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Originally Posted by SS_Firehawk
To be fair, I've owned two Maxima's, a 11' and a 14'. I've never had a problem with the CVT. CVT issues on 7th gen Maxima's are minimal. If you want to look at tranny issues, Ford, GM, Chrysler/Dodge (ZF 8 speed and 9 speed tranny's) over the past few years. The Max is one of the most reliable cars in Nissan's lineup, along with the Z, which may sound funny... But they are also the oldest. They've had plenty of time to fix most of the issues. Why the CSC issue still exists is beyond me.
Don't buy the Maxima if you're looking for what the Q50 already has. The Maxima has plenty of power, not very heavy, handles pretty damn well (you can get them with 19" Bridgestone RE50A's from the factory as a no cost option on the SV sport.), and has most meaningful bells and whistles. I'd recommend the Maxima all day. I challenge anyone to drive any midsize sedan back to back with the Maxima, it's the little things that make it better. Steering feel, turn in response, handling, material sound/ride quality (unless it's an SV sport, then it's sports car rough). I f'n love the current Max, even with it's CVT. Not gonna lie though, a good DCT or 7AT would be better, but because it doesn't have that doesn't make it a bad car.
Not defending the looks of the new Maxima, it's not that good looking, but I can guarantee that if it's on the same chassis as the current one, it's almost guaranteed to drive really damn good.
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The reason behind Nissan not fixing the CSC issue is a matter of lowest common denominator. You can bet that if the Z was a volume car like the Altima it would be a different story.
The CVT is less of an issue when mated to a 3.5 and more of an issue on its 2.5 counterpart, but they're still a crapshoot. I have owned CVT-driven Altima coupes without issue, but can tell you their 6MT counterparts are completely different vehicles.
Now to my point - you say why buy the Maxima if you're looking for what the Q50 already has, and I say why buy the Maxima when the 3.5 Altima exists? It's not $3,000 better looking (yep, subjective for some), it's not $5,000 better driving (slightly less subjective, but still subjective), and it doesn't carry $8,000 more tech in the car (not subjective at all).
Those numbers represent a ballpark of how much more it costs you to get into a Maxima with respect to looks (S trim over Altima 3.5 SL), handling characteristics (SV trim over Altima SL), and all the tech (Platinum or SL or whatever).
You're paying a lot more money for not a lot more car. The car makes little sense if you look at the big picture of things - the Altima has been nipping at the Maxima's heels since 2002, and this generation needed something crucial to truly set it apart from an optioned out Altima. Hell, the last generation needed something to truly set it apart, and while it is indeed a nice car, it failed.
It looks different. That's it. And that's not enough.