirrors on the left and right...heated rear seats would be a nice luxury as well as day time running lights and power up one touch windows for all 4 of them...the heated steeringwheel wouldn't be a bad idea ur palms might get sweaty but it would be a nice luxury...as i said i love the tl...the luxuries the maxima has arn't NEEDED but it would be nice to atleast see acura have these as viable options.

 

Well, I actually had a Maxima picked out and was ready to make my purchase. I spent about three months researching, test driving and dealing with the sales people until I was ready to sign the dotted line.

One of my friends at work told me to just take the new TL for a test drive, he owns a 2nd Gen TL. Anyway, I thought - what the hell, why not.

Long story short, I love the TL's interior compared to the Maxima's ... I also do not like the Maxima's front end ... the Maxima does have a nice engine and neat features ... but the inside just looks cheap ...

After driving the TL ...well, I fell in love.

 

well, when the new style came out I thought it was one of the ugliest cars I had ever seen, so I didn't even consider it before the TL.

It's weird though, just a couple weeks ago I saw one in dark blue with tinted windows, I thought it actually looked halfway decent. Scary, huh?

 

Didn't consider a Maxima ... way too fugly.

 

i didn't like the new design at first, but kinda got used to it... even considered getting it.

then i snapped out of it, gathered my senses, and got the TL (well, actually a TSX, but ended up in a TL).

 

ever since i bought the TL....whenever i sit it another car the interior always feel cheap unless its a luxurious car. my mom owns the GX although its not cheap...it just feels so raw and empty and everytime i drive it, i miss my TL more than anything

 

This is what stopped me!

 

I thought the maxima had a nice engine, handled OK, but the interior was much cheaper looking than the TL, the navi wasn't nearly as good. I love the electronics that come with the TL-- the sound system, HFL & navi with voice commands. THe HFL turns out to be incredibly useful.

My 20 year old son, who is more into speed & performance than me also agreed that the TL was a better car for the money.

 

I looked at a Maxima since the Nissan dealer is right across from the Acura dealer. I did not find the looks offensive. Some of the gadgets were kinda of nice to have but overall the interior is clearly sub standard for the price. The dash is kind of odd and the facing around the gauges looked cheap. But the real disappointment is the door panels. In a leather trimmed car the door panels inside were finished in a really cheap looking and feeling "cloth". it was such a turn off I did not even take it on a test drive. I handed the book back and walked out. The TL has set the standard for the interiors I think. The only other car I find appealing in this price range is the new Avalon Limited.

 

The Maxima I drove stickered the same as the TL and it is definitely a class down in interior, ride, and body integrity.

 

Maxima too fugly for those features are worth. I would like to see the side dimming mirrors and seat moving back, but not much more is neccesary. The only time you would need heated rear seats would be prom night.

 

other than the fact that it sucks and my TL is better in almost every way?

 

Before we bought our TL we test drove both other cars.

Like many others we did not like the sub-standard look/feel of the interior materials. The rear sunshade was very flimsy, and the door panel inserts looked like wannabe suede or micro-fiber.

I did like the handling of the G35, but my wife and I agreed that the look of the cockpit was a bit outdated, especially the buttons on the steering wheel. The amber-colored dash lighting did not impress either.

 

The interior and the view from the rear view mirror ,oh wait what view. Can u say limo. heated steering wheel TLs got it, the sun heats up black leather so it a useless option. the birds eye view plz TLs navi can tlk

 

i am down to these 3 cars. G35, maxima and TL....i like the interior of the TL best--love the sound system and the blue guages....the Gis the best handleing of the 3 and is simply the most fun to drive....and the maxima is nice....not quite up to the other 2, however, i love the back seat bucket eat option with heated rear seats with the elite pkg. Nissan's plant is 1 mile from my house here in Smyrna, TN and i can get the discount, which comes to about 8000 off sticker! which is better then my discount on GM products through my inlaws

that makes it ven a tougher situation.....would be TL or G35, style vs fun to drive.....with a disount....makes it even tougher

 

The cars may "seem" similar, but they are not. The Maxima is a BOAT. It handles like a 72 oldsmobile and has little performance. The Maxima is marketed at the 50 year old who wants something more than a Camary. I drive the TL and was fortunate enough to rent (yes, Avis rents the Maxima for about the same price as the Grand Am) for about 2 weeks straight less than a month ago. Although it WAS nicer than the Pontiac, it was a far cry form the TL I had grown so used too.

 

I was wondering, if I wanted a Maxima with all these feature,
how much would it be ?

Looking at that interior picture, I ask myself...
is there something missing from that dashboard ?
the cassette and CD hole looks so lonely there... bad design!

is that the volume control (the tini knob) ?

 

The styling. It was the styling.

 

I'm the only driver of my 04TL, so I set
memory seat #1 to "seat-back tilt down"
and memory #2 to "seat forward and tilt up"

so as I unlock the car (I use remote #1), the seat moves back!
and when I'm ready to drive, I push #2 (with the transmission in neutral and the hand-brake on, or it won't work)... I have a 6MT.

People ask me if I added that feature to my TL!

 

Nissan doesn't seem to be honest...

I went to the http://www.nissan.com and found out:

Nissan Motor is suing Nissan Computer (named
after its founder and current President,
Mr. Uzi Nissan) for Trademark Infringement,
Trademark Dilution and CyberSquatting,
Seeking 10 Million Dollars in damages

This is after more than 20 years of Mr. Nissan's well-documented
use of his family name for business purposes in the US,
and which he commenced when the cars were known as DATSUN.

 

My twin friends share an '05 Maxima 3.5 SE with the optional four-seater option and all major other features including the 18'' chrome wheels. The car with everything is about 38k, and they're paying 470 a month on a 36-month lease. I've been in the car, and I'm really impressed. Even the backseat is luxurious. If you get the four-seater option, you get cupholders, a storage compartment, and power seating controls IN THE BACKSEAT. It's very nice.

That being said, the 3.5 SE with all those options will be more expensive than the TL, but it would be difficult to decide between the fully-loaded TL and fully-loaded Maxima if I really had to.

 

The styling of the Maxima kept it from ever making my list of desirable cars. Things like seats that move back - useless for me. My seat is pretty much as far back as it can go anyway. And I really don't want any extra unnecessary wear on the seat motors anyway.

Mike

 

Well said. I feel the same way. Maxima is great and the legend. I had '94 Maxima, too, and admired the smoothness of its engine and tranny. Since then, Maxima has re-modeled 3 times?... it's less and less attractive to me...


I am not saying it's bad, I just don't like how it looks, inside and outside.

 

It's not a luxury car. Plain and simple. If I wanted a Ford, I'd buy a Ford.

BJ

 

i understand what you are saying. but i don't drive in the backseat, nor does anybody else, so your post is irrelevant. and i'm not trying to be an ass.

 

I put close to 3000 miles on a 2005 Maxima about a month ago during a business trip...here are my thoughts.

The exterior styling of the Maxima has grown on me...the interior styling will NEVER

The 3.5 motor has way more torque on the bottom end and feels much faster than my TL.

Throttle response/pedal feel on the Maxima is much better than the TL. Trans does not downshift (like TL) during freeway speed passing.

TL handles much better and than the Maxima (body roll)

18" standard wheels on Maxima are a nice touch

Stereo on Maxima has far more Volume but sound quality suffers

Torque steer on Maxima is aweful...3rd gear at 90mph you need a death grip on the steering wheel. TL owners have no idea how little torque steer they must endure through 1st and 2nd gear....

AT Trans on Maxima is very smooth and the shifter is better than the gated TL shifter.

Overall, I wouldn't even consider the Maxima is the same class as the TL. The interior (Maxima) is a joke for what they call their (Flagship). I would consider it if....it was in the 25-26k range.

Put the motor of the Maxima and the drivetrain of the G-35 in my 3rd gen TL and it would be the most perfect car ever built!

 

Have you ever had a heated steering wheel? My guess is not.

I guarantee if you lived in a place that remotely gets cold in the winter you would love the heated wheel. I too drove a 2004 Max for 4-5 months prior to purchasing our TL. I can honestly say the two items I miss the most are the heated steering wheel and pass through/fold down rear seats.

 

Way too many in our neck of the woods.

Really disliked the gauges that were hard to read in sunlight. The interior is incomparable to TL's. Well, IMHO, TL has the nicest interior of any car ever.

During test drive, I just couldn't adjust the seat position to feel comfortable.

I do not like the front end either. Overall, the exterior styling is not as elegant as the TLs.

 

I agree with just about eveyone else on the site. I think the Maxima is ugly as sin. But not only does it look cheap, ever notice that it doesn't "look" solid?

I like to use the term "understated elegance" when referring to things such as the TL. The Maxima definitely does not fit this description. It does, however, have a great engine. The VQ35 is one of the best out there. But the sum of the rest of the parts do not do it justice.


To boltjames;

I would much rather have a Ford than a Maxima. Specifically the new Mustang. Ford flat nailed it with the new Mustang.

 

I would have to completely agree. My '02 Maxima has a heated steering wheel and it is absolutely the nicest feature to have in the dead of a Chicago winter. It heats up incredibly fast and gets quite warm (all long before the car warms up enough to blow out heat). This was one signficant negative I found when looking at the TL. After having the feature for 3 years, you really get used to it.

One other feature the Maxima has that no one has mentioned is 'true' auto on/off headlamps with delay. I know some say the TL has the same thing, but that is only if you want to leave your headlights on all the time while driving. No thanks.

 

It's ugly.

 

really how does this have anything to do with this forum. It is getting to be like a sewing circle where anything is discussed.

Acura folks bought their cars for best rattles for the buck and the styling and butt prints we all know that. As for the Max people, they were the ones that opted for less in the styling department and less in rattles and butt prints.

 

It's not a luxury car. Acura is a luxury brand. There is zero point in comparing a luxury car to a standard car. Can you compare the New York Yankees to the Columbus Clippers? Can you compare a Rolex to a Timex? The answer of course is "yes", but it's pointless.

A Maxima says "I can't afford a luxury car, but I can afford a low-end vehicle that looks like one".

BJ

 

I actually had a 2004 Maxima for about a year before trading it in for the TL. Had the 3rd gen TL been out when I got the Max, I would have gone straight for it.

The Maxima was ok, but I believe Nissan has design problems from a aesthetic standpoint. From the quarter angles I actully like how the car looks, but from head on front or back (mostly back) it's horrendus!!! The previous maxima had the same problem with those goofy looking taillights.

Quality-wise, the TL blows the Max away...Complain all you want about the seats in our car (buttprints, wear, etc...), just be greatful we don't have leather seats like my former Maxima; simply AWFUL!!!! Cheap, too soft, no bolsters, no support!!! The seats and the torque-steer were my biggest complaints.

As for the heated steering wheel...It didn't work that well. I could barely feel it and actually took the car in because I thought it was broken. Nope, dealer said it was normal.

The auto fold-in mirrors ARE a nice option. Used them all the time pulling in and out of my garage.

Having the drivers seat and wheel move out of the way upon entry/exit is ok, but I turned it off and never used it.

Overall, the TL is a MUCH better car.