someone please help!!!!

saxman · 2005-01-31

i am going to buy a new armada. my mind is made up. i have found an 04 with a production date of sept 04. i am also looking at an 05 base se. the 04 is an le. the se has cloth and i would really like the leather and the captains chairs. i have been sleepless for a week now debating whether to buy the 04. i want the options but i don't want to regret buying the 04 if there are so many problems please help, advise, whatever? i'm running out of time!!!

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Thinker62

· #2 · Feb 1, 2005 (Edited)

I have been thru this exercise and should be picking up my Armada today or tomorrow.

First, it turns out that many '04s have a number of annoying little problems like rattles, brakes, 4WD indicator lights, and uneven seats. There is no guranty that they all have been fixed in the '05, but you can bet that Nissan is a lot further up the learning curve with the '05s. So, unlees they are giving you the '04 for a significant amount UNDER invoice, I would target an '05.

Secondly, Regarding LE vs. SE, there are more differences between an SE and an LE than immediately meet the eye. Make sure that you understand them and balance it with your preferences. As soon as you start upgrading to or adding to an SE, you might as well have sprung for an LE in the first place.

Here are what I jotted down as differences between the LE and SE ('05s anyway)

MECHANICAL
LE comes w/ heavy duty battery....SE does not
LE comes with towing hitch receiver......SE does not

EXTERIOR
LE comes with 18" wheels....SE comes with 17"
LE comes with puddle lights (think they are on underside of mirror)....SE does not
LE has that full chrome grill in the front....SE has partial chrme, supplemented by color matched plstic.

INTERIOR
LE has power flip outt rear windows....SE has manual flip outs
LE has transmission temp guage...SE does not
LE comes with 2nd row captain's chairs and center console...SE comes with split bench
LE comes with leather....SE comes with cloth
LE comes with power passenger seat...SE does not

AUDIO
LE comes with upgraded Bose system...SE had standard
LE has 10 speaker system w/ subwoofer......SE does not
LE has dual medium playback w/ wireless headphone capabiolity...SE does not

So if any of that is important to you, you need to go for the LE. The trick will be to get a great price on an '05 LE. Check out the company that advertises on here. They offer Nissans at $500 below invoice price.

I hope this helps.

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Shamus

· #3 · Feb 1, 2005

Heres my take .....

From the discussions on these and other boards, there appears to be very little if any differance between the quality of late built 2004s vs. the 2005s thus far.

I myself have an LE that came off the line in mid-September 04. Thus far (4 months 6,500 miles) I have had none of the problems often mentioned here. In fact outside of the annoying brake dust I am 100% satisfied with my purchase.

So in my opinion Quality between the two is not a factor, and you will need to base your decision strictly on your wants vs. the expenses (inital costs and residual).

Just my thoughts,

Shamus

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Thinker62

· #4 · Feb 1, 2005

Thinker62 said:
I have been thru this exercise and should be picking up my Armada today or tomorrow.

First, it turns out that many '04s have a number of annoying little problems like rattles, brakes, 4WD indicator lights, and uneven seats. There is no guranty that they all have been fixed in the '05, but you can bet that Nissan is a lot further up the learning curve with the '05s. So, unlees they are giving you the '04 for a significant amount UNDER invoice, I would target an '05.

Secondly, Regarding LE vs. SE, there are more differences between an SE and an LE than immediately meet the eye. Make sure that you understand them and balance it with your preferences. As soon as you start upgrading to or adding to an SE, you might as well have sprung for an LE in the first place.

Here are what I jotted down as differences between the LE and SE ('05s anyway)

MECHANICAL
LE comes w/ heavy duty battery....SE does not
LE comes with towing hitch receiver......SE does not

EXTERIOR
LE comes with 18" wheels....SE comes with 17"
LE comes with puddle lights (think they are on underside of mirror)....SE does not
LE has that full chrome grill in the front....SE has partial chrme, supplemented by color matched plstic.

INTERIOR
LE has power flip outt rear windows....SE has manual flip outs
LE has transmission temp guage...SE does not
LE comes with 2nd row captain's chairs and center console...SE comes with split bench
LE comes with leather....SE comes with cloth
LE comes with power passenger seat...SE does not

AUDIO
LE comes with upgraded Bose system...SE had standard
LE has 10 speaker system w/ subwoofer......SE does not
LE has dual medium playback w/ wireless headphone capabiolity...SE does not

So if any of that is important to you, you need to go for the LE. The trick will be to get a great price on an '05 LE. Check out the company that advertises on here. They offer Nissans at $500 below invoice price.

I hope this helps.

I forgot to include consideration for the difference in resale value between an '04 and an '05. Sure we know that they were manufacturered within a few months of each other, but in 5 years, no one will care. If it is an '05, the re-sale value will be higher.

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scr38

· #5 · Feb 1, 2005 (Edited)

Thinker62 said:
I have been thru this exercise and should be picking up my Armada today or tomorrow.

Here are what I jotted down as differences between the LE and SE ('05s anyway)

MECHANICAL
LE comes w/ heavy duty battery....SE does not
LE comes with towing hitch receiver......SE does not

The heavy duty battery comes with the Big Tow Package, which is available on the SE.

EXTERIOR
LE comes with 18" wheels....SE comes with 17"

The 17" wheels are on the Off Rode package on all Armadas. The non off road SE comes with 18's.

LE comes with puddle lights (think they are on underside of mirror)....SE does not
LE has that full chrome grill in the front....SE has partial chrme, supplemented by color matched plstic.

INTERIOR
LE has power flip outt rear windows....SE has manual flip outs
LE has transmission temp guage...SE does not

The temp gauge is part of the Big Tow package, available on the SE.

LE comes with 2nd row captain's chairs and center console...SE comes with split bench
LE comes with leather....SE comes with cloth
LE comes with power passenger seat...SE does not

Available on the SE.

AUDIO
LE comes with upgraded Bose system...SE had standard
LE has 10 speaker system w/ subwoofer......SE does not
LE has dual medium playback w/ wireless headphone capabiolity...SE does not

Available on the SE

So if any of that is important to you, you need to go for the LE. The trick will be to get a great price on an '05 LE. Check out the company that advertises on here. They offer Nissans at $500 below invoice price.

I hope this helps.

Of course, you may not find a 04 SE with all the options you want, but they were available and you should get a big price break on a 04. Good luck in your search!

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saxman

Discussion Starter · #6 · Feb 1, 2005

the 04 is about $850 under invoice plus the $2500 rebate, the 05 is at invoice less the $1000 rebate so the difference is considerable. any opinions on the scenario?

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Thinker62

· #7 · Feb 1, 2005 (Edited)

SCR is certainly right that most of the standard LE stuff is available on an SE (at a price). My point is that once you pay to upgrage an SE to the things you mentioned you wanted, (2nd row captains chairs and leather seating), I would bet that you would be in the ball park of an LE. Then all of the Standard LE stuff like upgraded stereo, temp gauge, hitch, etc, comes as a bonus.

By my calculations, you are sitting at $3K below invoice for the '04 LE verses $1K below invoice for an '05 SE. Since the '04 is a more expensive LE and the '05 is a less expensive SE, I will assume that the invoices were close to begin with. So the difference betweeen deals is about $2K. If these are your only choices, I would go with the '04 LE. You get all the features you want, and you get them for $2K less. Resale value may be a little less, but $2K in your pocket now is better than looking forward to resale value. There weren't all that many problems in the '04 to begin with. Plus, you can take a little comfort in the knowledge that it is a late model '04.

If you just don't want the '04, I would suggest thinking about passing on the '05 SE and going with an '05 LE. That would be the best way to get all the features you said that you wanted (and more).

My last bit of advice is to test drive both if you can. The answer should become clear for you.

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changezi

· #8 · Feb 1, 2005 (Edited)

I got my SE 05 4X4 Bench second row with leather package (comes with power passenger seats, 6 disc Bose Audio, Side impact Air bags and ofcourse Lather seats) , Big Tow package ( comes with Reciever Hitch, trans temp gauge and Heavy duty battery) Floor mats, Rear Splash Guards, 18" wheels, Micro filter for 2600 below invoice, (1600 below as ended up financing it for 2% APR. So I think you can find good deals on 05s.

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Thinker62

· #9 · Feb 1, 2005

changezi said:
I got my SE 05 4X4 Bench second row with leather package (comes with power passenger seats, 6 disc Bose Audio, Side impact Air bags and ofcourse Lather seats) , Big Tow package ( comes with Reciever Hitch, trans temp gauge and Heavy duty battery) Floor mats, Rear Splash Guards, 18" wheels, Micro filter for 2600 below invoice, (1600 below as ended up financing it for 2% APR. So I think you can find good deals on 05s.

Wow, $2600 below invoice is awesome. I wonder if there is a rebate in there. If not, I am not getting the deal I thought I was. The other interesting comparison would be your prcie on the SE above compared to an equally equipped LE, if you also got $2,600 off of its invoice. My theory is that it would cost more to get the extras in an SE than if you bot an LE in the first place.

But either way, you have gotten about the best price I have seen out there.

Good Job!

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r8tdr

· #10 · Feb 1, 2005

scr38 said:
Of course, you may not find a 04 SE with all the options you want, but they were available and you should get a big price break on a 04. Good luck in your search!

I agree. I got an 05 with Bose Package. You can add those options or you can just find one that has everything in it. Usually I add the ones I like and took what came with the car. I did not get the Off Road package because there is no need for my purpose. I got the SE because I like the looks and seating arrangements and all the future goodies that I can add on, not to mention the great 22's that I'm saving up for. $34000

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indresda

· #11 · Feb 1, 2005 (Edited)

My Armada 4X4 SE Charcoal as the following:

- heavy duty battery with the Big Tow Package.
- 18" wheels....
- transmission temp guage
- 10 speaker system w/ subwoofer
- dual medium playback w/ wireless headphone

I didn't care for the leather, DVD or Nav. The leather gets hot and when it cold it gets cold. The DVD blocked my rear view mirror, which i didn't like and the Nav, i didn't like the Nav software. In the future, I'm looking forward adding a Nav and monitor on the headrest. anyways that my two cents.....

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saxman

Discussion Starter · #12 · Feb 1, 2005

well they located me an 04 le it has the equiptment i want and is the color i want. i had a price in mind that i wanted to be at and the 05 se just didnt give me the features i wanted. the build date is 9-28-04 so i guess that is about as late in 04 as it gets. i'll keep my fingers crossed. i am trading an 03 escalade because its on a lease and i am just going way over the mileage. hope i'm not dissapointed.

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AgentNaz

· #13 · Feb 1, 2005

saxman said:
well they located me an 04 le it has the equiptment i want and is the color i want. i had a price in mind that i wanted to be at and the 05 se just didnt give me the features i wanted. the build date is 9-28-04 so i guess that is about as late in 04 as it gets. i'll keep my fingers crossed. i am trading an 03 escalade because its on a lease and i am just going way over the mileage. hope i'm not dissapointed.

I went through the same discussion in my head...got the LE minus nav/dvd for 4K under invoice. For what I wanted, the LE was better equipped for the $$$.

Congrats!

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changezi

· #14 · Feb 2, 2005

Thinker62 said:
Wow, $2600 below invoice is awesome. I wonder if there is a rebate in there. If not, I am not getting the deal I thought I was. The other interesting comparison would be your prcie on the SE above compared to an equally equipped LE, if you also got $2,600 off of its invoice. My theory is that it would cost more to get the extras in an SE than if you bot an LE in the first place.

But either way, you have gotten about the best price I have seen out there.

Good Job!

The dealer told me they have only two vehicles with these options on sale. It was just before X-Mas. One was Blizzard and the other one was Smoke. I ended up with smoke. They were saying they did not make any money on my deal. (Yeah Right!) and they were only trying to make their quota.There was a 1k rebate though in liue of specail finacing so I ended up finacing it for 2% APR. 35 k with 2% apr.

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