Clever craigslist ads have nothing on this homemade commercial for a battered 1996 Nissan Maxima

By Peter Braun December 18, 2013

best luxury car ever 1996 nissan maxima — Behold, a luxury motoring icon: the Nissan Maxima Image used with permission by copyright holder

Welcome to the best car ad you have ever seen. This stunning one minute video for the world’s ultimate luxury car hits all of the advertising bases. Oh, and it is for a seventeen-year-old Nissan Maxima GLE … which wasn’t good when it was new.

The genius behind this video was trying to sell his historic Nissan, but knew that it would present a challenge, what with the tie down-strap holding the radiator in and the hood down. Not to be deterred, he put his cinematic skills to work and perfectly recreated the essence of every car commercial you have ever seen.

Seriously, this is more polished and uses better film angles then some Mercedes commercials that are on right now.

But what about the car? It comes with “an engine, wheels, tires, and an automatic transmission” and “it will get you from point a to point b … most of the time.” He doesn’t mention steering or brakes, which makes me wonder if those are optional extras that you will need to acquire from your local mechanic. It does look, though, like you get a broken aftermarket stereo as standard. So that’s a plus.

Apparently, as advertising, the video worked because Nissan decided to bring this well broken-in Maxima home, buying the car from the film’s creator. It should also be mentioned that Nissan donated $1,000 to the Wounded Warrior Project in honor of the purchase. Good on you Nissan, even if $1,000 is essentially a rounding error for your company.

What I love most about this video is how it brings to life the certain joy there is in owning a complete piece of crap. A car that is older than the teenager currently beating the hell out of it deserves adulation.

And at least this one Maxima is now preserved for the ages, as a testament to the ultimate sports sedan a 1996 Nissan Maxima GLE.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Peter is a freelance contributor to Digital Trends and almost a lawyer. He has loved thinking, writing and talking about cars…

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