> youre never going to make the money back that youll be losing on the 4
> year old maxima. as for the "premium" issue? only if nissan calls for it,
> and even then some people run a midgrade (89) without problems.
>
> if you want a new car, fine... but spending over $23k to save a couple
> hundred a year on gas is kinda nutty. and at least in california,
> registration is based on car value and goes down yearly. insurance, too
> for the most part. so any "savings" from the gas are likely to get wiped
> out.

well nissan does call for premium. can you use less? sure, but the knock
sensor retards the timing which means less gas mileage and less horse power.
as far as doing this to save money, I'm not doing it for the short term but
rather the long haul. right now if I keep driving my car value will keep
going down, if I sell it now I can get about 13k for it. and not really
alter my montly payments. insurance isn't based solely on the value of the
car (example, my brother drive a 2005 infinity FX35 and pays LESS in
insurance than my 2001 maxima yet his car is easily worth 3 times the
amount, we are twins with the SAME clean driving record). plan on getting
this car and keeping for at LEAST 4-5 years. also, with my maxima there is
no warranty on it so anythign that goes wrong will be my problem (one thing
that comes to mind are the MAF's tend to go bad as well as the ignition
coils, total cost for both of those are over 1,000) my insurance will go
down 80 bucks every 6 months, a total of 160 a year. plus the peace of mind
that anythign goes wrong with the car, it's covered are the main reasons I'm
doing this. I can also lease a accord, sell my car and invest the remaining
money (stocks,bonds, ING high yield bank account (3.3%) ext.) plus using
less gas and less expensive gas. thsi was my MAIN reason for looking at the
jetta TDI orignally (40 MPG) but the cost of the car they are asking
(26,000) isn't worth it. those are just my thoughs.