2023 Nissan Maxima

Pros

• A sturdy and beautiful cabin
• Excellent handling for a midsize car
• The calm interior gives a feeling of luxury.

Cons

• Both the trunk and the back seat are tight.
• The SR trim has a ride that is too stiff.
• Lessening of sight
• Computers that are out of date

Nissan says that the Maxima is a “four-door sports car,” but this is not true. It needs to be better to be called a sports sedan. But because it has a V6 engine, it is a sporty midsize car that drives well and gets up to speed quickly. Surprisingly, the Maxima seems heavy when moving slowly, but it gets lighter and easier to handle as it goes faster.

This is primarily because of the way the steering feels. On the other hand, many cars are lighter in parking lots and heavier when moving faster. Even though the Maxima has modest dynamic limits in turns and corners, drivers can be sure they won’t go over them because the car’s communication is so good. Overall, this Nissan is a great car that is simple to drive.

The quiet interior of the Maxima is made possible by the acoustic glass, many sound-absorbing materials, and active noise cancellation. This gives the sedan a high-end feel while driving. The suspension does an excellent job of smoothing out bumps and other flaws in the road, so the ride is controlled and firm. (Drivers who want a stiffer sport suspension can give up ride comfort for better handling.) The Maxima rides and drives more like a luxury car than most midsize family cars.

The Maxima’s seats also choose between sporty support and long-distance comfort. They’ll keep you steady on sharp turns and comfortable for long periods.

The inside of the Maxima looks excellent, the controls are easy to use, and the entertainment system is designed to ensure it makes sense. But the elegant look of the Maxima comes at a price. The cabin is small, so people have little space to move around. Even though the front seats have enough headroom, the footwells are too small, and the armrests are too high to be comfortable.

Back passengers have even less leg and headroom. Also, it’s more complicated than it should be to get in and out of the Maxima, especially for people in the back seat. Also, visibility is terrible, making it hard to tell where the front corners of the car are. Aids for safety and working side mirrors make people more aware.

The technology used by Nissan is easy to use. Still, the infotainment system feels old and inefficient, except for up to two USB-C connections and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto. Even if you don’t need bass, the sound and touchscreen are pleasing, but other midsize cars are cheaper and have better sound.

Even though we found that the system was picky about the words and phrases we used, most of the basic infotainment features can be controlled by voice commands. There are also a few features to help the driver. The car can come to a complete stop with adaptive cruise control, but Nissan’s cutting-edge ProPilot technology is not available.

Due to its size, the Maxima may be able to carry more in total. The Maxima’s trunk and small-item storage are better than those of similar-sized cars, but its wide and low opening makes it easy to load cargo. There are also hooks for hanging shopping bags and pull tabs in the trunk for opening the fold-down seats.

The Maxima can fit most car seats, and the four lower anchors across the back seat are marked. The sloped opening of the back door could be better because it makes it hard for parents to get in.

With a combined 20 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the highway, the Maxima gets less gas mileage than other midsize cars with updated engines. During our time with the car, we needed help meeting EPA estimates. We still need to get the predicted city mpg. Because 91 octane is recommended, it is a lot more expensive.

The Maxima tries to find a good middle ground between being almost luxurious and doing better than average. It does not work either. Yes, the interior looks lovely. It has a high-end finish and several soft or high-quality touchpoints. It also has some advanced features for handling and performance, but nothing that a competitor can’t offer for less money.

Even though it has some problems, the Maxima combines a sense of luxury with a sporty feel in a way that is easy to use. It’s a car made with the driver’s comfort in mind. Even though there are better deals, it works most of the time.

In this writing, Nissan still needs to make the 2023 Maxima official. We’ll change our recommendation if something changes, but based on the Maxima from last year, we recommend the SV trim. There are a lot of standard features to choose from (especially for a base model). People who want a sportier ride will like the SR, but others may find the firm suspension too stiff.