lightonthehill,

You mentioned in another thread that there have been ads in the Atlanta paper for $6,000 off sticker. I am about 5 hours from Atlanta, but for a deal like that I'd drive down. My dealer here is at about $4,000 off and will have to dealer trade for the colors that I want anyway. Would you care to let me know the names of the dealers running those ads?

Has anyone else in different cities seen discounts this much yet?

Thanks
Rick

 

cpa4u - The 'up to6$k off' was run the first two weeks of June by Sutherlin Nissan. This past weekend, their ad had changed to '2004 Maximas from $22790' or something very close to that.

Many Atlanta dealers have been advertising the '04 Maxima for up to $5K off MSRP, including Team Nissan, Stone Mountain Nissan, etc.

One needs to understand several things with these ads. When the ad says 'up to $X off MSRP', the maximum amount off will usually apply to a top-of-the-line loaded Maxima, where there is a wider gap between the invoice and MSRP prices. On the other hand, when the ad reads '2004 Maximas from $22K', they are usually talking about entry level SEs with no options.

There is some validity to the ads, as they are required by law (I'm not sure whether it is GA law or US law) to include the stock numbers of at least two vehicles currently available at each advertised price.


A purchase method I lean toward is to find the exact vehicle I want at several dealers, then request a FINAL TOTAL DRIVEOUT PRICE INCLUDING TAX, TITLE AND ALL DOCUMENTATION FEES from each of them. This request can be sent via snailmail, email, fax or pony express. It should always be sent to the FLEET MANAGER or INTERNET MANAGER (they are often the same person) at each dealership.

The results should help you separate the 'wheat' from the 'chaff'.


And how do you find the exact vehicle you want at several dealers? I will tell you my method:

Log onto www.nissanusa.com

When the screen comes up, move the mouse (but don't click) to the 'BUYING' field at the upper right of the page. This gives a ten entry menu.

Click on the 'Design or Search' line in that menu. This gives you a page where you can either fill in the 'Design or Locate your Nissan' (worthless; lists every dealer) and 'Search Dealer Inventory' (this is the goodie).

Under ''Search Dealer Inventory', choose 'Maxima', '3.5 SE' or '3.5 SL', the model year '2004', and enter the zip code of the area you wish to search. Atlanta is '30303'. Then key on 'Search Dealer Inventory' (in red).

You will be presented with a page of up to five dealers. Go to the 'Search Again' (lower on the page) and put '100' in the 'search dealers within this mile radius' field, then key on the 'Search Again' (in red letters) at the bottom of the page. This gives you all the Nissan dealers within 100 miles, complete with phone numbers, addresses, fax #s, etc.

Select a dealer and hit 'View this dealer's inventory'. When the inventory pops up, change the 'results per page' from '5' to '20' (saves paging up and down).

The dealer's inventory list shows the VIN, int/ext colors, tranny, MSRP of each Maxima on that dealer's lot. It also allows you to select any vehicles you may be interested in and display every detail (including all options on the car when it left Smyrna) on each one.

Cars usually appear on this list somewhere within a day before or after their arrival at the dealer and drop off around one to three days after being sold. It is not always exact, but is vastly more accurate and informative than 95% of the individual dealer's web sites.

This should enable you to find the dealers who have exactly the Maxima you covet, as well as place them in a very competetive position. Good luck with your efforts.

 

Light, Thanks for that very informative reply. The Nissanusa site is great!! I'm going to send emails to those dealers that you mentioned and see what they can do. What about Troncolli Nissan? They have the exact vehicle that I want (less traction control, oh well). Have you had any dealings with them?

Thanks
Rick

 

cpa4u - I bought two matching 1985 Maximas (one for my wife) from Troncalli Nissan almost twenty years ago. I lived near that dealer at the time. That is too long ago for me to give personal judgements as to their method of operation in the third millenium.

But I will say I have heard nothing bad about them, and I also will say they are a large volume dealer who, per their advertising, are competetive with other major Atlanta area Nissan dealers.

In Saturday's Atlanta paper, they were advertising two '04 Maxima SEs (Troncalli stock #s 900821 and 910748) with driver's preferred pkg (leather, etc) and sunroof for $5K off MSRP. Their discount on lesser equipped models would probably be somewhat less. That $5K probably includes the $1K Nissan rebate, so they have room to give you the $5K off and still make a profit.

Troncalli is only a mile or two off the Atlanta perimeter highway (I-285), so is easily accessible (assuming the freeway is actually moving).

 

I bought my 03 from Sutherlin Nissan Mall of Georgia with VPP, it is fully loaded including Navi.