Nissan Maxima SE Review

Overall Rating

FAST, Reliable, FAST, and did I say FAST?

Too much torque steering. Should've been a rear wheel drive or an AWD.

This Nissan 2002 Maxima SE car is amazing inside-out. With a realistic price sticker, it provides much more than toyota, honda, and any domestic car for that matter. Performance is the key benefit. With the lowest buck/performance ratio out of imports, this car deserves the right to be called the car of the year, not its sister - Altima. Torque is so abundant on the Maxima, that it becomes a drawback. 0 - 60 is about 8 seconds, 1 of which is spent on speening in place, and smoking tires...

Members' Comments onJohnDoe.'s Review

• a_guy. on 23rd Oct 2002

  this article is not accurate. There are lots of other cars out there that offer more performance for the money. Take for example the subaru WRX. It would eat this car alive in the 0-60 test, while it costs less.

• andy. on 24th Jul 2003

  this car is very true. sports cars such as wrx and lancer evo's may have better performance, but lacks a lot of luxury and comfortable options. a wrx is a car to take to take to the track and race, whilst the maxima is a car that can haul butt really well (for a non sports car) and take u there comfortably in nice LEATHER chairs and POWER SEATS and MUCH ROOM and A RIDE THAT DOESNT SHAKE THE WHOLE CAR FROM EVERY PEBBLE ON THE ROAD. (i know its a run-on sentence, didnt feel like it mattered). this car is absolutely the best car for the price for a 4 door sedan.

• dlamere on 17th Sep 2003

  I have a 2003 Maxima SE Titanium Edition with the 6spd. manual trans, and I absolutely love it. I test drove the WRX, don't get me wrong, it's a great car to drive once in a while. It however, comes with about as many options as a KIA Sofia! No sunroof, single CD, no leather, no thank you!! I priced it out too, and my FULLY loaded Maxima was less than the WRX with half the options.I've raced a WRX that had work done (exhaust, chip, intake, suspension, etc.) I wasn't impressed! There is no better car for the money than a Maxima, and this is coming from some one who swore he would never own a Japanese Sports car. My girlfriend has a 2003 Mercedes SLK 320 (3.2 litre V6), and it can't keep up with the Maxima, handling...well that's a different story!! Although I'm not a fan of the new body style that they just came out with, find a used 2002/2003 6 spd, and buy it! You'll thank me!!

• tsciullo on 27th Mar 2004

  Ugh... 8 sec 0 to 60 are you kidding. My 2001 Maxima kills 8 seconds let alone the 2002 with the 3.5. And I have hanged with a WRX on the highway nose to nose. Let alone I have more room better ride quality and in my opinion a better looking car.