Back in the year 1992, my mom and dad thought that it was about time to get a new car to replace our 1988 Pontiac 6000LE (which, by the way - ate 3 - that's right THREE transmissions), and alas one morning they came home with the 92' Nissan Maxima, much to both parents delight. Ever since I got my license back in December of 99' I've been using this car frequently since my car is always in some need of a random R.O.W. (which in my house, when talking about MY car stands for repair of the week).

I plan on doing this epinion a little different. While thinking of ways to lay out this review, I figured that if this car can please both my mom and my dad (who have very different details that appeal to them while buying cars), then I can show how this car can be right for anyone.

Dad

"Make sure it has some balls under the hood", is what I am convinced were the first words out of my fathers mouth when he found out that we were going to be getting a new car. Well, balls are exactly what this car has. The 92' Maxima is not listed as a sedan, but as a 4DSC - which stands for Four Door Sports Car. Since Nissan classified this as a sports car of sorts, I'm sure they got the go ahead to load this puppy up with bite, and that's exactly what they did. For all the guys in the house, this baby has a 3.0L V6 under the hood. This means that even if you are using this car to take the kids to and from soccer practice, you can still look like a stud when you demolish some guy off the line on your local highway. Even if the lady is in the car, or your intentions for driving are not limited to drag racing - you know that this car has it where it needs it - when you need it, and that's a good feeling to have. Also, if you're a fan of rims, the 92' came with standard aluminum alloy rims. The AM/FM stereo can pump rather loudly, should you feel like blasting some good ole' rock and roll.

Mom

I can't speak for everyone out there, but my mother loves the design of this car, and I happen to like it a lot too. It's somewhere in between a sedan and a sports car, and depending on if you customize it or not, this car can look however you want it to.

My mom loves the automatic tranny - although she can drive a stick she finds it an inconvience - which I guess it can be. The car has power everything - power locks, power steering, power seat belts, power windows and anti-lick breaks. Since safety is usually one of mom's biggest concern, she was happy to hear about the SRS air bag that came standard. The power everything can help out people who like to drive in comfort, and not have to worry about everything going on. It makes it somewhat of a luxurious driving experience.

Our Crash

The only "not great" thing that I can think of about this car comes to me when I think of the accident we had in it. Luckily the seat-belts are automatic - otherwise I don't know if mine would have been on. Someone in front of us slammed on her breaks on a major highway because she missed her turn, and we wound up rear ending her at around a 25 mile per hour impact ( we were skidding ). Although the seat belt probably saved my life, the one thing that didn't work was the driver side air bag. After talking with the police about what had happened he informed us that the airbag on cars usually doesn't open up unless both bumpers hit directly. In our case, our bumper was higher than hers, so we went on top of hers, causing the air bag not to come out. I don't know if this is the same with other cars or not, but it's something that I thought I should point out.

Closing

For the most part this car runs like new. We had to replace some paint work and the power windows, but aside from that we've had no real problems. The car's pushing 100k miles, and still going strong. If youre in the market for a used car, I would reccommend the 92' Maxima to anyone.
Amount Paid (US$): 13000/trade
Condition: New
Model Year: 1992
Model and Options: 6 cyl 3.0 L Engine, Air Conditioning, Alarm System, Aluminum Rims