Is a 2003 model in the showroom considered new or used

I was at a Nissan dealership today looking at 2001 pathfinders. They
didn't have the model i was looking for but tried to entice me with
their LAST 2003 showroom model Pathfinder. The MSRP is listed at $35k
but after some discounts/rebates and my trade in (97 Pathfinder XE)
they gave me a price of $26k. Now, would the 2003 model be considered
"used" and be priced accordingly for depreciation? They were only
going to give me $4k for my trade in (it's worth at $7k).

On 2 Mar 2004, Gene Ferioli wrote:

> I was at a Nissan dealership today looking at 2001 pathfinders. They
> didn't have the model i was looking for but tried to entice me with
> their LAST 2003 showroom model Pathfinder. The MSRP is listed at $35k
> but after some discounts/rebates and my trade in (97 Pathfinder XE)
> they gave me a price of $26k. Now, would the 2003 model be considered
> "used" and be priced accordingly for depreciation? They were only
> going to give me $4k for my trade in (it's worth at $7k).

It's considered whatever you can talk them into and visa versa. It's not
used in that you don't have to worry about some person who owned it for a
year never changing the oil or treating it like crap. However you will
take a hit in deprication even if the milage is a year's worth of driving
lower than other 03s. It sounds like the dealership is trying to rip you
off and you aren't bargaining hard enough. Check the value of the new 04
pathfinder and used 03 pathfinder at carsdirect.com and edmunds.com and
use that to establish a good price on the car somewhere in the middle.
(I doubt the sites display "new" 03 value anymore) If they get you to pay
new retail minus standard discounts and rebates on an 03 you are not
getting a good deal. Keep in mind the dealer doesn't lose a dime giving
you those discounts assuming all they offered were Nissan factory
incentives. Don't be afraid to bargain hard - the car is obviously not
flying off their showroom floor and someone loses money everyday that car
sits around doing nothing. *Then* negoiate the value of your trade *after*
you've established the new value. I'm not sure where you get 7k but if
that's correct they will be making nearly 100% profit on your trade in by
giving you 4k which is of course a complete rip off for you. Even assuming
they put a lot of time and effort into cleaning up and inspecting your car
(doubtful on a 7 year old vehicle) they still make 50% which is an
enormous profit margin. They know that, they just think you don't. If they
won't give you a good trade consider selling it privately and buying the
new car without a trade. Also if there are options you don't want on that
model let them know you don't want to pay for them - part of the advantage
of buying new is that you have a wider choice and greater control over
options and whatnot compared to used shopping, which of course you don't
have here.

Why did you stray from your original plan of buying an 01? Straying from
your plan is never a good sign at a dealership since it means they
persuaded you of something - you should always know exactly what you want
and what your $$$ goals and limits are before hand. Also, why trade a 97
in for an 01?

Also MSRP and Invoice values are often meaningless because of all the
factory to dealer incentives you may not know about (as opposed to factory
to customer ones you are told about over and over again). Also, factors
like sales quotas and "get that damn 03 off the floor already" can affect
things. I purchased a Nissan (Sentra 2.5S) recently for better than 1000
below invoice recently. It helped that I had all of my facts and
figures written down (well, printed out) beforehand. All the 'information'
they'll give you at the dealership is really just marketing which is why
online sites such as edmunds or carsdirect are useful, since they will
often reflect price factors not readily displayed on a sticker affixed to
the car window... And even at 1000+ below invoice I can guarantee the
dealership still made money or else I would not have been sold the car.

Dave