Well, after a few weeks of decisions, I wound up staying in the family. I bought an '03 6MT HLSD Black on Black today, private party. 15k miles, $18k even. Standard options + sunroof, HLSD, mats, splash guards and the trunk mat. Cloth for now.

Car is sick kinds of fast to me. After driving a modded 4th gen, I can attest (as I'm sure many can) to the type of difference it is with a 3.5L. The throttle hesitation is a little wierd (I read there's a TSB to flash the ECU) but man, the car really jumps. What a blast to drive ... even stock!

Right away is a STS (fast-shift), Bluetooth (Parrot CK-3100), and Leather/Suede seating in Black and Grey (leatherseats.com). Then radio/GPS (6-12 months) ... then maybe suspension and wheels down the road, but I'm liking the soft stock feel for now.

UPDATE: PICS

 

congrats,

nice upgrade, I agree the electronic throttle definately has a different feel to it. But the car is ***** to the wall fast. sounds like leather is gonna be one of you mods eh ?

 

wow you sold that sexy **** 4th gen? man atleast the new car sounds bad! what kind of system you putting in bro?

 

Congrats on the new/used 5.5th gen! Welcome to the group

 

what ? no pics ? sounds great, now post up some pics, lol!

 

Shoulda kept the 4th gen I did ... any way check the 5th gen forums for the IM plenum thread, buy headers and Own many ... cheers. Congrats .. you made out like a bandit.

 

sounds like a good deal. low miles. enjoy and let the modding begne. and yeah this thread is worthless without pics. lol

 

Hell yea! Very nice! Welcome to the 6-speed club. BTW... there is no color better than black!

 

congrats, wish I could have seen the 98 before it was sold

 

by the way who did you sell the car to and how much for?

 

Congrats on the new car. Let's see some pics!

By the way, I know exactly what you are referring to when you mention the throttle hesitation. This was the first thing that I noticed (and really annoyed me) when I went to test drive some 6spd 02-03's. In the end I went with a 4th gen, cheaper and still relatively much quicker compared to my previous car (base model integra) !

 

congrats on your new car!

 

Oh congrats! i want the 03'!

 

My sentiments exactly.

Can't wait to see the pics..

 

Sold to someone local for $7700. He's not on the .org just yet. I told him about it, just not sure if he will pop his head in or not.

Guys ... pics are coming today! I promise! I mean ... I guess if you've seen a stock black 6 speed, you've seen mine, but I'm still gonna post some pics for ya ;-)

Now ... once I get my leather done, I will be posting MAD pics on here yet again ;-)

 

congrats on your new purchase... you let a great car go but made up for it by getting a 5.5gen 6spd =)... I hope you sold your 4th gen to an enthusiast becuase that was a damn nice car. (remember i saw it when i went to the tampa meet)

 

You won't be disappointed.....nice find, how long did it take you?

 

Interesting little story, it is. I found one local, found the kid on Maxima.org and read through his old posts. Decided it could be a little ragged out and why take a chance ... I pass.

Once that happened, I was under the gun. No more local cars ... so unless I wanted to have one shipped in (I was considering this), I was up the river without a paddle.

I began calling every local dealer, getting on their list to see if they find one (6MT, HLSD were my only requirements). Most dealers had no idea the Maxima was even available in stick, nevermind know what HLSD is. I was very discouraged.

Went to the local dealer (in person ... very close to work), spoke to a sales guy with the same outcome (Sales guy - they come in stick? are you sure? Me - uhhhh, yeah, I drive one now, ********). He takes my info down and I wanted to walk out to look at the new Sentra SE-R for ***** and giggles. Walking back, I notice this '03 that's in for service. I peek inside, it's stick ... I peek at the pedals, they're drilled .... I look in the back windsheild and it has a for sale sign!

Guy hadn't listed it anywhere yet. Asking $18,900. KBB PP Value was $18,200. I call him and lowball him with $17,200. He comes back with $18k .... SOLD.

Simply an incredible find. I wanted a black interior too, wasn't going to be too picky about exterior, but Black will work!

Maybe no pics today ... we're having pretty severe thunderstorms right now ...

 

Oh, this guy was about 45, drove 1.2 miles to work in it every day, had no idea what HLSD was ... this car is definitely cherry. I think it got more of a workout yesterday than it had in the entire previous 15k miles.

 

that's a good story. i love when stuff like that works out, y'know. just when you think about giving up.
i mean, what if you hadn't decided to walk outside to look at the sentra SE-R..or what if you were like an hour early..or what if the salesman took longer to take down your information.
i have a black on black too; i love it

 

Glad someone else sees it that way. I was amazed at the whole situation. I was looking for at least 3 weeks and there was almost nothing local. Closest other than the white one I passed on was a cherry loaded (except Nav) '03 in JAX with like 20k miles on it ... guy wanted $21k. This was definitely the best car I was able to find ...

 

Cant wait to see how this 5th gen will turn out, judging by how tastefull and clean your 4th gen looked, there is no doubt that this car will look clean and sick within time. Congrats on your new purchase and enjoy the car; I also considered the 5.5gen Maximas, a good friend of mine has a 6spd 02 and that car does move. Another Rosewood gone from the org .

 

Nice catch.

 

Congrats!!!

 

congrats on the '03

 

Your 4th gen was one of my favorites on here.

Enjoy the extra gear!

 

Grads on your new ride. Warren

 

Often times 5 gears just aren't enough huh? Congrats on the purchase of the 03. Hope you have fun with it

 

Wow, that's an excellent price. Maybe it's best if the dude doesn't pop his head in to the org, he may innocently ask how much he could get for a 98!

 

It truly was a one of a kind car in excellent shape. It had a few small regular maintenance items to be done (needed rear brakes/tires and a transmission flush) but overall paint was gorgeous, interior was mint, wheels were in great shape. I look at lots of 4th gens ... really any time I see one. I never really saw one of the caliber mine was (not trying to brag).

All in all, I think he paid a fair price ... and so did he! He was in love with that car ... and I couldn't blame him

Sorry guys, pics will have to be tomorrow. It rained cats and dogs here today, the black car looks simply awful.

 

Congrats. Lets see you out at the all FL meet in june

 

Welcome to the "2003 is almost problem free" club
Get them mods moving.

 

sad to see another rosewood go ..

 

hehe My car is a 98 SE and mint, every-option 5-spd, 106k. If someone were willing to give me that much for it, I'd take the day off and meet them in a McDonald's parking lot (near a busline *LOL*) and give them the keys today! Dunno what I'd do with the extra 2 grand, maybe just deposit in my E*TRADE acct since I lost a lot this year--lucky lawyers are now filing class action suits against AV like it's going out of style, maybe I can get 25 cents/share toward my losses as they put the co. out of business (not likely).

Congrats on the 6MT, that must be a blast!

 

Congrats. Enjoy your new Max.

Pedro

 

awsome story, glad to hear that you didnt give up til you found what you wanted! Congrats on the find.

 

that guy didnt get ripped off... if anyone has ever seen this car, you'd know it was worth maybe more than $7,900, especially to an enthusiast.

 

Here's your STS


http://norcal.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=401234

 

Already paid $150. I'd rather have something I can remove anyway. Plus it comes with the other piece to adjust the ****er itself. Worth it to me ...

 

I was going to list it at $8500. No one that saw it ever flinched at the $8k price tag. The kid just asked for $300 off so he could get the brakes and tires done. I thought that was fair.