I'm going to buy my Max within the next 2 months. I have been trying to find out if anybody knows of good dealers in the Western WA area. I would like to find one preferrably somewhat close to the Bellevue/Seattle area. I went to Town&Country Nissan on Aurora, and they are idiots. I've heard Fife has good prices b/c of lower sales tax. Basically I'm just looking for input/experiences so I can find a dealer that has good prices, good salespeople, and most importantly, a good service department!! Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

I bought my Maxima back on 11/30/01 from Nissan of Fife and had a good buying experience IMHO. It's was a bit far for me as I live in Bellevue.

 

I live in Seattle right now, but I'll be moving back to Bellevue in a couple weeks! So where do you take your car for service now? I drove by Melody's of Bellevue, and it looks like they closed down? If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay, and what options?

 

Skip Pacific Nissan. I think there is a good Z mechanic in the Redmond Nissan.

 

Pacific Nissan...that's the one in Downtown Seattle right? Did they rip you off or something? I noticed that they're one of the few Nissan dealers that have ads in the paper.

 

Yes the one downtown w/ all the damn Mercurys mixed in. I had to fix their fawked up mechanic work myself. Apparently they don't know how to follow their own friggin' tsbs on VTC repair. Jerks!!!!!!!

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?threadid=310

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?threadid=2542

 

Hm...thanks for the info...
Come on, I know there's more Maxima owners here in the Puget Sound area! Help me out please?

 

Was there ever a good suggestion on this? My car is in for intermedia service at Pacific (way too expensive), and I'm looking for alternatives...

 

much of a reply...I thought there were more Puget Sound Max owners

 

Yes, Melody's in Kirkland and Bellevue are gone. Sucks cuz it means I have to go further away for warranty/recall work. I've been having to take my car to Pacific Nissan for service (pedal stopper recall work done twice [not done right the 1st time] and a rattle). I'm probably going to need to take it there for the transerve link recall when they get the parts in cuz a coworker lives near there and can gimme a lift.

As for how much I paid, this was back on 11/30/01. I got it for invoice + $400 advertisting fee (yeah, I know, some people think it's not legit, but Edmunds claims it is and all dealers quoted it and so did an autobroker) + about $70 to get it driven up from Oregon (GXEs are rare). This was back before there was 0.9% financing, any rebates or factory to dealer incentives. Including tax, license, and everything it came out to $25,521. They had the best price of everyone I checked w/at the time.

I'm sure you could get a better deal now since 2003s are out now and I thought I heard about rebates and incentives going on.

 

Oregon So you didn't pay any sales tax on the car then right? How does it work when you bring the car back to WA though? As far as fees involved with registering the vehicle in WA. Don't you have to pay the tax once you bring it back? I was thinking of maybe even buying my car in B.C. since the US/Can exchange rate is so good.

 

No, I had to pay sales tax on the car. The dealer did a dealer swap w/an Oregon dealer since Fife had none (and GXEs are rare). It was registered by the Nissan of Fife for and in WA.

I've heard but don't know for a fact, that if you go down to Oregon and buy a new car there and then bring up to WA, when you register it, the WA people will charge you WA sales tax and then fine you for trying to skirt the system.

As for buying a car in BC, I considered it too, cuz yeah, the MSRP converted to USD is below US invoice. But then, you have to pay some import duties (along w/WA sales tax) and deal w/the somehow getting all the way up there (driving friend up and having him drive old car back?), and get your speedometer and odometer changed one that is in miles. Also, the BC dealer told me that for warranty work done in the US, I'd have to pay for it myself and then file a claim w/Nissan each time. Didn't seem worth the trouble.

 

Thanks for the advice cwerdna. I knew that WA would charge you the tax when you bring the car back, but I didn't know about that fine. I know they figured out people were doing that a long time ago. As for the Can to US thing, thanks for the info. Definitely doesn't sound like it's worth the trouble at all.

 

Well got my car back from Pacific after intermediate service and my Service Engine Soon light came back on just a day later. Disappointed, going back on Monday...

 

I'm excited...I've almost got my old car all fixed up. I think I'll be getting the 02 Max within 30 days now... Still hoping to get as much info. as possible about good service depts., salespeople, etc...