Why is it so hard to buy a certified used car?

"J.Miguel" (jomil91) 03/02/2016 at 21:21 • Filed to: None

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After a a few years of thinking into buying a new car, (well, new for me) I’ve decided to pull the trigger. I’ve decided to buy a CPO Nissan Maxima (don’t judge) but it looks like that’s harder than I thought it would have been, let me explain why.

Being into cars I’ve looked at cars.com and Autotrader every other day, to the point that my boyfriend was concerned and asked me if I was going crazy. The prices of the Maxima have been okay; it depreciated enough where it was a smart buy, its got great reliability and tons of content for the price. But as new car sales have taken off and more buyers are choosing new cars, it seems dealers are not interested in selling a used car anymore, why would they? they get kickbacks from manufacturers from moving units quick, the last few weeks every dealer showroom I’ve been in has been busy! in one of the dealers we could barely get a chair, and had to make sure we remained sitting in that chair otherwise another sales person would come and steal it (it stopped after my boyfriend made a comment to the offending party)

After multiple dealer visits and multiple emails with dealers, so far I’ve only gotten one dealer to go down $500 off their internet price (which is not bargain considering the prices they have are on top of the kbb value) It’s like they want me to just give in and buy a new car. I’ve gotten quotes for the new maximas and they go budge down up to 5,000 on one! I was surprised! if it wasn’t because 1. I don’t like the new maxima and 2. I will never pay $28,000 for a car. they’re very quick to drop prices on new cars but ask them to go down on that over-priced used car and they go bat crazy, like you’re insulting them!

Every single dealer I’ve tried to negociate the price with has come up with the answer of “have you thought of a new car, we can accommodate you in a nice loaded altima thousands off MSRP at the price you’re looking for!”. and it’s not just the lack of negotiation that im frustrated about, it’s the fact that they add fees on top of the already high price on a used car. one dealer in Atlantic city who shall not be named, lets call it Nissan of Atlantic city for reference, even tried to add a $1,000 prep fee, a $500 delivery fee (because why not?) and a $500 “not gap insurance fee” which was “already installed in every vehicle” thus raising the total price of the car by $2,000.

sorry for the rant, but I’m just ready to give in and buy that damn 4 cyl Altima for dirt cheap.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > J.Miguel 03/02/2016 at 21:25

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fuck anything involting Atlantic City...but don’t give up and buy an Altima!

Nibby > J.Miguel 03/02/2016 at 21:36

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please don’t buy an Altima

You surely have more self esteem than that

shift monkey > J.Miguel 03/02/2016 at 21:50

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For some reason CPO prices are usually set in stone. The same happened when I tried to buy my first car.

Tohru > J.Miguel 03/02/2016 at 21:52

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I'm glad you've come to us in your time of great hardship. I'm sorry to hear you've gotten to the point where you're deciding between a Maxima and an Altima. Don't do it - we're here to help.

J.Miguel > shift monkey 03/02/2016 at 21:52

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even non CPO are set in stones, the one dealer of “nissan of atlantic city” that car was not certified and after they added the certification and bulshit fees, that car total price went from being 24k to $30k.

J.Miguel > Nibby 03/02/2016 at 21:53

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as much as I hate it, they’re going 7k down one with leather and navi.

J.Miguel > Tohru 03/02/2016 at 22:00

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hey... as far as boring mid size sedans go the maxima is pretty good value (at least it was before all this BS) its got 290 hp. its pretty comfy, looks pretty aggressive and it looks like it’s reliable (according to consumer reports) i have looked at the honda accord and those prices do not go down on them and after owning a mazda since new, I would never go back (sure it looks nice and sporty and it drives great, but things start rattling soon after and there are a bunch of cheap parts no body notices until you bought the car and they become annoying to you)

Nibby > J.Miguel 03/02/2016 at 22:03

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kill a cow, make your own leather

buy a $50-100 GPS unit

~$6.5-6.9k saved

shift monkey > J.Miguel 03/02/2016 at 22:07

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holy crap, that sounds crazy. I'd stay as far away as I could from them.

Elumerere > Nibby 03/02/2016 at 22:08

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It’s one of the worst cars I’ve ever driven.

dogisbadob > J.Miguel 03/02/2016 at 22:21

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Get an Accord or Camry. MUCH better than any Nissan. I own a 4th gen Maxima; the interiors are the most reliable thing about Nissan (my car with over 250k leather seats in better condition than many seats of cars under 100k), but their reliability is a degree or two below Honda and Toyota.

Birddog > J.Miguel 03/02/2016 at 22:21

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Nissan still makes cars?? Honestly, all I ever hear about is the GTR, Juke and their 2010 F150 clone Titan.

Nissan Dealer making you mad? Maybe it’s time to hit a Chevy or Ford store for something better.

Or try a different area (city, county, state).

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > J.Miguel 03/02/2016 at 22:28

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Carmax w/ carmax warranty?

Tom McParland > J.Miguel 03/02/2016 at 22:31

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Ugh Admiral Nissan. AC dealers for the most part are pretty terrible. That is why I send all my local customers elsewhere. Are you from S.Jersey? Drop me a line I can give you some insight on the CPO situation.

Automatchconsulting@gmail. Com

Sam > Nibby 03/02/2016 at 22:38

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Oh, SELF esteem, not Suzuki Esteem.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > J.Miguel 03/02/2016 at 22:42

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dealers get factory rebates. thus to them new cars can offer more wiggle room to discount.

hike > J.Miguel 03/02/2016 at 22:59

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I mean the certification is slightly stricter inspection and certification. But mostly just a warranty.

hike > Tom McParland 03/02/2016 at 23:01

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Doesn't surprise me. Have you had any dealings with Kerbeck Corvette? I go there once in a while, being one of the biggest Corvette dealers in the world. I've always had pleasant conversations with the sales folk, but never purchased anything.

Brian Silvestro > J.Miguel 03/02/2016 at 23:07

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lol you use an in-car navigation system

Tohru > J.Miguel 03/02/2016 at 23:43

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Or you could just not buy a boring mid size sedan.

If you truly just want a comfortable and reliable car get a used GM 3800 supercharged - something like a Bonneville or a Park Avenue

JDMatt > J.Miguel 03/03/2016 at 01:46

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How are car dealerships able to give discounts.

For new cars: customers can low ball the dealership because the manufacturer usually provides an bonus to the dealer for selling the car quickly, sometimes called a ‘holdback’. The salesman can play with this money to give the buyer a discount.

For used cars: Dealerships get used cars several ways. They can purchase cars from the general public, purchase cars from a dealership exclusive auctions, receive cars that were traded in, or get cars that were leased. With the exception of lease returns, the dealership had to buy the car, and it’s goal is to sell the car for more than what they paid for it. Realistically, a dealership will only mark down a quality used car if it’s been on the lot for months and the sales manager is tired of looking at it.

My opinion: If you feel like you’re only going to own a maxima for 2-3 years, lease it. My mom bought a $31,000 CPO ford edge and traded it in after 2.5 years because the payments were too high. Her monthly payments would have been lower with a new car because banks believe used car = riskier loan.

yitznewton > J.Miguel 03/03/2016 at 09:52

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I’ve bought a CPO Honda Fit and Toyota Sienna. The asking price on the Fit was pretty good, and the margins are surely low on those to begin with, so I got a few hundred bucks off and didn’t try to push it.

With the Sienna, we negotiated for a while. The Toyota dealer actually sprung “$1000 for the certified warranty” after we agreed on the price. I crapped my pants a bit at that point because I was pretty sure it was included (as Honda’s was I believe), but after combing the Toyota website and calling their customer service, I couldn’t find anything to that effect. That dealer was a bit shady though, and tried to add a bunch of garbage in the finance office, which I crap-detected and had them remove. They must have shredded four contracts. Car itself is very solid though, except for the !@#$ sliding doors.

TL;DR: It’s all about the dealer.

yitznewton > J.Miguel 03/03/2016 at 09:55

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FWIW, I went to look at used 370Z’s, and the Nissan dealer was ultra shady.

yitznewton > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 03/03/2016 at 09:56

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Or maybe... paging Doug DeMuro — I think you can start a side business consulting with people how to maximize warranty protection on highfalutin’ used cars :}

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > yitznewton 03/03/2016 at 10:46

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I wouldn’t bother with a warranty on a Maxima or even a CPO. Just get it inspected by a 3rd party and enjoy.