so i test drove an 03 CL-S 6spd and a 02 max se 6spd
decided im goin with mah max, these cars are awesome

so im done driving and the salesdood tries to close me, and im like ok but we gotta work out this price, your price is ridiculous

here is the deal:
2002 6spd max se (spoiler, leather, sunroof)
52k mi, 2 new tires and 2 not so new tires (and not even matching brands)
all new breaks, new rear rotors, shaved front rotors

the car was really clean, interior was great, wheels werent scratced, but i felt like they kinda half assed some of the wearables replacements

here is the next deal:
this cars wholesale (i got #s from my connect) is 13,500 with this mileage
and im expecting a retail of 15,900.

they trying to sell for 17,800 and 1200 for a 3 yr warranty and 2600 for my 95 gle

so we go back and forth a bit and we end up with
3000 for my 95 gle trade-in
18,400 for the max before tax and tags With a 3 year warranty (covers everything)

i told him 16,200 and i aint budgin... and he was like no, and let me walk

i cant believe it i wanted this car so bad and they are totally screwing me on price, but i was strong and patient, and walked out

you guys agree right?

classic quotes:
salesman: "why dont we both sleep on it"
me: "i aint got nothin to sleep on, i did my research and im ready to go"

salesman: "well i dunno who your friend is"
me: "hes a mercedes salesman in arizona and his #s are to the T correct"

salesman: "if we get any more maxs ill give u a call"
me: "dont bother, if you are gonna overcharge me for this you'll overcharge for anything"

last quote:
me: "you're ripping me apart here with this price, i feel like im getting dragged outside and beaten"

so thats how it went down...

 

hey bro it seems like your wholesale price is a little on the low side like about 2 grand minimum. also if you think ur getting screwd on a deal you will more then likely not be satisfied with any deal. Fair price for that car pretty close to 17,000 thas a rair car you gotta keep that in mind.
oh yeah sell your trade on your own, tell them u have NO money down... and you have about 300 worth of profit in the warranty.. dont get anyting other then nissan platnum warranty.
reason u wanna tell them u have no money down is because the extra money they get out of u is usually pure profit, and banks put a cap on how much u can be loaned out... like 110% of wholesale book of car.
well good luck with ur car deal.

 

That price is kinda iffy for an 03 with that mileage, especially considering the condition you described, much less an 02. Sounds like the guy was trying to up his commission or was just plain stupid. But dealers know that if they have a 6-speed, it will sell. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but someone will come in and pick it up for the price they are asking with minimal haggling.

Sounds a lot like the Honda dealership near me. Won't budge more than $500 off the price of their cars even when you show them the KBB, NADA, Edmunds, etc. quotes because they know someone will come in and buy that car for the price they want.

It would seem that with the info available to the average consumer these days, dealerships would stop trying to make a mint off every person who walked in and just make an average of $X off each car. I've done a ton of reading and research on thes subject so I've heard the arguments on both sides and I am still amazed at some things I hear. But, I digress.

I'm with you on standing your ground. If you don't, you will walk out of there a lot poorer than you should. Maybe if you "sleep on it" you will feel better about it. I'd call that particular salesman back tomorrow about 6 pm or so and offer him your same deal on the car. If he's not made a sale all day you'd be surprised how willing to deal with you he can be.

Good luck!!!!

 

Barc,

he seemed pretty tight on the price, im not going to call him because he probably thinks he "has" me, if he wants to call me thats fine

plus the warranty im buying is a "scott honda" warranty, it isnt nissan or anything so there is no "platnum" or whatever

i heard people on this forum getting the same car with less mileage for 17k a couple months ago, i shouldnt be paying more than 17k now especially when tires dont match and they half assed the rotor job

i'll keep shopping around, i saw 02s goin for less than 17 as well but they were already sold

my time will come

 

Just keep looking. I've said it before but I waited 6 months before mine found me. And I had almost bought a fully loaded 04 SE on the day my dealer found the one I currently have! I am serious! When I was about to give up and give in to my wife's logic of "you'll never find one like you want or if you do it won't have X, Y, Z" and test drove a 3rd 6th gen (after almost giving into the 350Z demon in my head more than once but being smart and reading about all the front tire problems along with misc other problems they seem to have and telling myself I don't need a car full of problems) my dealer smiled and said his buyer had bought one 5 minutes before like I had wanted; while I was on the test drive! So it just goes to show, don't give up until YOU want to!

 

what kills me is this car is dirt cheap for me, at low 18gs for a 3 yr warranty is butter, i can afford it no problem
but i checked the tradein on this car and its 12,000!!! wtf loses 6 grand when i drive off lot, thats ridiculous

as cool as the car is i just cant lose value like that it willl come back to haunt me later

 

Personally I would not get the warranty. The Maxima is bulletproof. You've only got minor issues with the tires and brakes. The dealer has a good car at a good price. Just call the dealer in a few days and see what happens. It's slow for them in the winter anyway. They might just bite on your offer.

BTW, the dealer makes about 50% profit on the warranty.

 

hey, if you thought that was alot you should have seen my max that i just bought recently, i've been shopping around for about six months now and then i finally found a nice max...the dealer wanted like 19000 for an 03 six spd fully loaded except for navi, but i manage to haggle them down to 17000, they were mad at that but even more mad when i refuse to buy their warranty. i think i paid good money for it even if the trade in is alot less. but hey, once you have one of these max who in their right mind want to trade it in. these are rare cars, but hell of alot of fun to drive especially mine is with the hlsd, heated seats, and heated steering wheel with six cd indash cd changer

 

They can do better than that price they are offering you. This is why I don't buy used cars unless you are really getting a bargain (e.g like buying a car from a retired person who's car is in good shape and they are selling it really cheap). When I bought my car new from the stealership I paid $23,500 with 4 miles on it. That's a reduction from the $27,350 sticker price. I am sure you can get the Max you want much chaper.

 

I just bought an '02 Max SE with 34,000 miles on it from the dealership for $19,000. No pressure for a warranty either. I agree with Redstone in that I was not looking for a used car, but this was a one owner and owned by a 60 year old couple. I was shown all the service records (the previous owner had all required and recommended maintenance done at the dealership). I drove it, loved it, and bought it. My car is not a 6-speed (4-speed automatic, which usually makes the price a little higher). Of course, I am in a different region than you are. Just my $.02.

 

Time Will come, Mine did, when my buddy called the Subaru dealership because he new I was interested in maximas, and happened to find one at the Subaru Dealership, it happened to be a 2k1 Majestic Blue Nissan Maxima 20th Anniversary, He called and asked the dealership how much it was without my knowing any of this, so he did some research for me, as soon as they quoted over the phone my friend called me and explained to me what happened so as i went to go look at it, the 2nd day... I carfaxed it=clean, toook it and got it serviced by another mechanic and bargained and bought the max for $15,400 with 51,000 miles with and after tax and license.... sooo dont react too soon, because i was looking for all kinds of maxis, and happened to find one at the best price...reason for so cheap was they wanted to get rid of the max because it was taking up space for more subarus to be on the lot... New tires, Clean interior, Heated seats, body and paint was cleann... Im happpy to have this car.. I couldnt ask for more..... Except for perfomance Mods....

 

Wow sounds like tons of fun. I think around 17 would have been a good meeting point. I'm surprised he let you walk without even taking a little off his price. I bought my 02 with 12k for 18.5 six months ago. Just keep shopping around like everyone said, the max will find you.

 

If you really like the car you could drop the warranty to save a bit of cash. After that's deducted, tell them you'll pay their price if they install 4 new matching tires and replace the shaved rotors.

 

im not happy with the limited warranty theirs comes with, i know the maxima is bulletproof, but its been *driven* i mean 52000 miles is quite a bit for that year, so i dunno what kinda animal has been driving this

saving cash isnt really a priority here, i just want to pay a fair price


i did tell them about the tires and the couple dings on the paint
they said the dings could be removed, but they didnt do anything bout tires or rotors

 

That's because for michelins, your lookin at a grand for four tires. Rotors are a 100 for the front and another 100 for the rear minimum. Tell them to knock off 1200 and you'll buy it because these need to be replaced. my .02

 

Dealers just had a fantastic month in sales. One Lexus dealer around here sold 720 new and used cars... So, dealers are in the money real good. Also, you are shopping at the beginning of the month when they are looking to "knock heads off" If the car is still there by the end of the month, they will bend over for you instead of you for them. Also, how did they get the car? You can tell by looking at inventory sticker. They are red or orange. If it has a letter A or B in the #, they got it as a trade. In that case they may be really deep into it. My Maxima was 15K when I bought it with 30K miles on it 2 years ago. Unless you live in podunk you should get on the net and in between posting on Maxima.org shop the big dealers. Have you been on kbb.com to see what your car is worth? and retail for the new Max?

 

I think it's good that you passed on that deal. I got my 03 Auto SE this past summer with 13k miles, for $19K. So an 02, with 52K miles is not worth what they are asking. Just keep looking around like everyone else said.

 

When I bought my 02 Max 3 years ago, the salesman told me that they make more money on used cars than on new ones. I traded in my 92 and got $4K for it. The car sold 2 days later for $5200. If you want to get the car you want at the price you want, you have to keep playing hardball.

 

they got the car in 12/26 that was the end of the month... so what happened here?

it came in on a trade, single owner, he was from lansdale
my friend gets me free carfax reports and full vehicle history, i know everything


i live in philly that aint podunk
im only looking to buy from dealers
i've looked at kbb, their #s are inflated
i can get all the real numbers from my friend he can give me actual wholesale and trade in values for any car
that cars trade in value was 11/12k and they couldnt have put more than a 1000 into it so why are they trying to make 3-4gs off me its bullcrap

 

3 to 4 grand is about what most car dealers want to make (on average) on a used car that's less than 5 years old. That's not saying you should give it to them, though. But, as stated, they may be into the car for more than the wholesale but still... dealers ain't stoopid; they won't give if they can't take somewhere else. Keep looking. You will find the one you want at a reasonable price.

 

i found this place that has a policy of charging a grand up from wholesale cost, i hope they can get me a car

i have like 15 dealers and 10 other auto places looking for me

the next maxima that lands in the philadelphia area is MINE

this morning i got approved for an auto loan up to 25,000 with a 4.25% interest rate
i have so much bargaining power right now every dealer will have to *duck my sick*

 

LOL That is wishful thinking.

 

Car Max in my area Good luck


'04 Nissan Maxima SE 4D Sedan $26,998 Gold Automatic 6 7K Laurel
'04 Nissan Maxima SE 4D Sedan $22,998 White Automatic 6 23K White Marsh/Free Transfer
'04 Nissan Maxima SE 4D Sedan $23,998 Blue Automatic 6 7K White Marsh/Free Transfer
'03 Nissan Maxima SE 4D Sedan $19,998 Gray Automatic 6 23K Laurel
'03 Nissan Maxima SE 4D Sedan $18,599 Gold Automatic 6 29K Rockville/Free Transfer
'02 Nissan Maxima SE 4D Sedan $16,599 Silver Automatic 6 45K Dulles/Free Transfer
'02 Nissan Maxima GLE 4D Sedan $17,998 Silver Automatic 6 55K Laurel
'02 Nissan Maxima GLE 4D Sedan $18,998 Blue Automatic 6 32K Rockville/Free Transfer
'02 Nissan Maxima SE 4D Sedan $16,998 Silver Manual 6 55K White Marsh/Free Transfer
'02 Nissan Maxima SE 4D Sedan $18,998 Silver Automatic 6 20K White Marsh/Free Transfer

 

i did check carmax.com as per someones recomendation in a previous thread, and they are a bit far, remember im from philly

my backup plan is that there are prolly a ton of these in NYC, if i can get a list of like 5 or 6 dealers that have em ill take a day trip to NYC and make sure i leave with a car

 

I just bought an 02 SE 6SPD with 55K miles on it. My brother works for the dealership (he's a mechanic) that took it in trade. I bought it for $15,200, and the car is mint. Hope this helps.

 

my best friend is a car dealer... he makes his money off of used cars... 17,xxx with a warranty is not TOO bad... never trade in your car if it is that old!!!! they will kill you on it. if they have it in trade, chances are they have a good amount of money in the car. try and see how ong they have had the car. if it as been more then 20+ days throw that in there face!! dealers hate to cars sit for that long. if you have a friend who is a mechanic... have him look over the whole car and nit pick it! GET THE EXTENDED WARRANTY!!! mine has already paid itself off and still has 20,000 miles to go.

you can throw kbb and edmunds #'s at dealers all day and they dont care... they care about how much $ they have in the car. if i were you i would have friends "look" at the car and walk out about the price... everyone you know!! and they may give up and call you. for now post you car to sell privatly. when my GF was getting a new car the dealer offered her $800 for it, she sold it in 2days for $3,000....

 

i got them to agree to 3000 for my trade in, which is fine with me, my car needs quite a bit of work and i dont want to deal with a private sale, but i will if i have to, the real value of my car is 2700-3000

as far as KBB i didnt try to use that number at all, they tried to use the number on me and i told him those numbers are so inflated they have no equity in my mind

what i shoulda said, and it didnt cross my mind, was hey KBB says this cars tradein is 12k, you expect me to lose 5k on it when i walk out of here, obviously that isnt fair

but then again i didnt think of that, they can keep their stupid maxima ill find another one

i like the friend walk out idea, thats pretty neat, maybe ill try that somtime