Noslen

I'm looking to buy a maxima soon. So the reason im posting this is to see if you guys have any suggestions on ways to deal with used car sales mens. (ways to drive the price down)

I'm thinkin of checkin out a couple of the most expensive 1997-1999 i can find and then comparing other 1997-1998s to them. is that a good idea? I'm also researching maxima problems and i'll try to see if i detect any of these problems during the test drives.

Sprint

iTrader: (10)

act like you don't want it..

I30tMikeD

iTrader: (8)

When you make them an offer and they give you the blah, blah... we will be losing money.....Blah, blah.... there is no way we can sell it for that.... blah, blah......Then just walk out. More than half the time they will call you the next day or so and take you offer.
I have never bought a car from a dealership the first time I was there. I always walk away at least once.

Noslen

what's a good price that an average person can knock off the price of a used maxima? 1997-1999

BrianV

iTrader: (9)

10% off the car NO MATTER WHAT. No dealer will hesitate for 10%, and if you work hard 20% should be obtainable in most cases, even more if the dealer's pricing is real lame.

nadir_s

haha i just noticed sprint's and brian's sigs, very nice lol


anywho, I totally agree w/ mike. I've watched my dad do 2 deals from used car ppl and both times he gave em an offer and they refused the first time, we came home, and got a call from them.

pocketrocket

iTrader: (1)

Though not in the line of what your post is about ...

If the dealer agrees to repair or replace certain things in the car, do not pay for it UNTIL it is done to your satisfaction. Put an earnest / holding fee on it.

Some dealers will not give you a care in the world after the car is paid in full ... they will give you the runaround until you either give up or get very frustrated and annoyed.

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

SALESMAN
Your sales guy

SALESMEN
The whole sales crew

95emeraldgxe

goto edmunds.com and check the true market value of the car. from that i'd try to deduct another 500 bucks

MaximaMoJo

When you go to buy the car, go towards the end of the month. Car sales are on a monthly cycle. This way way they will want to get rid of the car and give you a lower price. I did this and the car was listed for 16,200 and I got it for 13,000. It was a '99 Max with 39,000 miles bought this last September.

jdmmax

iTrader: (6)

if you try comparing this dealer 97 maxima to say a dealer down the streets 97 maxima. 9 times out of ten the answer will be its not the same car milage different blah blah blah. this route is a dead end.

going from blue book is a good way to give you an idea off what you sould be paying but blue book is just reference.

best way i found get the dealer to show you exactly how much there in the car for. remember its not just the what the dealer buys the cars for but it is also how much the dealers spend on recon or reconditioning. again it is logged somewhere paper comp etc. how much the dealer spent on the car then offer them 100-500 profit. that will be a good deal. oh and beware in finance they can easily make money from you in finance warranty, alarms, this that blah blah blah....

or look for ad cars dealers look to break even on ad cars just to get rid off them.

hope this helps.

djPlayboy

I agree with ya on this, when i bought my max(2k bought in 2k1) the dealer price on the window was 22k and the milage was 21k, i just said that 22k was a bit high on a program car and you could get a brand new 2k1 for around that price and we did some talking and I got them down to 16k plus they gave me 4k on a trade in.

SWEETSOUND2001

iTrader: (30)

Take the KBB trade-in value, and subtract about $1500-2000. That will be about the amount the dealer paid for the car at the auction or took it in as a trade. Then add about $1200 on average for repairs and reconditioning so you'll get a rough idea of what they paid for the car. Also figure that anything less than a $500 profit is not worth it for the dealer for the time spent, etc.

Hope this helps.

99Maxima5sp

everything thats been said so far is pretty good, i would follow it. Also, make sure your a good negotiator, that helps alot too. Also, a big tip could be to look for the youngest worst dressed salesman, they are usually the starters and will do anything to sell a car, so they will usually go down on the price...when you get those older veterans, they dont care to much if you walk out. Also, dont listen to any dealer tell you you cant get a car for the price you demand. I wanted to spend NO MORE than 10Gs on a 99 maxima, went to a dealership when i was browsing around (at a 2000 Grand Am GT Coupe) and the dealer told me i would never find a deal like that (actually, about 3 did, lol). Needless to say, 2 days later when he called me back, i told him i found the deal that I wanted and for him to have a nice day...



eric

Frank Fontaine

Don't assume that there is a concrete number such as $500. It depends. Are we talking a new Merc that has 493 hp and 590 ft-lbs torque? Then get ready to pay thousands over list. Or are we talking about a Maxima? When I bought mine I got a song and dance about how they're only making $200 and they usually rob the avg buyer by no less than the holdback plus a few hundred, and they wanted a chance to make back some money by me agreeing to rustproofing. I told them no way and was ready to call it off even after we agreed to 6+ off list. Every case is different. Yes, once you go into holdback each dealer is gonna be different. Some would rather tell you to take a walk than sell a car for $200 profit because they know they're is a su**** born every minute. Others would rather be done with it than carry the sorry car another month. Again, if you're buying a Honda, Toyota, or German car, none of this applies, they will not give you much leeway. But a Nissan, yes they will. General rule with Nissans is you can get into their holdback even though they scream highway robbery--that means never pay more than invoice. The question is how much further you can push it below invoice.

[maxi-overdose]

iTrader: (3)

what I did was...I called each dealer (there are about 7 dealers in the Bay Area). I told them what color and trim I want and asked if it is in stock. If yes, then I told me I will pay no more than invoice price. A lot of them accepted it and some just kept asking me to come to the dealer. For those, I just ignore them.

Once I go to the dealer...I get a price quote from a dealer and then bring that price to another dealer and see if they are willing to beat it. Finally, I got $3300 off MSRP plus some gifts.

Maxima is a popular sedan....it is not like getting a G35 coupe. It shouldnt be that hard to bargain...esp during the end of summer.

I30tMikeD

iTrader: (8)

The salesmen don't have much to do with the selling price. The sales manager is the one who OK's any deal.

You want to **** off a salesman, when you make an offer on a car and the salesman says "I'll be right back, I am going to talk to my sales manager". Say "sure", and follow him back to the sales managers office. They will try and not let you. Be like "what are you trying to hide". What they do is talk about how much of a sucker you look like and decided on how to play you.

joaquink

Get pricing information from www.edmunds.com, www.kbb.com, your local newspaper, www.autotrader.com and maybe even a place like www.classifieds2000.com.
With this, you'll have a fair assessment of the value of the car. The price the dealer has on the window or on their piece of paper is irrelevant to how much you should/want to pay. You need to determine your willingness to buy and make that a firm number in your mind.

There is nothing magic about the process. Negotiate from a principled dollar amount for the vehicle and make them justify why it should be more. If they come back with a number greater than your preset point of willing to buy, walk out. I highly recommend that you not try to work this from top down. It will seem like you're getting a good deal because they're taking $3K off the sticker price, which makes it seem like they're giving you $3K. If sticker is 14,000 and you work them down to 11,000 you feel like you did well. However, if your information supports a price point of 10,000 and you offer 9,000, eventually settling at say 9,500 or 10,000 isn't that a better deal?

Now get to work and do your due diligence.

erty67

iTrader: (104)

Tell the dealer what you want to pay for the car and tell him that's all you can do. He'll have to take it or leave it. If he hesitates then I use my favorite saying, "Think of it this way...You can make money today, or another dealer will. You sure that is the best you can do???" Sure I've had to walk away from some cars, but I've bought some cheap that way too.

Frank Fontaine

You really pretty much summed it up! It's all about the buyer. You have to be fully prepared to accept that you may not be purchasing a car that afternoon. Is it really so bad? Do you want the car so badly that you don't mind paying an extra $1000 maybe over 36 months (about $30 more per month times 36) so you can get it today?

Every situation is different. If you don't care that much about how much the car costs, then why later on care about regular vs. super unleaded, if your brake pads cost $65 or $48, if the tires are $135 or $248, etc.? some people are the same way about houses--they "must have" a house so they go into a bidding war, pay 15% over the asking price, and lose their shirts if they have to relocate because they paid 30% more than the comps for that neighborhood.

Buying a car is just like gambling--use your head!!

Wasim521

iTrader: (4)

I don't know if this works often, but it did for me...

Go when it's near closing time and start dealing...When the dealership is closed and your still sitting there talking the salesman will be in an itch to go home, but he'll also be willing to come down in price a bit to ****** that last sale of the day. Try it, you might save a little or a lot. Good luck.