Expert Opinions & Reviews: 2009 Nissan Maxima S

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Quick Look: 2009 Nissan Maxima

What's New For the 2009 Nissan Maxima? The 2009 Nissan Maxima is all-new, making a play to reclaim the self-appointed title of "Four-Door Sports Car." It offers a more powerful engine, taut suspension, aggressive styling and luxury touches not found in other Nissan-branded products.

Should I Buy the 2009 Nissan Maxima? No. While the 2009 Nissan Maxima has a lot going for it, we were disappointed by the car's suspension and transmission, neither of which contributes to a sporty driving experience. Plus, it's easy to push the Maxima's price close to $40,000, where it's outclassed by many luxury sedans.

As a lower-priced alternative to the Maxima, isn't the Nissan Altima pretty sporty? The Altima, while a more mainstream bread-and-butter sedan, definitely has a sporting flair not found in most of its competitors. While it may have a power deficit compared to the Maxima, it weighs less and you can get a six-speed manual transmission, too.

What else should I consider? Like we mentioned, if you're willing to forgo a few bells and whistles, check out the Nissan Altima and you might save a few bucks. The Maxima's benchmark – the Acura TL – was also redesigned for the 2009 model year, and ranks a serious look, as does the Pontiac G8, which offers V-8 power and rear drive for the same price as the Maxima.

Quick Look: 2009 Nissan Maxima

The 2009 Nissan Maxima is all-new, and an effort by Nissan to reclaim the car's past self-appointed title of "four-door sports car." It's available in one body style, with one drivetrain and two different trim levels. The base "S" model costs $30,855 including the $695 destination charge. That gets you the 290-horsepower 3.5-liter V-6 engine and continuously variable transmission, an eight-speaker audio system with MP3 playback, standard glass moonroof, dual-zone climate control, and the usual array of power windows, locks, etc. Step up to the SV (as Nissan expects 90 percent of Maxima buyers to do), and you'll pay $33,555 for standard leather seats with power lumbar and thigh extensions, an upgraded Bose audio system, fog lights, outside mirror-mounted turn signals and a few other touches. The kicker is that if you want any of the Maxima's option packages, you must step up to the SV. Those include a $2,300 Sport package that stiffens the suspension and adds paddle shifters to the steering wheel; a Technology Package that adds navigation, a 9.3 GB hard drive and other electronic goodies for $2,400, or less if it's bundled with other options packages; and a Premium package that luxes up the Maxima with softer leather, a dual-panel sunroof, power rear window sunshade, heated steering wheel and many other bits for $3,450.

While Nissan is trying to call this sedan a "sports car," we're not buying it. As a premium sedan with a wealth of standard and optional features, it's a fine car. We like the handling – although we also think it could be sharper – and the engine is very strong and flexible. However, we were disappointed by the transmission, which isn't very fun in a sport sedan, and experience shows is prone to overheating and going into a "limp" mode when the Maxima is driven hard. If you're looking for a premium sedan with a wealth of features that's pretty fun to drive, the Maxima's a good bet. However, with a price that easily pushes the $40,000 mark, we'd probably check out some of the Maxima's luxury-class competition first.

See All 2009 Nissan Maxima Trim Levels

See the Review: 2009 Nissan Maxima

See the Test Drive: 2009 Nissan Maxima SV

By Keith Buglewicz
Photo credit: Ron Perry

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