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Help Me Decide: Nissan Maxima or Audi A4???

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I love my A4 and I feel Audi has built a great car. However until Audi revamps their service (attitude toward customers, quality of service) I'm hesitant to recommend any Audi.
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This is the main reason I would not buy an Audi. They are owned by VW and their service sucks. The car might be great until you have a problem, then it all goes downhill from there. Also, I did get the extended warranty and it paid itself off three times over for my Jetta. It just ran out and I would love to get rid of my car but financially it isn't a good time.

The inlaws have had Nissans and have always had great service and no major problems in the past 13 years and 5 cars. They now have 2 VWs and have had more problems than you could imagine.
 
Audi would be m choice but there's a few fatal problems. One is their abyssmal reliability for a luxury make - it should be a GIVEN that you get a reliable car for $35k+, yet audi ranks among the lowest of all car makes, let alone the luxury marques. Power is another thing - the only adequately powered Audis I have seen have an S in their name. And lastly, dealer service is terrible. I'd take the Maxima out of these two, but barely...the FWD torque steer is a definite issue.
 
Audi. The Maxima used to be great but the new ones are incredibly ugly and have very bad torque steer. It's faster stock but the Audi's 1.8T is very moddable. Audi has AWD, fantastic interior.
 
Let me chime in that you do not want to pay the insurance premiums on a new maxima. Or deal with their headlight problems.
 
What's amazing about Audi is their refusal to stand by their product.

The deal with the bad ignition coils goes like this - when one fails, they'll replace it. They won't tow you off the road, they'll tell you it's safe to drive it into the dealership to be fixed. Which goes against everything I learned in my last 16 years as an ASE tech. When an engine is misfiring, that means unburnt fuel is ending up in the catalytic converters. That fuel then has the potential to ignite and actually melt the converter down on the inside. This results in a plugged up exhaust. I hope Audi covers the cost of $1200 worth of converters.

Also, they realize they have a problem with the coils. What they SHOULD have done, is recall every damn car and replace them. But no, even if one fails they'll only replace that one coil. Not ALL OF THEM, while they have the car in the shop. I know people who have had this happen repeatedly - one lady has been back to the shop four times for the same problem.

Audi is hiding behind a law that says they're not obligated to inform the customer unless it's a safety related problem. And they're not going to replace all four or six coils even though they know the other ones are bad and will probably fail in the future, because they're saving themselves a few bucks.

Their arrogant service departments only compound this problem. Buy a damned Chevy and it will be fixed the next day, correctly. With Audi (and most other high end Euro service depts), getting an appointment is like pulling teeth and then they have the car for two weeks.

This borders on criminally stupid in my opinion.

In my line of work (fleet wholesaler), I see it constantly. The more expensive a car is - it's directly proportianal to how long it's going to be stuck in a service dept and how inconvenienced you will be. No lie, I've had BMWs and Mercedes stuck in a garage for MONTHS.



 
Originally posted by: DainBramaged
Originally posted by: ElFenix
2003 maxima > 2004 maxima > underpowered and unreliable A4
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Yes. Audi's reliability has gone down *GREATLY* in the past few years. Nissan's has not.
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"gone down" implies that audi reliability was good at some time in the past. that simply isn't true. audis have never been reliable cars (engines catching fire were a common event in the 80s), but they are far more reliable today than they were.
 
Originally posted by: johnjbruin
another vote for g35x. at least give it a try.
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I originally hadn't even considered the G35x becuase there are no Infiniti dealerships near me, but the more I research it, the more it sounds like this is the car I'm looking for. AWD, 260hp, looks great (on the internet anyway) and from what I've heard great reliability. I've yet to see one of these in person, but I think I've got to check it out.

Only thing is I told the wife I wouldn't spend more than 30K. I was stretching it with the A4/Maxima, and the G35x is about 2-3K more than those. Oh well, that's how it always goes, I guess 😉

I don't think the G35x (AWD version) is out yet, anyone have any experience with the RWD G35? I talking about the sedan version, not the coupe.

Thanks for all the input so far!
 
Originally posted by: CFster
Also, they realize they have a problem with the coils. What they SHOULD have done, is recall every damn car and replace them. But no, even if one fails they'll only replace that one coil. Not ALL OF THEM, while they have the car in the shop. I know people who have had this happen repeatedly - one lady has been back to the shop four times for the same problem.
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Actually VW/Audi have announced a recall for the ignition coils, albeit 5 months too late 🙁



-Jimbo
 
Originally posted by: CFster
What's amazing about Audi is their refusal to stand by their product.

The deal with the bad ignition coils goes like this - when one fails, they'll replace it. They won't tow you off the road, they'll tell you it's safe to drive it into the dealership to be fixed. Which goes against everything I learned in my last 16 years as an ASE tech. When an engine is misfiring, that means unburnt fuel is ending up in the catalytic converters. That fuel then has the potential to ignite and actually melt the converter down on the inside. This results in a plugged up exhaust. I hope Audi covers the cost of $1200 worth of converters.

Also, they realize they have a problem with the coils. What they SHOULD have done, is recall every damn car and replace them. But no, even if one fails they'll only replace that one coil. Not ALL OF THEM, while they have the car in the shop. I know people who have had this happen repeatedly - one lady has been back to the shop four times for the same problem.

Audi is hiding behind a law that says they're not obligated to inform the customer unless it's a safety related problem. And they're not going to replace all four or six coils even though they know the other ones are bad and will probably fail in the future, because they're saving themselves a few bucks.

Their arrogant service departments only compound this problem. Buy a damned Chevy and it will be fixed the next day, correctly. With Audi (and most other high end Euro service depts), getting an appointment is like pulling teeth and then they have the car for two weeks.

This borders on criminally stupid in my opinion.

In my line of work (fleet wholesaler), I see it constantly. The more expensive a car is - it's directly proportianal to how long it's going to be stuck in a service dept and how inconvenienced you will be. No lie, I've had BMWs and Mercedes stuck in a garage for MONTHS.
Click to expand...

Actually there is a recall for the coils. Mine were replaced Friday. Personally(owning an A4 and having driven a few Maximas), I would get the A4. It is all personal preference, and the A4 can feel a bit underpowered, but the luxury, gas mileage, service, and resale value make it all worthwhile. I would drive both(again if you already have once) and then give it some time to decide. Have you thought of getting a CPO Audi A4 3.0? 100k warranty+more power+cheaper than a New Maxima or A4.
 
Originally posted by: Millennium
Originally posted by: CFster
What's amazing about Audi is their refusal to stand by their product.

The deal with the bad ignition coils goes like this - when one fails, they'll replace it. They won't tow you off the road, they'll tell you it's safe to drive it into the dealership to be fixed. Which goes against everything I learned in my last 16 years as an ASE tech. When an engine is misfiring, that means unburnt fuel is ending up in the catalytic converters. That fuel then has the potential to ignite and actually melt the converter down on the inside. This results in a plugged up exhaust. I hope Audi covers the cost of $1200 worth of converters.

Also, they realize they have a problem with the coils. What they SHOULD have done, is recall every damn car and replace them. But no, even if one fails they'll only replace that one coil. Not ALL OF THEM, while they have the car in the shop. I know people who have had this happen repeatedly - one lady has been back to the shop four times for the same problem.

Audi is hiding behind a law that says they're not obligated to inform the customer unless it's a safety related problem. And they're not going to replace all four or six coils even though they know the other ones are bad and will probably fail in the future, because they're saving themselves a few bucks.

Their arrogant service departments only compound this problem. Buy a damned Chevy and it will be fixed the next day, correctly. With Audi (and most other high end Euro service depts), getting an appointment is like pulling teeth and then they have the car for two weeks.

This borders on criminally stupid in my opinion.

In my line of work (fleet wholesaler), I see it constantly. The more expensive a car is - it's directly proportianal to how long it's going to be stuck in a service dept and how inconvenienced you will be. No lie, I've had BMWs and Mercedes stuck in a garage for MONTHS.
Click to expand...

Actually there is a recall for the coils. Mine were replaced Friday. Personally(owning an A4 and having driven a few Maximas), I would get the A4. It is all personal preference, and the A4 can feel a bit underpowered, but the luxury, gas mileage, service, and resale value make it all worthwhile. I would drive both(again if you already have once) and then give it some time to decide. Have you thought of getting a CPO Audi A4 3.0? 100k warranty+more power+cheaper than a New Maxima or A4.
Click to expand...

I think there is also a consumer action going on regarding the coils, where all of then will get replaced, whereas the recall only called for replacement of the coild that went bad.
 
Originally posted by: TechnoKid
Originally posted by: Millennium
Originally posted by: CFster
What's amazing about Audi is their refusal to stand by their product.

The deal with the bad ignition coils goes like this - when one fails, they'll replace it. They won't tow you off the road, they'll tell you it's safe to drive it into the dealership to be fixed. Which goes against everything I learned in my last 16 years as an ASE tech. When an engine is misfiring, that means unburnt fuel is ending up in the catalytic converters. That fuel then has the potential to ignite and actually melt the converter down on the inside. This results in a plugged up exhaust. I hope Audi covers the cost of $1200 worth of converters.

Also, they realize they have a problem with the coils. What they SHOULD have done, is recall every damn car and replace them. But no, even if one fails they'll only replace that one coil. Not ALL OF THEM, while they have the car in the shop. I know people who have had this happen repeatedly - one lady has been back to the shop four times for the same problem.

Audi is hiding behind a law that says they're not obligated to inform the customer unless it's a safety related problem. And they're not going to replace all four or six coils even though they know the other ones are bad and will probably fail in the future, because they're saving themselves a few bucks.

Their arrogant service departments only compound this problem. Buy a damned Chevy and it will be fixed the next day, correctly. With Audi (and most other high end Euro service depts), getting an appointment is like pulling teeth and then they have the car for two weeks.

This borders on criminally stupid in my opinion.

In my line of work (fleet wholesaler), I see it constantly. The more expensive a car is - it's directly proportianal to how long it's going to be stuck in a service dept and how inconvenienced you will be. No lie, I've had BMWs and Mercedes stuck in a garage for MONTHS.
Click to expand...

Actually there is a recall for the coils. Mine were replaced Friday. Personally(owning an A4 and having driven a few Maximas), I would get the A4. It is all personal preference, and the A4 can feel a bit underpowered, but the luxury, gas mileage, service, and resale value make it all worthwhile. I would drive both(again if you already have once) and then give it some time to decide. Have you thought of getting a CPO Audi A4 3.0? 100k warranty+more power+cheaper than a New Maxima or A4.
Click to expand...

I think there is also a consumer action going on regarding the coils, where all of then will get replaced, whereas the recall only called for replacement of the coild that went bad.
Click to expand...

Mine weren't bad. They were replaced under routine service... not sure what the real answer to that is.
 
i'd go with audi..b/c I think the new maximas are just a bit....*cough*ugly*cough*

sorry to all the nissan fans out there. i normally love nissans...just not the new maximas.
 
Originally posted by: vi_edit
Originally posted by: BigSmooth
If I were buying new, I would not get an A4 or a Maxima. Both have a lot of positive attributes, but the A4 is a bit small and possibly unreliable while the Maxima is rather unattractive and has even worse resale value than the Audi.

If I had to choose, however, I would go with the Maxima. Overall, I would give it the nod due to interior room and reliability.
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That's why I said split the difference and go Passat. 😛
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Yep, I have a Passat wagon. V6, and a little secret... the GLX package includes as standard most of the optional items in the Audi. 😀
 
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