Was sup yall I really want to buy a 97-99 Se with the leather interior and climate control, I happen to find one with 51k, any idea of the average I should be paying for this car from a big name dealership? I really want this car but I dont wanna over pay plus it just hit the lot, Id appreciate your input. Thanks guys

 

if its a 99, it should be around 11k, does it have bose, auto or manual?

 

97~99 I would say 6000 to 9000 respectively according to year and miles on them. Over 10k for Max, IMO, is not worth it.

 

I paid $12,750 for my 99 SEL with 34600 miles three months ago at a local dealer. I could care less what anyone else says about what they'd pay for it. I saw it, I wanted it, could afford it, so I bought it. They were asking 14,995 and it had only been on the lot less than a week. (I drive by this dealer daily on the way to work)

A lot depends on your local market. Here in Ohio, you don't see as many 4th gen Maximas for sale, especially low mileage ones.

I could have waited who knows how long for a private seller to sell their 99 with low mileage or I could have waited and probably bought a 5th gen with higher mileage for the same money. I can't cry over spilled milk, I have always loved the 4th gen Maxima and am totally happy with mine, and I wasn't willing to wait for the perfect price or situation to buy one. The way I see it, I bought a car that stickered for $30,232.00 for $12,750 with 34,600 miles that drives and feels like new. I love it and it's a new car to ME.

Do you know what they are asking for the car?

 

there asking 14,595, what color leather u got in urs is it auto i may have to buy urs,, lol got any pics

 

^Ok thats way overpriced, You can buy a 02 with a lot of miles for that much around chicago

 

thats what there asking kbb is 12,000 you can usally get it for a little under kbb value it does sound over priced i belive it to be negotioable, trust me i would never pay that for a 99 unless it had 7 miles on it,, the most i would want to pay would be 10 but i dont think they would let it go that cheap

 

34,600 miles on a 99 Maxima is outstanding and 51K is pretty darn good too. I don't know prices in the US. All I do know is that a used Maxima goes for a lot more in Canada in the Cdn$ equivalent of what they sell for in the US. I'm not sure what kind of tranny the 34,600 mile car has or the 51K for that matter. I'm assuming they are both automatic as a 5-speed would have been mentioned. Assuming both cars are similarly equipped, $11,000 to $11,500 for the 51K car might be reasonably good.

 

Mine is a Icelandic Pearl White SE-L with tan leather, auto and every option you can think of. Heated seats, side airbags, TCS, Homelink, climate control, aftermarket tint (not very dark though), window/moonroof shades, etc.. I now have 37,300 miles on it. I avg. less than 12k a year so it should last me a good long time.

14,595 is way too high, but it's a dealer so wtf. When I picked up my car, the sales guy left to talk with another customer, a folder was on his desk with "1999 Maxima" on the tab so I opened it thinking it was my paperwork. It wasn't, lol, but in the folder was the trade in offer for the car. They offered $8000 for the trade in on a 99 SE-L with 34600 miles. Holy Sheet!! I was happy to notice the trade in was a local address and area I was familiar with, but crap, they just made $4,750 on me and acted like I was being unreasonable for offering 12,500?! I was tempted to walk away but I wanted the car so bad at this point I just bent over and said "NEVER AGAIN!!" LOL

I need to get new pics, the ones I took in the garage didn't turn out too well. The next sunny day though, which might be another week according to forecasts. Damn spring showers.

If my dealer offered 8k for my car on trade in, you can bet the car you're looking at was offered no more, so you have lots of room to negotiate. I researched my car, and told them I would give them $12,500, which I told them was still too high but I was willing to pay high retail because I wanted it. They came back and said they'd go $13k. I said no and the guy asked if I'd split the difference. I hemmed and hawwed around abit then decided I'd pay 250 more than I wanted. I can be a real dumbsheet sometimes when I'm impatient. I love my car but still get pissed at myself for letting them get another 250 out of me when I KNEW my offer was more than fair. I need to let it go though. lol

Anyway, I'd go drive the car and offer what you'd be satisfied paying. They might just decide selling it and making a couple grand on the car is better than taking their chances it will sit on the lot for months. It's the end of the month too, even better.

Good luck.

 

Yeah that drives me crazy, i know when they get a car on trade in they didnt pay shyt for it but yet i almost feel like im getting ripped of when they sell me a car that was traded in, I would kill for a white with black leather, but whatever we ill see what happens, thanks for the input and send some pics,, ,thanks

 

i would say anything under $9500 for a 99 w/ 51K would be a good deal......especially if its loaded(digital climate control, heated seats, TCS)

if its not completely loaded try and get it for like 8500

 

yah over 10 grand im looking at 5th generations!

 

It should run about $10000 surely at the auction you may get it much cheaper.

 

Perhaps you could, but it would have closer to 100K on the odometer than the 51K he is looking at. It goes without saying that reasonable mileage vehicles sell at some sort of a premium.

 

Im sorry man I know you have a low mileage maxima and and you feel its worth alot more but the fact of the matter is this one is 6 model years old and out of any warranty. ....i agree with you to a point. Another user posted that he saw the 99 he bought (with 34k) that the trade in was 8000. With all the nonsense with the 99 coilpacks, and the recall for the alternator, and the usual maxima "glitches" it would make no sense to pay more than 10 grand.

 

Wow, your car sounds like my dream car. Everythng except the tan leather. :barf: If only you had black leather, I would be in a puddle of drool. Nice, nice find shawn. I have a fully loaded '99 SE minus Traction Control. Icelandic Pearl on Black (searched for litterally 8 months). Bought mine 2 months ago with 78,000 miles for $8200 from a Honda dealership. They were originally asking $13k, sale was $11k, I got it for $8k. It had been there a while (no one wanted it ).

 

Everythng except the tan leather. :barf - ptatohed

Don't be haten' on my tan leather! lol While I would have preferred black leather on white, I wasn't willing to wait 8 months to find it, plus, finding a 99 with 34.6k miles isn't something you come across every day, even without black leather. I like my tan leather seats, I think they're damn nice.

Ideally I would have preferred a different color than white, but it's grown on me, I really like it now.

$8.2K for a 99SE white w/black leather and only 78k miles? Son of a beeech!

Patience is a virtue! Damn virtues, they're always gettin' me in trouble.

 

11k?!!!!!!!

You're kidding

You should really pay no more than 9,500 for it.
Otherwise, you're getting

 

Just bought mine Monday.

99 SE-L
Lakeshore Blue
Auto
TCS, Auto Climate Control, Black Leather, Heated Seats, Homelink, Bose, blah blah blah
68,000 miles
Clean Carfax and clean car all the way around

$9,000

I'd have to check my paperwork, but Black Book on a 99 SE in PERFECT condition won't get you more than 9,500 on a trade in and dealers very rarely give a trade in an excellent rating. So, I'd say they gave 9K for it tops.

 

No, you should have no regrets. You got a really good find there. I would love to have that low of miles. I would love traction control too! Good for you. But yeah, I litterally searched three different used car sites (Autotrader, etc.) every stinken week for 8 months. I 'had to' have a '98 or a '99 loaded SE or GLE, pearl white on black, fully loaded (or at least stock GLE loaded, the heated seats were a nice bonus) and ABS with low to decent miles. Price was no object, I would have spent over $10k, I just got lucky with it only being $8k. Oh, I searched a 200 mile radius too. The ABS alone made it extremely difficult. I passed up at least 3 cars that had everything else but ABS. Yet, you'd be surprised how many people list 'ABS' in their ad! It got to the point where I would have them go out to the car and check before I drive 100+ miles. The car I finally found was 'only' 90 miles away.

 

Damn, that's a good find too! Nice. ABS?

O.k.... you guys have to tell me because even after being here 4 years, I still don't know exactly what an SE-L gives you over an SE. Shawn? Entropy?...

 

Nothing really.

The SE could have all the same options as an SE-L

The SE-L has floormats that say SE-L, door badges that say it, titanium trim on the gauges, and if you have leather - it is perforated instead of solid (although, I heard this from another source and I've never seen an SE leather up close, so would appreciate someone verifying it). I have seen two SE-Ls up close and both had perforated leather.

My car doesn't have ABS (which is good for me (just personal preference))

 

Oh yeah, forgot the titanium 5-spokes - they're justed tinted a slightly different silver.

 

Yup, in my shopping I noticed the perforated seats and I also noticed you have two rear seat pockets (like the I30s) where all other Maximas only have one.

P.s. You can't brake better than a computer

 

Like I said, personal preference. You can keep it.

I'd rather have snow tires than ABS anyday.

 

try asking for 12k u can bring em down

 

99 SE-L
Lakeshore Blue
Auto
TCS, Auto Climate Control, Black Leather, Heated Seats, Homelink, Bose, blah blah blah
68,000 miles
Clean Carfax and clean car all the way around

$9,000 - Entropy

Oh hell, the more people talk the more stupid I'm feeling for paying what I did for mine. Doh! Oh well, hindsight is 20/20 or maybe 20/15 sometimes.

Oh yeah, forgot the titanium 5-spokes - they're justed tinted a slightly different silver. - Entropy

I was wondering about that, I could swear mine look darker than others I've seen on regular SE's. I didn't even know the perforated seats were different. I always assumed the difference between SE and SEL to be minor aesthetic adjustments which served as another marketing angle for Nissan.

btw, mad wayz, has anything come of this?? Did you drive the car or make an offer? Just curious.

 

i just bougth my 98 SE 5spd every option including cold weather for 7000 w/97k

 

Don't have regrets Shawn - you still have the miles! You never did say, do you have ABS?

Entrapy, I'll put money on a braking contest with you any day.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/anti-lock-brake.htm
"In fact, on slippery surfaces, even professional drivers can't stop as quickly without ABS as an average driver can with ABS."

 

Alright, I get snow tires, you get ABS.
Freshly fallen snow and black ice conditions.

 

auto-xing my 96 with no ABS to my 98 w/ABS NITE AND DAY ABS is great for motor sports

 

Snow? Ice? What's that????

 

No biggy man. As long as you are happy with the car, that's all that matters. Most of it is the luck of the draw and how much time you have to look.

I got lucky, cause I didn't have much time... otherwise I was looking at 12K easy for what I wanted based on other cars in the area.

There was a Black on Black SE in Chicago for 12,500 with a 5spd and I really wanted a stick - but it was Carmax and they would not budge on the price (which is their gimmick anyway) so my pride would not let me buy it. That, and I really didn't want a black car... I wanted a Pearl White like my last one.

If I had found a 99 Pearl White with black leather, loaded, and a stick in good condition with low miles I would have snatched it and been willing to take a much bigger hit.

 

Hey, you said any day... I assumed you meant any day and any conditions...

 

It seems we are hijacking this thread...oops, sorry Mad Ways... anyway Entropy, I still claim that two Maximas with the same tires one with ABS and one without - the ABSed car will stop shorter hands down every time. So yes, any day any condition I will take your bet.

 

maximas are the good

 

You may want to research that. The one admitted drawback to ABS is that it has longer stopping distances in snow and ice. Granted, they do allow you more control in that slide - but if you do some reading, I'm sure you can find several references to that fact.

 

I don't regret buying my car for one minute. What happens is that I hear others paying less for about the same car and regret being impatient. lol Yes, I have ABS and won't leave home without it.

I'd still like to know if mad wayz drove the car and tried to buy it though, or if he just decided to skip it and wait for awhile till the price drops. I'm sure the price will drop unless someone like me jonesing for a 4th gen walks in and over pays! LOL

 

The only case I have ever heard of where ABS is less effective is in a sand/gravel situation. In this case you actually want your brakes to lock up because the build-up of the dirt in front of your tires will actually slow you down quicker. So I can perhaps relate this idea to loose snow - so I can maybe see your point there. But to me if it were packed snow or ice, it seems that ABS would be the clear winner. No?

 

The only way to really effectively brake (and I use that term loosely here) on packed snow or ice (and packed snow is pretty much like ice) is to pump/lock, release and steer, pump/lock, release and steer - repeat.

With ABS - you double-pump/lock, release and steer

You really have to play with it in a parking lot that's real icy to get the feel and idea of it... but on real slippery roads - ABS is about worthless because you can't really keep from locking up the wheels.

I've never driven a car with ABS that didn't disengage after two pumps either though - so if there was a car that didn't do that, it would suck.

Basically, the idea of ABS is to pump the brakes for you - but on snow and ice - you want the lock-up to occur longer or at varying levels depending on what you are trying to do. If there was an off-switch for ABS, I'd dig it.

Really, it's not a selling point for me either way. If I had my choice between that and snow tires... I'd take snow tires. I didn't use it as criteria to find a car or anything.

To clarify though. I never said ABS wasn't better at stopping. It's just not better at stopping the one time I wish I had better stopping. You get better results with snow tires. It's not something I look for, when it's not there I think: "Sweet - playing in snow filled parking lots will still be fun!"

At some point in time I may get myself into a situation where I need to stop suddenly and I'll wish I had it maybe? For the most part - I've wished I could see around corners, see into the future, and see at night, but I've never had a problem braking. I HAVE had a problem accelerating fast enough to avoid an accident though