Well, I REALLY want to get a 5-speed Maxima, so I've been thinking hard about trading my '97 Auto for another '97-'99 5-speed. I'm just wondering what the best way to go about doing this is.

I don't really want to just trade my car in because the dealer will low-ball me with a trade-in price and I'll be paying a huge difference in price for the same car. Which is why I am thinking that I might be better off selling my car and buying another one from either a dealer or private seller.

My car is a '97 Fully Loaded SE Auto w/ 57K miles. I figure I could easily get $13K for it (It is truly in pristine condition). I would hope that I could get another Fully Loaded SE w/ 5-speed and about the same mileage (give or take) for about the same price.

Why did I settle for an Auto? I really wish that I could just straight-up trade someone who is sick of the 5-speed transmission, but things never could be that easy. I was also thinking about the conversion, but the time isn't worth it for me and I'd be too worried about something going wrong.

Any tips or suggestions you guys could give me would be really helpful. I'm hoping to be in a 5-speed Maxima by the end of summer.

Later,
-Nick

 

I am in a similar situation...I have a 5spd tranny on hold for me...I will do a swap if my tranny goes or if I find the one I want before, just buy it and sell mine.

Erik

 

You seem to have it figured out.

Find a place that will give you a really good financing deal on a used Max, get the absolute cheapest you can find (not a dealer). Then go buy yourself a 5-spd. Next, sell your current car and use the cash to pay off the loan in full and then you're done.

Anyone care to comment on that plan? I dont know much about these things, but it could work...

 

As long as you have a loan with no pre-payment penalty, it'd work. The other option would of course be to just sell your car first, then look for another. You're in a time crunch that way is all.

Of course, you still have to pay tax, and that's a big chunk.