1BADMAX

Ok here is my question. I'm currently stationed in South Korea until January 2004 and i'm trying to find out what you guys and girls would do in my situation. Because of the amount of money i'm saving here along with the bonus i'll get for reelinsting to stay in Korea. I will have about $20,000 saved up by the time I leave. Now at that time I will owe about $15,000 on my Maxima. So I would have more than enough money to pay my baby off, but I'm thinking off just trading her in on a 2003 or a 2004 Maxima. One down side I see to this is that for the past 6 years i've owned 5 different cars. By the time I leave Korea i'll have owned the Maxima for 2 1/2 yrs; it should have around 20,000 miles on it which isn't much. Now the other downside is that i'll have to start making payments again; of course they won't be half as much as i'm paying now. The goods side to this is that I would again have a brand new car, a more powerful engine and if I get it equipped the way I want it this car would have alot more extras then my car. So please give me your advise and of course maybe some other cars you would consider too. Also if you suggest another car make sure it's foreign because personally I think most, but not all American cars suck.

RussMaxManiac

With 20k, I would get something other than a Maxima personally. Audi, BMW, LEXUS.... Something more sporty, more powerful... Think of it this way, you can have a BMW M3, new one, for the same payment as the max after you put 20k down and what value you have on the Max.

AndyXXL

You are right, that's why European cars is the way to go. Don't buy another maxima, you'll get bored with it very soon.

1BADMAX

You took the words right out of my mouth; the BMW M3 is my dream car, but i've also thought of getting a 98 Toyota Supra TT. Only thing is I don't want to step back in years especially with a this happening in the year 2004; the Supra would be an old car; fast, but old.

2000 SE

maxfreak_98

Your choices are going to come down to your "personal preferences".
You say you have 20K saved but still will owe 15K, so that's only 5K of equity. You're going to be looking at payments that are considerably higher that you have now. How high do you want your payments to be? Do you plan on having a family in the next few years?? Will this be your everyday car? Lots of issues at hand.

Some cars I would consider besides the Max:
Infiniti G35 (32K +/-)
350Z (32K +/-)
Acura TL-S six speed (32K +/-)
BMW 330CI (40K +/-)
Mustang Cobra '03 390 hp (34K..naw, I wouldn't really consider a Ford)

Plenty of other choices out there in that price range.

Good luck!

AndyXXL

Go with choice #4

1BADMAX

Well actually if I payed my Maxima off and went to the dealership to trade it in i'm pretty sure I could get around $15,000 for it. So if I got a sweet deal on a 2003 Maxima or a 350ZX. Then I could possibly only owe around $10,000 to $12,000 on the new car. But, really I don't know if I would be willing to give up having no car payment just to have a newer car. Really as far as i'm conserned right now; I think that I would have to get one hell of a car to top my 2k1 Maxima. I know the Maxima's are not as luxuriuos as other car's or as fast, but to my knowledge not many cars have the power, the looks or the reliability of the Maxima. Besides i've got to stop trading at sometime or i'll never own a car and why not stop with ole 1BADMAX.

RussMaxManiac

True, and personally you will only get that car for its speed and easily get the amount of power as well. Personally, BMW you ride in style, everyone will look at you, you will have a 12-13 sec car, its just a sweet ride. New, nice warranty, chicks dig it! :P

RussMaxManiac

How you figure that? If he trades in his Maxima for a BMW, lets say, he puts 20k down, so if his max is worth 15k, he owes 15k, the whole 20k goes down on it. If not, the difference will be pulled out of the 20k which won't be more than 2k from 15k anyways.

lol

97ABMAX

Id say thats your best choice, it would be better not to have to pay anything at all on a great car than have to pay again on another great car. Pay it off and then save your money up again so when your 2K1 max gets old youll have enough to buy something new. Take Care

Frank Fontaine

IMHO the only way you can get out of a car before 4-5 years is to really not care about $. There's nothing wrong with it, if you have a lot there's nothing wrong with spending it. There are some people on this forum who average between 1 and 2 years between vehicles. They are after something and they get it by switching all the time. Their wallets get a good bang but again when you've got it, why not enjoy?

20k and you can buy a new 6-spd Matrix outright. We all know truthfully that these modern cars could probably go 8-10 years without any major troubles except maintenance. So my advice is if you give up your 2001 in less than 4-5 years, put ALOT of thought into the next vehicle so you can keep that one at least 48 months. It's really a personal decision based on how you feel. The math tells you not to do it, but we're not all mathemeticians, some are carpenters. Good luck.

Y2KMaxGXE-R

iTrader: (4)

why did you buy your car in the 1st place, if you knew you won't be using it? How much do you owe on it now? It can make sense to sell your car now even loosing $2-3,000, but you may offset this loss by what you save on car insurance you're paying while not using your car.

hokiemax

iTrader: (2)

good for you man!!! I wish I was there too for couple years......BTW, I'm korea, and I dont care whether I stay in korea or anywhere else, but koreans girls are pretty!!! of course there are lot of ugly ones too. kekekeke