USRacer900

Actually my father purchased the car for my sister. He just started bidding, won the auction and proceeded to tell me to drive down to Sarasota, FL with her to pick it up. Paid $7300 for it.

Am I the only one who thinks he's lost his mind bidding on a $7000 car that's 14 hrs. away without even seeing or driving it????

The car looked ok I guess, was a dark green with tan interior. 88k, bumper had been repainted and drivers dash vent was completely broken. Also noticed that the car had transferred between 3 dealerships in the last 300 miles of it's life. Clean title. Guess they had a hard time selling it. Drove it back home (900 miles) so I guess that's a good sign. Pulls to the right slightly.

Anyway, sorry for the long post, just wanted to hear your opinions on this vehicle purchase.

skiboarder72

Sounds like a good deal, just hope its alright. I would have checked it out alittle more before i took it but 7000 is good for a 99. Enjoy!!

THT

iTrader: (8)

Take it to a reputable mechanic and have it looked at just in case. If there're problems, catch 'em early.

~THT

hotshtsr20

does the vent have broken parts, or is it just all messed up looking? when i bought mine, it was messed up, but i just took it apart and put it back together.

what year? with those miles, its a pretty good price.

lxl - MaX

iTrader: (2)

i bought mine a month ago and FLEW to Virginia to get it, then I drove back. 20 Hours staight driving and over 1000 miles.

vsamoylov

sounds good but make sure everything checks out like cv boots and stuff like hta. and put some pics of it up.

Maciek

Is it crazy to do that? I don't think so. I did the same thing with my 98 GLE, bought it over e-bay and drove to TX to pick it up. It worked out great for me, cause I ended up selling the car a year later with 30K more miles for 400 more than I payed for it.
Is $7300 a good deal? It is a good deal if the car is in good shape. But sounds to me like it has some issues. Hopefully nothing serious and can be taken care of cheap.
The ultimeate way to tell if it was a good buy is how it performs and how much you end up selling it for. If it it depreciates more than $2000 per year, you didn't do too well. Between 1-2K it is average for that age. If 1K or below... good work
Anywayse, hope your sis enjoys it.
P.S. what option is it (GXE, SE or GLE)?

Vlasic

iTrader: (13)

i bought my car without driving it first. granted i got to see it and look it over, but i never drove it

Cool J

if it pulls to the right it could just be an alignment issue.

vsamoylov

yes it could be a alligment problem. but if it pulls very hard to the right, something could be bent.

Taken2DaMax

iTrader: (5)

well that is kind of a good deal for $7k. With the minor problems that you have, that crap can be fixed easily. As for the miles, you got a good deal.

Just want to make sure that you get it checked out by a mechanic to catch the problems early before really **** starts up.

Shift_my vq

Good I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one. I wanted a 5spd so bad I waited three months of looking here in albuquerque and not one 4th gen of any kind of any price in stick. Found one it houston on auto trader.com Flew out there three day's later. I know a pretty good amount about cars. Checked her out and she was perfect. Not a flaw on the car. And go to know her for the next day and half driving home at 80-90 the whole way. That was 3 months ago. 118,000 miles and I haven't done anything but minor stuff and she never gives me a hint of problems. Maxima's are awsome. This is my second. Can't wait to establish good good credit and trade in some dirt bikes and buy a 6th gen. But I'm keeping this car to of course. Can't have to many max's

Bgohan

Rotate the tires and see if it stops pulling to the right. Also, try putting more pressure in right tire, less in left. All after you crawl under it to see if there is any damage.

Prophecy1

I drove 5 hours to pick up my baby.

Best way I think to handle this is how we did it.

Seller opts to allow you to drive the car of course with them. Then the opt to split or cover a full inspection of the car good year. Then go to a Spray Wash and wash the car to see EVERYTHING cosmetically about the car.

Plus Car-Fax should be the best piece of mind you can get.

Proph

SkoorbMax

We must be kin! I Just bought my second max to replace a sentra, and I now have a 4th and 5th gen maximas. Both are 5 speed. I simply wasn't going to tolerate an auto

Anyway, the price on that first car seems anywhere from decent to good, depending on options.

I personally wouldn't consider buying a car without having either checked it myself (boots, coolant, oil,leaks, etc.) or having the seller (probably at my dime) take it into a nissan dealership of my choosing and having that dealership fax me a printout about the car. Locally they charge $68 for it. If a dealership oks it I'd have few qualms about buying it, but unseen? Not a chance. I went to check out a local 98 at a good price. "Excellent condition" said the thing on autotrader. Oh yeah, but let's not mention the $1500 in body damage to the back of it. So, I drove out and saw that. Lame...

maxima1998gxe

I drove 5 min. for my max paid $12990 for a 98 gxe with 40000 miles on it. this was almost exactly one year ago

Maciek

WHAT???
What the f. did it have in it? TVs and a diamond crusted e-brake handle?
Please tell me this thing was immaculate, fully loaded (and I mean fully), beautiful color and a manual...

Maciek

Now that I looked at you car info I see that it is green (no disrespect if it is your gig, but a lot of future buyers won't be too hyped about it) and a GXE (please tell me it was loaded)
It did have a great mileage, I give you that, but did you do any shopping around, looking and comparing other offers, etc? Or did you jump on the first one you saw?
You can buy 2 for that price, one with good mileage and one with not.

maxima1998gxe

yes it was emaculate. its a gxe it was as loaded as they come. it has a factory warrenty up until 4/05 I paid for another 2 years. I got gap protection too. it was worth it. I know its a little much but it came from the best nissan dealer in the tristate area.

maxima1998gxe

I didnt care they gave me 2000 trade for my 93 max that I got for free so it was a good deal. so minus the gap protection, 2 years extended warrenty, and trade. the car was 8,000 thats a good deal only 40000 miles

SkoorbMax

You still paid too much! Good God. You paid $13k for a 5 year old GXE Maxima. I paid $15k for a 3 year old Maxima SE (and being a 5th gen it got an immediate bump in worth) when I bought my 00 SE back in late 02 with 37k miles. This is why you don't buy used Maximas from dealers The car was worth no more than ballpark of $10k and is now worth approx $9k.

phenryiv1

iTrader: (19)

Did you buy it at Hamilton?

Zack342

iTrader: (89)

that is a good deal i got my 1999 SE-L for $6600. orginal owner fully maintained with full service history. it had 94000 miles on it but it's mint. what was even betetr is it has BOSE and ABS. good luck with your MAX

Brudaddy

iTrader: (2)

good thing he got gap...ha ha ha

I did the ebay thing. However, I didn't actually win the auction. The small private deal out of Dallas, TX had a phone number on the site, and I called him up and asked, "What would it take for you to stop the auction right now?" He told me that he needed to get his rexerve of $10,800 and it was mine. I could not decide that night, and the next morning, a couple of folks bid on the thing, and the seller raised his reserve to $11,200. I called him back the next morning, and convinced him to sell it to me for $11,300.
I wired him $500 and then went that weekend with my brother to Dallas......6hrs. I did get a chance to drive the car and check it out. I told him on the phone that if everything was not like he said it was on the phone, I would not buy it. That is the suc ky part, I had to be willing to just come home with no car if it was a piece. It turned out to be wonderful. It is Crimson Blaze SE with 5spd, and everything else you could get in that year, except heated seats, mirrors, and ABS.
That was a little over a year ago, and she is still going strong today. I drive the thing everyday, and I put 25k miles on here that first year....I took a lot of trips. I guess it was a sign when I put over 400miles on her the first time I drove her. ha ha

That is my ebay story.

maxima1998gxe

yes I got it at hamilton nissan

dr_blaqueman

check the ecu and see if any codes come up

billy_corgan

i drove 6 hours to pick up my maxima. sight unseen.

phenryiv1

iTrader: (19)

You paid almost 13K for a 98 @ Hamilton? In 2002 I drove a 2000 GXE w/ 55K that they had for $14,800 w/ the extended warranty. I ended up not buying it b/c of how they treated me, and how they abused my trade-in on their testdrive.

I ended up w/ a 96 GLE from Hoffman's down the road.

Nismotic

iTrader: (25)

That is way too friggin much...another 2 G's and you can grab a good 5th gen

Maciek

I got a similar deal as zack342
99 GLE fully decked out, even with side impact air bags, heated leather, CD changer...yada, yada, EVERYTHING! For $6000. Yes it did have higher mileage, 100K, but it is a solid car.
Yeah, maxima98GXE, sounds like you need to shop around a little more next time, unless money is no object to you.
Like I said before though, you will not know anything about how well you did untill you sell it and see how much you lost/gained in the process.
Good Luck

Klockpurple

Your location sometimes makes a difference in the price. That is why some of us are willing to pay more. With ebay or travel time it becomes a convenience issue. I paid $12,800 two years ago for a 98 SE with 62k on it. Not bad, Check your blue book for that year. Some of you guys are just sacrificing options, miles, condition or plain spoiled.

phenryiv1

iTrader: (19)

In his defense, for some reason Maximas are nto that common in that area. I looked around for a while before I found mine. I paid 10,500 in 2992 for a 96 w/ 58,000 miles, BUT it was everything that I wanted in a Maxima (at that time) and I knew the owners had taken care of it. Now that I have the I30, I wish I had gone straight to this, but that is another story.

The scaricity of Maximas in that area do keep the prices a bit high for some reason.

Maciek

Blue book is not quite a source I would rely on anymore (if it ever was).
Dealers low ball people on tradeins so bad, that if you act serious, have the money and can negotiate a little, you can end up with a pretty decent deal.

Worst is being under pressure of time and trying to buy a car in a few days. You end up not doing enough research, don't give it enough time to wait for a good deal and end up going to a dealership and paying high $.

If you can, give it a week or two. Pick your makes and models and go after them on the internet (e-bay, autotrader, edmunds or local auto publications).

Make your calls, be willing to travel and try to sound like a pro over the phone.
You also have to be willing to walk away if the deal is not right, regardless of how much you want the car or how much the dealer hyped it up to you. Remember, unless you are looking at a serious collector item, there will be another one like this around sooner or later.

But you also have to know a good deal if you see one. Reasearch and compare as much as you can (try not to get fired from you day job, while doing so) and it will pay off in the end.

Maciek

Damn, that must be one futuristic looking *****...

Regarding the scarcity, they seem to be scarce about anywhere besides Texas and Florida

Brudaddy

iTrader: (2)

yup, the two I was looking at seriously on ebay were in Dallas, TX & St. Petersburg, FL. ha ha

What you need to do it sit down and figure out what you want in a car. Maciek is right, you have to be patient. I don't like to pay on cars monthly, because I sold them, and you are just throwing money away. I saved until I had enough to buy the one that I wanted. I wanted the newest of the 4th gens, and I got it. However, I had to look for like 5 straight months(yeah, after I already had the money in the bank) before I found what I am not driving. I was driving an old cra ppy POS 1991 Mazda 626 with 200k miles on it. It used a quart of oil every week. ha ha ha

For instance, My criterie were:
1. Not automatic....had to have stick...
2. Not gold, champagne, beige, pebble beige or whatever.
3. Mileage had to be in line.

That was it. It is hard enough to find a max with a stick around here, let alone if start getting too color specific. I mean, I would have taken any other color if I had to. I had a couple of colors that I wanted a lot more than others (sterling mist, and then Crimson Blaze), but I would have taken anything.

I almost bought a white one with tan interior(97), but then I saw my baby on ebay. It has been great ever since.

Zack342

iTrader: (89)

the funny thing is it wasn't going to buy my car i was going to purchase a 1997 but when i went out to look at it it was a piece, i drove well but too many little things wrong and iam a wicked picky person. so i got a want add and i saw a 1999 Maxima for sale i the guy wanted $7200 for it and it had 94XXX miles on it. i wasn't planning on buying but just going to take it for a test drive my budget was $6500 MAX. i didn't even know it was an SE-L until i saw it. at first i want a black strictly but when i saw the SE-L green i feel in love i offer him $6600 and he said fine. i have owned it for exactly a month and i have put 2300 miles on it. it needs an O2 sensor now but i think i got a pretty good deal.

Brudaddy

iTrader: (2)

sounds like a good deal to me.
Manual?

Zack342

iTrader: (89)

Ofcourse i would have it no other way

vsamoylov

u got pics?

Nick7455

iTrader: (23)

Bought my 99 Max on ebay from Massachusetts and had it shipped to COLORADO without ever seeing it or anything. Paid around $7500 for it and I can tell you, after having it for over 1 year it was the best desicion of my short life ;-)