I had the opportunity to drive a 2000 Maxima GXE for a few days after having done a few repairs to the car for a friend.  The GXE is the base trim but it is well equipped with a power driver’s seat and keyless entry being two of the standout items you really do not find on most base mid size cars.  This review is a version of my real world observations of the car instead of facts, figures, and trivia which you can readily find on the internet.

The design of this car is what many people call a love it or hate it type and I have to agree.  I have mixed feelings on it myself and lean more towards disliking the exterior design because the body lacks a design theme like flat geometric planes, curvaceous surfaces, or low roof line and short window height.  The look of the car is a mixed bag of sorts.  The front end is very aggressive looking while the rear end looks like a larger scale Nissan Sentra of the same era and is very Spartan looking. 

On the inside the car first thing that is most striking is the design of the steering wheel.  Someone at Nissan was clearly thinking when they decided to put effort into the object the driver touches pretty much all of the time when behind the wheel.  The perorations in the rim of the wheel and the materials/craftsmanship of the thing, despite the fact that it is not covered in leather in a GXE, were outstanding.  Just touching the wheel makes you feel like you are driving a much more expensive car.  I also have to credit the Maxima with use of actual metal to construct the vents in the dash.  When was the last time that was common on cars?  The late 1960s maybe?  These two things feel very solid and top flight.  The rest of the interior is unremarkable because it is just run of the mill equipment you would find on any mid size car.  The radio and HVAC controls are large and easy to use as are the gauges in the instrument cluster.  For some reason the gear selector indicator in the cluster is done up in a retro kind of art deco font while the rest of the numbers and letters in the car are not.  The GXE also has this black/gray color trim on the doors and center stack where simulated wood is on the more upscale GLE model.  This material looks like recycled plastic and scratches easily.  They should have put that perforated look plastic from the steering wheel where this stuff is located. 

Sitting in the driver’s seat you have good comfort and visibility plus an illusion of being in a very spacious car because the dash sits very low in the body shell of the car while you sit high.  I would call it something like what sitting in a minivan is like.  Some people like that feeling but my preference is to fell like I am sitting lower in a car with a high dash and short glass panes.  The back seat of the car is as plain as it gets.  It is basically a flat bench seat that has no lateral support or shaping in the foam for comfort.  An extended sitting back there would probably result in lower back pain.  The trunk of the car is very spacious and has a flat floor which is ideal for cargo.  The inside of the trunk lid lacks carpeting or a plastic cover to hide the reinforcements and welds; a bad way to cut cost.

Reading this far you might be asking why I recommend this car and what about it is so good when thus far I have not made a case for any one thing being worth the purchase.  Well, the secret of this car is the mechanical side it.  The engine, transmission, and braking system are simply outstanding!  Driving around in the city or on the freeway the engine is virtually silent unless you really get on it and hear a nice growl of the exhaust as the car begins to pick up speed.  Most cars of this price range have engines that run out of breath and struggle to keep up when merging onto a freeway.  How a car can go from 35mph to 70mph is more important that the 0-60 times that are heavily advertised and promoted.  This car shines in this area.  The transmission is similar to Lexus levels of smoothness and refinement.  Actually, the power comes on so fast that you would think the car was a direct drive manual transmission or twin clutch more modern manumatic if you were sitting blindfolded in the passenger seat as it was launched hard.  From a dead stop at a light or stop sign a slight pressure in the accelerator will push you back in the seat a bit; very impressive.  The brake system of the car is also worth mentioning.  I actually serviced the brakes on this GXE for normal wear and tear on the rotors and pads.  The size of these parts is unremarkable but how they perform is.  FYI, larger pads, rotors, calipers, etc…make for more surface area and better braking.  A slight push of the brake pedal means a very quick pull down to a stop.  I have yet to discover the secret behind this amazing brake system but I would think Nissan has calibrated the proportioning valve in a way that exerts far greater pressure in the front brakes that their competitors do.  The front brakes do more of the work in stopping any car and more of the brake pressure is applied there in all cars but here it seems as if they increased the ratio; just speculation.  The brakes in my Lexus SC300 that cost about $18K more when new feel like mushy junk compared to these.

The problems my friend has had with this car were not numerous but one was very costly and annoying.  The lock cylinder in the ignition of the car jammed up from normal use and even a locksmith was unable to repair it.  Therefore, he needed to have a new cylinder installed which was not a big deal.  He ordered one from a dealership and I went over to help him install it.  Using household hand tools I had the job completed in 15 minutes.  After the installation the car would not start so I called the dealership and sure enough this car uses an immobilizer system.  The keys all have an electronic chip in them that a sensor in the steering column detects and allows the car to start only after the key has “shaken hands” with the electronic brain of the security system.  That is great to prevent theft but a curse when it comes to DIY repair.  The new keys would have to be programmed by the dealer so the car would recognize them.  The dealer quoted me $70 to program 2 keys to the car and the service manager suggested I try and tape the old key to the new one so the chip would still read and I could drive it to the dealership for programming.  This “trick” failed to work.  Therefore I had to reinstall the old lock cylinder and use pliers and a hammer to get the key to turn to start the car. 

Once we made it to the dealership we were quoted $280 in labor to install the new lock cylinder we already had and program the two keys.  The labor rate at the time was $95 per hour and factoring in the $70 of that was for key programming it seemed unreasonable to me for them to charge $210 for a job that took me (not a professional mechanic by trade) 15 minutes to do with household tools.  I might have ended up doing better if I had left the new lock cylinder in the car and hired a tow truck for $75 to get it to the dealer for the $70 programming.  I later removed the lock cylinder in the driver side door (passenger door lacks one) and the trunk to have they rekeyed to match the new ignition key.  A private locksmith did this job for $50.  If the ignition lock cylinder failure is a common problem on these Maximas or if this was a rare case of a problem is known to me but you should be aware this.  Also worth mentioning is that the plastic on the headlamps tends to fog up and turn yellow prematurely.  This is a great excuse to upgrade the headlights to a true HID system found on the higher end 2002 and 2003 Maximas since the housing is a direct bolt in replacement.  It will set you back about $500-800 to do the job right but IMHO it is worth it.

Overall, I like this greatly and would not hesitate at all to purchase one.  The exterior design is a bit dated looking these days but the substance of the car more than makes up for it.  The fifth generation of Maxima was only produced four year which is an unusually short run for such a successful car.  The 2002 and 2003 cars have a few refinements and the engine size was increased to 3.5 liters which added about 40 more horsepower.  The car was available in SE trim with larger wheels and an available manual transmission which made for a very fun to drive sedan.  Your best bet is with a 2000 or 2001 GLE model that has leather interior standard and small luxury touches like automatic climate control.  The values on the early models have plummeted since the 02 and 03 are the most desired of the fifth generation these days.
Amount Paid (US$): 12000
Condition: Used
Model Year: 2000
Model and Options: GXE