2012 Nissan Maxima SV You Cannot Miss It

The Nissan Maxima is a car I hadn't given any thought since I last saw that commercial where a father-to-be tugs the sheetmetal of a 370Z into the shape of a Maxima. Despite what the ad implies, the four-door Maxima can't match the excitement of a rear-wheel-drive sports coupe. It is, however, a solid and competent sedan that will satisfy plenty of buyers. The Maxima does everything you ask of it without fuss, has a generously sized cabin, and is styled to neatly toe the line between looking boring and looking exciting. Unfortunately, the Maxima errs too much on the side of caution. The car is almost fun to drive and almost attractive, but in neither category does it get a thumbs-up vote from me. I probably won't think about the car again until the next time I see that 370Z-into-Maxima commercial.

I also disagree with Nissan marketing the Maxima as a Four Door Sports Car. The Maxima is a fine large sedan with plenty of space and comfort, but it offers nothing in terms of driver involvement. Nissan has given us a big car that sends its ample power to the front wheels through a CVT - perfect for smoothly shuttling around four or five adults but far from the idea of a stretched 370Z.

Once you get past the weird marketing, the Maxima is a very comfortable near-premium car. It's still not terribly different from a V-6 Altima, but it comes across as a bit more grown up. The Maxima offers much better visibility and a nicer interior than the Ford Taurus, although a newer Taurus is on the way for 2013. Hyundai has just refreshed the Azera for 2012 and it now offers 293 horsepower as well as a much more curvaceous design - both of which directly target the Maxima.

Like Nissan's Murano, the Maxima offer a very pleasant cabin. Buttons and knobs still reside on the center stack, which makes adjusting the climate controls or the stereo easy to do without taking your eyes off the road. This logical control layout probably does more to lure in buyers than the Four Door Sports Car commercials do.

With the premium package on this Maxima SV, one gets all the luxury amenities you expect in a $40,000 car: leather, heated seats (the driver's seat is also cooled), an electrically adjustable and heated steering wheel, a very large double sunroof, HID headlights, navigation, and Bluetooth. As an added benefit, the Maxima turn out to be fairly satisfying to drive. Its 290-hp engine means it's no slowpoke, and the CVT can be left in automatic or the driver can use the large, easy-to-grab paddle shifters if he wants to take things into his own hands.