thinking of buying an '04 Maxima, but would like to hear why would people sell their cars after one year?? i guess there are some that change cars every year, but there are not that many of those....i'd figure majority should keep their for about 3 years or so, at the least...
any reason other than it's been wrecked and is now for sale????
thanks

i know more people personally who just change cars yearly... quite few actually...

some people gotta have the new new...

theyre running away from smog, my friend did this for a few years he says its a hassle to smog new cars?

can you get a 1 year lease? maybe they are doing that....or maybe just maybe the car was a demo and is now disguised as a used car

Actually, nissan usually sells the new year's model starting in may of the prior year.

example: my 95 max was made in may of 94. I bought it of lease.

So that 04 car could have been sold in may or june of 03 and just gone off a 2 year lease.

those people only want to drive new cars

This is the most likely scenario.

Sometimes, people buy a car that is over their head, then trade it back in, or work out some kind of deal with the bank/dealership that gives the car back but doesn't screw up their credit. I bought a car that was 1 year old and had 10k on it. The previous owner couldn't afford it and the dealership ended up with it back. at least that's what the sales manager said.

I think getting a 1 or 2 year old car smogged costs considerably less than buying a new car. Unless you heavily mod it, a car that new will breeze through. Just the license and registration fees will be more than the smog certification.

Maybe they finally realized how hideous the 6th gen is, and sold it before it was too late.

I got my 5th gen (2kSE in Nov '99), people were saying the same thing about it. Now on to 6th gen, people are still saying the same thing about it.

my dad bought a TL 2004 at an auction with every single option including navi and 30,000mi(all highwayed from previous owner was some sort of buisness man, we even met the guy) for 22k and its MINT and the day before he was about to buy a brand new TL with no navi and limited options for 35k

Divorce
Lost job then repo man comes knocking
Job promotion so trade in for a larger better car
Family expanding due to wife being pregnant
Etc, etc.

Should I continue?

I would tend to agree with what you say, people overextend themselves and get out. It's a stroke of marketing genius to get a car owner to believe that they will always have a payment, and if that payment is too large, that they can just drive the Maxima back and drive away with a brand-new Altima and save $39/mo.! But as we can observe, even all those tactics are starting to fail with GM and Ford. Inventories are piling up, so they claim to give employee discounts to people with no credit. Looks like the China superpower is getting even closer than ever. They revalue the Yuan and we can say goodbye to the $299 Dell Computer!

Car dealers like many other service-based businesses now must rely on churn to make their money, i.e. sell you a new car, take that car back from you, make a profit on the used car, and sell you another new car. And the ugly cycle repeats.....

In Washington, the first 5 years are smog testing free, then every other year.

Honestly most new cars shouldn't have an issue passing a smog test.

hmmm... why do people get a new car after 1 year...
Money?
Desire to be the first to have it?
They get bored?
Not a huge depreciation hit?

when you're rich you can buy anything.

Let's see, money, divorce, repo, bankruptcy, have to have the latest and greatest, dissatisfaction with the car, larger families, car was wreaked than fixed?? , gambling debts to pay off, lost license to drive, wife wanted a Honda Civic, dude got OFFed, dealer demo, boredom, get out of a bad lease or $uck A$$ finance rate, people with bucks do it "BECAUSE THEY CAN",can't get laid in the back seat of an Elite package due to the center console, Job promotion or demotion "lifestyle change", and maybe a thousand other reasons. But in NYC, it was probably a wreak...

Could be a rental car.....

nothin like shuffling cars from a year-to-year basis !

I know people who get very short leases to keep themselves in new rides as often as possible.

Stay away from an early-production (spring of 2003) 6th Gen! There have been numerous problems with them that are finally being straightened out with the 05s, but transmission and shimmy problems still persist.

People who get new cars every year are either independently wealthy or just plain stupid. There is no middle ground as the cost is astronomical, starting the day the new car is driven off the lot.

I will never ever buy a brand new car again. This is my first and last. Next time, I will look for a low mileage used car. Why should I take the depreciation hit if there are so many suckers out there that are willing to do that for me?

I hear you. I bought my 95SE through an autobroker brand new as I needed a new car. It was a model change and I didn't want a 3rd Gen at the time.

Let someone else take the big hit on depreciation. You're probably better off looking for a low-mileage 2 or 3 year old car that has a proven track record.

I agree 200%.

This almost happened to someone I was helping to buy a car. She found a nice 2004 Mazda6 at a Nissan dealership with 30k miles on it. We were all ready to finialize it until I ran a CarFax on it and it showed the previous owner was a car rental company. She did get her deposit back without any problem (honestly, for the price we were getting it for, they could have sold it for 1-2K more to others) and the sales guy said it was actually a leased car and that's how leased cars are shown on sales recrods

Oh, I asked why the guy traded in this practically new Mazda: seems he wanted a 2005 Maxima

There are many reasons people sell their car after 1 year.

Change of family needs, perhaps someone does not need a 4 door anymore, and wants to get a sporty car, or even a bigger car or SUV.

Cant afford to continue to make the payments. Or someone decides the money would be better spent on the house or child (I see this alot).

Maybe the person got a nice bonus check, or promotion at his / her job, and wants to buy a nicer car.


Who knows? whatever the reason is; the people in the market for buying cars are winning, I wouldnt pay $28000 for a new Maxima when I can get a slightly used one for $23000 (just an example, I dont know the market value of the 6th gens). Some people like to know that they have an unmolested, fresh out of the factory car with 0000001 on the odometer. I figure, Im going to drive it hard anyway, so what do I care if some 35yr old woman drove the car for 10,000 miles before me?

some people like to always have a new car. i'll be selling my 2005 evo in about a year and a half to buy the 07 m3. I'll prob lease that though.

That's a good investment and sound business decision, lol!

This is kind of funny, because in 95 I bought a 3rd gen. Since they came out with a new body style, the older style became less desireable. Personally, I like the 3rd gen body style better (that's why I bought another one) so I got a very good deal.

my best friend averages a new car every five months... he just has to always have something new and different.

i know a guy that lives in texas that blows through new cars

my friends parents both buy new cars about every six months.... lately they have been stickin to nissan/infiniti so i dont mind at all. I get to drive them all!

When I get a better job and paid more I could see myself trading the car in early...I mean, like everyoone said some like the newest things...maybe he got the 6th gen then the M45 came out and he got a raise? Sounds good to me

i had my 04 max for 9 months. i had no problems with it at all. i loved that car. but things change and the need for a truck out grew my need to go fast. so i traded it in and got an 05 titan

From personal experience, I've done it...

Back in '02 my wife and I bought a wrx and a gti 1.8T, brand new. We ended up selling both due to a change of priorities... I did a "cost of ownership" analysis and realized that even getting out after a year and taking the hit, I'd be better off with 5 to 8 year old cars. Just decided to order the finances a little more towards the future and give up the new car smell. Plus i don't feel as guilty driving an older car hard, if it breaks (say, from drag racing which might not be covered under warranty) its usually cheaper to fix (used parts are more available).

some people keep up with the Jones'. or just love debt.

As far as you 04 search goes, visit the forum and make sure they didn't sell it b/c of the infamous shimmy. 04 sales started in March.

personally, i bought this car to not worry about fixing a car anymore and to last decades. 4 more years to pay it off and it better last at least 10 after that.

Montana has a huge tax and license fee... but if you buy new it's lowered.

I could see myself doing it mainly for a good daily driven car. If I did a 2 year lease over and over again, it'd always be under warranty, never get that old, and I could beat on it and not worry about problems down the road.

I know people that do it, and I can see why, Its nice having the newer features on cars and if its a daily driven car, you might want to enjoy them. As for a fun weekend/project/etc car, I'll stick with used cars, cause most likely, it'll be a car that will get messed up somehow.

That's a pretty good attitude, because if you keep a car 10 years, for the most case you make the depreciation factor irrelevant.

We've all heard that suggestion to pay things with cash, only because we're less likely to spend on frivilous things when we pay with cash as opposed to credit. But that's only a mental thing. Credit cards now kick-back 5% when you use them, so paying cash is like throwing away 5%. It's just that we must force ourselves to not carry a balance. That's very harmful imho.

The depreciation on a Maxima in year 1 is $7129 (by year 4 it's down to $1956). Who in their right mind would pay that much money to drive a Maxima for 1 year? That's more depreciation than a 2 yr. old 545i would suffer in year 3. So if you're going to burn up that much money driving a car for only a year, why not have a V8 BMW that's 2 yrs. old instead?

But it's not cash, that's why people do it. The dealer just gives a monthly figure amortized probably over 60 mos., and so the steep depreciation is ignored. Credit is key--you hit the nail on the head.

exactly.
people complain about depreciation. I could care less. Everyone knows that cars are about the worst investment possible. Unless you're into rare ones maybe. I bought this for me, not the next guy.

Your answer lies in the fact a lot of people have no concept of how to spend wisely and are predestined for debt. But I've been knida falling into the trap myself. I use credit cards for their 5% back and pay them off before interest. But with slow work, I've utilized the 0% interest card to obtain a hefty balance. I'm determined to pay it off by April though to prevent interest.

For myself, credit cards: make 5%, school loans: % refunded in taxes, car loan: 1.9%. I can't fathom losing $$ on interest and swapping cars every year.