3rd Nov 2009, 19:34
Nissan Altima and Maxima is made in US. This is why reliability is out the window.
I work for Ford, and trust me, I would never buy one, LOL.
I'm not into throwing my money on junk. Ford corporates are in the business of stuffing their pockets with money, not building quality vehicles.
Do your research.
4th Nov 2009, 16:04
Wow, even Ford EMPLOYEE'S won't buy Fords. Speaks a lot about this new hype about the Fusion.
4th Nov 2009, 18:35
I DID do my research. Ford outranks Accord and Camry in reliability with the world-class Fusion. I also used to work for Ford. When I was employed by them my brother bought a brand new 1975 Granada with the 250 I-6. It was driven across the entire county every day to take my sister-in-law to work for 17 years. When it was traded (for another Ford of course) it had over 325,000 miles on it. The car had had one starter, one muffler and three brake jobs... that's all besides tires, batteries and belts.
That's why my garage now has two Fords in it. They last. In the past 30 years we've only had three cars that didn't make well over 100,000 miles without major repairs. All three were imports.
16th Dec 2009, 00:45
Hmm, seems like the 97 was the last reliable year for the Maxima. I have one and it's great.
16th Dec 2009, 14:36
"4th Nov 2009, 16:04
Wow, even Ford EMPLOYEE'S won't buy Fords. Speaks a lot about this new hype about the Fusion."
Funny you should mention that... I work for Toyota (Luckily in the Finance department, and fortunately it's my last couple of weeks there, I would never want to sell the things) and I won't buy a Toyota. I have over heard at least three times in the last month or so, customers coming in complaining to our sales people stating that they have sold them lemons. It's funny that this "bullet proof Camry" seems to be pretty problematic. I drive both a Ford and a Dodge, and I am very happy with both. I have been down the Toyota road with a 2006 Camry, I can't say I'll be doing that again. I'm not saying that there are no good Toyotas, because each manufacturer can turn out a real lemon every now and then, but it just seems that a car with such high ratings should be a tad more reliable... But, to each their own I guess.
16th Dec 2009, 20:33
"Ford outranks Accord and Camry in reliability with the world-class fusion" Ha! Yeah right. Maybe according to Ford! Tell that to my wife whom just traded her 2008 Fusion in on a 2010 Accord because of "reliability" problems. The car was a nightmare until the very end. And what about trade in value or long term resale value? This car has none when compaired to the Accord or Camry. In my opinion, Ford does not even come close to outranking Honda or Toyota, and the people who actually own these vehicles know what I am talking about as I myself own a 1999 Accord that has over 218,000 miles and I have had not one single problem with it, not one! How many owners of 10 year old Ford cars can honestly say the same?
17th Dec 2009, 15:28
Tons, just ask me and my flawless 95' Grand Marquis and 98' Crown Vic. Ha! Oh yeah and ask the other hundreds of thousands of police and taxi's also! I don't see any Accord taxi's or police. Yeah I think this discussion was just blown out of the water!
17th Dec 2009, 20:07
I haven't seen any Accord taxi's, yet I have seen (literally) HUNDREDS of new Toyota Camry Hybrid taxi-cabs driving around my city. I think this is a good idea, as the stop-and-go driving of the city (especially for a taxi) can really utilize the hybrid technology's full-potential. I've seen more of these than the old Crown Victoria's lately. I'm happy to see that my city is taking an active approach to climate change and the fuel efficiency issues associated with driving a Crown Vic in a city.
17th Dec 2009, 20:46
Why don't you look outside the USA or even North America for that matter. Europe, Africa, Asia. Most use Nissan, Honda, and Toyota as Taxis. Especially the Camry V6... I have personally seen one with over 1 million miles, used as a taxi, with its original 3.0 liter engine.
Also, try looking in Africa to see which truck is constantly used for DAILY, true offroading, where capability, durability, and fuel efficiency are a necessity. BTW both your cars are built on 20 year old platforms. They'd better be reliable. Nuff said. Honda and Toyota do major redesigns every 8-10 yrs. They usually switch motors/trans combos every 5 yrs too.
18th Dec 2009, 11:54
While I understand your concern for fuel efficiency, whether I'm driving my Crown Victoria or Grand Marquis won't make much of a difference. Consider the resources and those harmful batteries etc. that it takes to make a hybrid. And it's not like the Camry is all that higher in fuel mileage than the Panther platform cars. Now maybe I could see if it got 100 MPG.
18th Dec 2009, 11:57
"BTW both your cars are built on 20 year old platforms"
No actually my cars are built on a 30 year old platform: The mighty Panther platform.
2nd May 2010, 11:27
Hint.. Nissan formed an alliance with Renault in '99 after having severe financial issues. Check out reviews of their '99 models VS the pre '99 models. Maxima INSTANTLY went to crap.. next gen Sentra was not reliable.. next gen Altima is a piece of crap.. etc, all in the span of 1-2 years.
Toyota is bad too these days. The only Japanese maker I would still buy a car from is Honda, but their cars are far too boring for me.
Hyundai & Ford seem to be pumping out some awesome stuff though.
2nd Feb 2012, 23:03
I have a 2002 Sentra GXE 1.8 16 valve twin cam (5 speed standard) with 197k, and I have put one set of brake pads on the front (2007 @ 155k) and replaced a broken coil spring on the front last summer (192k). That's it...
Had it so long now, just getting bored with it... Thinking of something newer, but after reading some of the posts here, I might as well keep it till it dies.
11th May 2009, 00:46
Support jobs in your own country/continent. Looks like Ford is making some nice cars again, as is GM and Chrysler. Ford and Chrysler have some neat looking and very different cars for different peoples tastes, and GM makes more main stream, somewhat bland cars with good all around qualities... with a 5/100k war. I think Chrysler still does a lifetime power train warranty for the original owner of most of its Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler vehicles, which you can't beat with a stick.
All I say is keep your options open. If you REALLY can't find domestic car that fits you and your budget, then buy foreign I guess. Just think of this next time you hear some one say American cars stink... what makes are the 10 to 15 year old cars in your town? American right? Yeah OK so there are a few Honda Civics and Toyota Camrys, but most are old Ford Crown Vics, Taurus and escorts. Oldsmobile 98, 88 and Cierra. Full sized Chevys of all types and years. Oh yeah... and lots of Pontiac Bonneville. They may be dented, scratched and rusty, but the old GM and ford cars are still running after 200k miles and 15 years of service...
I don't know how any one can complain about that unless they own a Mack truck that has a life span of up to 1,000,000 miles over a 10 year run.