Pros: LOOKS LOOKS LOOKS, stylish and modern interior, power, reputation of the engine
Cons: Bose system could be better, but that's about it so far!
The Bottom Line: check out www.chrisaustin.us/car.html for pics of what you can do to this car. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a reliable and sporty family car!
I've owned this car just over a month, and I'm very very pleased with it so far. For starters, the look of the car is completely different from any past Maxima models, so different in fact that people have trouble figuring out what it is, especially since I've taken off the "Maxima" lettering on the trunk. I've come out of the grocery store to have people standing around looking at it, wondering what it is, then seem very impressed/surprised when they see the lights flash from my remote and notice who is the proud owner.
I love the exterior styling, the quad-exhaust looks amazing, and makes the car look like it belongs with the true luxury vehicles. The front grille could use some work, looks like a begian waffle iron, but there are plenty of aftermarket grilles for sale, and more being developed as we speak.
The engine is powerful, looks very clean, and definitely gives you the acceleration you want, 0-60 is in the mid-6 second range. Add a custom air intake, which I have done, and you'll get a few added horsepower, less lag in quick acceleration, and a nice-sounding growl coming from under the hood. www.frankencar.com is where you can find one.
On the interior, it looks GREAT! I love the circular gauge console, looks great, the center dash is very clean and stylish, and the information screen is easily readable even in bright sunshine. Can't comment on the navigation option, but I've read its very good as well. One thing I am amazed about is the number of customizable options you have with this car, all from the info screen. You can turn on or off the headlight-delay when you open the door, change how the car responds when locked with the remote (horn sounds or not), auto-headlight sensitivity, rain-sensing wiper sensitivity, etc etc. Never seen a car that you could adjust all these settings. The leather seating is very comfortable, the heated front seat option is great, heats up very quickly. The Bose system that my SL came standard with is great, including the 6-CD in-dash changer. The cds change quickly, the info center reads the CD text and displays the track titles on screen, and the Bose system pumps out some good sound, but lacks in the bass area. An easy fix is to add a subwoofer and amp into the trunk, which is what I did, and tap into the speaker line to add that powerful oomph. I love the steering wheel controls as well for the stereo, volume control, preset station control and FM/AM/CD mode control.
The seating is very ample, even I sat in the back seat and didnt feel too cramped, and i'm 6'2". The trunk is HUGE, the back seats fold down in 60/40 fashion, and the skyview roof is pretty cool. I would never really OPEN a sunroof too much, if I need fresh air I'll roll down the windows, but the skyview looks so cool, goes all the way back to the back seats, and gets lots of questions from other people (but if i hear one more "so does it open sideways?" i'm gonna crack).
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 27,970
Condition: New Model and Options: SL with all standard options
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