paqman

I've had 2 Maxi's in the past, a '91, and an '01, and am in the market again, this time looking at mostly 2010's. I've found one near me that has only 49k miles on it, and has nearly every factory option available. Heated/cooled perforated leather powered seats, heated steering wheel, 20" wheels, full front and rear sunroof with sunshades, backup camera with parking distance sensors, rear audio controls, rear electronic blinds, memorized seating, you get the gist. Basically everything. I will be seeing it tomorrow, so I can't speak for how it is in person yet, but the guy says it is tight with no leaks or any problems, and has been maintained meticulously.

Anyway, you get the drift, he's asking $11,900 for it. That seems like a pretty good deal for this car, but I was curious on your opinion. Thanks!

MadMax07SL

Did you look it up on either KBB and Edmunds.com?


For an 8 year old car with only 49k on the ticker, that's pretty good by itself, but for me, an 8 year old car shouldn't cost $12,000, I don't know what this is worth bluebook, but I'd venture it's a bit less then that based on the year. I think you can get 2014's for that price.

MadMax07SL

I just did Edmunds.com, guessed the details, gave it most of the fixings, note there are no 20" rims offered, only shows 19's as the upgrade. I'd doublecheck a lot of that. Also to note, in "Outstanding" condition this car only shows worth $11,000. The mileage adjustment was huge, + $1710. Now for a car to have outstanding it would likely have to have been certified checklist complete. A car this old, even with low mileage, I don't believe it can be certified. Being a private party, this car is likely not possible to be "Outstanding", therefore switching the bluebook appraisal to "Clean" shows Private party sale at $10,271. So for me, unless it's got brand new brakes, new tires, and he can produce all service records to prove great maintenance, $11900 is just his high asking price. I'd offer $9000, and maybe work your way up to $9500 and not a dime more.

MadMax07SL

Or even better, lowball at $8500, and stop at $9000. But if maintenance hasn't been kept up, knowing say you'll need to do Transmission fluid, tires, brakes, radiator flush...lot of stuff that will add up, If it's not been done these are all bargaining chips for you.

paqman

Thanks for the replies. I had checked KBB and Edmunds, I did see that Edmunds showed a top value of about $11k, and KBB showed a range of $10,146 to $12,617. So yeah it is definitely in the high range. As for low balling, he's already told me he turned down an offer of $11k so doesn't sound like he's willing to deal much at all. That is interesting about the 20" inch wheels. To be honest, that's not the only thing that has tripped my red flag - o - meter.

I appreciate the advice, I guess I'll probably pass on this one, but it has been a little hard finding anything in decent condition with good options in my area. As for a 2014, yes there are some down in this price range, but they all have at least 100k miles on them. Same with the 2010's. But I guess I'll just try to keep my eyes open and wait for a better deal. Just got excited to see such a good clean one with low miles and so many of the options I want.

Really the only options I really care about is a backup camera/nav system. Leather would be nice, but then I would want the heated/cooled seats. The rest of the options are just a bonus. If I could find a good low mileage one with those features for around $10k that would be awesome. Just haven't seen that around here in the last few weeks that I've been looking. Thanks again for the advice.

MadMax07SL

Don't walk away without making an offer. He's likely just bluffing if someone offered him 11 and he turned it down. That's only $900 off his asking price. He's likely willing to deal at some point. Seriously, figure out what it's worth to you, and make him that offer, see where it goes. Just be sure to point out, that you appreciate the quality of his ride, but you know it's value, and also point out anything on it that hasn't been done, like tires, breaks, hell even Plugs could be changed with that many years on it, despite being rated at 100k. On my 07 I replaced plugs at around 70k and man what a difference in the engine...waiting to 100k is stupid.

paqman

That's good advice on the plugs. Also not a bad time to swap out the CVT fluid right about now as it's coming up on 50k miles. I'm going to go have it checked out by a mechanic today, then try to strike a deal with him. I'll see how it goes.

Edit: I guess my previous post didn't get approved by the moderators or something. So if it gets approved later, this is a bit of a repeat. Basically, yesterday I went up and drove the car. You know how you look for that car that is owned by an old dude and he doesn't drive it much and just keeps it in his garage? This is basically it. I was skeptical at first because the ad looked to good, everything just looked too good. But after going and see it yesterday, he's just an older guy who bought it in California with about 6k miles on it and has kept REALLY good care of it. It is super clean, inside and out, drives perfectly straight, quiet, no rattles or strange engine noises. I felt much better about it after seeing it and meeting him than I did before. I felt like whoever ends up with this Maxima is a lucky guy cause it has EVERYTHING. And I think I'd kick myself later for settling for a different one. I mean it is loaded with everything and anything possible. You name it, this car has it. Anyway, I hate to be that dude that comes in asking for advice, and everyone basically says no it's too high, then going and buying it anyway, but I probably will lol. I pulled an AutoCheck report on it and it is clean, no accidents or anything. I am going to see how much I can get him down, but honestly after seeing it, I really don't think the $11,900 he's asking is drastically high for this car. I'm going to try to get him to come down to $10.5k or $11k, but we'll see how it goes.

Edit2: The 20" wheels just must have been a mistake on his part. They are the 19s, and he was probably just guessing on them. But he's just a genuinely nice old guy, so I'm not worried about any shadiness on his part. And he's totally cool with me taking it to my mechanic.

paqman

So I just saw another Maxima listed in my area with similar options (maybe not quite as many), with 10k miles more than the one I'm looking at, with a salvage title, and they're asking the same as my guy, $11,900. For a salvage title, and more miles. Yeah they would probably go down to 10k, but with a salvage title, that makes me feel a little better about the price this guy has his.

Here's a link to the salvage title one.

It looks like my guy has taken his ad down pending our sale going through today, otherwise I would post that one.

kruegs

Good luck man! Post pics after you bring her home.

paqman

Thanks! Will do.

MadMax07SL

That guy with the salvage title is out of his mind. I wouldn't offer him $7000 even it if ran great...



https://www.carinsurance.com/Article...insurance.aspx




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zoemayne

iTrader: (4)

Correct me if I'm wrong but this generation maxima does not come with parking distance sensors. Also the warranties on '10's are about to run out in 2020 so It's probably best to get a newer year maxima. The trannys don't seem to be failing in mass.

paqman

Yeah I think this old guy just got a few names of options confused. I submitted a reply the other day but it looks like the mods haven't approved it yet. Basically this car is loaded and in pristine shape. I took it to a mechanic and he had only good things to say about it. Said it was nice to see a car that's been maintained so well. Maximas aside, you just don't see cars in this shape in Utah period. With as many bells and whistles as it has, and the condition it's in, I couldn't pass it up. Ended up paying $11,500. And I am loving it.

Maxgig

iTrader: (5)

Great car man, I have the exactly optioned car only mine has 139k miles, but I still love it. The only options you won't need are the rear a/c and stereo controls. I also rarely use the rear window shade and the paddle shifters. I think you got a nice car, enjoy.

paqman

Yeah the paddle shifters are a bit of a novelty, "sport mode" gives the extra oomph I need. Same with the rear controls. But that rear window shade is the bomb. With the weather warming up, I've kept it deployed while parked at work every day this week.

I will say the climate control is nice, the AC gets cold like instantly. The Bluetooth works great, just need to figure out how to get it to stop autoplaying the last thing ibwas liatening to automatically. Even if my audio book app is closed, once connected it opens it and starts playing. The setting in the app is off, I'll figure it out. But I seriously am loving this car.