The Nissan Maxima QX was a bargain in 1995

The Nissan Maxima is in everything a car from a completely different era. That’s because of his engines, which we’ll get to in a moment, but especially because of what he is. The big, luxurious, traditional yet lavish sedan is unimaginable at the moment for several reasons. You can hardly imagine that this type of car was once relatively popular in the Netherlands. In the meantime, even the class below that of the Maxima, so the ‘Primera segment’, is dying. At the time of the Maxima, however, that was different, and we noted Camry’s, Legends and Omega’s as alternatives.

When we talk about the Nissan Maxima in Europe, it is often about the car that is officially called Nissan Maxima QX. That addition to the name appeared in 1994, with the introduction of the A32 generation. That was the second edition of the Maxima for Europe, although there were already cars with that name elsewhere. ‘QX’ stands for ‘Quality eXcellence’ and had to distinguish it from the American version, which from this generation onwards differed sharply from the model delivered in Europe. The Maxima QX was almost identical to the Japanese equivalent, the Nissan Cefiro. In the United Kingdom, this new, more rounded Maxima was initially called simply ‘Nissan QX’, although it was aligned with the mainland during the facelift.

Judging by our own findings from that time, the name ‘Maxima TK’ would have been more appropriate, as we described it as disappointingly colorless. This model is undeniably still a bit drowsy, but that may be what makes it so much fun from 2022 onwards. It’s just a neat, well-proportioned sedan, with the rounded shapes we saw so much in the 90s. Its most striking appearance was the taillight, which apparently consisted of one piece.

Always V6

The Maxima QX was available with two different petrol engines, but not with anything other than six cylinders. Top versions received a 3.0 V6 with 193 hp, the base engine was a relatively small 2.0-liter V6 with 140 hp. In the simplest SLX trim and with a manual gearbox you paid 55,000 guilders for it, or about €25,000. It was precisely this price that resulted in remarkably good sales figures in 1995. “Nissan has never had much success with its hefty Maxima, but the current model is now flying out the door by the hundreds. The secret lies in the exemplary equipment, the beautiful technology and… the price”, we started the test at the time, with a car that is still driving around. We also wrote that ‘the importer no longer looks up when more than a hundred copies are sold a month’. Indeed, that average was more than achieved, because a total of 1,544 Maximas went on Dutch registration in ’95. A number that was not even approached before and after that time, and most likely never will be again.

Fancy a ‘trip down memory lane’ yourself? That’s possible, because there is a nice QX for sale on our occasion pages. The prize is one in the ‘happiness seeker’ category, but find another …