I am so irritated with Nissan and Nissan Dealers so I decided to vent my frustration here and see if anybody else has had similar problems.

I kept hearing ads on the radio for my local Nissan dealer about some special APR's and prices on the 2k2's. They were advertising 0.9% APR and $89 over invoice. So I crunched some numbers and figured out that if that were true I should be able to trade in my 2k without putting any cash down and still have rougly the same car payment as I do now (my current APR is 6.9%).

Well I go talk to a good friend of mine at the dealership. Turns out the 0.9% is only for 36 month loans and for 60 months it is 3.9%. That's still not bad but i told her to try and get me 0.9%. Well NMAC wouldn't budge.

I'm a little dissapointed, but still interested if they can give me decent $$$ for my trade-in. The sales manager drove it and did some figuring and came up with $15,300 (I have a 2k SE loaded w/60K miles). Thats not as much as I would like but I still had the fever and they were giving me $3000 off the sticker price of the 2k2.

I told them if they could give me $16,000 for my trade they had a deal. Well they called me back and said that they felt like $15,300 was already stretching it and that was the best they can do. At this point I told them where they could stick their 2k2.

Can you believe they passed up the oppurtunity to sell a car over something like this.

I might be shopping for something besides a Nissan now. Love the car but it is not worth the aggravation of dealing with such a crappy organization.

 

the *only* thing bad about maximas is that you have to go to Nissan dealers for them.. nuff said..

 

Well what's stopping you from selling the car privately? And most of the time, the ultra low % rates ARE for short term loans. You have just been a victom of the marketing system. They got you into the dealership with the 0.9% and almost got you to buy at 3.9%.

 

so how was your experience buying the 2K the first time around?

each nissan dealer is different.. some are so desperate to get cars off their lot they'll jump on anything. others would rather benefit from maximum profit.. maybe the dealer would rather sell the 2K2 at an inflated price to some poor, unknowning soul.

 

you got a 2k2 with 60k miles on it?? Whoaaaaaaaaaaa there.......

 

Not that I love dealers, but you have to realize that they're in business. They must believe that they cannot make a profit on your deal, or that they can sell that 2K2 to someone else at a more suitable profit. Remember, they're capitalists, like all of us, and profit is not a dirty word. There's no need to be angry at them. Just exercise your right to visit another dealer.

I also suspect that they were turned off by your 2K that seems heavily modded. They may feel it will be difficult to sell it in its current configuration. I would recommend that you bring your car back to stock before visiting another dealer.

 

Sorry, guess my mind is stuck on the 2k2's. Mine's just a 2k. I edited post.

 

I have to drive 40 miles, past 2 other HUGE nissan dealers, to get treated like a customer.. not good, just like a customer. I dont ask for anything more than the warranty specifies..

 

Yeah possibly, but they said they send everything with more than 50K miles to the auction.

I guess I'm just dissapointed in general with the appraisal of my car. My wife just traded in her 98 Honda Accord (cloth seat, 4 cyl., etc.) with 90K miles on it for $10,400.

 

sudz --

call all the dealerships in your area and hopefully you'll hook a newbie salesman who wants a sale... any sale. then you'll get your deal.

 

what can u say, hondas don't depreciate in value like nissans.

just keep what u got and be happy with it. its amazing what people do these days just to get the "latest" models. i need to start my own bizness!

 

Well your mileage is kind of high for a 2000 at 60,000!

 

Your vehicle's wholesale price is $13,800 with the mileage adjustment and $17,870 retail. I think the dealership was giving you a fair deal on your trade. The Nissan store will have no option but to auction it off.

 

Find out the e-mail addresses of all the fleet managers for the dealerships in your area. Copy them on a mass e-mail and tell them that the first person to accept YOUR offer gets the sale. Tell them you want a faxed copy of the contract, etc before you will come down. That'll stick it to them.

No offense, but even for a loaded 2K, 60K miles is atrocious. $15,300 (for a trade in no less) seems really, really good. I just picked up my LOADED 2K SE with 20K miles for $17,500 private party.

I just pulled up an Edmunds TMV on your car and trade in value is $15,500, fully loaded- leather, Meridian, everything. You lose $1,608 on the mileage adjustment. ouch. Go private party and you should get $17,000, but with that much mileage, it is a definite red flag.

 

I am sure they want to sell their cars, they just want to go for profit.

 

The trade value is fair...its within a couple hundred of what Edmunds says it should be (as noted by another poster).

You say you cannot believe they let a deal slip by over a few hundred dollars...I'm sure you're aware of the reverse logic...hard to believe you let it slip by over a few hundred dollars.

If you really want a 2k2 the best thing in the world for you would be to either sell your 2k outright or strip the mods off and trade it for the $15.3k and then sell your mods on the forum.

Nissan very much wants to sell cars and the incentives on the Maxima make it a very attractive car (my local dealer has a 2k2 SE auto for $22.9k...no other options and its gold inside and out). The factory to dealer incentices of $2k allow the dealers to offer the cars for under invoice and still make a decent profit on every car sold. I know my local stealership can't keep them on the lot (they have 4 Max's right now and about 20 Altimas). They are entitled to make money on their sales though.

 

That's TRON in that pic huh? I love that movie.

 

What the problem really is for you right now is there is a glut of
used cars on the dealer lots. With the interest rates on loans
so low right now people are more apt to buy a new car then a used one. I got lowballed by 5K when I tried to get rid of my 98 WS6 TA a bout 4 months ago. Car is worth at least 15K and I got offered 10. The salemanager was very honest so I can't fault them. Like people have said they are in it to make money.

 

Well upon reading all of your posts I guess maybe I was a little unfair to the dealer (I never thought I would hear myself say that! ).

I decided to take the offer and I am now the proud new owner of a loaded Super Black 2k2 SE. I just got back from the dealer. Man what a difference in power from the 2k to the 2k2!

Thanks for all the input. Guess I need to work on a new sig now!

 

u kept all your mods right?!

and...

congrats man! auto or 6sp?

 

Sell me your FTSB.... You kept all that stuff, right?

 

GO BACK THIS WEEKEND!

Memorial day weekend is one of the biggest selling weekends of the year because dealers need to get their 2k2 stock out in preparation for 2k3. I've bought 3 cars on this weekend and have always gotten GREAT deals.

Visit all of your local dealers and tell them you want to buy and what you will do it for. They normally have special incentives for the weekend and the month (to the dealers for making certain numbers).

You visited mid-month and the sales manager simply doesn't have a reason at that time to cut you your deal. He likely will this weekend - especially if you play him against another dealer.

 

The only mods I took off and kept were the AE pedals and all my SuperWhite bulbs. I knew the FSTB would be a pain to put on the 2k2 from all the posts I've read and I honestly didn't feel like reinstalling my factory air box so I left the Berk on as well.

Sorry guys, I really didn't think anybody would be willing to buy these things from me.

I went with the automagic. The six-speed would be fun every-now and then but I do a lot of In-Town, stop and start driving so I went with the auto again. Man, I can't believe how much better that car drives than my 2k did!

 

Dude, you could have scored a cool $40 from me for the FTSB......... And the Berk? another $40.

Ahhhh, but it's all 20/20 in hindsight........ Congrats on the new ride. Lucky bastard.

 

.... what he said AND: As A buyer, Id MUCH rather pay the $1608 and buy a car with 25-30k miles and still have 6-10k of original factory warranty.

 

I have 27K miles on mine and owe smthg like 10 grand on it. I though my local dealer would give me roughly 15K as a trade and will sell 2k2 SE for a grand under invoice, which would only start my pmts anew but none of that happened. So, I am keeping my car.

 

Suds: you said that they offerd you $3000 under sticker. What was that quoted price? And what kind of options did it have (leather, sunroof, meridian, lsd, etc?) I'm lookin to buy an 02 SE 6sp within a couple months, and definitely want a good deal. I keep hearing guys on here talkin about how they got it or its goin for under $25k in their area. Well here in Seattle, I haven't seen it even close to that yet!

 

On the east coast (in metro Washington DC) I have found a dealer that will sell you Maximas at invoice before the $1,000 customer incentive from Nissan. I am paying $23,556 + tax + tag and no other "processing fees" or "advertising fees" or other fictitious charges.

The car is a 2002 SE auto (too much traffic to do manual, which I have now). At the end of the day the car costs $22,556 for the options of floor mats and splash guards -- no sunroof, leather, Bose, nada. I'm too tall to fit with a sunroof and Nissan bundles the sunroof with every package, making my decision both economical and easy.

Here is a link with their "internet pricing":

http://nissanfleetsales.homestead.com/2002maxima.html

I don't work for them and have no affiliation with them other than likely buying a car from them in about 11 hours...

FWIW, they gave me KBB on my 2001 GXE 5-speed with no options, 10,600 miles, which is $15,000 (ouch); paid $20,260 + tax 1.5 years ago.

I opted for a 2002 since the 2003 will apparently be built in the US for the first time, reminding me of the well known Mercedes ML problems in their first year or two of domestic production; my opinion only.

 

The 2k2 I got is pretty much loaded--leather, sunroof, Bose 6-disc, etc. The sticker price on the car was $29,753. I paid $26,968. So technically its $2785 off the sticker. They are having an $89 over invoice sale at the dealership (Who knows if they are actually giving you the right invoice price though ). Still, I thought it was a pretty good deal and so far I am very pleased with my new car. I loved my other maxima but I love this one 100 times more. Smoother, more power, more creature comforts--what more could you ask for! .

I have the sticker right here and if you are not interested in some of those options here is what they cost so you can deduct that off the price:

Bose Audio System: $1099 (BTW this is the only thing I don't like about this car. That is the worst sounding stereo I've ever heard!)

Leather Package: $1499 (Includes power and memory driver and passenger seats, Auto Climate Control)

Sunroof: $899 (I really could have done without this option)

Floor Mats: $79 (You would think the leather package would include these)

Painted Splash Guards: $119

Sunroof Wind Deflector: $69 (The first thing I took off of my car!)

Hope this helps.

 

Nissan dealers have been starving for so long that they became very greedy. NissanGreed is a disease that starts/continues with the Xterra/5thgenMax/NewAltima/350zx... In the '80s and early '90s, the dealer experience was pretty good. Now, IMO, they treat customers like ****.

http://www.marlboro-nissan.com/displ...cgi?id=1797953
http://quirkcars.com/specials/nissan/nissan.htm# Saturday/Sunday newspaper add usually shows $3-5k off of MSRP.
http://quirkcars.com/htdocs/inventor...w/maxima.shtml Don't forget to deduct rebate/holdback. 12-17% off of MSRP is not a bad deal(depending on options). The higher the MSRP, the higher the discount.

Around here, the sales tax(7%) = price-tradein. So, if you trade in a car for $15k for a $25k Max, the sales tax is on the difference=$10k. Most people I know would prefer to lose money at tradein just to give less to bigbrother. Plus, the $1000+ not paid in sales tax more than makes up for the $1000+ lost for the tradein. Sometimes it is not worth the hassle dealing with private party people(test joy drives/phonecalls/doorbell ringers/wait for finance.....).

 

So, from Memorial Day on, dealers should give good deals on Maximas right?

I just got the call from insurance today telling me my car is totalled, so within a couple of weeks, I should be in an SE 6spd.

I am looking to get HLSD,Bose,Leather,Sunroof, hopefully in grey lustre with black leather.

Anyone know if this combo of colors is even possible?

 

Yes the color combo is possible. Go to www.nissandriven.com and you can "build your maxima" and it will let you know what combos are available. I don't know who was in charge of making those decisions but the color combinations that would really look good and are not available are:

Glacier Pearl w/Black Leather
Super Black w/Blonde Leather

Also, I think the Black Leather interior is pretty rare and since no more 2k2's are being produced, you may have a hard time finding one.

Good Luck! I just got a 2k2 yesterday and love it!

 

In my experience, memorial day weekend just seems to be the biggie. They have a lot of stock left, it is a long weekend, it is the end of the month and they want to move cars. It is more of an event than a point at which deals start to be good. I imagine the 4th this year might be good too.

 

Go mid week..... When dealers are dead and they have nothing better to do. Wednesdays are the best days to buy cars. Mondays and Tuesdays are always people picking up and finishing deals from over the weekend.