Well, I have some bad news. I finally come to the point that I want a different car. I bought my Max in late January and since then have had a handfull of problems with it, some of which have never been fixed completely. I just spoke with the sales manager at my dealership & to my surprise, he started asking what car I would be interested in. At this point I cant tell if he is going to give me an 05 for the same price or not, but he said he would call me back after looking at a coupole possibilities. Any suggestions on what I should ask for? You guys may hate me for this, but I may be interested in a 05 Altima with all the same options that I have in my Max.

By the way, here is a listing of all the things I've had fixed/replaced since January:
1. Rear sway bar replaced
2. Sunroof Broke
3. Driver's Side door panel piece thingy re-attached.
4. Glove box re-alligned
5. Rear Decker rattle worked on (Still not fixed)
6. Passenger-side front & rear windows leaked grease all over windows
7. Driver's Side, above window, Water is leaking into the headliner (Worked on 3 times & still is leaking)
8. Odometer replaced (This took over a week!!)
9. Molding on several doors falling off.

 

o man, sounds bad...good luck man...

Just want to give my 2 cents here, 2004 maxima's, in my opinion seems to have a very cheap exterior, its all nice in the interior, but its being surrounded by plastic and aluminium....sad..

 

I feel you man.. Do it.. If your sales guy gives you a good offer, take it. I would go with the 05 V6 Altima. I've got the same problems. Fixed a few but still not happy overall with the flagship car. Eventhough my shimmy is gone, I'm still looking to get rid of it too. IMO TRY to get the same options that you have with the Max. You'll regret if you don't have it in the Altima.

 

By the way, has anyone here actually done this before? I mean...traded their car (because of problems) in for another? If so, I'd love to hear some tips or advice on not getting screwed. Thanks!!

 

i got a question.,.,. u said u got ur window leak worked on 3 times already and still no fix.,. can u sue for lemon law 4 that?? cuz i got so many problems with my 04 and would love to get rid of it but i already spent to much on it that i wish i wouldnt have but i really dont wanna lose anymore money on this junk by gettin rid of it!! Anyone with anwsers let me know please!!

 

I hear SilverSL's point. These cars arent exactly holdign there value, we will get screwed on tradeins. In my situation, im not sure its worth trading in for another car, losing a few grand, and then with all the miles i rack up, lose more lute on the new car. Im 23 years old, this is a fine starter car, with a loan of 19k left, I will look at it as a learnign mistake and never buy nissan again. I mean heck who is to say that the '05's will be flawless, im sure that certain problems will persist ...

 

I agree with Chris_RI.....I kinda feel screwed in away at what the trade in value on these cars will be. Hell, look at what they are selling for now used. No way will I go upside down more though just to trade for a 05 with the minor changes. I still love my Max though, only part that has broken on me was the shift **** and I never really liked the stock one anyway. Will get that fixed at the dealer so I guess so far.....everything is fine with mine. I have no high speed wobble, hell, the only complaint I have and did not notice....as did many was the glove box door alignment, will get that fixed for free when I get the shift **** replaced. So far has been a good car for me. Only issues I have besides knowing I will lose my but if I ever trade it in....is that when you really hammer down on it, the FWD, with the power it has really pulls to the side, well that and that the trim scratches easy.

 

ill rephrase my question, maybe someone can anwser it.,. can u sue for lemon law if u had a problem as little as a minor leak checked out 3 or more times and still no fix. ( although i dont think a leak through the window is a minor problem) Or will they only do BIG problems like a shimmy or engine problems. Cuz i would love it if i can sue for not fixing my sunroof and heat shield which was looked at over 4 times. Let me know please

 

Coverage is for new vehicles under manufacturer's warranty.
• With some exceptions, the vehicle must be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.
• The defect must prevent the vehicle from conforming to the manufacturer's express warranty.
• In most cases, the manufacturer must replace the vehicle or refund the price if it can't fix the problem in four tries, or if the total repair time is over 30 days.
• The defect must substantially impair the use, the market value, or the safety of the vehicle.
• Defects caused by neglect or abuse don't count.
• If there is a dispute settlement procedure, such as arbitration, established by the manufacturer, you may have to go through that first.

 

As far as the leak, I was referring to earlier, its actually more in the headliner than in the window. Its right up in the corner area by the plastic piece that runs up the front on either side of the windshield. Either way, its still a huge problem to me. Not only is it annoying to have water dripping on you, but eventually it will destroy my head-liner.

As far as the lemon-law is concerned I've heard two different stories. On this site: http://www.autopedia.com/html/LemonL...lemonlaw2.html
It appears to state that after 4 attempts to fix the problem it can abe considered a lemon, but my dealership told me that its after 7 attempts.

After dukin' it out with one of the managers at the dealership, he basically said that they could only offer me a car that is worth what my car is worth right now. Well, you can imagine what I said, "HELL NO!" He said my best bet was to call 1-800-NISSAN1 & file a complaint...so I did. I spoke with a real nice lady there who was able to view a record of all my repairs & she said she would be calling the dealership & then calling me back on Monday. So, we'll see how things turn out on Monday....

 

good luck bro.,. def keep us posted

 

I *used* to be a TL owner, and traded mine shortly after replacing my tranny. My only advice is if you have a CarMax near you, try going to them first. I sold my TL to CarMax and ended up doing quite a few $K better than the stealership offered via trade. Also, use the online buying services - you'll get out of there in shorter order as they'll start at a more reasonable price. You'll save on the haggle time.

Good luck!

 

for you guys talking about resale values being horrible...
welcome to the world of the maxima.

look at 4th gens... you can get a '99 for under $8,000 without much effort. the damn car was $24K+ MSRP just 5 years ago. other cars in the same class seem to hold their value much better than our cars do.
our car sells a lot... not only more than most of the competition to normal customers, but maximas are very popular for commercial use as well. rental companies purchase them in large quantities, and big businesses dispense them to employees as company cars quite often as well. there's just so many maximas out there in circulation, that the resale plummets almost instantly.

I gave up on the idea of ever getting back even close to what I paid for my car should I decide to ever sell it. the consolation is knowing that I love my car and it was worth the money for the enjoyment I get out of driving it.

 

Your dealership should have provided you with three manuals when you bought the car. The owners manual, the warranty manual, and the Lemon Law manual which shows the lemon law for all the states. The most I have ever heard of is 4 tries to get it right. Most eastern states have a 3 strikes policy...dealer is full of S$%t!!!! Check that manual. If you need a copy of it I can scan it and email it to you. let me know via PM or aim. the dealer

 

I got a call back from the lady at Nissan. She said she had spoke with the service manager at my dealership about several things. Apparently there is some kind of tech group that Nissan has that dealerships are supposed to call when they are unable to fix ongoing problems. Apparently my dealership hasn't spoke with them yet regarding my two ongoing issues, The leaky roof & the rear deck rattle. She said that she'd be calling me tomorrow after Nissan and the dealership spoke about it.

msoemax, you're right about the manuals. I dont know what the guy was talking about when he said 7 attempts.

Oh, and btw, in the process of attempting to fix the leak near my driver's side door, dealership removed the door & put it back on crooked!!!

Next time there is leaking in the head-liner I'll try and take a pic & post it.

 

Although I don't own any Altima, I still believe the Maximas that were made in Japan were better in fit, finish and reliability. The 04 Max is the first U.S. made car and is a new model, and thus is more prone to problems. Unless you are really sick and tired of the car, trading it in this early will hurt you deep in your wallet.

 

I absolutely agree. I LOVE my 04 Max, but the fact of the matter is, it squeeks and creaks and does things that make me think that it was made very cheaply. I cant help but think that this new factory in the US has to be doin' a crappy job of putting vehicles together. If my dealership could fix my problems once & for all, then I'd be happy. What I'm really concerned about is that if these less important, interior things are constantly breaking....how long before the engine or tranny start to go?

 

It's the bad resale value that makes an excellent used car out of the Max. So much bang for the money! I've actually been seriously thinking of getting an '04 next year or so because it will be so cheap and still almost new. Then when I decide to get rid of it, I will give it to another family member so that the car always stays in the family. Like someone said, the car is worth more to me than it is in the market anyway.

 

Well, the nice lady from Nissan called me back today. She said she had spoken at length with my dealership's service manager and that he was aware of all my ongoing problems. She said, "They (dealership) are to work with the Nissan techs on EVERY single issue from now on when dealing with your car". She also said that from now on, I am to deal with the service manager directly and that they would like for me to bring my car in ASAP.

This is good news, but at the same time, I'm still a little concerned as to whether or not more things are going to fall apart in the future. I guess only time will tell. I would suggest to any of you out there that are having reocurring problems or are just sick & tired of things wrong with your Nissan to give 'em a call at 1-800-NISSAN1 and see what they can do for ya.

 

Hi, I feel your pain: 2004 SL Max 4 speed auto purchased late Jan 2004 ( 7 months old). 4 struts, Transmission at 9,500 miles, 1 electric passenger window replaced, door stops cllicking excessive...replaced, 1 side turning light (condensation in assembly), loose bolts holding exhsaust, shimmy at 3K miles fixed ( at my cost...brake service and turning ), etc etc etc. Had a 2002 GLE made in Japan...was real solid.

In Canada, Nissan referred me to CAMVAP: equivalent to consumer protection agency.

Hmmm!

 

Speaking of resale value.......

I was browsing the Maximas on Ebay and was shocked how cheap the 04s are going for, especially on a dealers 'buy it now' option. I saw an '04 loaded with auto tranny and Elite package with 25K miles for 'buy it now' of $24K. Talk about taking a bath. I mean those cars, when new, listed for around $35 (it had navi too by the way). Why the dramatic fall? Well, blame cash rebates and low APRs (merely manufacturer taking the rebate and 'buying down' the APR). Why would a rational person want to buy a slightly used car that can be financed at say 5% when they can buy a slightly more expensive new model with 0.9% APR (just an example) and have the same monthly payment. Second, as someone mentioned earlier, fleet sales. Since Maximas are now widely available at rental car agencies, they will eventually be sold by those same agencies for WELL under wholesale. Dont believe me....just check out your local Hertz Rental Car Sales. You'll cry all the way home as you realize they are selling one to two year old Maximas for quite bit less than new stripper model Corollas. Third, blame the styling. Now I wont express my own opinion on it, but the 6th gen does have a love it or hate it look. Fourth, blame the economy. The used car market just isn't as fertile as it used to be.

This will make you feel better however. I was until two months ago, the finance director of a fairly large Toyota dealership here locally so I saw the ins and outs of peoples credit scores, trade inequity (being upside down) and the like. Try trading out of a one or two year old Buick...haha. You paid $25K for the fully loaded Lesabre 10 months ago..surprise....the best trade in value out there for it is half.....$12K. Why? Well, surprisingly to some, there just isn't a huge demand for low mileage sedans with firm roots in the Reagan era and styling in that same period. The worst offenders I remember were cars like the Taurus, Intrepid, Buicks, Grand Ams, and Kias.

Why are people so 'upside down'? Well the biggest reason is that they were in their past three cars. When you traded that '98 GrandAm in on a '99 Taurus and rolled your $6K in negative equity....it just doesn't magically go away. Plus, most folks nowadays dont put any money down so they finance their sales tax on top of all that. In this case you are already probably financing $7500 more than the sales price of the car. So you keep that car for two years and trade it.....you get the idea....it just snowballs until one day you are trying to trade your '03 Intrepid that you now owe almost $30K on since you were negative in your last three cars and rolled that, plus you have no money to put down (obviously since you want to 'lower your payment ). This is what I saw on daily basis. To wrap up this long soap box I'll say this.........you are going to take a bath, I mean a big one, if you trade in your '04 this early....but it could be FAR worse.

 

A nissan dealership who actually competes with the one from which I bought my max actually tried to get me out of the car. They couldn't give me more than $22k for it when it had 13k miles. This is an SE in perfect condition with 6 spd and everything but navigation. MSRP was like 32k. Of course, I told them they could take a walk.

Heck, I didn't want to trade in anyway... just figured I'd see what they could do for me. Now my plan is to pay down the car as fast as I can, so I have some equity in it when I trade it in for my next Max

-Nate

 

I haven't had a chance to get my Max in for those repairs, but I figured I'd chime in with my thoughts on the whole trading in issue. I feel that because of the ongoing issues and the fact that my dealership has yet to fix two ongoing problems, that I'm entitled to a new vehicle. My dealership seems to not think its their responsability. What do you guys think?

 

cardsfan475 is right. You're going to get screwed. The question is whether they use lube or not, but in any case you'll be wakling away after being bent over a barrel if you trade this car in now. Maximas have notoriously low resale anyway, and you've just put 6 months of life into it, make it a used model. I remember in Nov/02 I was looking at a fully loaded 2002 SE with 10,500 miles on it and a used lot wanted a mere $20,500 for it. These cars are total garbage in terms of keeping resale value.

Cardsfan's experiences echo what I've heard abotu people trading in cars/ If you buy a new car - especially one with a low resale value (like a domestic, whereas something like a BMW or a honda damn near seems to appreciate; I can't imagine why people pay so much for these things used! 5 years and 250k miles and it's still worth 95% of sticker hehe), and trade it in in a couple of years the money lost is astounding. Then you build that debt into a loan on another car with crap resale and you've got a 72 month loan in which you'll be upside down for 5 years on. I am not sure I'll ever buy a new car. I've just gotten deals far too phenomoneal on the used cars I've always bought.And, if you're in the same generation, a two-three year car looks basically the same as a new one anyway, but you just happened to pay 1/2 for it.

If I were you Id' try and keep it a while longer and see if they can fix these problems of yours. You'll be upside down on the car for 2-3 years anyway if you got a 60 month loan, but generally the longer you can keep the car the better.. Personally I think that you'll really regret going from a maxima to an altima. It's a lesser car - maxima problems notwithstanding - and after taking your acid bath on the max you'll be really deep in the hole.

 

This is the main reason I Leased my 05 Max. If I don't plan on keeping the car 6-10 years I lease. I bought my Titan and will keep that for 10 years easy, I mean its a truck it pulls thinks what else do I need out of it. I have a friend that owns a Nissan Dealership so I get the lowdown on all that Nissan offers. He told me for some reason the SE's don't hold there value at all that is why it was cheaper to lease the SL over the SE. I leased for 39 months for $378/mo so pretty much getting the Maxima at cost. Not sure how most feel about leasing but this is how I explain it. If I was to tell you about a stock and tell you in 3 years it would be worth 1/2 of what I put into it would you buy it? NO. Cars are the worst investment know to man so if you don't want to keep your car longer than 6 years lease and then non of the issues are your issues. I would rank Having a stripper girlfriend a better investment than a car cause atleast your doing the f@cking.

As for the issues that everyone is having sorry to say I have owned Acura's, BMW's, Nissan's, and Dodge every car has issues. I think any car these days is going to have issues so thinking of trading to get something else is not a good reason because you could be walking into a worse car.

My Titan leaked from the door and the windshield also the driver door was miss aligned. I got everything fixed and have not had an issue with it since. The 05 Maxima I have only put 300 miles on it so I really don't know if there are going to be any issues with it.

Just my 2 cents

 

I would try and tuff it out instead of loosing all that money. The majority of redesigned models have issues the first year. The important thing is that Nissan will address the problems and once they do you’ll have a great car IMO…

 

I know what you are going through. I am dealing with a bunch of *******s at my local dealership. I have had many problems, although not all the same as the ones you have listed (something to look forward to?). I have registered complaints with Nissan as well as following the formal complaint process spelled out in your owner's manual. I am going through the procedure of contacting BBB Autoline (Better Business Bureau). I have requested that the car be repurchased, however in the meantime I continue to rack up the miles making the car worth less and reducing the amount they are obligated to pay for a repurchase (pro-rated based on mileage). I asked the dealership to take it back after owning it for 24 hours, I knew then that it would not hold up and was not the car that my 97 was. I bought the 04 based on past experience and reputation......a Japanese produced Max and an US produced Max are apples and oranges. I get sick every time I think about it. I love the looks and the car is fun to drive. I am tiring of keeping the radio loud enough to drown out rattles yet not so loud that the back deck rattles......everything is a compromise with this car.

PS Mine has been in the shop 12 times in less than 6 months.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

I'd try selling it private party before I would go the trade in route. Doesn't sound like the dealership is willing to work with you and will rake you over the coals. Try selling it yourself and see what you get. You might be surprised. Keep us posted, good luck!

 

The amount we are seeing here is Huge about 25k for a 6-12 months used car. I think it is not easy to sell as private party, as there are less individuals who can pay 25k and plus the interest rate for private pary selling is more than getting at dealer.

 

Look at using a car broker. Then you just have to pay the selling commision. Like I said be for you might be getting out of your maxima but what headache are you going to walk into? I personally don't care what happens to the value of the Maxima because I am in a lease. Also the SE will loose more value quicker because they are over bought and there are to many of them out on the market. Like someone said not many people look for a 2-3 year old car and if they do they want it cheap because it will not be a new car. I would rather spend $5000 more for a brand new car then getting someone elses car. Just my opinion.

 

Well, when you buy the car, at least you're left with the car after an x amount of years. You can sell it, you can keep it, either way it's worth something. When you lease it, like you said, it's like getting it at cost and you're left with nothing after your lease is over. At the end, they even out so it's a matter of personal preference.

And when you're spending the $5000 more for a brand new car, you're pretty much buying the luxury of being the first one on the block to have it. But in all honesty, I don't think in 3 years there will be much difference between the value of the 04 and the 05. It will be more a matter of condition and mileage. So the $5000 deal does make sense to a certain extent.

 

I haven't read the entire thread so I don't know if someone else has brought it up, but many states have a "lemon law" that requires manufacturers to buy back vehicles with unresolvable warranty issues, and it sounds like this might apply in your case If so, that would provide substantial leverage (for you) in the trade you're trying to arrange - it could even force the dealership to pay you off in cash.

Look into it, the moment they buy that car back under a lemon law, it's branded forever and will show up on Carfax as a lemon buyback, so they may be motivated to do a decent trade with you to avoid that happening.

Brian C Catts
Cattman Performance

 

I think you're absolutely right. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to get my car back into the dealership to have the rattling & water leaking problems worked on. This will be the fourth attempt at fixing the water and the third attempt to fix the rattling. From what I understand about the lemon law, there has to be 4 attempts made by the dealership to fix the problem. Hopefully I'll get it in soon. I'll let you all know what happens after that. Thanks for the feedback everybody!

 

Well, Guys, I'm back and I have more bad news. I took the Max in to get the rear deck rattling & the leaking roof fixed. I got the car back yesterday and sure enough, its leaking again this morning. I called the dealership and basically explained that I didn't want to have to bring the car in anymore and that I wanted a replacement, but I refuse to take a loss on a trade-in. They told me exactly what they said before, that I would have to call Nissan. So, I called Nissan again & gave 'em my whole story. The girl I had been dealing with previously is supposed to be calling me back.

As for the rear deck rattling, the technician covered the inside of the rear deck with double sided foam pieces. This seems to have fixed the problem pretty well.

 

I'd advise you change your sig

I'm sorry to hear about this! It would definately **** off anybody to bring it in time and time again and never have the problem resolved. I guess when many recommend never buying the first model year of a car they're right, but then it does depend on the models. My 00, which the original owner bought in Sep/99, has been almost totally flawless. Either it was just a better car to begin with, or the OO fixed all the crap.

In any case I'd continue trying your best at this point to get the car bought back. Also, don't take much crap or "We'll call you back" nonsense. It's rare that people really go through with that. They're hoping you'll buggar off.

 

I'm seriously thinking about it. But, I still think its a blast to drive and it looks downright Sexy!