I went to see a dealer a few months ago on a 2003 SE 6sp. I offered about $8,500 of retail and he asked me why I should expect the dealer to sell at that price. The best he could do was about $4,500 off retail. I didn't buy. He called me again a month later, giving me the bit about getting a good deal at month end. I wasn't very interested.

He called me again yesterday telling me that they are trying to get rid of cars. I live in MA. I was in the Philly area last weekend and I heard a small bit on $10K discounts on 2003s.

I would like to hear the deals on new 2003s others have gotten in recent days. What should I expect to get right now? I am going to see the seller this afternoon.

Thanks,
Brian

 

$10k discount would be a steal, run for it!

 

The problem is I don't know which dealer said it and I don't live near Philly. If I could get $10K discount, that would be enough incentive for me.

Brian

 

it depends more on how high their mark up is. the place where we bought ours from had a listed price of 33,500 for a 2003 GLE fully loaded, except w/o Navi, and I refused to buy for anything higher than 26,500. The sales person *****ed and moaned for a sec, but gave in since sales were slow. 10,000 would be super good if the markup was about the same, but it'll be easier to find the dealer invoice price from kbb.com and work from there, after u add the options u want and stuff.

 

Are You saying you got $7K discount? How recent did you purchase?

Also, I checked kbb.com and their logic for options does not work properly. In other words, leather is not required to get the titanium package. Anyway, dealer invoice is only $2,800 off retail for the model I want: SE 6sp, titanium package and sunroof (I already have a VIN for this package).

Thanks,
Brian

 

Leather is NOT required to get Titanium, but it IS required to get Meridian.

I don't know about $10K off MSRP--sounds a little too good to be true. Perhaps someone could get a similar discount if they're lucky and the dealer needs to get rid of some car REALLY badly, but chances are, if you're looking for a loaded 6sp 2003 Max, you're not going to get anywhere close to $10K off. I would say something like $6K off would be VERY good at this point.

 

Careful with the discounts!!

Many dealers will offer lower prices, but give you higher interest rates on the loan. That's how eventually they will get their price!!

Beware and good luck!!

 

what i did, in case anyone wants to use this as an idea....i signed the papers at 6% interest, which to me is insane. before i signed i asked if there was a early payment penalty, they said no. the very next day i had my bank give me a home equity line of credit loan for the cost of the car, went back and paid the car in full. my rate was 3.25% for 6months then 4.25 until the car is paid or if i do another finance on the house. basically the car is paid off and i'm paying off the house.
it worked, boy were they ****ed, but they can lick my nuts, i could care less.

 

I bought a 6spd SE loaded w/o navi last Friday after MUCH searching - and that was in the Philly area. Some members of this board probably remember my whining when I couldn't find one - but I really think I got lucky to find exactly what I wanted. The only thing that wanted but did not get is the color - but as far as options go, it has everything I could want and then some.

When you say you can get 10k off, what exactly do you mean and what price range does that fall under? I really think that is a lot off of the MSRP (unless you are getting a loaded automatic) but you should expect to pay more for a 6spd because they are getting hard to find.

 

You got the best color bro, don't worry!!

 

Congrats on the purchase! Loaded 6 speeds are definately hard to find now. What color were you looking for?

 

Thanks!

I wanted Grey Lustre but got sheer silver with frost leather interior - carbon copy of vito's, me thinks!

You guys have no idea how much toture it is to have only driven it for 15 mins on the way back from the dealership and that's it! I live downtown currently (will be moving in a month) and wanted to insure it before driving it around.

I can't wait !!!

 

I agree with the guy who said 6 spds are hard to find. I just bought an 6spd TE with HLSD for 100 under invoice ( 2500 under retail ) and feel lucky to get that price because the car is 900 miles from here. Supposed to be in town on Monday and I can't freekin wait.

 

Mongo, what did you pay, if you don't mind me asking?

 

$26100, but that probably includes a couple hundred to ship it hidden in and a hundred dollar processing fee they wouldn't waive. I didn't haggle much and actually had a much better deal worked out on a 6spd thats in chicago but the salesman was having trouble getting them to commit to trading it when he found this one. The one in chicago did not have TE or HLSD and I suspect they discount the options less that the base car itself. I really lucked out in that I took a chance putting off buying until the 2004 launch just in case I liked it (didn't - still don't ) and still ended up with the car I wanted. I keep waiting for the lightning bolt to strike.

 

Epilogue

I saw the salesman this afternoon. The deal was no better than last time. Actually, he found my offer ($2,000 less than his) to be insulting. I am not sure why he called unless he could do better.

Brian

 

mine was 26,500, not including taxes and stuff, for the 2003 GLE with Meridian Package. We put down about 15,000, and put off the rest on a loan. The promo going at the time was 0.0%, but they said we had to have at least 0.9% since the cost was so low. I worked it out quickly and found out the interest would only add up to about 200 for the entire loan, which isn't much at all.

Asking price can be much higher than the posted MSRP. The place I finally bought it from actually had a higher asking price, but it was obvious that they weren't selling much (Vacaville, CA), so they had to get cars moving. I talked to several dealers before and they all said that Vacaville, CA has ****ty sales for just about every brand of cars, so you might be able to haggle a bit more with them.

 

I got my 'Base' Maxima with a six-speed for 22 and change,(including TT&T) I picked it up at the begining of December 02'. I think the only options that were on the car were the mud guards, floor mats, and the trunk carpet with Maxima stitched into it.

I don't buy the car for the accessories, I buy them for the engine and tranny. I didn't need leather, (I live in FL) I didn't need Navigation, (I have a system from my old car) and I didn't need a top of the line stereo, (again, stuff from the other car).

The only thing that I really wanted was the six speed, well that and a LSD, unfourtunately, the base you can't get with the LSD, but oh well, I will probably install it at a later date anyway.

Back to the point, I know that I have read folks here touting 20k for new 03's if that were the case. Thats a really good deal I think. And if time is not pressing you, since the 04's are slated to run out in a short while. If you could wait, and still like the 03' I bet you could get a steal on a the 5th gen.

 

loaded, but without Navi with the 7% tax i payed $27000 drive out - i think i got a good deal

 

My story may sound silly, but I kinda need some help. I live in Omaha, NE and have been working with 3 dealers. The dealer with the best deal (I hope!) has found a "Base" SE 6-speed with floormats, mudgards, and a trunkmat for slightly under $24,000 invoice. They are selling me the car at $24K, with 2.9%, and I'm getting about $4K for my trade in. The thing is they have to dealer trade for the car which is in St. Louis (6 hours away), therefore leaving me little room to bargain. They and a few other dealers in the area have some loaded 6-speed Max's, but they are out of my price range.

Should I go for the current deal or wait and try to get a loaded Max at a lower price later, if possible? They have a fully loaded Max (every single option) in Lincoln, NE (50 miles away) which is what I really want, but of course too high priced. Should I try to barter with them maybee?

 

i picked up my 2k3 SE Auto fully loaded (leather/meridian/tt pkgs, moonroof & traction but no navi) for $26k in nyc area. this was when they had the 2.9% for up to 60 mo & $1k rebate. they even threw in a moonroof deflector, trunkmat, splashguards, wheel-locks and an extra programmed master key. i took delivery on 12/31/02 so i think my salesman was desperate to close out his year end.

when the 6th gens come out i think there will be some awesome deals out there.

 

I am not seeing the 03's for 20k, I doubt that they will get that low. Any ways the 02's and 03's are pretty loaded even if you get the base, there are very few options on this car.

 

Take a look at www.carbuyingtips.com. He has a spreadsheet that can be used to calculate a good deal.

 

The deal I didn't go through with was a 6spd with moonroof/splash guards/mats on a dealer/dealer trade and they were offering 24k so I think you could get a better deal if the car doesn't have a moonroof. You can still bargain on dealer trades because they are getting the same amount of money from the deal as if it were on their lot. Do you know which dealer they are talking to? I live in St. Louis and have only been able to find one 6 spd that didn't have leather.

 

Take a look at www.carbuyingtips.com. He has a spreadsheet that can be used to calculate a good deal.

 

Did you get an automatic? Wow....that's a good price ! I paid $500 more for the 6 spd with everything but navi.

 

I bought mine just yesterday. 6 speed SE
Has Titanium, moon, mudg and deflector.
With the 0.9% is a good deal. I imagine you can get a better deal for an automatic.

 

I got my 2003 Maxima SE last monday... the sticker was just below $28,000. It's super black w/black cloth interior, moonroof, deflector, and it's also an automatic (I live in St. Louis and work 8-5... traffic SUCKS here!) I still owed about 3,000 in my 1991 Maxima that I bought last April for $4,500 , and I got around 2,500 trade in value on it... SO after it was all said and done, I financed my new Max for just under 25k... but if I had had my old one paid off, I would've walked off w/the new one for around 21,500. I wanted more options, but I'm just 21 and living on my own, so lots of other stuff to pay for too... Tinting the windows is next for sure!

- 2ThaMax! -

 

i was offered 24500 on a 03 SE w/ all options w/out navi plus a 1000 cash back and no payments for 3 months hopefully i will closing out on this deal i guess all nissan dealers are trying to sell all 03 maximas because the 04's are coming in on March

 

I think the best way to look at this is to have a goal for what you want to pay - and it should be against the invoice, not the MSRP.

This is what I did:

1- I read the heck out this forum because there are a lot of intelligent people here with great ideas. You can never have too much knowledge.

2- When I got frustrated because I was not able to find the car I wanted, I faxed 14 dealerships within a 50 mile radius of where I lived stating that I am looking for a fully loaded 6 spd Maxima with all options and I am looking to purchase within 24 to 36 hours. I also stated that I was sending a similar fax to all other dealers in the area and that I would go with my best deal.

3- I priced the car I wanted with all option from Kelly, Edmund's and Yahoo Autos and printed them out. They were exactly the same.


I got a few call back immediately - some dealers were very stupid and didn't even bother to read my requirements. Another one did not phone me back until yesterday (I bought the car on Friday ). And I talked to the manager at one dealership who claimed that he did not have the car and would not go below $1000 under invoice (manufacturer's rebate). Finally we spoke to the dealer where I ended up purchasing the car and he wanted to know what it would take to win our business. We said that we wanted to pay $1500 under invoice and that is what we paid - though I wanted to pay $500 less but they threw on paint sealer, lock nuts and some other garbage. All in all, I think the dealer came to the table with very little BS because he saw how much reserach we did and even though I paid a little more than I wanted to, he was very straightforward and has won our future business.

So.....the moral of the story is this: Read this forum, do your homework and look the invoice, my friend. Look to the invoice.

 

This sounds like the car I wanted. Was the sticker $28,344? Was your discounted price $24,179? Maybe this is the best I could do.

I think I will get one used in a year or two.

Brian

 

I'm working on a deal right now. Dealer has a 03 SE with just sunroof, mats and the mudguards, just the way I want it. Sticker is a hair over $27K. She went down to $24,500 (dealer invoice) minus $1000 for rebate. I want to get it for $22,500. I'm waiting till Monday as new promotions start on Feburary 1st and I'm hoping Nissan ups the rebate to $2000 since the 04's are arriving at dealers in March. What do you all think? Think I can get it for under $23,000? I know there's dealer holdback and all that plus the car is there and no need to do trade or anything.

 

If it's an auto, I think you can get it for around $23k - going lower than that woudl be tough.

 

If it's an auto, I think you can get it for around $23k - going lower than that would be tough.

 

DAMN! i got mine for $28,000 with everything except NAV was $30,500 sticker... TE, Meridian, HSLD....$100 under invoice? I got taken to the hole.

-vq

 

I got mine, 2003 6sp everything except Navi, back in Nov. 2002 for $25,885 (MSRP $30,572). The key was shopping around conveniently (i.e. email in my case, but fax can be used just as well). If you show that you're educated, and seem confident in the price (if they see you're unsure about how much you want to pay, they'll play their BS game with you).

So, just be firm on your demands, and if they don't bite, then go elsewhere. More often than not, you'll find a dealership that needs a sale more than another one, and will give the car away for a price that's close to what you're looking to pay (assuming you have a reasonable/realistic target price).

I had a lot of dealerships laugh at me when I told them I wanted to pay $25K (I knew this was pretty unrealistic, but not absurd, and it gave me bargaining room to go up on the price), but as you can see, I ended up paying "close" to what I wanted.

Also, be patient, and don't dive into anything impulsively (at this point however, if you're looking for a 6sp, and the price is decent, I say go for it because the bargaining power is in the dealerships' hands due to the rarity of the manual).

Good luck to all who are looking to purchase, and we all look forward to getting more fellow Max owners.

 

No I don't know what STL dealer it is. I've looked through the NissanUSA.com site and haven't found the car. Is the car you are referring to a Silver W/black interior SE? If so thats the one I will hopefully be getting.

Hey I hear alot of you guys talking about 0.9% financing. Is that across the US or only in certain regions? I was only offered 2.9% for 60 months. And I wasn't told (by the dealer) that there was a $1000 rebate until last night. Someone help me

 

http://carmax.com/SearchResults.asp?...rue&pageType=1

This is Carmax. I bought my SE 6MT from them, this particular dealer is in Baltimore,MD, and I live in FL. We did the whole deal through e-mail, and FedEx. I could have had the car shipped down, but I opted to fly up and drive it back. You may want to see if you can fanagle some kind of deal with them. When I was looking around, no one really came close to their prices.

 

Here's the thing, I have to trade my current car. Unless someone knows of an internet dealer that will accept trades, I'll have to go though the dealer process. That would be great but I've never heard of a site that does trades.

 

Go to nissanusa - search dealer inventory. Put in 63017 for the zip code and run search. Pick Suntrup Nissan from list and search their inventory for your six speed. Its silver with black interior. The $1000 rebate will be extended until all 2003 maximas are sold. They just put an artificial end date on it to get people to come in. It was originally supposed to end in November.