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Video: 2010 Nissan Maxima

02:33 min
By Cars.com Editors
September 28, 2010

About the video

Cars.com's Dave Thomas takes a look at the 2010 Nissan Maxima. It competes with the Ford Taurus and Toyota Avalon.

Transcript

<v Announcer>Cars.com auto review. Hi, I'm Dave Thomas with cars.com, and this is a 2010 Nissan Maxima, which will remain virtually unchanged for 2011.
Now, it's a few years removed from a complete redesign, but we wanna see how it holds up against new competition, like the redesigned Ford Taurus and Toyota Avalon. Styling is definitely a strong point of the Maxima. It borrows some lines from Nissan's premium brand, Infinity, especially around back, but up front, you have this flat nose grill and some really huge fenders, which kind of roll over onto the hood and give it a really sharp look. If you're cross shopping these big sedans, you wanna lean towards the Maxima because of performance. It has a 290 horsepower V6 standard, which is a lot more than the Taurus and Avalon. It also handles a lot better than either of those cars. The interior of the Maxima is just as sport as the exterior. It's all black and has this nice glossy black insert in the center console, which reminds me a lot of what the Ford Taurus does, actually. Now, this is what's called an SV Package, and it's a few thousand more than the base, which starts at $30,000. So for $33,000, you get leather seats, you get a moonroof, and a Bose stereo system. One of the worst things about buying a new car is seeing expensive options add up on the bill. And the nice thing about the Maxima is its options are pretty affordable. One of the most useful ones is the center monitor package, which has an LCD screen, so it displays all your air conditioning and iPod information. It's only a $700 option. So, you definitely wanna go with that, with any of the Maximas. And if you live in a cold weather state, there's a cold weather package, and it's only $400. Not only does it add the heated leather seats in the front, it's also got a heated steering wheel. One of the reasons you get a big sedan, is you want a really big back seat, and the Maxima has got one. Now, it does have a few inches less leg room, than the Ford Taurus, but I tell you what, it's still big back here. I have the driver's seat exactly where I had it when I was driving. I'm 5'10", and you can just see there's tons of knee room between my knees and the seat. My feet aren't scrunched at all. And I tell you what, I've been in the back of a Ford Taurus, and it's not that comfortable. You'd get all this space, despite the fact that the Maxima is a foot shorter than the Taurus. And where you lose out, though, is in the trunk, where the Maxima's six cubic feet smaller than the Ford Taurus. The Maxima really stacks up well against the competition, especially when you take into consideration how much performance it's packing. It's also not giving up much in interior comfort, either. Just check out that trunk, and make sure it's big enough for you. <v Announcer>For more car related news, go to cars.com, or our blog kickingtires.net.

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