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2016 Nissan Maxima previewed in With Dad Super Bowl commercial

If you've been paying attention to this year's Super Bowl commercials, something in Nissan's heart-string-pulling "With Dad" ad might've caught your attention. Near the end of the commercial, a shiny, new sedan comes into focus: the 2016 Nissan Maxima. We got our first look at the next-generation Maxima in concept form at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show, and we've spotted it out testing wearing heavy camouflage. The 2016 Maxima is expected to debut early this year – likely at the New York Auto Show – and this Nissan ad is our first real look at the new sedan in its final form. Do we like what we see? That's hard to say. There's no shortage of Nissan's latest design language here on its range-topping sedan, but we can't quite tell if it results in an overall handsome package. Of course, we'll wait to fully dissect the new design when we can see the car for more than a split second. Speaking of TV, according to Automotive News, this ad represents Nissan's return to Super Bowl advertising after an 18-year hiatus. Seems fitting, then, that the company brings a very powerful ad to the small screen. Have a look at Nissan's With Dad spot above, where you can also get a glimpse at the company's highly anticipated, front-engined racecar (0:49 mark), and a second, rear view of the Maxima (1:27 mark). Let us know what you think of the new Maxima – and the ad – in Comments.

Car owners getting more irritated with their repair experiences, study says

The J.D. Power U.S. Customer Service Index Study (CSI) is a barometer of a vehicle owner's happiness with the service experience. While it wasn't all bad in the 2023 study, the overall owner satisfaction score dropped. This year's tally of 846 out of 1,000 is two points down from 2022, the 43-year-old study's first decline in more than 28 years, and one point down from 2021. However, the overall score remains well up from the pre-pandemic scores of 821 in 2018 and 837 in 2020. The study claims the stumbling block is the horde of BEV launches. The flood into the new energy space has created a recall rate among EVs that's more than double the rate for ICE vehicles. Furthermore, dealership service department knowledge of EVs isn't on par with internal combustion engine expertise, leaving EV owners less satisfied with service advisors compared to ICE owners. Chris Sutton, VP of automotive retail at J.D. Power, said, "As training programs for service advisors and technicians evolve, EV service quality and customer experience must address both the vehicle and the unique customer needs. The EV segment has the potential to spur massive convenience improvements in how customers service their vehicles — but weÂ’re not seeing the benefits yet." Matters are slightly worse for all owners, though, with labor and parts shortages contributing to longer wait times for service appointments. The CSI study surveys owners and lessees of one- to three-year-old vehicles to gauge their happiness with service at franchised dealer or aftermarket service facilities for maintenance or repair work. The criteria in order of importance are service quality (32%); service advisor (19%); vehicle pick-up (19%); service facility (15%); and service initiation (15%). Lexus retains the top spot for luxury brands, giving it three wins in four years. The Japanese automaker won in 2020 as well, its run interrupted by Porsche in 2021. Cadillac, Infiniti and Acura complete the luxury top 5.  For mass-market cars, Mitsubishi wins again after a victory in 2021 and falling to fourth last year. It's followed by Mazda, Buick, Subaru and Mini.  Considering the different service needs and service experience of different body styles, the study has broken results out by segment for the first time. Lexus earned a second victory thanks to winning the premium SUV segment, and Mitsubishi earned a second victory by winning the mass-market SUV/minivan category.

Don't expect to hear about second-gen Nissan Leaf anytime soon

With Chevy revealing the first details of the next-gen Volt at the Detroit Auto Show last month and Tesla priming the pump for the lower-cost Model 3, we're obviously curious to hear about the next-gen Nissan Leaf. It looks like we're going to have to wait. "Of course things are in the works," Nissan's Brian Brockman told AutoblogGreen at the Chicago Auto Show last week, reminding us that the automaker has long been proud of its EV leadership. What that means in practice is that people shouldn't expect to hear anything specific about the new Leaf until we get closer to the summer, well after the New York Auto Show in April. After all, no other companies have to worry about cannibalizing existing pure EV sales, he said. The Chevy Volt is a plug-in hybrid so the now-confirmed Bolt EV that may get here in 2017 is likely to appeal to a slightly different crowd and the audience for a $30,000 Tesla Model 3 is not really the same as the one interested in today's $100,000 Model S. There are any number of other plug-in vehicles coming in the next few years, but the Leaf reigns supreme as the best-selling pure EV in the US, so forgive us if we're curious to know what's coming next, beyond that vague descriptions of it as more mainstream looking with a longer range. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2013 Nissan Leaf View 13 Photos Green Nissan Electric brian brockman