Well, I'm not a Maxima owner yet. I've been watching the paper, just waiting for the right one. Well, today I saw one as follows:
2002 SE w/ leather, Bose, Navi, Auto...FULLY loaded. 27k miles. Asking 17,500, could have gotten it for less since it was at a dealer. Anyway, I called to make sure it was still there before I drove out there...it sold this morning. Same day it was put in the paper, it sold.
I was set on getting a Max today, so I went around to every dealer I could think of in town...They were all asking INSANE prices for higher mileage Maximas. For example, they were asking $18,500 for an SE with no options...just cloth, no Bose, etc. And it had 60k miles!! All the Maximas I found on lots today were similar stories. I sure hope the market for Maximas improves here...this is depressing.

 

Yea, you gotta jump on them pretty quick. I called a dealer by luck the morning they got my 6-speed in. I guess they had just posted it on the web as well.
I hauled my a$$ down there ASAP and ended up buying it.
While i was there negotiating and looking at the car, 5 people were calling about it.
Better luck next time!

 

Thanks! I don't quite expect to find another one with Navi, though. Oh well. I'd settle for leather and Bose. Navi was just the icing on the cake. I wasn't going to buy until December. However, when I saw that one, and the price they were asking, I had to jump on it. Too bad someone stole it from me

 

Yep your right the 02/03's don't tend to stay on delaers lots to long I have noticed as well, my dealer said the same thing himself. They are great bang for the buck lots of features for the price!

 

keep looking "MarkyD." patience. i was in the same situation, but i just kept my eyes open and i found it. just gotta jump on it ASAP. if you don't mind driving a distance, check out :
http://www.autotrader.com/

or even this guy. he's in Dallas/Plano. great guy and this is where i bought mine.
http://www.alttx.com/inventory.php

good luck

 

I've been visiting a few dealers looking for a car for my wife. Every Nissan
dealer I visit immediately wants to talk about my 02 SE as a trade-in. All
they see is the color (Blue), maybe the interior (leather), and the SE
badge. Doesn't seem to matter what transmission type (MT in my case).

This hasn't been my experience in the past as most dealers want to talk
about selling you a new car first. The guy this morning said that there is a
big demand for the 02/03 SE models as they are harder to find.

I can't tell if this means the cars are good deals (low retail) or people just
don't like the 6th generation look yet.

 

I think it's a little bit of both.

 

Don't forget another thing, the 5.5 wasn't a mass-produced car. 2002 & 2003 Maxes together as a number were just about as many as the 6th gens made in the first year.

 

Dont worry about the Bose as an option. The Bose system is crap . Spend a Grand on aftermarket stuff and you wont be dissapointed.

 

I'm surprised to hear that. What's crappy about it? The bose systems I've heard in Acuras and such have been really, really nice...what's different about this one?

 

Kevon is correct. The Bose system sounds pretty bad... My 95 maxima Bose system sounded way better than my 2003. When you turn the volume up the bass is practically non existent and the highs are over powering. There is also a lack of midrange. I agree with that Bose systems in allot of other cars are pretty good but in my opinion not this one.
Mike

 

Well, that's good info to have! I don't have to keep Bose as a requirement then.
What speakers would you all recommend for the Max? What sizes are the speakers on the non-bose system? What about the Bose system? How many speakers are there in the Bose/Non-Bose systems? I want to price out a complete system to see what I'm looking at...

 

Go check out the Maximas on cardomain and you'll get the idea about what aftermarket systems are most popular. However, the trick about a Max with Bose is that most likely it will have leather seats & auto climate control (even though there are some cloth/manual climate/Bose Maximas, but they're rare). A Max without Bose will therefore not come with leather and auto climate.

My own impressions are that a base '02 generally is not a problem to find for a tad under 15k (private party), loaded SEs/6spd/GLEs are selling for about 2 grand more. And of course here come the dealers who will price a trade-in at 20k....

 

You know, my brother in law got an '02 SE auto with cloth and no bose, 33k miles for $13,500 from a dealer in Tulsa. Granted, it had been on the lot for like 40 days and they really wanted to get rid of it. I just need to be patient, and I'm sure I'll find what I'm looking for...