BLaZin 2k MaX

Is anyone as ****ed as I am that the price of Maximas fall so much. I bought my car for $24,000 I went to the dealer yesterday to get a 2k3 and the fool offers me $11,000 for my car. I was really offended and I just left, they tried to bump it up alittle bit bc they knew I wanted the 2k3 but it wasnt what I was looking for. Am i tripping or do i have the right?

soopermax02

Did you check any online sources before you went to the dealer?

Like www.edmunds.com or such?

They take into account many factors; options, mileage, condition, location, even color. I found that they were extremely accurate when I bought my car and when I went to shop for my mom's.

Do a few hours of research, and bring in a folder full of your results to the dealer. Get a price set in your mind based upon fair calculations and it will be a piece of cake. If they can't meet (or exceed) your expectations go elsewhere.

But $11k seems incredibly low, do you have a million miles on it or something? And yes I too have noticed that Maximas seem to drop in resale faster than average.

BLaZin 2k MaX

I have 45,000 miles. Thats not too much for a 2k.

00Semaxi

Your better off selling it in the paper, I sold mine for 18,000 and it had 40k miles on it.

SSandMaxima

Maximas do depreciate faster than other cars, and I have no idea why. Its certainly not a quality thing... why would anyone pay more for a 4 cyl honda of the same year? The thing is, you can get a less than 30k mile 2k1 SE for $17000 from Budget rental or enterprise (perhaps there is a perpetual glut of used Maximas because of their use as rentals?)

Personally, I drive cars till the wheels fall off, and dont care about resale value. One of my kids will inherit an 6 year old 2k Maxima with 100k+ miles (hahahaha). Because of the low resale value, the maxima is an excellent value among the used car market. I never buy new cars, and this makes the Maxima very appealing.

I have already decided my next car will be a Maxima... a 2k2 or 2k3... in 2k5. That ought to drop about 10 or 15k off the new price! You only pay the "penalty" if you drive new. If you wait two years, you get a great discount for a low mileage car. Here's to hoping that the 350Z is going to depreciate like crazy as well!

emax02

iTrader: (1)

While your waiting on my car to depreciate I am enjoying it, then when you finaly get my car I will probably be driving something nicer The penalty is my monthly pamyments are about $100 more then a 2 year old max. If you buy cash the 100 a month savings still holds true in a way.

MichaelAE

iTrader: (1)

I don't know what you guys are talking about...my Maxima is worth more money every day...value just keeps going up, up, up.






Wait, maybe that's my house. Well, the Max or the house...one of them is going up...but, yeah, the other one is really tanking.

BLaZin 2k MaX

Im not sure if Im going to sell my car I might as well keep it if im going to get that much for it. Plus, I would feel sorry for the second owner, my car is in great condition and pulls excellent but I abuse the hell out of my car, hell I bought it to have fun in, and fun is what im having driving my flying machine.

karguy

Infintis depreciated faster than Maximas. I had a 97 GLE that we leased and I wanted to purchase. Nissan would not negotiate so I bought an I30 from an Infiniti dealer. This was a certified Infiniti used car that they really spent some money on. I got it for $1500 less than the Maxima, it had a year remaining on the factory warranty and came with an extended 7 year 100,000 warranty from Infiniti. The I30s are a steal when used and I have nothing but good things to say about their service. Free loaners,wash your car after they service it and they have a customer service attitude that is great. As far as the dealer offering your $11,000 for your Maxima, some thieves don't wear masks, they were trying to rob. Whem I buy new cars I create a folder of all the info available on the net for the car I want to negotiate on. It works, it is fun to make a salesman's eyes roll back into his head and stagger to his chair. Oh yes it works too, in around 5 to 10 minutes I'm in hardball negotiations with the Sales Manager and sometimes the GM. Try walking in with about 5 lbs of printouts under your arm. Your the customer from hell, they know you are a buyer and they can sell a car but on your terms. Salesman don't want to spend much time with you because they realize this is a minimum commission deal so they get the sales manager involved ASAP so they wait on a better deal.
Be well!!!!

SSandMaxima

You are right. I paid $17k cash last year at this time for a 2k when a similarly equipped new 2k1 was 23000k + 6% sales tax from a dealer (and I wouldnt have been able to pay it all up front). Thats a whopping $7k difference (a 32% one year depreciation) for 22kmiles and one year of use . There is a less dramatic.. but still significant... drop for the second year (another two or three thousand).

The downside is that you risk someone driving it hard and putting some nasty-a$$ 87 octane gas in it for a year or two.

Green 2kSE

While I agree that $11k is low for an average 2k Max we don't know what kind of Max he has or what condition it is really in. A base GXE model (especially manual) with 45K in average condition is around $10-11k trade-in. A loaded SE or GLE with the same mileage would be $15-16k. Most people estimate their car value in excellent condition when a dealer rarely would allow for even "clean" condition. In general, the Max looses about $6k in its first year, then $2500 for a couple of years. I find the best value in buying a one year old low mileage car. The last one I bought was 9 months old with 9400mi and I saved $9k.

NYC2SD

That dealer was trying to make a buck off of you. Trade-ins are part of the business. Offer you 11K they sell it for $15,999!

gunmax

iTrader: (4)

Yup! They would put it right out ther for sale at $5,000 more.

Y2KMaxGXE-R

iTrader: (4)

You guys are right, I have personally been at Mid Atlantic area's largest dealer auto acutions and had noticed that Infinitys depreciate more than Maximas. The reason is, as it was explained by one dealer, is that Max has a bigger demand because of its appeal to a more youthful buyers. The truth hurts, especially when you see some Honduh worth more than a loaded SE, given the same year and condition. I would speculate that our cars' values fall because Max has worse safety rating, some reliability issues, and poor marketing by Nissan. Honda upkeeps the value by controlling the production #s of their cars. My point is that if too many cars put for sale then their price falls. We saw it happen w/Nissan when dealerships were flooded with loaded SEs and mostly dealers were willing to let them go cheaper..Now try to get an all new '03 Accord in a few months @ below sticker price...

Green 2kSE

The Max is a more reliable car than the Accord, but you are right about the safety record. We have a Honda in our family that hasn't impressed us with anything (reliability, performance, styling). It is really interesting how Honda managed to build such a reputation here when it is virtually nobody in the rest of the world (Japan excluded). In Europe, the Accord has very little market share and is considered old people's car. In fact, Honda is quitting the European Accord production next year.

Gumoj

This is my story...
Paid 25k out the door for 2k2 Max end of Feburary. Dealer said "Nissan of North America" is conducting some kind of used car suvery. Anyways, they wanted to buy my car back. And I thought they wanted it bad...so I said to myself, why not pay a little more to get the 2k3. Guess what...They asked for 14K if I was to get a 2k3 Max. WTF!!!Almost gave him a finger.

NYC2SD

Here is a lesson for y'all

How do you know when a dealer is lying?

The minute he opens his mouth!!!!!

iansw

iTrader: (7)

Wow...the dealer up the street offered me 11k for my 97 GXE (before SuperCharger) with 60k on it.

Yeah, that dealer was trying to rip you off.

Sell it in the paper, or even better, on the .org.

IanS

Triple8Sol

iTrader: (29)

Just curious, why would you sell/trade a 2002 for a barely noticeably different 2003?

Y2KMaxGXE-R

iTrader: (4)

the only way to make our money's worth is by keeping that Max til the wheels fall off...10 yrs/150+K mi, thats when our cars cost more than Accord...1990 GXE with under 200K mi you can sell for $3500 easy..

MONTE 01&97 SE

iTrader: (1)

Sorry but the Maxima is just one of those cars to buy "New Used". It is better to buy a 1 to 4 year old one, let someone else take that depreciation hit!

BLaZin 2k MaX

I think im still gonna get the 2k3 and keep my 2k. Either that or get the G35 bc im not waiting for the new MAx to come out, it doesn't look to good.

swallac2

You know those incentives and rebates that we all love? I got 1k and 3.9 financing on mine. It destroys resale value. Why does Nissan care though, you already bought the car. The used car market right now is tough because of all of these 0% financing deals and hefty rebates. They have flooded the market with used cars.

Green 2kSE

Well, Nissan has never cared about resale value. At least they are not offering $3000 rebates like they did in the late 90s. You could buy a brand new Max for $18k.

Driven EF9

you know... i love how the Maxima depreciates. Well, considering i'm in the market for another car. There's a 2002 SE for $20.8K. There was a 2002 Altima 3.5 for $20K as well..

it's gonna rock when the 350z comes out and after a year, you can pick up a pretty new track model for almost $28K.

crappy part is when you want to sell your nissan.

Nyc2kMax

never go to the dealer unless you really have too, because the dealer trade in value SUCKS. They buy it from you for cheap then over price it on the resale.

fredericksw

My analysis for someone whom drives the wheels off the car yields...

The price on a 3 year old max is ~ 15k private sale (KBB.com).

Cost of new max is 25k.

Seems like you are saving $10k, or 40% savings.

However, with this we are not looking at the bigger picture...

If I keep both cars until they are 10 years old, for first max, it cost 15k/7year = $2140/year. New max is 2.5k/year. The savings here is only 15%.

For $400/year I get a brand new car with the options I want, can maintain it properly and minimize the abuse. Plus, have you ever tried to find one that is a single owner car in good condition and has a manual transmission - good luck.

Rick

soopermax02

This is OT and I proabably should've just sent you a PM, but does your username refer to Frederick MD? If so that makes 4 of us who are active in this forum!

Y2KMaxGXE-R

iTrader: (4)

you said it. I wanted a used 4th gen with manual, but after no luck finding one in pristine condition (ppl literally drive these cars til the wheels fall off) I decided to get a bare-bone GXE. Not the options I want, and the higher cost, but it will pay off in the long run.

MONTE 01&97 SE

iTrader: (1)

Typically the Max is one of those cars that keeps you happy for a long time!

Green 2kSE

Yep, it's possible, you just have to be patient. I bought my car when it was 9mos old and less than 9500 mi in perfect shape for almost $9k below retail. It helps if you live in a big city. This is by far the best deal I've done and it swore me off buying brand new cars ever again. Also, your cost/year is overly simplistic, a better representation would be to look at Edmunds' true cost to own, which estimates all the costs for the first 5 years (roughly $38K). The total costs for the first year are about $13,6k (ouch, depreciation) and then they average about $6k per year for the next 4 years. It looks to me that buying a low mileage 1-2 year old car is the best deal.

BLaZin 2k MaX

ITs all good!