Overview & Reviews

The Maxima has been fully redesigned for 2004. It now rides on the same underpinnings as the well-received Nissan Altima. This year's Maxima is longer, wider and more powerful than the previous version.

• Roomy interior, lots of upscale options, sweet V6, available with a manual transmission.

• Some small, oddly arranged controls.

User Reviews:

Showing 11 through 20 of 681.00

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  Nissan Maxima 2004 SE - 2004 Nissan Maxima
  By tilo - January 5 - 10:00 am

  Esthetically, the Nissan Maxima 2004 SE is very nice inside and outside. It handles nicely and is pleasant to drive most of the time. However, sudden acceleration produces a tremendous amount of torque steer which drags the car to one side and wheel vibration can be pronounced around 50-60 mph. A bulletin is available to address the steering wheel vibrations problem by doing a road force variation procedure which most likely owners will have to pay for every time new tires are required. I am disappointed with this vibration issue which in my opinion is the result of a bad design.

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  My 3rd Maxima! - 2004 Nissan Maxima
  By Jack Schoen - December 21 - 7:12 am

  None of my Maximas have had great acceleration; ride could be better given that these are Nissans flagship cars. Otherwise, dependable, comfortable, almost luxurious interiors; great for short or long drives; reasonable mileage; never a major repair - all routine (brakes, tires, wheel barings (after 150 K miles), struts, etc. Very happy with Nissan.

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  Ive had the same problems - 2004 Nissan Maxima
  By amber13131313 - December 6 - 11:40 pm

  The performance of the car is right up there is definitely fun to drive for sure. All in all I like my car if it come with all the fixing Ive had to do to it.I never had problems with it until it was crashed except for a battery dieing on my first day of work. after the insurance company paid $15,000 to fix yes that amount is right. about 4 months later I started having problems with it they never should have fixed it they should have totaled it out. It broke down at a light i got it started a few times to make it to the gas station across the street before it died again. I had it towed to nissan. i will continue on please read next review to find out more.

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  Max wins out - 2004 Nissan Maxima
  By the mick - November 29 - 10:00 am

  the SE tempts you at every sweeping curve and on-ramp to push its handling ability. suprisingly quiet and smooth in straight line driving for the sport-tuned ride. ok, you can get over the front end & grille. versus the TL and G35, it came out on top. much larger than the TL & G35 in regards to interior and trunk. styling loses out to TLs interior, however. handling was a dead heat. handles better than the G35. throw in the all important purchase price being $2k - $3K less, and it was w/o second thought to tell infiniti and acura, no thanks.

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  My 2nd Opinion from review 5/29/03 - 2004 Nissan Maxima
  By WdnUlik2no - November 22 - 10:00 am

  I got tired of the car so I sold it to a private buyer. The 04 Maxima is a very powerful car, it has smoked a lot of cars that have challenged it. This car is just has fast if not a bit faster than my 01 Mustang GT. The sound system is a great one for one coming right out of the factory. The leather seats are ok, but nothing compared to luxury models. The interior which I liked at first got old real fast. My biggest gripe is the FWD which causes a lot of torque steer when flooring it. If you never had a FWD be warned, its a totally different ride. I should have gotten the G35.

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  Tramission shot, engine mount broken - 2004 Nissan Maxima
  By Tiffany Pham - November 7 - 4:56 pm

  I owned a 1995 maxima and love it. still runable. bought 2004 and clunk noise when put in reverse to drive gear, brought to nissan dealer and diagnose front engine mount is broken (i have no car accidents)replaced it for $600, clunk noise did not go away. Brought back to nissan dealer and suggest me to replace the transmission due to "internal failure" cost me another $4000 to replace a new transmission. Reported and complained to Nissan Cooperate and waiting to hear from them. I think I got a defect transmission part and it can be a wear and tear on front mount engine when my car is only 84K on millage... very disappointed on Nissan, my whole family and husband voted out on Nissan.

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  Sleek Look - 2004 Nissan Maxima
  By Saylor - November 3 - 10:00 am

  I have had my Maxima for about 3 months. I have two sons and we all love the roomy interior. The only fault I found is the turning radius and the front wheel drive is not my favorite, but I am getting use to it. I love it!

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  More Pros Than Cons - 2004 Nissan Maxima
  By j Hudson - September 5 - 8:30 am

  Saw this car while on vacation in Florida and fell in love with it. Its a very competent road car, with powerful acceleration and a roomy cabin. Styling (other than grille) is top notch. Had to replace front shocks under warranty and now there is a vibration in steering wheel. I hope can be remedied with tire balancing, but have read many complaints in the past about wheel/tire issues related to this. Overall, have been very happy with car and its the best one Ive ever owned.

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  That engine... the only reason I bought it. - 2004 Nissan Maxima
  By booth1986 - July 22 - 8:35 am

  The engine in this thing ... dayyum! It was a very fast car! It was also superbly comfortable on long drives, and did surprisingly well on gas. I bought this used for a really good price. I was disappointed however in the transmission failures and overall build quality. The car was in good shape but felt like it was 10 years older than it was.

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  Test Drive it First - 2004 Nissan Maxima
  By Shaky Wheel - July 17 - 10:00 am

  Be sure to test drive the car you purchase. I made the mistake of test driving one vehicle and during the paper signing process I decided to switch to a different color car. I did not test drive the new choice as I assumed the car would ride the same as the one I had already driven. I was wrong...the steering wheel shook and vibrated mainly between 45 and 65 mph. I took the car back 4 times and was given the run around. The dealership said they didnt know how to fix the problem so they kept balancing the tires. I went back and forth with Nissan consumer affairs and finally received a new set of tires that appear to have fixed the problem. Other than