2020 Nissan Maxima

The 2020 Nissan Maxima has a generally nice interior, marked by a user-friendly infotainment system. Passenger and cargo space are unimpressive though.

• "Inside, the Maxima offers a set of thickly bolstered sport seats, high-quality soft-touch materials and unexpected touches such as a flat-bottom steering wheel and standard Android Auto and Apple CarPlay." -- Autotrader
• "Some new seat stitching patterns and semianiline leather trim spruce things up a bit, and Nissan's 'Zero Gravity' seats are as comfortable and supportive as ever. But really, this is the same interior since the eighth-generation Maxima debuted in 2015. It's fine, but not great." -- CNET (2019)
• "Materials are mostly high in quality, though I concede that perhaps this isn’t an accurate observation across all versions of the car." -- New York Daily News (2019)

Seating

The Nissan Maxima seats five people on standard cloth upholstery. An eight-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, a four-way power-adjustable passenger seat, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel are also standard.

Optional features include leather upholstery, premium Ascot leather and Alcantara upholstery, full premium Ascot quilted leather upholstery, heated front seats, driver’s seat power lumbar adjustments, driver’s seat memory settings, a six-way power-adjustable passenger seat, a heated steering wheel, ventilated front seats, a power tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, a power rear-window sunshade, and heated rear seats.

The Maxima has a low, sporty front seating position, and the seats provide ample comfort. Headroom is a little cramped in both rows of seats, and rear legroom isn’t great, either.

If you need to secure child safety seats, there are two complete sets of LATCH connectors for the Maxima’s rear outboard seats, as well as an upper tether anchor for the rear middle seat. All of the anchors are easy to find and access.

• "Your 5-foot-11-inch author's noggin was nigh nudging the headliner with the seat in its lowest position." -- Autoblog (2019)
• "The driving position is decidedly sporty, and the cabin clearly caters to the person sitting in the left front seat. … Rear seat passengers benefit from proper support and good legroom, but foot space is limited beneath the front chairs." -- New York Daily News (2019)
• "These firm, sporty seats are more typical of a luxury sedan in this price range. Adjustable thigh support is nice. … You sit low and the roof is low, which could make getting in and out difficult for some. This is especially true with the rear doors and the sloping roofline." -- Edmunds (2018)

Interior Features

Standard features in the 2020 Maxima include dual-zone automatic climate control, a 7-inch digital instrument cluster display, and proximity keyless entry. Also standard are an 8-inch touch-screen infotainment system, an eight-speaker stereo, satellite radio, Bluetooth, voice recognition, two USB ports, Android Auto, and Apple CarPlay.

Standard driver assistance features include automatic high-beam headlights, a rearview camera, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, forward collision warning, pedestrian detection, forward and reverse automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, and driver attention monitoring.

Optional features include a dual-pane panoramic moonroof, a power rear-window sunshade, a universal garage door opener, navigation, an 11-speaker Bose premium stereo, two rear USB ports, HD Radio, and the NissanConnect infotainment system. Adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, front and rear parking sensors, a surround-view parking camera system, and rain-sensing windshield wipers are also available.

Nissan's infotainment system is pretty straightforward and easy to use, with large on-screen icons and a rotary knob on the center console.

See 2020 Nissan Maxima specs »

• "The infotainment isn't top of its class for design or functionality, but it is improved with … Apple CarPlay and Android Auto." -- Autoblog (2019)
• "All Maximas get the user-friendly NissanConnect infotainment system, housed in an 8-inch touchscreen display, though it can be controlled through a center console-mounted dial, as well. I actually prefer the dial, since it allows me to keep my eyes on the road longer." -- CNET (2019)
• "The infotainment system has big icons and sensible menus, a redundant knob controller and well-placed physical buttons. Overall, it's easy to use and a good example of how to do it right." -- Edmunds (2018)

Cargo

The Nissan Maxima has 14.3 cubic feet of trunk space, which is one of the lowest values in the large car class. However, the trunk opening is wide, and the rear seats fold nearly flat.

• "Behind the 60/40-split folding rear seat, a 14.3 cu.-ft. trunk is ready for luggage. That’s not much space for this size of vehicle." -- New York Daily News (2019)
• "The trunk has an adequate 14.3 cubic feet of cargo capacity and an opening wide enough for golf clubs." -- Edmunds (2018)
• "The Maxima's 14.3-cubic-foot trunk is smaller than most of its competitors', but it's about 1 cubic foot bigger than the TLX's. The trunk is nicely shaped, and the trunk lid's support arms move within an enclosed area. … The rear seatbacks fold flat with the trunk floor." -- Cars.com (2016)