Seeds of Discontent (Cars!)

Damn, my ‘new’ 2002 Maxima doesn’t seem new any more.  Since it’s been in the shop for repairs I’ve been driving a 2009 Dodge Charger and it’s really starting to grow on me.  I wouldn’t buy that particular car, I’ve sworn off American cars made after 1975, but the newness, superior handling, smooth ride and excellent stereo system have been making me very happy this week.  So much so, that I decided to drive all the way from downtown to Sugar Land and back this morning just for the sheer pleasure of driving an almost brand new car on the freeway at 80-90 mph at 6 am with hardly any traffic before I have to bring it back.  My Maxima has a more powerful engine, but the Dodge rides like a luxury car and it was a pleasant ride to the Grand Parkway and back (sigh).

I’ve always been a car person, I’ve had almost nothing but sports cars my entire life, so I’m afraid I’m destined now for a new car in the near future.  I keep telling myself I want another two door car, since I have no one to haul around any more, but four doors really are so convenient.  I’ve been thinking about a new Altima or Maxima, this has been the most trouble free car I’ve ever owned, but as it’s gotten older the ride has gotten rough, the road noise has grown annoying, and the stereo, which has never sounded very good, just doesn’t seem up to par.  And my pet peeve about the car, it has the turning ratio of a minivan (getting in and out of parking spots is embarrassing), only gets more irritating, especially hearing about the four wheel drive of the newer Nissans.  I’ve ridden in my friend’s two year old Altima, though, and it seems very claustrophobic.  And the Maxima has 290 hp, which makes it automatically more appealing.

When I was driving back from Sugar Land this morning, I realized there was a huge Nissan dealership on the way back and pulled in and did some window shopping.  After walking through rows and rows of Altimas I finally found a small grouping of Maximas and took some photos to compare the two.  My Maxima has always seemed a little too big, a bit too wide (which may be the cause of it’s handling problems), so I wanted to see the two cars together.  The Altima does seem a little more compact, and the Maxima roomier.  The Maxima also looks much sportier.  There were not prices posted on the Maximas, but you can get an Altima brand new for less than $20,000.  I’ve never bought a brand new car, and would be happy with another gently used 2009 or 2010 one, but since the 2011 models will be appearing soon, they seem to be clearancing the 2010 models out, which is tempting.

It looks like I’m going to have two small obstacles to overcome if I go for a 2010.  They all seem to have super dark window tinting (I work at night and have bad night vision), and they all have those damned moon roofs.  My 2002 doesn’t have one, which is one reason I picked it, but I guess they’re just standard issue these days.  And the Nissans don’t have something that the Charger has, which is one of the coolest features I’ve ever seen in a car – power adjustable pedals.  I’m 5’1″ and so seat to steering wheel/dash ratio is a big thing with me.  It’s another reason I got the Maxima, I wasn’t hitting my knees on the dash when I had the seat pulled all the way up (like I was in the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry I test drove years ago, they were my other two main contenders).  Oh well, you can’t have everything I guess.  Future test drives await, but I can’t do anything at this moment anyway, I’m still going through divorce proceeedings for ‘custody’ of my house… and my car.  But at least if I do get to trade it in it will be worth more than the $900 I got for my last trade-in, a ’91 Olds Cutlass.  Another win for foreign cars apparently.

2010 Nissan Maxima 2010 Nissan Maxima

 

2 2010 Nissan Maxima

 

Altima vs Maxima Altima vs Maxima

 

4 Maxima vs Altima

 

 

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