The Nissan Maxima 3.0L. SE has a wonderful engine, so quiet you don't know it's running. No wind noise, beautiful positive ride. Cost £30,000 plus in UK and feels worth every penny - especially now they can be bought so cheaply IF YOU CAN FIND ONE. Owners love them and are loathe to let go, even swallowing the massive depreciation with pride & satisfaction.
Don't blindly buy a BMW/Lexus/Mercedes and pay through the nose, these will have been cossetted and cherished by the total antithesis of boy racers. I'm not kidding, buy one with fsh and be sure of happy, luxury motoring.

This Nissan Maxima 3.0L. SE sedan is one of my all time favorite cars that I've owned. The magnificent VQ30DE 4 cam V-6 was such a great engine Wards Auto World has rated it (and it's latest 3.5L. and 4.0L. variations) as "Top Ten Best Motors" Every year since it's introduction a decade ago.
The motor puts out a respectfull 190 HP and 205 Lb/Ft. of torque. It's not just the numbers that are meaningful though, it's the way the motor makes the horses stomp. @90% of the torque is available in over 90% of the RPM range. Which translates into a car that is able to go faster with less effort. The 3.0 will launch the 3000 lb. ride from 0-60 mph in the high 6 second range and the 1/4 mile shoots by at just over 15 seconds. With all of this performance I still noticed a 21-22 city mpg and 26-28 Highway mpg.
Thats just about as good as the 2.0L. 4 cylinder Nissan Sentra SE!
My car was a 1998 SE loaded. Power everything including sunroof, Bose, Homelink, the works. And I optioned for the manual transmission which was hard to find since most Maxima's are auto-shift. I was buying a 4DSC (4 Door Sports Car) and looking responsible at the same time. Life was good.
My car had a sticker price of $28,000. With great factory-to-dealer incentives I was able to argue a $21,700 purchase price that evening.
In the almost 2 years I owned this ride I put under 20K on it. In that timeframe I had no problems at all. The car was a dream to drive and suffered at the decision to part with it. The good news is I got $19,400 for it so this car only cost me $2,300 to drive it for 2 years! Thats less than $100 per month to possess it. Not counting taxes and finance charges.
It was every bit the car that was praised about in the magazines and miss it even to this day.
The Maxima is known for it's outstanding reliability.
In my opinion this is the best car of the mid-size category.