I owned a 1996 Maxima GXE 5-Speed and absolutly loved the power and MT. That car was perfectly reliable over its 100K miles, so I traded it in for a 2003 Maxima 6-speed. The power and HIDs were awesome on that car, but like everyone here mentioned, the interior, handling, wind noise, rattles, turning radius, less than great Nissan dealers, etc all took a toll on my ownership experience. The paint was terrible and looked like it was sandblasted down to metal in less than 30K miles. It rattled in the doors, dash, rear deck in less than 10,000 miles. The valve covers were plastic and started leaking. The headlights were a theft target. U-Turns were impossible with the turning radius... Cell phone conversations on the highway were impossible with the wind noise of the A-pillar and sunroof. Within a few months of ownership, I was not happy with the car and felt my 1996 was a far better car than my 2003 even though the 2003 had much more power ...So when it came time to buy a new car for my wife, we bought a 7-gen Accord EX. Every time I drove her accord, I felt is was a far better car than may Maxima. The awesome power of the Maxima just did not matter to me anymore. Her Accord has been absolutly perfect for 3.5 years, so I just traded in my Maxima for a 2007 EX-L I4 AT. And I am absolutly thrilled by the purchase and feel it was a huge upgrade from the Maxima. I too was a huge Maxima fan for 10 years, part of Maxima.org, etc, but have never looked back after switching to the Accord.Good luck!
