2021 Nissan Maxima Reviews, Pricing & Specs
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Stylish design
Powerful engine
Premium interior materials
Cons
All-wheel drive not available
Poor fuel economy
Cramped back seat
As it enters middle age, Nissan’s full-size sedan takes on a more relaxed character.
The 2021 Nissan Maxima celebrates 40 years on sale, making it one of the oldest Japanese automotive nameplates in continuous use. While it’s impressive for any model to survive four decades, the Maxima has spent most of its history mired in mediocrity.
The Nissan Maxima name first appeared in 1981 as a rebranding of the Datsun 810 sedan. The original Maxima/810 was a true enthusiast’s car, boasting rear-wheel drive (RWD) and a sporty character that led Nissan to declare it a “four-door sports car.” However, that only lasted for a few years.
With its first redesign for the 1985 model year, the Maxima switched to front-wheel drive (FWD) and was positioned as Nissan’s flagship sedan. It’s been that way ever since. Nissan has continued to gesture in the direction of that original RWD model, but for most of its 40 years, the Maxima has been a slightly sportier alternative to full-size sedans like the Toyota Avalon, rather than a BMW beater.
So it is with the current, eighth-generation, Maxima, which debuted for the 2016 model year. It enters the 2021 model year with few changes, the most significant being a 40th Anniversary Edition option package for the top Platinum trim level, which sits above the base SV and mid-range SR trim levels. That’s what we test drove for this review.
As one would expect of a flagship sedan, the current-generation Maxima has set the tone for other Nissan models. Styling elements that debuted on the Maxima—including a “floating” roofline and “V-Motion” grille—have since been applied to those other models, including the smaller Altima, Sentra, and Versa sedans.
The Maxima mainly distinguishes itself from the other Nissan sedans by going bolder. With its steeply-angled front end and massive grille, it looks like an Art Deco locomotive going down the road. With its blacked-out trim, our test car looked downright sinister. Still, we’re not surprised Nissan toned things down for subsequent models. It’s also worth noting that the current Toyota Avalon is equally bizarre looking, but also has a bit more street presence in TRD guise.
The 2021 Maxima 40th Anniversary Edition gets a two-tone exterior, with Ruby Slate Gray Pearl paint and a black roof, model-specific 19-inch gloss-black alloy wheels, black exterior trim (including exhaust tips), red semi-aniline leather upholstery, white speedometer and tachometer faces, and heated rear seats.
The 40th Anniversary Edition treatment nicely dresses up the Maxima’s interior. We especially liked the dark-red tone of the leather seats, which had an appropriately 1980s vibe. The white gauge faces were a nice touch as well, proving both stylish and functional, and showing that not every car needs a digital instrument cluster.
The Maxima is available only with a 3.5-liter V6 making 300 horsepower and 261 pound-feet of torque, a continuously variable transmission (CVT), and FWD. Shoppers in snowier climates should note that the Kia Stinger, Toyota Avalon, and Volkswagen Arteon are available with all-wheel drive (AWD), although that comes with a big power penalty in the Toyota.
If you’re expecting a “four-door sports car,” you’ll be disappointed, but that doesn’t mean the Maxima is a bad car to drive. It felt as quick as its 300 hp would suggest, and the V6 engine sounded great. A CVT is usually a buzzkill, but this was one of the better examples we’ve experienced. It had no problem meting out power, responding more quickly than some conventional automatic transmissions we can think of. Pairing that transmission to a naturally-aspirated V6, rather than a smaller turbocharged engine, as in the most potent Nissan Altima, likely helped.
The Maxima can also be decent fun in the corners, but that’s also where its limits start to show. While it proved remarkably agile for a big sedan, the helm was a mess of garbled communication.
The steering itself lacked feel and precision, making it hard to tell what a given amount of input would actually do. The front end also lacked grip and, like many powerful FWD cars, the Maxima is susceptible to torque steer, a tug at the steering wheel under heavy throttle. It’s not catastrophic, but it is there, sapping confidence and making the Maxima that much less enjoyable to drive on a twisty road.
Compared to the competition, though, the Maxima still looks good. Toyota now has a sporty Avalon TRD, but that sedan doesn’t feel as coherent as the Maxima. It’s clear that Nissan designed the Maxima to be sporty from the beginning, while Toyota tried to add sportiness after the fact. The Volkswagen Arteon emphasizes comfort over performance. Only the Kia Stinger truly tops the Maxima, and that’s because it offers RWD.
At a more relaxed pace, the Maxima felt more in its element. The cabin was quiet (thanks in part to active noise cancellation) and, freed from the multitasking of hard cornering, the car felt rock-solid during highway cruising. Nissan did give the Maxima fairly stiff suspension to improve handling, but the ride was still comfortable over all but the worst road imperfections, despite our test car's 19-inch wheels.
The Maxima gives the driver and front passenger a generous amount of space at the expense of rear-seat passengers. Front headroom and front legroom are the highest among the Maxima’s competitive set, but rear headroom is near the bottom of the class, and rear legroom is the worst among current full-size sedans.
Nissan also positioned the seats far inboard. That’s (probably) good for weight distribution, but not for creating a feeling of spaciousness. Despite the generous front headroom and legroom, we still felt cramped because of how close the center console was to the driver’s right side. That should have at least made it easy to reach controls and cupholders, but some things, such as the knobs for the heated seats, were positioned too far aft requiring an awkward arm twist.
That oversight aside, the Maxima is clearly a “driver’s car,” in the sense that the cabin is designed around the driver. Rear-seat passengers may get a cramped feeling, but the driver gets an expansive view of the road, along with excellent side visibility thanks to a low window line and large exterior mirrors.
Like most Nissan models, the Maxima features Nissan’s “Zero Gravity” front seats. If you haven’t heard the sales pitch, they’re designed using NASA research on the human body for optimum support. The Maxima versions get eight-way power adjustment for the driver, four-way power adjustment for the passenger, three-way foam padding, and extra bolstering. They were very comfortable, but we still would’ve liked a bit more thigh bolstering.
At 14.3 cubic feet, the Maxima has the least cargo space in its competitive set. While the Nissan is a sedan with a conventional trunk, the Kia Stinger and Volkswagen Arteon are hatchbacks, providing a bigger aperture for loading and unloading cargo.
Technology is where the Maxima starts to show its age. While the standard infotainment system covers the bases in terms of feature content, it falls short on functionality.
The Maxima comes standard with an 8-inch touchscreen, Bluetooth, and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto compatibility. A built-in WiFi hotspot is also newly standard for the 2021 model year and Nissan included both USB-A and USB-C ports. They’re located in a cubbyhole where you can also stash your phone, removing the temptation to use it while driving. An 11-speaker Bose audio system is also available.
Those are the basic features you should expect in a mainstream infotainment system, but the Maxima’s system was unpleasant to use. The touchscreen’s graphics looked dated, and small icons made it difficult to navigate menus while driving. Also dated were the various notification sounds, some of which also sounded like emergency warnings. We couldn’t tell if we were receiving a text message or about to crash into someone.
Nissan did at least provide plenty of analog controls, including shortcut buttons for most touchscreen menus, as well as knobs for climate control and audio volume/tuning. That means you don’t have to rely on the touchscreen, although the jarring notification sounds appear unavoidable.
The 2021 Nissan Maxima received an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) “Top Safety Pick+” rating—the organization’s highest. It got top “Good” scores in all crash tests, and the top “Superior” rating for front crash prevention tech, although headlights were only rated “Average.”
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gave the 2021 Maxima a five-star overall safety rating, with five stars in frontal, side, and rollover crash tests.
Standard safety features under the Nissan Safety Shield 360 banner include automatic emergency braking (with pedestrian detection), forward-collision warning, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-departure warning, automatic high beams, and rear automatic emergency braking. Optional features include adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, a driver-alertness monitor, and a 360-degree camera system. We appreciate that Nissan included a large button for the camera view right on the dashboard, rather than hiding it, as many automakers do.
The Maxima doesn’t get the ProPilot Assist system available in the midsize Nissan Altima sedan and Nissan Rogue crossover. This adds automated lane centering to the adaptive cruise control, but still requires drivers to keep their hands on the wheel at all times. That’s not a big deal, though, as the hands-on nature of ProPilot Assist limits its practicality.
EPA fuel-economy ratings for the 2021 Nissan Maxima are 24 mpg combined (20 mpg city, 30 mpg highway). That’s slightly lower than a V6 Toyota Avalon, and the Toyota is also available with a hybrid drivetrain good for over 40 mpg combined. The Nissan also trails the Volkswagen Arteon, but that’s not surprising, as the VW uses a smaller turbocharged four-cylinder engine. Despite a mix of highway and city driving, we only managed 20.6 mpg during our week with the Maxima.
Nissan offers a three-year, 36,000-mile, basic warranty and five-year, 60,000-mile, powertrain warranty.
Pricing starts at $38,040 for the base Maxima SV trim level, rising to $43,200 for the Maxima SR, and $43,270 for the range-topping Maxima Platinum. With the 40th Anniversary Edition package, our test car rang up at $45,850 MSRP. That’s less than you’ll pay for a fully-loaded Toyota Avalon or VW Arteon.
The Maxima offers a better blend of sportiness and comfort than those two vehicles but lacks the VW’s more modern infotainment system and the Toyota’s spacious back seat. Expanding the field a bit further, the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger offer V8 power and a retro feel, but with lower-quality interiors and worse fuel economy, while the Kia Stinger offers a better driving experience and a longer warranty. The Honda Accord is considered a midsize sedan, but it's still pretty spacious, and pretty nice to drive as well, although it doesn't feel as special as the other cars mentioned here.
Overall, the Maxima is a solid choice for anyone looking for a big sedan. It’s enjoyable to drive, feels more upscale than most other Nissan models, received the highest IIHS and NHTSA safety ratings, and is competitively priced. It may not be a “four-door sports car” anymore, but that hasn’t been the case for a long time. Maybe it’s time to move on?
