I'm thinking about buying a 2004/2005 Maxima SL with about 100k miles on it as a second car. Anything other than the usual things (compression, everything working) I should be checking for? Well known problems in these years at this mileage? It looks like a fun and mostly reliable car. I'm expecting to pay about $3900 or so for one of this age and mileage in good condition.

Thanks!

 

Blue books is likely less then half what you're expecting to pay. Don't be ripped off. Private party I'd say below $2000, retail maybe $3000. And that'd in very clean fully operational condition. If there's problems with it you feel you can manage, lowball.

 

thanks. i was wondering why the internet story of "best used cars $2000 and less" listed the 2k5 maxima and all the autotrader listings were much higher. good info!

 

Used car market is in a very weird place right now. Everything is overpriced on the up front, and talking em down has gotten harder too. Went through about 6-7 used cars, and about 5 new cars looking for something for my son. The issue was he needed reliable with some or full warranty, he was going to pay the payment, I'd cover insurance and the low interest loan, along with helping him get into that payment. I found that 2 year old cars with 20k-30k on them were priced about $1000 less then the 2019 of the same model. I'm talking out the door, on paper ready to walk out with or without the car. 4 different makes of car. I also noted that when you went into the higher mileage older car, asking prices on line were outrageous considering the cars had zero warranty. We walked out with a 2019 Elentra, again $1000 more then the 2 year old ones on the lot, and the interest rate is better so that washes out about $500 over the course of the loan.

 

Yeah strange. Blue Book and average craigslist / autotrader running about $3800 - $4000 for private sales. Either they are all just basing on Bluebook or they expect to be haggled down because no warranty, wear and tear etc.

 

Yeah, private party is sketchy. I've only ever dealt with dealerships, and to be honest, at some point the car has to go to auction, so if they get any reasonable offer, it's no skin off their nose. But private party sellers, they have too much skin in the game, they think the car is worth more then it is. People gotta be realistic. Just remember when dealing with private party, your lower offer will be an insult, where at a dealership it's just a job for them, nothing personal. Again, that's why I don't like private party deals.

 

Feeling the same thing: looking for a car for my son to go to school and the prices are just insane. Can't find anything realistic and low mileage cars just vanished from the market completely.

 

How do you deal with stealerships? Just call them with a quote 20% under their asking price? Right now there aren't a lot of 2004/2005s in my area (Denver). Most of the reasonable models are about 1000 miles away, so my bargaining power is limited. I'd have to drive it and that's a pain that far away. Patience I suppose.

 

First off, don't be married to the make/model at this stage. You're looking for a 15 year old car with low mileage for that year (100k is very low for a 2004), and for it to be running good, again very hard to find, yes, you must go drive it before making an offer. New cars you can do phone calls all over town, but with a used car with this kind of age, it's your burden to know if it's even worth it before making the offer. Other options, perhaps a Lexus or Infinity just to name a few. Again, when dealerships have these cars (not those sketchy used car lots but dealerships) they are likely on a timer, once a car this old sits say 2 months, it's off to auction. If you walk in the week that the car is terminal, that's when you'll get the best deal, you're essentially saving them the headache of trying to offload it to auction. You'll have a few misses before you knock one out of the park.

 

I looked at an SUV last week which sat w/o registration for 1 full year before it appeared in the local dealer's inventory. They said they did not have space on the lot to sell it.