pgaffer

There are actually 2 girls in this story. My @#$*! ex-girlfriend who returned a ’02 VW Beatle and my ’98 Max SE.

The first girl (my ex-girlfriend) didn’t have credit so we put the VW lease in my name. I didn’t want to marry her so she returned her chick car (without the license plates). I cannot afford 2 cars so now I’m selling both. I hope someone buys the VW first so I can keep my Max but I’m not holding my breath.

My second girl, my Max, isn’t getting a lot of attention from buyers. I must appreciate her more than the market. When I initially priced my Max at $8k I only heard crickets in the background. I’m down to $6,500 and only one person expressed some interest. What’s the deal? I’m I just completely off market?

1998 Max SE, 129k miles, Fully Loaded, Blk on Blk Leather, Auto, Moonroof, Non-smoking owner, clean Carfax, garage kept, no modifications to car, OEM installed parts only, seats in perfect shape, could use new tires soon.

s0ber

iTrader: (7)

maxima resale value is trash. that about sums it up :\

njmodi

iTrader: (4)

8k was too high for a 98 with 129k miles...
6.5k is better - but still high - most people will run away just seeing the mileage - especially people that aren't familiar with the car and its reliability.

Caracicatriz

iTrader: (3)

My bro bought a fully loaded 96 Maxima GLE with 75k miles for only 6500. I know it sucks. It might not be worth selling. I'de focus on getting rid of the VW, maybe you can get some money out of that.

ogparjay

that's really disapointing that the max resale value is that low.

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

You got .

And i'll add to the above posts, that's too high if you want real attention..and most people aren't familar with the reliability.

njmodi

iTrader: (4)

No matter what car you have, I don't think you'll have people beating down your door to buy it if it has 129k on it... Once a car has over 80-90k, its really hard to sell (for a reasonable price - anything will sell for a rock-bottom price)... so its better just to keep it and drive it to the ground.

Keyser Skoze

ok what if he had over $5000 invested into the car in mods? Im sure he could get at least 8k

Jinni

iTrader: (4)

Kick her ***.

Did you put the VW in AutoTrader.com? We put our truck in there, and we had 20+ people call on the FIRST day and it sold that day. People were calling from all over the place for it. If you sell it for a good price, they will come. Ohhh yes, they will come.

I hope you have full coverage insurance on that VW also ... it would be horrible if you were to get in an accident in it and wrecked it for what the payoff is ....

joew

It’s unfortunate to hear 4th gen price is so low. My max basic SE 97 with 42K on it, it’s in mint condition. How much do you folks think it might worth?

DragonMaxima

iTrader: (7)

Buying a modded car takes the fun out of doing the mods yourself. Plus you get to buy the parts that you want.

95_se

I would venture to say that most people--the millions not on this forum--look at the Maxima as an average car like a Camry or Accord. Might be tough for them to see the value in the aftermarket parts. For comparison, I bought a 95SE with 92K miles for $5995 a few weeks ago. Condition A-.

Jinni

iTrader: (4)

I have a 97 and it had 182,000 on it when I bought it. I paid $4350 for her.

I dont know if I got "ripped" but I thought it was a good deal, so I picked her up.

pgaffer

Let me pile on this bandwagon- I think all your comments are dead on….I just got back from the dealer who offered me $3.2k. Forget about the Edmunds.com TMV. Wow, I started out at $8k and now I hope to get $4k.

As you can imagine, the dealer priced it for auction; they would never keep it on their lot. While I was waiting for them to appraise my Max, I asked one of the salespeople how the new Maximas were selling. He said they’re not and the other CT dealers in the area cannot find buyers for them either. (This was not an attempt for this guy to low-ball my Max. This guy had nothing to do with the outcome of my appraised value.) That’s an eye opener. A very weak market for new ones does not help anyone thinking about selling a used one. Crap.

On the autotrader.com comment, I actually do have the VW posted there. No bites…not even a nibble for that car (priced at Edmunds TMV).

Good luck to anyone selling their Max. They’re a great car, but ouch on the resale value.

goodhead

iTrader: (4)

hey try cars.com or bargin news since you are in ct, when i was buying a max ads that were like 1 week old were gone, and not jsut one like a whole list of them, use kbb.com to appaise your car under PRIVATE SELL and RETAIL, and pick a price a lil above private and under retail, dont sell it for too low then ppl think there will be something wrong with it, i use to check autotrader.com, but their layout sucks so i stopped using it, tellign you cars.com = , bargain news = gl bro

PS see what other ppl are selling the car for same model/miles, etc. and try ebay too i bought my car off ebay 96 gxe 75k @2800

www.cars.com

http://www.bargainnews.com/

Wills98MaxSE

Just for kicks I checked the resale on KBB for my '98 Max, w/ over 113K on it & good condition isn't worth more than $4,350

When it was brand new in '98, the sticker price was $27K

no offense, girls are nothing but trouble

Maxima_NRH

Hmm KBB value around here (last I checked anyway) seemed a lot higher than anything you guys are seeing. Also, seems to be a bigger Nissan crowd down here as well, every 10'th car I see is a freekin 4th gen Maxima.

Do have to admit though that the newest Maxima's are plain UGLY. I sorta had hope at first that the look would grow on me, but nahhh it's just bad. The market here (which like I said seems to value Nissan cars) doesn't seem to like the new Maxima either..

I bought my 96 GXE w/ 112k for 4k even, thought it was a great deal a 1.5 years ago, but from the sounds of this thread it may have been about right.

goodhead

iTrader: (4)

wow for my area i think prices are higer,

if you start thinking girl are nothign but ***** then u wont have any trouble

VQuick

iTrader: (17)

Yes the 2004s are terrifically ugly. We can only hope Nissan will look at how poorly they are selling and bring 7th-gens to market faster.

pgaffer

Well, I placed my Max on Car.com for $4,795. That hurts.

I priced it on KBB and came up with $6.3k private sale and $4.3 trade-in. From what I'm experiencing and what others are saying here, those prices seem high.

I prefer to dump the bug (VW Beatle) and run the Max to the ground, but it's unlikely to happen for various reasons.

I will start thinking differently about girls...next time she buys me a car.

DcMaN

iTrader: (13)

damn meng i woulda picked your car up id rather have a 96 gle than my 95 se especially black on black leather *drools* lets trade cars

tranz

iTrader: (1)

ah man i remember the days bought my dad bought New Slightly used 1996 GXE for 18,000 with 1500 miles on it back in 1996

Phaeton

When cars have over 100k miles on them, the Books don't mean Jack and ****, and Jack left town.

The real market will give you the number you need to be at to sell. None of the books has ever stroked a check for a car, ever. It would've been real nice to have someone from KBB come to my place and write a checkfor my 10 year old Subaru with 153k miles on it for the $4300 kbb.com thought it was worth!

Check ebay to see how much Maximas similar to yours are selling for. Check the newspaper classifieds for similar Maximas as well.

TBH, 7 years of winters, 129k miles, makes it difficult to sell. However, your Max is the right color (black on black). If you continue to try to sell it, focus on the appearance and the way you kept up the maintenance. There's a big difference between a solid car that has 129k miles on it, and a car that "feels" like it's been driven for 129k miles...know what I mean? You just have to get someone to drive it.

On the VW, pricing drives traffic on the internet. Make sure you're priced right based on the autotrader market. DON'T price it based on what you "need" to get for it.

Phaeton

Sounds kinda dumb, but, you DO have "For Sale" signs with your number plastered on the windows right? Never know who might see the number while you're driving or at the supermarket. Oh, and of course make sure your cars are immaculately clean.

lexx426

This is exactly why we have these 15 year old permit holder rice boys in here, Maxes are cheap now, and people teens like that they are cheap and quick. But on that note, 6,500 should be a much better price, milage is a little high for a buyer, but good luck in selling it

Max96GLE

iTrader: (2)

How much would a 96 GLE with 130,XXX would sell? Fully loaded without heated seat

4DRSpeed

iTrader: (22)

Down here in the south trucks sell like milk does in a grocery store.

My dad sold his truck 2 years ago within a week at full price. You can't compare trucks to cars now-a-days when selling, trucks/suvs are hot (sadly) and when cars will have a harder time selling.

What's sad is people won't really give a look at a car with 130K mileage, but people will look at Chevy, Fords, and Dodge trucks with that much mileage or more.

Jinni

iTrader: (4)

Kiss my ***. LOL Not all of us are trouble.

Jinni

iTrader: (4)

Well, the truck that we were selling was a Nissan Mini Truck, so that was kinda another point we had on our side .
But there is no way I'd ever in my life buy a Chevy or a Ford with 130,000 miles on it. It my car had been anything but a Maxima w/ 180,000+ miles on it, I would have laughed at them for even wanting to sell it.


For the last 8 days I have been driving past a very beautiful 2002 Max everyday on my way to and from work. That beast is calling my name, and I'm about to give into temptation. I'd feel so bad cause that means I'd have to sell my max ... ugh .... decisions, decisions ...

goodhead

iTrader: (4)

yeah forgot put a for sale sign up then go race some hondas and tell em you have some magical ecu and your engine is "top secret" and u want 7k for the car

lexx426

hahahahahaha... tell them that its an illegal R33 engine imported straight from japan pushing 500rwhp... If they ask you why its not yellow or without 20 stickers tell them that it is and that he is just blind to the real power. youl have a buyer, i garentee it.!

JeEvE

iTrader: (10)

I was thinking about selling my Max but I dont have extra money to put toward another car if I dont get much for the Max. I priced it on KBB for private party and it came out to $7,165, seems like at lot better then what you guys are getting. I have 93k miles and its triple black, 5spd and has every option so it shouldnt be too hard to sell but for $7k i dont think its worth it.

pgaffer

Some guy came over tonight and paid $4,400 in cash for my Max. There was no one standing in line behind this guy.

Damn, I hate to let it go. Who wants to come with me to egg my #*(*$#%#! ex-girlfriend's house? Kidding, she is not worth my time. What's worse, driving a VW Beatle or being hit by a car? I think the former.

Damn, no more Max. After I sell the VW, what's next? A new Max? When I was at the dealer a couple days ago, they had the Max right next to the Altima. I sat in both. I can see why Joe Market is buying new Altimas over new Maximas. Altimas are a decent size and its dashboard isn't cheap looking like the Maximas'. I didn't really study the two cars, just a first glance which is how Joe Market tends to buy. The 2005 Xterra is looking tough.

Thanks for the advice on the Max and the VW. Without your comments, I would still be sitting out in the cold with too high of an asking price. I should have put padding on the ground next to my Max when I had $8k on the Edmunds window sticker. Then people would have something to roll on when they were laughing- "you want how much!!?!".

njmodi

iTrader: (4)

Glad to hear your were able to sell it - now get rid of the Beetle and stop all the crazy talk about getting any car other than another Maxima