I agree. Trading in now you lose the major depreciation amount, no matter how you do it. The perceived improvement of the 05 would have to be quite a lot. Do you have to wait for delivery of the 05? If you want to establish credit, do it another way that doesn't cost you thousands. Buy an appliance on time, pay your credit card bills, etc.

I sold a couple of cars privately in the past and found it to be a pain in the butt. You have to available to show the car to people you don't know and let them drive it. You have to take it to their mechanic (usually). You should never let them drive the car without you in it, although some will ask. It takes a lot of time to show it.

Then, you could get stung in the pay off. It would be hard to take cash for this amount. Some cashier's checks can be stopped by the purchaser after you have signed over the car. Then, some buyers will ask you to make out a receipt for less than they paid so they can pay less tax when they register it-this is fraud and you should not do it. If the car breaks in two weeks they may try to get you to fix it, and they know where you live. I'm not likely to sell privately again, unless it's to a friend, even though nothing bad happened when I sold privately. Some will say I'm chicken or paranoid. Mainly, I would not trade in a healthy, low mileage 04 for an 05.

But, good luck.

 

I am sure I would not regret getting the 05. I mean, just because I got the 04 and now want the 05 does not mean I will do the same later on. The 05, I find 100% satisfactory to keep for a long long time. I really dont like the dash of the 04 and for a 40k car (paid 38500 for it) I found the interior to bee quite not good. This 05, I think does meet up with the expectations. If I do this, I will lease the ~8k $ i have to pay so before I trade it, I have to finish paying anyway.

Credit is not the main reason I want to do the trade-in (it does influence a lot though because I need to build credit sooner or later), the car itself is. As for them having the car I want, no they dont. They would have to order it and I dont mind. When I bought this car in August, I really needed it to go to school, now that I have it, I can wait a month for them to bring one and bringing one for me means no test drivers which is what I want.

Im going to call Orlando Infiniti right now and see what they say.

 

G35_coupe_6MT, if I remember correctly your 21 years old... PM me and tell me where you work and how I can get a job their if you got an extra 9k to just toss out the window you must be a really hard worker..

 

IS300TOG35 yes I am 21 years old and as I said, I work for the University. That is the only way I can work being an international student. I am, in no way, getting a lot of money from them. I get 300$ a month more or less for working 15 to 20 hours a week and as I said, I am going to finance those 8K. I dont have that kind of money, or any type of money for that matter, to toss out. I will basically be working to pay my car off which I dont mind. Some people, like me, are car crazy; and as I said, I would be 100% satisfied with this car. I dont consider paying 8k for something that I will keep forever, like my 1985 honda prelude, is tossing money out.

 

Now you own a car. If you finance the $8000 (a lot of money) you and the bank own the car. If you don't make payments, you will lose the car. Think of the mods, including interior, you could make with $8k and still have money for other things.

Just words of advice from some someone almost three times your age. (I bought my first car when I was 24).

 

Well, I just went off the phone and Orlando says they are selling them for sticker prize also. If I cant get 500 to 1200 above invoice, then Ill just keep the 04 and put as little miles as I can till I can get the car for that prize.

Im going to see into what ChazM said about becoming a Florida G35 Member and see if I can get the car for lower.

EDIT - Andy77 yes that is true about 8k in mods. The problem is that I am not a fan of them. I rather have things stock and the interior upgrades the 05 had are what appeals to me the most. Apparently, New Jersey and New Yor can give cars out for 500$ over invoice but not Florida.

 

G35_coupe_6MT, I'm not calling you out or anything like that, dont take my post the wrong way. But what I was saying was is those small changes (dials, seat back movement and what have you) worth 9k? If I was considering gettin a load for 9k it would be for boost or whatever. It just seems like the dealer is going to make so much money off you. I am more than happy with my 15k miles 03.5 and it never even crossed my mind to trade for an 05, it seems like a waste of money IMHO. But if those interior dials are worth 9K to you than more power to you bro, good luck!

 

Remeber the dealer is giving you a hell of a deal on your car... they'll turn around and sell it for 33500 or so , given internal costs for detailing, paperwork, advertiseing they'll only make a grand off the deal... ofcourse if they wack the new customer with extras there's money there as well !

Im guessing you'll be able to cover the costs of the new car and building credit is good, but it can also be performed with credit cards and such. and im sure if crap hit the fan you'd get beat by your father but he'd cover the difference.

anyways you only live once !

gl on your choice

ppp

 

IS300TOG35 - I dont like modding cars, I rather have them as stock as possible. While the dials themselves dont make up for the 9k$ I think that the MP3 player combined with better driving feel and smoother gear changes makes the car more enjoyable. Anyway, 9K is still too much and I will not do it for that amount. If I can get the 05 for 6k I think I will. I've been thinking of ways to make the trade-in give me some extra cash (like selling the stock 19's and buying the 18's which I like more).

Potty_Pants - I know they can get a great deal off my car. Not only does it have less than 3k miles, but Im sure that no one in their dealership would detail the car better than me. I bought the three best leather cleaner brands (shampoo & conditioner Zaino,Lexol,Conolly) and spent over 300$ in car was products plus over 200$ in towels and aplicator pads. 3k miles and 2 Premium oil changes and the windows have never been opened so the new car smell is still sealed in there. The car itself is in excellent condition. Because of that, it hurts me to think that another guy with a seam year and same optioned G35 would be gettin the same deal as I am even if he had scratches on his console and such (the dealership does not throroughly check). Now about the building credit part, the only way to build credit using a credit card is to have one. I cannot have one because I am an international student. Since I have purchased the 04 I have in full, the dealership said that it would be almos certain that I can get a lease since I would be leasing small amount of money in turn putting my 36k$ car. This is the only way, as of now, in which I can build credit.

 

did you forget about the extra hp?how about the bigger wheels?these along with the interior upgrade are worth it,IMHO.it seems he really isnt happy with the 04 interior.if you have to look at something you are not happy with everytime you sit in the car,that can be a big problem.

 

I wouldn't trade in my barely used BREMBO's for the world. I know an 05 may seem sweet to you but if you've fallen in love with just a few interior changes....to each his own.

 

G35_Coupe_6mt:

IMHO - I would not make the trade from an 04 to an 05. I read your post and it reminded me of when I was 21 and younger. I felt the same exact way! and always found a way to make it happen!

Now I look back and calculate the amount of money I spent on trades vs. interest rates paid, etc., etc. - I probably could have paid cash for a GT-R. Not worth it from today's perspective (but it was back then).

My suggestion would be to spend more time with the 05 model. It's almost like a personal relationship . I'm sure you've heard about the 07 GTR? Does that interest you? 8K would be a step in the right direction toward starting the downpayment savings. I'm sure the 06 models will also be more refined; this is just the law of evolution.

Right now is a bad time to buy an 05, there's really no incentives. The car's still "new" and the dealers may not be as willing to part with the car because I'm sure someone else will pay a little more for it. If you still want to pursue the 05, every advice given in thread are great advice IMO.

Good luck! hope it works out for you.

 

Did you just say the dealership said you can lease the car? You do know that leasing means you don't own the car at all and you're just renting it right? If you're an international student and can't get a credit card, then i'm not sure if you can get financing at all... and if leasing was their option to you, i'm not sure how that's gonna work... I'm guessing you probably don't have a Social Security Number and just a student visa? I would keep the 04 if their alternative is leasing since you own that car already...

Also, you mentioned to have an 1985 prelude... how long have you had that? Because if you're 21, you've only had that for a few years and now you have a G35... You said you would keep the 05 G35 forever like the prelude but i don't see that happening since you didn't really keep the prelude forever, you got a G35... and now you want an 05 instead of an 04... I'm not trying to tell you what to do but I would seriously look at your patterns and realize that you'll probably trade that 2005 within the next 5 years for a better car... especially if you get a good job after college and start making some real money...

you have a great car already, enjoy it while you don't have any payments to make... you have no idea how many people out there would kill to have no payments on their car and own it completely... save some money and later on you'd be better off when you realize you want to buy a house or a better car...

but if you can't get a credit card, I don't see how you could finance the 8k difference... the leasing option is kinda shady so i would be wary of that... don't mean to sound like your parents but since i'm only 24 i can't really say much other than a lot of things can change in 3 years... i was just like you back in college... now that i'm out in the real world i realized a lot of things..

 

Why do this? You've talked yourself into this, to have the latest and greatest. $8k, you could do a lot with that, invest it! Use it for a downpayment on a house! $8k to get essentially the same car is stupid.
Your car has Brembos and more torque. No offense, but you are being a bit of the idiot. Keep your car, and don't post lame threads like this!

 

I agree I would not trade in my paid off car to lease a car. I have an 05 and would of gladly taken the 04 with Brembo's. Granted I did not sit in an 04 but when I see one 03-04 I think of them as being the same car as mine. The minor improvements they made would not let me trade it in for a leased car. Your father would go ape**** if he ever found out that you now did not own the car. I would keep your Brembos and enjoy the beautiful car that you have. Because If I would of had the choice of Brembo's or new interior I would of gone with Brembo's they make the outside fo the car look so much nicer.