The new third-generation (J30) Nissan Maxima went in a bold new direction from its predecessors. Larger, more luxurious, more technologically savvy, and better made than the first two, the third Maxima was the first to cater to the North American market. The Maxima’s sudden transformation was so complete that it diverged from its former sibling the Bluebird to become an entirely separate model. First up today, we consider 4DSC styling.
In its short-lived second generation from 1985 to 1988, the PU11 Maxima maintained the same basic three-box shape as its rear-drive predecessor. And while it was easily identifiable as a Nissan product, it had little of its own character and looked a bit dated by the end of its run. The J30 Maxima was softer and more modern looking and was styled at the point just between the upright hard angles of the Eighties, and the Nineties organic softening of absolutely everything (ahem, 1997 F-150).
The front end of the new Maxima retained the same basic large headlamp and wrap-around indicator look of its predecessor, but the J30’s lighting looked more proportional to its front clip. The simple, slatted grille of the old Maxima was updated to have a chrome surround in 1989. Of note, many trim elements were body colored for the SE model, but we will not address those separately here.
Nissan lettering appeared in the lower driver’s side corner of the grille, as the centrally placed Nissan logo would not arrive on the Maxima until 1991. Beneath the simple headlamp arrangement was a bumper that was smoother than before and had less ribbed detailing. It also had a black lower valance to make the front end look lower to the ground. Set into the corners of the bumper were the driving lamps - they were placed closer to the corner than on the PU11.
The ‘89 Maxima’s hood was a model of styling restraint, with only the faintest power bulge that faded away ahead of its leading edge. The fender wrapped up over the top of the front end and formed a shut line that aligned to the seam where the headlamp met the corner marker. Absent from the fenders were any hard edges, unlike the outgoing model.
Also absent were the strong fender flares over the wheels, as Nissan opted for a much softer approach for the J30 Maxima. Fender, hood, and door met at an A-pillar that was sportier and more relaxed than previous. The window line was more shapely than before; less square than the PU11. Window seals were better integrated and less chunky than before, as the industry as a whole improved window seal design.
The chrome trim around the window’s perimeter was subtler and thinner than before. This smooth-then-simplify theme continued with the door handles, which were now housed in a rounded piece of the door trim. Each handle had its own style flourish that added some visual interest to the otherwise largely unadorned door.
Below, door rub strips (remember those?) were body-colored, and less jarring than the black trim always used on the PU11. The rub strip continued on the rear door to the rear fender, where there was much more style happening than on the outgoing Maxima. Most notably, Nissan added a BMW Hofmeister kink to the rear door.
And while the C-pillar was thicker than before, it was also more stylish looking. The rear window no longer wrapped around to meet the pillar but was a rectangular shape (again with a thinner strip of chrome decoration). The C-pillar and fender wrapped over the top of the body to meet a soft-looking trunk lid.
In a nod to practicality, the new Maxima’s trunk lid was larger, which created a more suitable aperture for luggage. In the PU11 Maxima, the liftover into the trunk was very high, as the entire rear clip was fixed in place. The new heckblende with its MAXIMA lettering in red (or smoked on SE) was framed in chrome, which combined with the simple tail lamps in a very early Nineties way.
Turn indicators and reverse lamps were both contained in a thin strip under the brake lamp, and with their chrome treatment looked cohesive. The same could not be said of the stark rear end on the PU11. And like its new front end, the Maxima’s bumper was now softer than before and lacked any chrome decoration.
Inside, the ‘89 Maxima was a big step forward over the ‘88. The PU11 used a lot of hard plastics, buttons that were seemingly assigned by committees to the dash, and materials of various different shades. In contrast, the J30 Maxima looked much more modern, with a better-integrated center stack of controls (clock, climate, radio) and a monochromatic color scheme.
The dash now had a shape other than square and curved organically over the gauges and center stack. There, it formed into a hard ridge and headed downward to the gear shift to make the cabin look driver-focused. Of note, early examples had the very ugly steering wheel shown above. This improved with the addition of the later four-spoke airbag wheel.
Maxima’s more modern appearance also heralded the addition of cutting-edge technology. The road scanning Super Sonic Suspension returned as an option, and there were more comfort and convenience features not available on the competition. Newly available was a number pad door lock system, which allowed keyless entry via pads on either front door.
Said entry tech was limited to the more luxurious GXE trim. It also allowed all windows and the moonroof to be opened at the push of a keypad button when the key was not in the ignition. After the short life of the number pad, this function was accomplished via a key turned to the right in the door lock, or via remote. The all windows open feature remains on Nissan and Infiniti products today.
Perhaps the most exclusive Maxima feature was the optional head-up display, one of the first offerings of its type. Part of the Luxury Package with the number pads, the display projected a digital readout of the car’s speed. This feature was only offered on GXE, and only from 1989 to 1992.
Nissan kept the Maxima’s trim structure simple in its third generation, and all examples were well-equipped. The base GXE of 1990 asked $17,959 ($41,749 adj.), while the SE was a bit dearer at $19,009 ($44,190 adj.). As the Maxima proved its popularity, the pricing climbed over its third-gen tenure. Buyers paid about five percent more for a Maxima in 1993 than in 1990.
And the Maxima was popular indeed. Sales of the last PU11s in 1988 totaled 74,451 but jumped to 109,429 upon the introduction of the J30 Maxima in 1989. Sales stayed strong through 1990 (100,067) and 1991 (99,026). As the model showed its age sales fell to 84,593 in 1992, before recovering to 87,602 in 1993.
However, something amazing happened in the Maxima’s final outing in its third-generation guise. In 1994 sales nearly doubled, and the nameplate had its best sales year ever: Nissan moved 163,138 examples. A permanent high water mark, the Maxima would never approach such sales success again.
It was perhaps a coincidence of timing, a series of one-time events: The Maxima was very good, its Cressida competitor was already dead, the Lexus ES 300 was new and too expensive, and the (mushy) Avalon was not yet available. But change was in the wind with competition from other brands, and a financial crisis in Japan. We’ll pick up there next time.
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to The Truth About Cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
Peak Nissan. Peak Maxima. God this was an amazing sports sedan. Little biased - we had a few of these in the family - both SE and GXEs. It was only the GXE that got that bland steering wheel; the SE had a proper 4-spoke with cruise control buttons in the hub until air bags appeared, even with the robo-belts. The interior was awash in high quality soft-touch plastics, the seats were comfortable, there were no squeaks and rattles, even 100,000+ miles later, the engine lasted forever, it was great for road trips, got decent mileage, and I can't say enough good things about this era Maxima.
And I remember finding out that with the GXEs, almost no one got that "Premium Package" that included the digital dash, head-up display, and the "sonar" suspension. I remember that being a very expensive option package, when most GXE buyers got it the way it was. And that a 5-speed was standard on the SE, but most paid extra for the automatic. And it seemed that EVERYONE got the SE in white.
And I loved the commercial about the guys being late for the meeting and getting picked up by a sports car, "but the sports car had four doors." That summed up this car perfectly. The SE with a stick (it was a bit notchy but still a stick) really could be compared well to a non-turbo 300Z in terms of style and fun...if you tried hard enough.
And then Corey is about to drop the first bomb on us with the Maxima...the next gen wasn't a bad one by any means, but the interior and rear suspension started to make us nervous about the cheapening of the best Japanese sports sedan of the era (and Legend owners, this is the hill I will die on!) ;-) (OK - I really like the Legend of that era also - the coupe with the 6-speed...heaven.)
No hill-dying necessary (and I own a '95 Legend sedan). The Legend wasn't as sporty as this beast. But it was considerably more luxurious.
Almost peak Maxima, but not quite.
@Mike Beranek: Interesting - do you think Corey's next Maxima entry is peak Maxima? I won't argue too hard with you on that one - we did have a 1996 Maxima SE 5-speed in the family for a while and liked it a lot, but I can get more into that with the next generation part of the story hopefully coming up soon. Anything after that, starting with the early-2000's generations with the strange glass "sunroof" strip up top and cost cut in a million different ways, I'm gonna have to disagree. To me, peak Maxima is a 1992/3 SE with the 190hp engine and 5-speed. Right amount of power, engagement, comfort, and especially appearance. And reliability. Those Maximas took a long time to die.
I agree that this was peak Maxima. The subsequent model (I leased a '95 and a '98) did improve in some ways, but they never felt like the high-quality vehicle that it was in this generation (I had an '89 and a '93) . In 1994, I was at a networking trade show having dinner with some folks from Nissan USA and I asked about the switch to the simpler (and cheaper) rear suspension in the '95 and they just brushed me off. They seemed fully committed to the cheapening of the Maxima.
My grandfather had an 89 as his final car. It was fully loaded with a spoiler, Bose stereo and the white-faced gauge cluster. It was one of the best cars we ever had and I got to drive it a couple times too before he passed away. If I recall, in lieu of a buzzer or electronic sound generator, it had an actual bell that chimed for doors open.