QUALITY | 8 out of 10
Expert Quotes:
This VQ-series V-6 engine family is outclassed in refinement by just about everyone now.
Automobile Magazine
has trouble coping with highway bumps and expansion joints
Consumer Guide
Seats front and rear are comfortable and firmly bolstered
Car and Driver
The ride is well-isolated and controlled.
Motor Trend
Materials beat the stuff in a Toyota Avalon and quite possibly an ES 350 or Buick Lucerne
Cars.com
The sculpted interior of the Maxima is designed to seat five, but perhaps as the price of fashion—and in providing two very nicely contoured seats—seats only two average-sized adults in the back seat. And with just 14.2 cubic feet, the trunk is quite a bit smaller than other larger sedans, instead on par with compacts.
Otherwise, interior refinement, materials, and build quality are quite good. The instrument panel has a good look, with excellent material choices up close, though we weren't sure about the odd clouded climate-control display and stiff-feeling controls, which didn't seem to match anything else in the vehicle.
The 2010 Nissan Maxima isn't the quietest vehicle on the road; there's a modest amount of road noise from those low-profile, V-rated performance tires, but they somehow don't spell disaster for ride quality, as they often do. The Maxima has an excellent ride that nearly everyone but the geriatric set will like; it's excellent—on the firm side but very well-damped. Our only complaint is that, from inside the cabin, Nissan's V-6 sounds more coarse and unsophisticated than sporty.
Conclusion
The interior of the 2011 Nissan Maxima doesn’t boast a lot of passenger or cargo space, but it’s snug, comfortable, and attractively appointed.
