I was curious what everyone thinks is going to happen to the resale value of the gen 5 max's. Resale value is linked directly to desirablity, so I figure there are two scenarios. One is that the new Altimas and later the new Maximas become very popular, flooding the market with the new cars and making the Max's value (hence desirability) less. Also with that scenario, current gen 5 owners will trade in, flooding the gen 5 used market. The other is that people will come to see Nissan as a high quality, performance based cars, the new Altimas and Max's might be too expensive, so Max's will become desirable for used car buyers.

Maybe I am analyzing this too much...

 

Well, let's hope that people go for the quality thing and place our 5th Gens on the desireable list... I personally am not very pleased with Nissan at the fact that my car (the highly publicized "Flagship") might be worth less now. As someone said in the one of Altima threads, I think I will be going European next time.

 

I think the step up in the altima will make the 5th gen cars "classic's" to car enthusiast, thus boosting resale value over the long haul. The 5th Gens will be the last of the GREAT maxima 4dsc breed with the 2003 supposedly having the bigger engine and lenght and moving up to be quite frankly more stodgy. The 1st gen v-6 altima will go through its growing pains and eventually will become the NEXT great 4dsc, BUT I think 5th geners have a great investment over the long haul

 

If the maxima does anything like the old ones did, they will have pretty crappy resale value.

 

I sure do wish I had leased my 5th gen. According to all that I have read, Nissan is going to begin changing up their models much more frequently so that the designs always stay fresh. Nissan may well become a car with unpredictable future value, and therefore an unsafe 'buy'.

But what a great company for the three year lease! Hopefully the residuals are maintained.

 

5th Gens will only be a classic to Maxima enthusiasts. The rest of America will say "Why in the hell would I buy a used 222hp midsize Maxima when I can buy a new 240hp midsize Altima for about the same price?"

Resale is bad enough, and this is certainly not gonna help. The only winners that will come out of this are those who leased their Maxima and turn it in for another Nissan. The next best winners would be those that purchased for no more than invoice at the best finance rate that was available at the time of purchase.

I didn't think those early reports and rumors were true about the Altima because I couldn't believe Nissan would do it, thus slapping us 2000-1 5th gen. owners in the face!

 

I don't know why some of us here are so upset about how the new Altima affects our Maxima ownership experience.

It's kind of like that syndrome we all go through when buying a new computer. You buy it, you're happy that it's "the best," and then three months later something even better comes along, and you instantly say that 'I should have waited' or 'now mine is worthless.'

Most of the folks here probably bought their Maximas because it was what they wanted at the time and it was the best car for them. The car will still be a great one no matter what. Even if my 2001 SE suddenly dropped in value to one cent because of the Altima, I wouldn't care because I still love it and it does what I need it to do for me. I plan on keeping her for (hopefully) many, many fun-filled years before even thinking of going onto something else, and I would think that most of us feel the same way.

The car's personal value to me is worth a LOT more than its eventual resale value.

 

The Maxima is a totally different catagory than an Altima so it will not affect the resale value at all. The Altima is considered an alternative to those who want a Max but for financial reasons have to settle for the Altima. Do you think that the new ClK or SLK cabriolet had an adverse affect on the sales of the 500 or 600SL roadsters? I think not, this is the same sort of scenario. There are two types of buyers those who buy Maximas(enthusiast) and those who don't. Which one are you?

 

The car's personal value to me is worth a LOT more than its eventual resale value. [/B][/QUOTE]

Spoken like a true enthusiast! You said it well my friend

 

You are a Genius!

 

Good point. Definitely a Max enthusiast.

 

The max and the alty are two different cars. Just cause they're made by the same mfgr doesn't make one worth any less. I mean is the Camaro resale brought down by Corvette? Even if the Camaro leapfrogged the Corvette in performance, it shouldn't make existing Corvettes worth any less. Besides, how much does the general public pay attention to such details?

 

Punkdork, you're right. The Maxima has already established itself as the flagship of Nissan; it still will be when the 2002 comes out. To keep up with the competition they have to upgrade the Altima eventually; and now it seems like it's a horsepower race.

Look at the TL-S. Lexus won't let Acura steal it's thunder so they have to upgrade the ES300's HP rating to exceed or equal the Acura's. The same goes for the upcoming I30.

For right now, it seems the new Altima looks and feels more upscale than the current Maxima. In 6 month's time (or when the new Max's come out) the Max will distance itself from Altima. I'm not sure if resale values will change, but a Maxima is a Maxima regardless if an Altima makes 500hp and comes with AWD.