Thats what I dont get the prices for maximas dropped so much since this april 2004 business and the body style change before the 5 five years has really hurt the resale value because a 2002 fully loaded at $16,500 6 speed. This is a NISSAN maxima 6 cylinder 255hp a year and half old. please what the blank is going on here this is not a hooptie honda or toyota none of those cars come close Maxima's has always given you the most bang for the dollar. I really dont know whats happening. Im trying to sell my 6speed with 7K miles and I gotten one response. I put it at $21 and change to nego down and nothing. This is really making me rethink my next purchase would be definetly a G35 Infinite coupe or 4 dr. There still holding there value. Maximas??????? super sweet car but Im not going to sell like if it was a civic or corrolla hell no........we still are in 2003 maybe I got hit in the head and its really 2005 or something????

 

i wont be buying a nissan ever again.

 

It sucks but it's not the Maxima, it's everywhere. The market is flooded with used cars and economy is not so great. You have to consider variables to why it's low. It's no Mercedes Benz

 

The only thing I can think of is that people are idiots. I don't see why Nissans don't have as high as resale value as Honda. Our engine's better, Vq at least and honda transmissions are made of ****ing wafers. I really don't care though as my max is mine til I drive it off a cliff...

 

It all depends on where you live, I sell cars in Mass, Maximas are still strong wholesale, and BMW and Benz lose big, especially for higher mileage ones.

 

Well you still are getting more than an american car would fetch. I like my maxima better than any honda I have ever owned. It accually feels like a real car. Nick

 

16,500 my a$$. that car is worth well over 20 grand. i myself paid 13 grand for my 98 se with 24k miles 3 months ago. fully loaded

 

going for infiniti next.

 

Mmm, G35 looks nice, it should be here soon in NZ and Aus with the Skyline name

 

I would get Infiniti over nissan JUST BECAUSE Infiniti dealers are so much better than Nissan.

I wont be happy for what I could sell my car for, so I plan to mod it nicely and perhaps even get a 350Z or early 90's NSX to drive on the weekends one day.

Brickyard 350z next to a modded Rosewood Max . .. . perfection.

 

According to my Fortune magazine, even Toyota/Lexus are suffering from lower resale due to the flooded used car market. I believe Toyota/Lexus is seeing about 56% resale on a 3-year old model. BMW/Benz is seeing about 52-53% after 3 years. Average for other Japanese imports is about 54% and domestics are about 51%. In a nutshell, the Nissan Maxima is doing no worse than any other make.

As for the guy paying 13K for the 98, yikes!!! I know it only has 24K miles, but you could have gotten a low mileage 2000-2001 for 13K. There are two very low mileage 6 speed 2K2 Maximas within 100 miles of KC going for about 17K.


Dave

 

I would like to add that my first maxima in 1997 a 1997 SE, another black 1997 gle, then a 1998 green fully loaded SE traded in to now a 2003 SE all stick except for 1998 which had to get traded in automatic wasnt for me. So Ive been with nissan for a while oh even an 1987 max when times were rough. But I got really turned off with the 2004 and with the attention the altima got last year and the 2004 trying to copy an altima. They should of stuck with what works since 1984 there Flagship automobile the Maxima. Nissan has gone a little off wack in that department the altima is the economical I dont want a super sweet sport sedan type of buyer. I remember the commercial of the stockbrokers asking if they can get a ride to the shareholder's meeting. It lost that but hopefully will come back in the next body update. Point being I will wait to see what comes next....till then youll see me in G35 coupe.

 

I think Nissans lease tactics of the late 90's and very early 2000's havent helped the used values of Maximas.

When I leased a 2000 Max in Jan 2000, it MSRP'ed at $28,600, yet I leased it for $351 a month for 36 months / 36k miles. The reason the payment was so low was that they set the residual on the car at 61%!

 

you are so right,
my friend just got 97se 5-speed for 4k, with ~100k, looks like new, very nice.
i am going same way this summer, should be cheaper by then.
for buyer its great but opposite for the seller.

 

I paid $16,000 for my 2k2. That was 6 months ago and it had a little over 20k on it. I'd say your car is worth at least $18,000 or so. This the LAST Nissan I will ever own. Its such a joke that you can buy their flag ship car for less than half price and the car isnt even 2 years old.

 

Daveb is correct also your car had over 20k on it for a 1 year old car which is way above what they call average for 1 year or so of driving so you take a hit their. Also keep in mind that new cars take their biggest depriciation hits in the 1st 3 years, I am seeing TLS's and Camry's selling for way less than you would think also.

 

There's '99 loaded SE-L 5-speed with 19k miles going for $13988 here, which is below kbb, nada, edmunds.
Everyone is telling me $12k tops. Not sure if a dealer would drop $2k on such a rare car.

 

I had to drive 4hrs to chicage to get my Maxima, stealerships were to high here. The one had a 2k2 - previously a rentacar (smoked in, no leather ect.) for 19,000. Then he said they had a new 2k3 for 3,000 more w/ .9%. Anyhow prices suck in michigan they are too high.

 

Is it a Crimson Blaze (Red) SE-L? . .. if so, I personally would pay extra for it.

 

Nissan resale is why I would have a hard time considering a "new" Nissan. They're still awesome deals used.

 

i have some-one trying to buy my car with all the mods, i asked $12,500 for the car. car has 53k mls on it. just waiting to see if he can get the loan.

i don't think i will be getting another max.

 

Sorry, it's black on black.

 

That depends on how long you generally keep a car. I ran my first car for 9+ years so resale wasn't a factor. I've had my 97 for 6.5 and just see it as a sunk cost. If I were someone who traded in every 2 or 3 years, it would be more of a factor but doesn't it all pretty much level out after 6 or 7 years? I think it's also a matter of the total value, which includes how much you enjoy driving it, how often it's repaired over the life of the car, and so on. I'm much happier with a 97 Maxima that has lost a lot of resale value than I would have been with a 97 Whatever that held it's value better.

 

You are wrong. A 99 323i, bottom-of-the-line BMW E46 can rarely be had for less than 20k retail. Lose big when the thing was about 31k new 5 1/2 years ago? AYFKM?

 

What I'm thinking is this....I got my 98 new with every option except wind deflector. Listed for 29.4k, bought for under 22.5. Did I get ripped-off in retrospect? Yes, because I only have 85k and the car is worth less than 8 grand. But I did not have enough money and at the time having come out of grad school, even 22k was overextending myself. Lucky I got a decent job and paid it off in under 36 mos.

Your 7 yr. time horizon is right on the money--at this point, the value of the car is so low, why bother trading it in? Just keep it and buy the next car with whatever downpay you feel comfortable with. The Max should be able to go another 50k without anything major, so just keep it, it ain't worth giving it up for 7500. As original owners, we know the complete histories and how these cars were babied. Say I want the new 3-Series when it comes out? I've got 18 months to save up for the downpay. If I can squirrel away about 1k a month until then, I'd probably be looking at a $820/mo. payment on a 36 mo. loan. Not pretty at all. But the thing is if I do more than 1k/mo., I can't stick to my plan of making 2 extra mortgage pymts. per year. These are the realities of buying an entry-level BMW. Can you now see why so many people live large and drive a Maxima?? It's like people who rent apartments for a long time because they don't have the downpay and closing costs. But you don't stay at the bottom forever, you climb your way up.

 

I have a friend in the car business that I may get to sell my Max. It's an '03 with all options but Meridian and Traction Control with 21k on it. He told me he could buy my car at an auction for $18-18500 and that I MIGHT be able to get $21k for it retail. Sadly, he's right. He also told me the hardest used car to sell is a Honda because for what they go for, you can buy a new one. No more Nissans for me.

 

people should look into resale values before spending so much on a new car if they are just going to sell it less than a year later.

after i graduate, when i can finally buy myself a new car, if i decide to go new, i'd prolly still go used, i'm going to make sure it's a car i'm going to want to keep for years and years. why spend so much money to lose it?? it's an investment, a bad one unless you plan on keeping it for the long run.

 

Why would one expect the 3-year-ago MKT price of a new car to influence the current MKT price of the now 3 year old used car? The only information relevant to a potential car buyer is: current new car choices and and current used car choices.

 

I just watched an auction end for a 2K3 Maxima SE that was fully loaded 6-speed munus the nav, had 5000 miles on it and the auciton ended at $21,500, this car was that dark blue color that was very attractive. It had the LSD, meridian package, leather. I have never bought a brand new car from a dealer before and unless I won the lottery, dont' plan to go to a dealer for a brand new car.
I always go used and from a private party if I can. It's just not worth it to lose all that money because you have to have that new car smell. It's cool to see all these nice new performance cars coming out now a days because I know that someday, I will be able to buy that STI, 350Z or Maxima SE for half or less than what they sold for brand new. Turbo cars have even worse re-sale value, The new Neon SRT-4 will probably retail for 8-10 grand in the next 2 years because Dodge has one of the worst resale values ever! I am still waiting for my fully loaded 2k2 or 2k3 fully loaded Maxima SE 6 speed to find its way to me for between 10-14K in the next couple years so that I would get one.

So its not the question of affording a car, its the question to WANTING to afford one!

 

_________________________________________________
°¨°º©[SuperCharged 2K1 5SPD Maxima GLE]©º°¨°
.::R.I.P. 7/26/03 - WRX STI/EVO VIII Coming Soon...::.
PMPN' 1994 Miata 5Spd - Turbo'd

 

In my estimation, best value or lowest cost for owning a car is when you buy between 2 and 4 years old, and resell between 7 and 8 years old.

That being said, emotions often take over rationale wisdom thinking. In my motorist life, so far I bought 6 cars brand new and only 2 used. What can you do !

 

That does work for Nissan, but it DOES NOT work for BMW, Audi, MB, Lexus, Honda...Toyota a little because they have slipped in the last couple of years. Camry is a great value these days, and made in KY not MS! If you do keep a car more than 5 and closer to 7, even with Maxima the resale becomes less of an issue. Let's be honest, we all love cars, and there is a steep price to pay to get a new one.