I'm in the market for a used Maxima, something in the range of 1995 to 2003. Don't like the 2004+ models. Anyway, I love Maximas because they are a very solid sedan, have great performance (zoom zoom like Mazda's never will) and they depreciate like crazy (means they are affordable after a few years).

Side note: I have no idea why the Maximas depreciate like they do.... side thread.

Anyway, I usually use Edmund's to ball park a value for a particular model year. Most of the cars are clean but are relatively well taken care of... never seen one yet that is the top of the line reconditioned. Pricing them out, I have a measuring stick for what the car is worth. I've cross referenced this $$ value with Kelly BB, and they are pretty close. Thoughts on this?

Because, when I go check out Maxima's for sale, they are almost always priced by the owners well, well above retail value. These prices are for a stock Maxima - nothing special. For example, I'm looking at a 1997 5 speed with 150k miles on it. Using edmunds the car is worth $3500 if it's clean. If it's perfect, up to 4k (this is retail). The owner refuses to budge below $5,500. So, he is at least 2K above blue book.

Now, if you can get this price, good for you. And it is the seller's car do price it as they see fit. I'm okay with that. I just find it interesting that the blue book value is so far off of what people are asking.

Thoughts?

 

Well happy holidays and all that. You wanted thoughts so here are mine. Edmunds is not blue book pricing. Usually Edmunds tries to tell you what a car is worth by "market value". I think autotrader dot com will let you research vehicles and their blue book value. Otherwise you have to actually pay for the blue book or the website it is hosted on.

If you search I'm sure you can find a 10 or 11 year old maxima for $3500. Ever think of searching your neighboring states?

 

http://www.kbb.com/ ...

 

www.nada.com

 

then perhaps not

I'm familiar with TMV from edmunds, and I have compared tmv to kelly blue book and have not found them to tbe that dissimilar - within $200-400 in most cases. My point was that people in Autotrader, Craigslist, etc. seem to defy what true blue book value is.

Nada I have not used much, I'll xref those values.

I'll give you an example of what I'm noticing. Carmax has listed a 2001 SE Anniversery edition - 72K, manual.

Asking: 11,700
Edmunds: 9,400
kbb: 12,150
nada: 12,275

Hmmm, so much for past research. appears that assorted pricing is in line with kbb and nada. Edmunds appears to be quite low. I'll have to adjust my sources.

Thanks for the links.

 

maximas dont depreciate like crazy at all. in fact its quite the opposite. take a kia or lexus or, god forbid, an american car and look at its value 10 years and 100,000 miles down the line. they are very low compared to cars with known reliability like nissan/honda/toyota.

 

Actually Maximas don't depreciate quickly at all. I bought mine for 3900 from a dealership. I thought I did pretty well considering it was in very good shape. It just had a couple of scratches.

 

Buy a chevy if you want a cheap car but make sure you have enought to buy another one soon lol.

 

People always think their car is worth more than it actually is. Any car over 100k is "wholesale" at best, most dealers send them right to auction. That is most likely the reason he did not trade it.

I would buy that seller a cup of coffee and when he wakes up from his dream make him an offer just above wholesale.

 

I would disagree with your "maxima's don't depreciate much". If you compare off the sales floor rates, you'll see they drop much faster than Accords or Camrys. This is just a known fact - a used Maxima is much, much more car than a Camry or an Accord could ever hope to be, yet the Camrys and Accords are priced much higher for the type of vehicle.

Anyway, not to beat a dead horse... soon, I'll be sending my 4-runner to college, and I'll be shifting through my gears...

 

Actually all three cars are about the same bang for your buck used.
All three are great, reliable vehicles. The Honda may actually have the edge.

 

cgilley - One reason Maximas MAY (emphasize MAY) depreciate a tad faster than Accords and Camrys is because Accords and Camrys are considered to be TRANSPORTATION vehicles, while Maximas are deemed to be PERFORMANCE vehicles.

It has always been the case that folks looking for a reliable used vehicle for use as TRANSPORTATION (such as a man often buys for his wife, or for himself for congested commuting) will tend to choose 'transportation' type vehicles (Accord and Camry) rather than a used performance vehicle, which is MUCH more likely to have been driven very hard at some point.

Proof? Compare the percentage of performance-oriented posts year-in and year-out on Maxima.org with the percentage on Camry and Accord boards.

I absolutely LOVE all Maximas, but if my daughter wanted a reliable used vehicle for her usual grocery shopping and taking her daughter to soccer or recital, I would suggest an Accord or Camry, although I would never own either.