2012 Nissan Maxima Reviews

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2012 Nissan Maxima 3.5L V6 from North America

Model year	2012
Year of manufacture	2011
First year of ownership	2013
Most recent year of ownership	2013
Engine and transmission	3.5L V6 Automatic
Performance marks	9 / 10
Reliability marks	7 / 10
Comfort marks	9 / 10
Dealer Service marks	8 / 10
Running Costs (higher is cheaper)	6 / 10
Overall marks (average of all marks)	7.8 / 10
Distance when acquired	35000 kilometres
Most recent distance	57000 kilometres
Previous car	Chrysler Sebring Sedan

Summary:

Sleek, sexy and powerful

Faults:

The car feels solid.

At around 56k the power steering hydraulic system went out. Some people may get freaked out by that, and not drive at all. I kept driving for about 800 kilometers. It steered like a race car, although it was a workout in parking lots. The CVT sometimes shakes the steering wheel when the car is slowing down to a stop i.e. a red light. Hard to explain, but it feels like the car has a flat tire... probably due the power steering hydraulic system failure.

Otherwise, nothing else to report.

General Comments:

This car is awesome!

I was very skeptical about CVT, but once you "learn" it, this transmission is absolutely fabulous. It's all about knowing when to shift the stick around to Sport Automatic, Sport Manual mode or Normal Automatic mode. Heck, you can even engine brake by shifting to the Sport auto mode!

Nice distinctive design.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 22nd April, 2013

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2012 Nissan Maxima ST-L 2.5 from Australia and New Zealand

Model year	2012
Year of manufacture	2012
First year of ownership	2012
Most recent year of ownership	2012
Engine and transmission	2.5 Automatic
Performance marks	8 / 10
Reliability marks	10 / 10
Comfort marks	10 / 10
Running Costs (higher is cheaper)	10 / 10
Overall marks (average of all marks)	9.5 / 10
Distance when acquired	0 kilometres
Most recent distance	10000 kilometres
Previous car	Ford Falcon

Summary:

This car may put the Nissan Service Centre out of business

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong.

General Comments:

The car is extremely comfortable to drive with the leather package. The ride is smooth and road noise is limited. The instrument panel is functional and the climate control / radio system sits on a slant on the dash, which takes some getting used to, but in the end - makes sense!

The auto climate feature is great, as well as the push button ignition system.

Overall, a really nice car that has needed nothing more than an oil / filter change.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 24th December, 2012

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25th Mar 2013, 20:16

I fix and repair cars for a hobby and make some money on the side doing it. This car is my wife's, and I am the original poster.

This car is the most boring for me. NOTHING ever goes wrong with it. I service it myself using genuine Nissan filters, and it runs on Nulon Synthetic oil. The drive is very smooth.

When it comes time for the auto transmission service, I will be in the market to buy Genuine Nissan CVT fluid, as I am told that anything other than that will void the warranty.

This car is not so popular in Australia as it is in the USA. I am not sure why, because when we compared it to the Toyota Camry (Australian Build), the Holden Commodore and the Ford Falcon - it seemed a much better fit for the wife who wanted some style in her daily drive.

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In reply to 25th Mar 2013, 20:16

27th Mar 2013, 07:08

To be fair, I wouldn't expect any 2012 car to have problems! But, then again, this is probably because my 2005 Volvo V70 hasn't got any problems - at 296,000 miles! Let's see what this car is like at those miles and report back then.