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dutchinchicago said:
I got a call today from Nissan saying that I can order my leaf on Monday.

Any other people in Chicago ordering on Monday?

Any suggestions for what dealer to go with?
Click to expand...


As I mentioned on another thread, it appears that the only (current) Chicagoland 'certified' LEAF dealer is McGrath Nissan in Elgin -- they do list other Nissan dealer's when you put in your zip on their site but perhaps the others aren't yet certified due to this most recent acceleration of cars coming to our area. I don't know anything about this particular dealer having never owned a Nissan product before -- I did however own an Isuzu Trooper II years ago and wasn't all that pleased with the Nissan/Isuzu dealer service at the time (late '80's) but lots of things (including ownership of that dealer) has changed as well as Isuzu no longer has car dealers in the U.S. (just trucks). I'm also still on the fence regarding the LEAF with our cold winter temps as well as I'm not so sure that IL will offer the EV rebate for it (it's typically for ICE to EV conversions) but am looking to see what the local media updates as people will I'm sure be one of the first to get one out here soon; if they held the '12 price to the '11 with the same upcharge for the cold weather package it would be a bit easier decision as well ...
 
Still no email at all from Nissan that I can even order a 2012 -- one thing I am checking in advance as it looks like eventually they will start to show up in Chicago possibly even with 90 days?? is I've contacted the IL EPA which has an alternative fuel vehicle rebate of up to $4,000 (it's up to 10% of the MSRP) so hopefully I'll post some feedback here for those IL potential owners -- it may end up softening the blow of the 2012 price increase so as long as we don't have dealer gouging there may yet be a LEAF in my future. If anyone else within Chicagoland has a definitive response from the IL EPA please post it -- the main web site is listed below, the more inquires they get may prompt a response:

http://www.illinoisgreenfleets.org/index.html
 
Response from IL EPA; so the quandry now for potential IL LEAF buyers is that you must have enough in deductions for the $7,500 fed tax credit at the end of the year (can't lease it or you'll loose the IL rebate); IL also only processes their rebates twice per year so just like the fed tax one, you'll need to wait until well after your initial purchase to reap the tax credits:

xx,

The Nissan Leaf would be eligible for the Vehicle Rebate of up to $4000 based on the MSRP before any added options. The vehicle must be purchased, as leased vehicles are not eligible for the program.

Sorry, but I am not able to answer the question concerning the Federal Tax information…you will have to check with the IRS or your tax preparer for the answer.


Mary Cruse
Clean Air Programs
IEPA
[email protected]
From: xx [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, July 29, 2011 9:07 AM
To: Cruse, Mary; Burkhart, Darwin J.
Subject: IL incentive -- is Nissan LEAF eligible?

Mary Cruse / Darwin Burkhart - IL EPA:

I may soon be one of the first to be able to purchase and/or lease a new 2012 Nissan LEAF fully electric vehicle in Illinois (from an IL dealer) and am inquiring whether or not it will be eligible for the up to $4,000 rebate through Illinois?

Besides the eligibility, will it matter if the vehicle is purchased outright or leased?

The estimated MSRP will be $37,250 so I would assume that the rebate may be up to $3,750 (10% of MSRP); is this correct?

Lastly, this vehicle is also eligible for a Federal Tax Rebate of $7,500; would IL deduct this amount from the total MSRP or would they take the full MSRP amount in calculating the total IL rebate?

Thanks in advance for your response.

Best regards,

xxx
Chicago, IL
 
Apparently as mentioned elsewhere, NCS says they are having some problems with their site; if I don't get an email by this time next week I'm supposed to contact them -- I did notice many more Chicago area Nissan dealers icon's have changed now to 'certified' LEAF specialists so perhaps that's part of the hold up
 
Redleaf

none of us who have ordered in Va Md Nc or florida have gotten an email

we just logged into the leaf website and pushed all the buttons to order

I wouldnt wait for any email you will get left behind
 
redLEAF said:
Still no email at all from Nissan that I can even order a 2012 -- one thing I am checking in advance as it looks like eventually they will start to show up in Chicago possibly even with 90 days?? is I've contacted the IL EPA which has an alternative fuel vehicle rebate of up to $4,000 (it's up to 10% of the MSRP) so hopefully I'll post some feedback here for those IL potential owners -- it may end up softening the blow of the 2012 price increase so as long as we don't have dealer gouging there may yet be a LEAF in my future. If anyone else within Chicagoland has a definitive response from the IL EPA please post it -- the main web site is listed below, the more inquires they get may prompt a response:

http://www.illinoisgreenfleets.org/index.html
Click to expand...

Thanks for that link! Before I dig myself, do you know off hand if cars like the Volt qualify for this rebate?
 
kmp647 said:
Redleaf

none of us who have ordered in Va Md Nc or florida have gotten an email

we just logged into the leaf website and pushed all the buttons to order

I wouldnt wait for any email you will get left behind
Click to expand...

I couldn't get past the 'home assessment' tab on the site (told me that it wasn't yet available for my area) so did you simply call CS to place an order?

Ualdriver -- I didn't ask about the Volt but as this was listed on their site this makes it sound like the Volt would not qualify -- send a quick email to Mary Cruse and I'm sure she will respond specific to the Volt:

•Electric vehicles

Electric vehicles that are eligible for this program are those that are predominantly powered by and primarily “refueled” with electricity and do not have restrictions confining them to operate only on certain types of streets or roads. Electricity must be the primary fuel that powers the vehicle, and not used as a supplemental or secondary fuel source. Current gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles are not defined as “electric vehicles” and are not eligible for this program since they are primarily operated on and refueled with gasoline.

In any case, I think only 'black market' Volts are being sold in Chicago currently but things are actually changing more quickly in the marketplace so I could be wrong --
 
redLEAF said:
kmp647 said:
Redleaf

none of us who have ordered in Va Md Nc or florida have gotten an email

we just logged into the leaf website and pushed all the buttons to order

I wouldnt wait for any email you will get left behind
Click to expand...

I couldn't get past the 'home assessment' tab on the site (told me that it wasn't yet available for my area) so did you simply call CS to place an order?

Ualdriver -- I didn't ask about the Volt but as this was listed on their site this makes it sound like the Volt would not qualify -- send a quick email to Mary Cruse and I'm sure she will respond specific to the Volt:

•Electric vehicles

Electric vehicles that are eligible for this program are those that are predominantly powered by and primarily “refueled” with electricity and do not have restrictions confining them to operate only on certain types of streets or roads. Electricity must be the primary fuel that powers the vehicle, and not used as a supplemental or secondary fuel source. Current gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles are not defined as “electric vehicles” and are not eligible for this program since they are primarily operated on and refueled with gasoline.

In any case, I think only 'black market' Volts are being sold in Chicago currently but things are actually changing more quickly in the marketplace so I could be wrong --
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'll drop her an e-mail and report back.
 
I decided on the direct approach and contacted the 'preferred' Nissan dealer listed -- hopefully I'll get a call back as contact was out; we'll see ...
 
I also couldn't get past the Home Assessment page.

CS said that AeroVironment has not finished populating their database with qualified technicians in the Chicagoland area, and that people in Chicago should be able to order "next week".

She offered to call me when Chicago was able to order.
 
Feedback from a local 'certified' LEAF dealer (McGrath Nissan in Elgin) -- they are checking within dealer network with Nissan CS to see what is going on -- his dealership is only allocated 1 (one) LEAF per month -- gave him my pre-order number. I also mentioned the bounce back on the 'home assessment' tab as well. Didn't get to the price discussion yet but at least this dealer feels that the 'early adopters' who put down a deposit in April '10 should be first to get one.
 
I got the following response concerning the Volt:

The amount of the rebate for the Chevy Volt is 10% of the base retail price of the vehicle as reflected on the MSRP, not including add-on equipment options, up to $4000.
 
Mary Cruse
Clean Air Programs
IEPA
[email protected]


Redleaf - Thanks very much for making me (us) aware of this rebate program. I had no idea it even existed. I'm going to go post this over on the Volt forum as well.
 
I didn't realize that the IL rebate was only for purchase and not for leased vehicles. That sux. That makes the acquisition of the Leaf less appealing. I thought I had read the legislation for that rebate and I don't remember any detail in there regarding lease versus purchase. I will see if I can find the link for it again I'll repost it. I also believed the rebate was good for up to $5,000, not that 10% of MSRP was the value of the rebate. Other personal things have changed for me so I might not be able to get the Leaf anyways, but I'm still holding out hope. I haven't contacted my preferred dealer, Bill Kay in Downer's Grove, which was supposed to be certified all the way back when I first reserved, which was on the first day possible. Will have to see if they have heard anything.

Also, there is supposed to be a Drive a Leaf tour coming to the Chicagoland area sometime soon, but I haven't received an e-mail notification for that either. Was anyone else signed up for that and heard anything?
 
Here is one of the pertinent links for IL rebate program. I don't know if a lease constitutes a "purchase", but I thought it did, of course I'm not a lawyer (but I try to play one on TV :lol: )

http://www.nissanusa.com/ev/media/pdf/incentives/nissan-leaf-incentive-28.pdf

Here is another important link:

http://www.illinoisgreenfleets.org/
 
So my last question regarding the rebate program is what does the rule mean when it says the "incremental" cost of the vehicle. In other words, if the Leaf MSRP is $37K and if they use the basic Nissan Versa as the basic vehicle, which is listed at $11K (2012 MSRP for basic model is $10,990), does that mean the max rebate would be $2600, which is just barely above half of the available $4K? Hopefully, since the Leaf is so unique they will use the whole purchase amount and our rebate would be closer to $3600, which is most of the $4K available.
 
redLEAF said:
Nissan finally comes to Chicago! Probably old news to some whose 'drive electric' opportunity has past but finally, finally Nissan has posted dates to be able to schedule an actual 'test drive' in Chicagoland -- dates only for now (August 26-28) but a NEW reservation is required so be sure to sign up. Once again as part of the forgotten 36 we must all be diligent least an opportunity pass us by ... this message pops up when attempting to find out more info on the Drive Electric Tour:

already have a Nissan LEAF™ account?
you must create a new account to schedule your drive time.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...es-surpass-4000-unit-milestone-125215819.html
Click to expand...


Nissan comes to Chicago 8/26 to 8/28 (same weekend as a big project I'm doing at work but hopefully I can break away to attend) -- yes, I'd prefer to lease versus purchase as well due to how new this technology is and what's a bit disturbing is that the Nissan site states that the IL funds for this have been 'exhausted' but of course the IL EPA contact doesn't hint that they are -- I also was finally able to get through on the online site and schedule my home assessment for 9/9/11 -- I see if I stick with cayenne red it adds 60 days as well but still love that red color. I was also now able to submit (electronically) a request for quote which should go to the right person at the dealership so we'll see!! As far as that add-on question -- I don't think that the state would try to use the Versa as the LEAF is pretty unique but again the whole question as to if IL even has any funds for this (those who live here can attest to that!) may be the better question
 
joleta said:
I just got my "you can request a quote" email.
Click to expand...

same thing actually happened to me ... but after I had already processed through after trying several times this afternoon on the site, my same contact from the dealer called me as well after I was able to submit RFQ, looks like I would be this dealer's first LEAF customer if I follow through; at least according to his info the cayenne red color choice shouldn't delay this as they are selling a lot of Nissan Juke's in the same shade. Now I need to confirm the IL EPA rebate info (EPA contact says only purchases count, not leases) but a delivery would be about 90 days away anyway -- if 'joleta' is close to NW 'burbs feel free to call their Internet Mgr - Todd Tifft - McGrath Nissan (847) 695-6700, they've been trained on the LEAF but as they haven't yet sold any cars don't have charging stations but should have them well before the first customer cars arrive -- also confirmed they'll sell for list, no discounts but doesn't appear to have add-on mark up's either; my 'rep was genuinely excited that they will be getting these sooner than expected. Hope the stories about other Chicago area Nissan dealers are just as positive ---
 
I got an email opening up my dashboard for quotes just minutes after talking to CS about my Home Assessment tab not working.

There are still issues. It seems that the assessment form chokes on Discover cards (I called Discover and they said they didn't even see the request coming through), but works fine with Master Card.

Anyway, long story short:

2012 Red LEAF SL
Assessment scheduled for September 19th
Quote requested from Libertyville Import Center

:D :D :D

Ammana just called me back about my quote (Customer Relations - Internet Sales)
I told her I would be stopping by the dealership on Tuesday for scheduled maintenance of my VW Beetle.
She said I should meet with Jeff Bogdala (Nissan Product Specialist) while I am there.
 
I talked with a person in charge of the Illinois rebates. The rebate does NOT apply to leases, only purchases. You get a 10% rebate on the MSRP of the vehicle without any accessories or options included. The rebate will not exceed $4000, which our MSRP for the Leaf shouldn't hit anyway. She said that the rebate is still in force, but payments may be processed later and later due to the state's financial problems. You can currently expect to wait about 6 months from the time you file your paperwork to get the rebate.

I hope that is helpful. The Illinois rebate nudged me in my decision to buy rather than lease.
 

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