2013/2014 Nissan Leaf Lease Information

[DaveinOlyWA]

i have a lot of relatives in Hawaii and was literally shocked at the price of any kind of car. its just not EVs, its anything on wheels. there is a premium you pay to live there and something changing manufacturers is just not going to fix.

i have had more than a few people check into the option of buying something stateside and having it shipped over. in some instances, its cheaper to do it that way

 

[cgaydos]

There are 3 Nissan dealerships on Oahu and I've been to all 3.

I have no idea if this will work in Hawaii, but I suggest trying again. Only this time don't go to the dealerships (nor call them as you'll get the same people) - instead email their internet sales departments. In email describe exactly what you are looking for in terms of model and lease terms and ask for their best price. Say you are ready to lease right away and note if you don't have a trade-in.

Very often the internet departments operate completely separately from the floor sales departments - I've even seen them in different buildings. Internet sales are seen as low overhead (no test drives, etc) and internet buyers are the kind who go with the best bid so many dealers offer much lower prices out of the internet departments.

Try this also with the Ford Focus Electric. When I was considering that car one dealer (internet department) offered me under $310 for a monthly lease - but another dealer who I took a test drive in person with insisted on me waiting around for a "terrific offer" which turned out to be $425 for the same lease terms. He claimed $126/month markup over the advertised price was due to taxes/fees, which was utter nonsense, but just illustrates how some dealers will try to gouge customers with leases.

 

[nsainfreek]

Nope, no dice. Actually tried again and I just got the same people calling me back from 2 dealerships. Maybe out dealerships here just aren't as big as the ones over there. There are a lot of car makers here with only one dealership (Toyota, BMW, Lexus, Audi, etc) so when there's more then one they may not have as big a staff. Heck there aren't even that many Leafs in stock. 2 dealerships have about 5 of them in stock. The third one says they got 40 coming in but 20 are already sold/leased. When I pull up their inventory they're only showing 6 with 2 model S. Also, many dealerships here have additional markups over the MSRP and, believe it or not, there are people who pay that amount. I personally would never pay more than MSRP. That kind of gives you a picture of the automotive landscape here.

I have no idea if this will work in Hawaii, but I suggest trying again. Only this time don't go to the dealerships (nor call them as you'll get the same people) - instead email their internet sales departments. In email describe exactly what you are looking for in terms of model and lease terms and ask for their best price. Say you are ready to lease right away and note if you don't have a trade-in.

Very often the internet departments operate completely separately from the floor sales departments - I've even seen them in different buildings. Internet sales are seen as low overhead (no test drives, etc) and internet buyers are the kind who go with the best bid so many dealers offer much lower prices out of the internet departments.

Try this also with the Ford Focus Electric. When I was considering that car one dealer (internet department) offered me under $310 for a monthly lease - but another dealer who I took a test drive in person with insisted on me waiting around for a "terrific offer" which turned out to be $425 for the same lease terms. He claimed $126/month markup over the advertised price was due to taxes/fees, which was utter nonsense, but just illustrates how some dealers will try to gouge customers with leases.

 

[cgaydos]

Thanks for posting your results - I'm sorry it didn't work out for you. Hawaii is a great place to live but I can see that the car dealer situation is not in your favor.

I see that car shipping costs from west coast to Hawaii run about $1000 - $1500. Given the prices in California it may be worth doing the internet search, getting a deal, and paying for shipment to Hawaii. This requires some research on how to register new cars in HI but could potentially be a savings worth thousands. I paid to ship one of my LEAFs from Texas to Colorado and it went very smoothly, although it would have been more complicated with a lease. The deal was done via email and UPS (for the contract). I signed a document saying that I'd pay sales tax in Colorado and was released from doing so in TX. When the car arrived it had a one month temporary Texas registration and I drove it to the Colorado DMV with all the paperwork and got the title/registration/license (had to pay the sales tax at the DMV).

I realize this is a big hassle, just pointing it out as an option. Risk-wise you are protected - the shipper should include insurance with the shipping fee and the car has a new car warranty that is honored by any dealer.

 

[Reddy]

It's not just on the islands. Went to our dealership and there is ONE red 2013 model, fully loaded. No shipments planned. They can do a dealer-2-dealer trade (probably from Portland) if you don't like the color or model. And don't plan on negotiating a super good deal, MSRP only. It's hard to understand why CA can sell for less when everything else (land, salaries, utilities, etc) are so much more than here. I guess that means our dealerships are making a pretty good profit.

 

[nsainfreek]

When I decide to purchase a new car then I would consider shipping from the mainland. However, I'm looking at a lease so this probably wouldn't work or the costs would exceed the savings. Not to mention I'd lose about 2 months of car usage to account for shipping time to and from.

Thanks for posting your results - I'm sorry it didn't work out for you. Hawaii is a great place to live but I can see that the car dealer situation is not in your favor.

I see that car shipping costs from west coast to Hawaii run about $1000 - $1500. Given the prices in California it may be worth doing the internet search, getting a deal, and paying for shipment to Hawaii. This requires some research on how to register new cars in HI but could potentially be a savings worth thousands. I paid to ship one of my LEAFs from Texas to Colorado and it went very smoothly, although it would have been more complicated with a lease. The deal was done via email and UPS (for the contract). I signed a document saying that I'd pay sales tax in Colorado and was released from doing so in TX. When the car arrived it had a one month temporary Texas registration and I drove it to the Colorado DMV with all the paperwork and got the title/registration/license (had to pay the sales tax at the DMV).

I realize this is a big hassle, just pointing it out as an option. Risk-wise you are protected - the shipper should include insurance with the shipping fee and the car has a new car warranty that is honored by any dealer.

 

[evnow]

If you don't get the Leaf you want for a decent price, wait for a couple of months. As the availability increases, price will get better.

I know better said than done, but something in short supply in some geographies will command a premium.

 

[ronwright38]

I got the SL 2013 With all the options and , I just traded my 2011 SL
and $1400 down that gave me the $330.00 A month Lease and 15K miles.
That's for 24 Month's

 

[will14]

I am new here and I read many posts in this thread. I am considering leasing a leaf SL since there is promotion going on before 4/1/2013. According to the nissanusa.com official site, the cost will be:

$296/month for 36 months, 12K miles per year
$1999 initial payment (including 1st month payment)
Tax, Title, License fee excluded.

My understanding is that I will pay additional tax, title, license fee, and final disposition fee. No more, right? Do you see any hidden cost?

If I miss this promotion, do you think I will have another chance this year?

I need a SL for the fast charger. I am in CA bay area. The number of faster charger is growing rapidly.

 

[Corina1231]

It's not just on the islands. Went to our dealership and there is ONE red 2013 model, fully loaded. No shipments planned. They can do a dealer-2-dealer trade (probably from Portland) if you don't like the color or model. And don't plan on negotiating a super good deal, MSRP only. It's hard to understand why CA can sell for less when everything else (land, salaries, utilities, etc) are so much more than here. I guess that means our dealerships are making a pretty good profit.

I was fortunate to get my lease deal on a 2012 Leaf SL w/ added leather, 3 years, 12k miles a year, for only $2999 down (of which $2500 was rebated back to me by the State and $225 was my 1st month payment), 35 more months @ $225 month, $395 disposition fee. I'll only pay $8770 total for the lease deal. But that was last October when I not only got the $2500 CA rebate and the usual $7500 Federal rolled into the lease, but ALSO another $2000 Nissan end of year rebate (which appears on my contract as another $2000 down, thus enabling that low $225 rate).

I am planning to lease another SL soon without the $2000 2012 Nissan end of year rebate, but hopefully WITH the VPP pricing PLUS a $1000 customer loyalty rebate. Two dealers close to me have 87 and 53 2013 Leafs in stock right now (Sunnyvale and Boardwalk Nissan).

I see 4 possible reasons why Nissan has chosen to ship so many EARLY units to CA, thus driving the prices down here relative to some other states:

1) Last year Leaf sales did not meet demand outside of CA. You can Google and find articles where Nissan admitted they overestimated demand outside of CA and got stuck with a lot of inventory late last year. It looks like this year they may have overcompensated for their mistake.

2) With the extra $2500 State of CA customer rebate on purchases AND leases of 3 years or more, it only makes sense to market your product where customers will pay less for the car = Higher demand in CA

3) The price of gas here is always higher than anywhere else on the mainland - above $4 a gallon - so we are more motivated to reduce our fuel costs = Higher demand in CA

4) Lastly, and not as significant, many more Californians like I have solar at home which I run my electric car off of a reduced cost = Higher demand in CA

One last thing, out of the 140 Leafs on our 2 lots, only about 25 are the cheaper and hot selling S models. Either Nissan once again miscalculated demand (this time both in states other than CA AND by model) or they did it on purpose to make more money per unit?

Perhaps as production ramps up supply will be constant in CA and increase in other states (which should bring your cost down). Let's hope so!

 

[LEAFer]

I need a SL for the fast charger. I am in CA bay area. The number of faster charger is growing rapidly.

You can add the $1,300 "Charger Package" to even the low-end S trim level to get the QC port. Not sure if that's what you want, as you lose other features, but it would be the cheapest if the QC is your only important option.

 

[cgaydos]

My understanding is that I will pay additional tax, title, license fee, and final disposition fee. No more, right? Do you see any hidden cost?

Technically, no, but some dealers will try to charge extra for dealer add-ons. These can had literally hundreds of dollars to the monthly payment. Depends on the dealer - others, especially in CA, will reduce the monthly payment by a large amount. Suggest checking out this thread for negotiating tactics:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=12034" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If I miss this promotion, do you think I will have another chance this year?

Absolutely - in fact they will likely get better as the year goes on. You are at the beginning of the model year. There is nothing to indicate that supply will go down as the year goes on. There is no guarantee of future prices, but that is clearly the way to bet right now.

I need a SL for the fast charger. I am in CA bay area. The number of faster charger is growing rapidly.

As others have pointed out, the QC (quick charger) is available as an option on the S and SV. Go to nissanusa.com to see what options are available with each level.

Once you've done that it is also helpful to figure out what the most common options are for as-delivered cars. Just because an option is available on a certain trim level doesn't mean that it is easy to get that option - or if it IS easy to get it you'll often find that in practice it is sent to dealers only with a few other specific options. You can find out what typical options are being delivered by using the Search Inventory option at Nissanusa.com or by looking at the inventory at local Nissan dealer websites.

Note that if what you want is an option configuration that is not commonly available then you will have trouble negotiating for that. Your best negotiating strategy is to ask for an option configuration that is in ready supply so many dealers will be competing to get your business.

 

[will14]

Thanks for the info on charging package. I only need this. I searched Nissan Sunnyvale. They have 108 leaf inventory (according to nissanusa.com). There are a few S models with charging package. I assume they will charge more for monthly payment for this option, right? Or everything is just up to negotiation?

 

[will14]

BTW The driving range for S, SV and SL are the same, right?

 

[Corina1231]

I am new here and I read many posts in this thread. I am considering leasing a leaf SL since there is promotion going on before 4/1/2013. According to the nissanusa.com official site, the cost will be:

$296/month for 36 months, 12K miles per year
$1999 initial payment (including 1st month payment)
Tax, Title, License fee excluded.

My understanding is that I will pay additional tax, title, license fee, and final disposition fee. No more, right? Do you see any hidden cost?

If I miss this promotion, do you think I will have another chance this year?

I need a SL for the fast charger. I am in CA bay area. The number of faster charger is growing rapidly.

Will14, welcome to this thread. Thank you for your post. I recommend you get the final numbers on your lease offer (w/TTL), then compare your deal with recent deals. SEE PAGE 20 of this thread for Pushpak's Comparisons. See PAGE 21 of this thread for Evnow's breakdown on the much less expensive no-haggle VPP lease pricing should you qualify. Sunnyvale should honor it.

Pushpak recommends: If we view a lease as a long term rental, and given that the price of money today is close to zero, then we should simply focus on how much we pay for each mile. However, keep in mind Evnow's correct assertion that cost of miles (cost per mile) naturally decrease when you go from 12k to 15k, but only consider a 15k miles a year lease if will definitely use it all the miles!

Some other considerations we seem to all agree on:
Drive as much as the max allowed and not one mile more.
Understand that certain options may significantly change the cost.
There are generally no other hidden costs unless the dealer throws mats and things into your car at retail price or the finance manager picks your pocket for unnecessary items or services.
You must know TTL to know your true COST of the lease or you can't due a valid comparison.

COST = the TOTAL cost of your lease and is the only number that ultimately matters (other than your term and miles allowed), calculated by ADDING:

Total Down
Plus Total of Remaining Payments (35 x ....mth.)
Plus $395 disposition fee

Then subtract $2500 for the CA rebate you receive on a lease of 3 years or more
= net total COST (then compare your total cost to others as summarized on p.20 and p.21)

 

[RonDawg]

Thanks for the info on charging package. I only need this. I searched Nissan Sunnyvale. They have 108 leaf inventory (according to nissanusa.com). There are a few S models with charging package. I assume they will charge more for monthly payment for this option, right? Or everything is just up to negotiation?

Price can be negotiated, but if you want to know approximately how much it can affect your payment, just take the MSRP of that option ($1300) and divide by the number of lease payments.

 

[RonDawg]

When I decide to purchase a new car then I would consider shipping from the mainland. However, I'm looking at a lease so this probably wouldn't work or the costs would exceed the savings. Not to mention I'd lose about 2 months of car usage to account for shipping time to and from.

I will have to check again (not at home at the moment), but I could swear that my NMAC lease documents (for CA anyway) state something about needing their permission to take the car out of the 48 contiguous US states.

I know when my ex-brother in law took his leased truck to Germany (due to him being assigned there for military duties), his lessor was NOT happy about that. I know Hawaii is not Germany, but it's still a long way from the mainland so I can understand them getting nervous about that.

Now if you do lease the car in CA (meaning you'll end up paying CA taxes plus whatever Hawaii will want you to pay, otherwise NMAC may not approve the lease agreement) it's unlikely that NMAC will send a repo agent to get the car back, unless you are behind on the payments. But at lease end, they could very well force you to ship the car back or buy out the lease for the stated residual.

 

[Pushpak]

Pushpack recommends...

Not that it's relevant to our discussion, but my id is Pushpak. See, no 'c'.

 

[seattlegeek]

I priced out leases on a Leaf SV in Seattle last week. I ended up going with an electric ford focus because I got a better deal and the dealers were more straightforward, but wanted to share what I found since I found this forum incredibly helpful in my research.

This is what I was quoted from one dealer for the VPP price. It seems way higher than it should have been, especially since the non-VPP special advertised on nissan's site was $249/mo + 1999 down. I tried to get a better breakdown for where the costs were going, but all I really got was that this price included mats :roll:
LEAF SV $35,513 - $5053 (VPP discount)= $30,460
12K miles per year ($7500 Rebate as cap reduction) $259/mo for 36 months with $2000 additional down
12K miles per year ($7500 Rebate as cap reduction) $290/mo for 36 months with $1000 additional down
Quick charge to either model adds $1660 package cost; the lease amounts either $800 additional down or $35 per month.

I then emailed another local dealer and just asked if they'd be able to do a 24/mo 12k mi lease for $6150 all-in (based on some of the numbers I saw here) given I qualified for the VPP discount. They agreed they could do $6150 for the base SV or $6650 for the quick charge (with $0 down).

At the same time, I was also investigating offers for the electric Focus and saw an offer for $250/mo with about $900 due at signing. When I went in, for whatever reason, they didn't even charge the signing charges and wrapped everything (including title / license AND premium color + leather seats) into the $250/mo, so it's a flat $9k for 3 years.

Since I didn't actually sign a lease on the Leaf, I don't have the full break down of costs, but hopefully this is somewhat helpful.

 

[Corina1231]

I priced out leases on a Leaf SV in Seattle last week. I ended up going with an electric ford focus because I got a better deal and the dealers were more straightforward, but wanted to share what I found since I found this forum incredibly helpful in my research.

This is what I was quoted from one dealer for the VPP price. It seems way higher than it should have been, especially since the non-VPP special advertised on nissan's site was $249/mo + 1999 down. I tried to get a better breakdown for where the costs were going, but all I really got was that this price included mats :roll:
LEAF SV $35,513 - $5053 (VPP discount)= $30,460
12K miles per year ($7500 Rebate as cap reduction) $259/mo for 36 months with $2000 additional down
12K miles per year ($7500 Rebate as cap reduction) $290/mo for 36 months with $1000 additional down
Quick charge to either model adds $1660 package cost; the lease amounts either $800 additional down or $35 per month.

I then emailed another local dealer and just asked if they'd be able to do a 24/mo 12k mi lease for $6150 all-in (based on some of the numbers I saw here) given I qualified for the VPP discount. They agreed they could do $6150 for the base SV or $6650 for the quick charge (with $0 down).

At the same time, I was also investigating offers for the electric Focus and saw an offer for $250/mo with about $900 due at signing. When I went in, for whatever reason, they didn't even charge the signing charges and wrapped everything (including title / license AND premium color + leather seats) into the $250/mo, so it's a flat $9k for 3 years.

Since I didn't actually sign a lease on the Leaf, I don't have the full break down of costs, but hopefully this is somewhat helpful.

Great post! Thanks so much for both the information and keeping the breakdown on the two cars simple. You did a great job not getting lost in all the numbers and staying focused on the bottom line. I love the deal you ended up with on the Focus. My 3 yr., 12k, 2012 Leaf SL w/ added leather end of year lease totaled $8770, but you have a more desirable car especially since mine takes almost 6.5 hours to charge. Also, I had to get the CA $2500 rebate and an extra $2000 Nissan end of year rebate just to get to my number.

WOW, I'm amazed at your deal! I would go out and try to duplicate it (maybe even better it with the $2500 CA rebate on the Focas EV), but first I'm going to see if I can get the VPP lease combined w/ the Nissan customer loyalty $ Lease Deal on a 2013 Leaf SL when my daughter starts driving and working in June. She loves the Blue Ocean Leaf color, her school colors. Congratulations again and thanks again for posting your experience!