wow. that was an interesting little reading. when me and my dad were shopping for a car for me back in May, we looked at a few '08 and '07 altima's, and they had some options, the 2 we looked at were 2.5(can't remember which exact model) but Nissan wanted just over $16k. then we went to a different mazda dealership and found an '08 mazda 6i sport value edition with 8k miles, power driver's seat, 6 cd changer, 4 cyl, and everything, but no gps or leather which is fine....$15,094, offered $14,750, after the ridiculous and useless charges, trade in, and down payment, $14k even out the door. I found the window sticker in the glove box when I got home with her and that car retailed $20k and some change...to me, we got a really good deal. now, new Camry's down here in 'bama go for $25k-$30k depending on model. I wouldn't ever buy an Altima but instead get the Maxima. to me Altima's are a waste of $$$ in all aspects.

***before anyone says something, I looked at the Altima's b/c, well, my dad is paying for the car and I kinda had to agree, but THANKFULLY I talked him into gettin me the mazda6

 

There's a big price difference between a Maxima and an Altima. Surely we would all pick the Maxima if money was no object but for most of us, money usually is a factor.

I am not sure in what aspects you would believe an Altima to be a waste of money. Good gas mileage? Excellent reliability rating? Superior mid-size class handling and acceleration? The biggest downside in my opnion is Nissan's ridicuous packages/options. i.e. you can't get package Y without first getting package X and Z. One review referred to it as "feast or famine" which I think depicts it perfectly.

Anyway, I still prefer the 6 or I wouldn't be here. The Altima was the clear runner-up though vs all other mid-size sedans in the same price range. Not all of us are young enough to have mom and dad foot the bill.

 

but after you add the options to even make the Altima worth buying, you might as well buy the Maxima for a bit more because like you said, you have to buy other crap before getting something else. to me Mazda's are better which is why we got the 6. I had a Millenia first.
oh, and the reason my dad got me the car is because the Millenia needed a new tranny and I'll have a $40k+ bill when I graduate school, to pay myself. and both of our names are on the car payment, and I pay him a certain amount every 6 months.

 

I am young enough for that sort of thing, but I still footed my 11K bill myself.

 

A Maxima is considerably more comparably equipped.

I'm not even going to comment on the bill comment. You'll learn when you get older.