Hi folks,

G/F is itching for a car and found one that she thinks will make her happy.

It's a 97 Maxima SE, pretty standard model. But it's in pretty good condition, inside and out.

The only problem is that it is most likely a rental or program car.

Checked Carfax and it turned up that it's from Arizona. (We are in Illinois) There were 27000 miles put on it in the first 3 months. Currently, it has 71000 miles on the odometer. Title was transferred 3 different times, not including the initial issue.

Knowing this, we might be able to get a good deal from the dealer, but just need you advice as to if this would be a wise purchase or not and how much should this car be worth.

The only thing that I noticed that's wrong with the car is that there a slight oil leak around the valve cover. The dealership said they can fix it before the sale. It looks like the brakes are new, just replaced.

Any suggestion on what else to look for and other issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Green

 

Have Nissan Dealer run it through the Certification. The process is quite thorough and then car comes with 100,000 mile warranty! If they refuse there are problems with the car.

 

Be careful with former rental or lease cars. People like to abuse them but Max's are tough cars. Also It's hard to say, you left out the price but if it's over $11,000 I'd say forget it.

 

Check the tranny. Inspect/smell the fluid (search on this site for detailed instructions), test drive it under a whole host of different throttle loads for a good twenty minutes and make sure it's shifting smoothly. I just paid the ultimate price for not doing that

 

Thanks for the info.

The dealer is asking for 10900, but I think knowing what I know right now, I might be able to get it down to 9000 if not lower.

It's from a non Nissan dealership, so I don't think it can go through the certification process.

We'll see what happens tomorrow.

 

Oh well...

Dealer didn't want to budge from that price, not even after I told him what I was able to find out concerning the car.

They actually said they "fixed" the leak by tightening the bolts on the valve cover. So I ask them wouldn't that over torque the bolts and might crack the cover? And they said "huh?", and I asked why wouldn't it be torqued down in the first place, and they go "huh?"

They said they would only fix the leak (replace the seal) only if I buy an extended warentee. I said no thanks.

Oh well...time to look for something else.

 

I have a 1998 Se and it has 26,000 miles on it and i got it for 14,500. They were selling at 16,500. It went through car fax and came out clean, but it also showed that it was a company car. The guy i guess bought it from the company after 2 months, and then drove it for 2 years. The dealership then bought it off a florida auction. Don't know what that means, but the car hasn't treated me bad yet.

just my .02

 

10,900 is a pretty good price depending on the options. Just have an Independant Mechanic inspect it for you.

 

Right, I understand if it's low total miles...but this car had 27000 miles in the first 3 months. How many times did you think they changed the oil in the first 3 months?

 

You sound like you don't want it and I agree. Unless you need a car today then shop around. I think you can find a better deal from a private party.

 

You are correct. I don't want it for that price. If it were lower, I would consider it.