SilverSleeper

iTrader: (3)

Ok guys here is what happened.

On December 28th (Saturday) i went to Carmax (Greenville, SC) to order my 2K3 Maxima SE Polished Titanium with black leather, Titanium Edition with everything on it including navigation. They told me that they would make the order for it on either January 2nd or 3rd, since Nissan was closed for New Years. So i stopped in this past Saturday (Jan. 11th) to make sure that everything went well with the order. I went up jokingly to my salesman and said i had a little problem, i've changed my mind and decided i want that 350Z sitting over there. His reply oh well that is good b/c we've had a little bit of a problem with your order. I was like no no i was just kidding, now what is the problem. He went to get the guy that does the ordering there (i guess it was the fleet manager, i don't know) and when he came back the other guy said that when they went to place the order Nissan said that they weren't taking any more orders for 2K3's b/c they are retooling the factories for the 2K4's. He said that on Monday they were going to be doing a dealer search for the car that i had ordered. He asked if there was any altercations that i wanted to make. I said if you find one that has frost interior or that didn't have the navigation then to let me know, but that i would really like to find the one i ordered.

This whole thing made me really sick to my stomach since this is my very first new car and i wanted one that would be a "fresh car" where no one has test driven it. When i got home that night i did a search and found a couple of cars that i maybe interested in. Carmax is supposed to call sometime this afternoon.

Now i have a few questions for everyone. If they come up with the same cars that i did should i go through Carmax or should i go directly to that dealer? Should i wait on the 2K4's to come out and see what kind of deal they can give me on one of those? The only thing is that i'm not sure if i like them or not, i would really have to see them in person. But by then i may have already missed out on the 2K3. What should i do? Any help would be appreciated.

Maximax2

You can get a car directly from the dealer that hasn't been test-driven - my car had 7 miles on it when I got it (which, so the sales guy told me, is the distance they have to drive it to get it on / off the boat, and to the various distribution points for delivery).

Don't know what to tell you on using CarMax or not - but if you do go straight to the dealer, talk only to the fleet manager for a better deal.

Regarding 2k4s, since I hate the new shape I'm probably not the best one to give advice...

FASST LN

My wife and I had a similar problem. They could not locate the car she wanted with the options too. So we tried to order and they weren't taking orders anymore. This was on the second and third of January. When that didn't work, my wife agreed to get one with a spoiler, which was on a truck to deliver the car. So we got one that was brand new (still had the plastic on the interior and exterior). We don't like the new Maxima (6th generation)as much, especially the price.

Good luck and if you want a new one, be prepared to be flexible on your options.

I think this is crappy of Nissan to do. It even caught the dealership offguard for them not to accept '03 orders so early in the year.

itdood

I found mine via the nissan site, they have an awesom inventory search. You build the car you want, they find a dealer with the car.

I found an exact match, took the print out to the dealer and they did a dealer-dealer trade. The car was located 30 miles away.

It's going to be tough though because they don't make 'em anymore so if it's not in invetory somewhere you are SOL.

kronnman

iTrader: (2)

I had a similar situation in March of 2002. I was looking for a 6 speed with everything except the NAVI and I had trouble locating a 2002. I inquired about ordering one exactly the way that I wanted it but several dealers told me that if I order one, it is going to come in as a 2003.
I took the car I have now. The only thing it is missing is the HLSD. My car only had 5 miles on it and all of the plastic was still on the seats.

They are out there, don't give up.

littledog

I believe the real reason Nissan is not taking order is that they've stopped production for the 03 model in JAPAN. All the maximas made up to the 03 models are built in Japan and the 04 Maxima is build in US.

SilverSleeper

iTrader: (3)

Yeah i have already done the build up of the car and found a couple of matches that are kinda close. Was there an extra fee for the dealer to dealer trade? How was it brought into the dealership?

I personally don't think i will like the 6th gen but like i said before i guess it is something i would have to see in person. I think the main thing i don't like about it is the grill.

MONTE 01&97 SE

iTrader: (1)

I agree its nothing to do with retooling since the 03 and 04 are made in 2 different countries shows what your dealer knows! Alos the pickings are getting slim on 03's with certain options so act now if you want an 03.

vito1281

I was looking for a fully loaded 2003 (minus Navi) 6 speed back in November of last year, and was having trouble finding any at all (I'm in the Boston area). When I did find them, they had quite a few miles on them. All the dealers I went to said that they don't do custom orders, but rather have set bulk orders that they place. During those orders, they just order what THEY think they need, not what a customer has requested. Perhaps this was BS, but I ended up getting a car that I wanted to the last little detail (didn't sacrifice any options that I wanted) with 50 miles on it.

It was swapped for from another local dealership, and they had a person drive the car. I asked them who the driver was ,and they said it's an older gentleman (retired???) that does this thing part-time. Of course I would have preferred to have a car with close to 0 miles, but when you're looking for a somewhat hard setup to find (fully loaded 6 speed), you have to make the best of it.

Anyhow, you don't pay any fees for swapping--the dealerships work that out between themselves. Like I mentioned, they usually have a guy go to the other dealership and drive the car back. I don't think they will tow it. Anyhow, good luck with the purchase, you won't regret it (6th gen is NASTY looking IMHO).

MaximaMan77

The other problem is the early release date for the 04. When was the last time you heard of a new model year being released in March?

You see Nissan wanted to be in production in TN in time for the 03.
But parts and engines were a problem. They were even thinking about an 2003.5 model then the port lock out last fall...
Ocean frieght is getting very high this is a cost cutting thing.
I have inside info. A company I do business with does the long life coating for the screws, bolts, hose clamps and other misc. parts for Nissan. You know that nice dull silver coating on these parts. It's called Dacromet.

MaximaMan77

Also are you looking for an auto or 6spd? I've seen some auto like that here.
I see you are in SC there maybe something close here in Atlanta (larger market) a good zip to use is 30360 go out 100mi. and search those dealers.
Good luck!

SilverSleeper

iTrader: (3)

I'm looking for an auto. Thanks for the zip. I found one in NC and one in the lower part of SC.

SilverSleeper

iTrader: (3)

I just wanted everyone to know that after doing a little searching on my own i did find one in GA. It has 7 miles on it and so i put down a deposit so i could go and pick it up Feb. 1st. I will be putting about 300 miles on it bringing it back home to SC, so i will be able to do a little breaking in. The dealer (CarMax) kept on finding vehicles that didn't even match what i was looking for and so i'm getting my money back.

As noted before i did find one in Charlotte, NC and i contacted the dealer and he said that it was a very nice car. They used it as a demo and had about 2,000 - 3,000 miles on it and was willing to give me a killer deal on it. $600 below invoice. Didn't think that was to much of a deal and besides i would rather have one with less miles on it.