first thing you do when you walk in the dealership for leaf.

[acegreatone]

i did research online and know i want to lease a 2013 sl ext black w/black leather. what should i do/say when i walk in? what did you guys say? andy tips? im from ny queens btw.

 

[Deleted member 8423]

 

[acegreatone]

lol

 

[Smidge204]

Just hit them right up front with exactly what you're looking for. The more specific you can be about what you want, the less room they'll have to try to sell you other nonsense.

=Smidge=

 

[EricBayArea]

First of all, where do you live? It would be helpful to know to understand if you are in a market that sells a lot of LEAFs (California).

But back to your original question, I would not walk into a dealership to buy a LEAF. I would do it all over the phone and find a dealer that will sell it to me for what I want to pay. If I know I want and I did all of my test drives, know my options, colors, etc., do research online to find a good price and then start calling dealers and tell them you want the specific car with specific options, "give me your best price because I'll be comparing to 4 other dealers in the area." Then make them compete for your business. Just my $0.02. There are websites that do that too - they put inquiries into dealers for you and then the dealer will call with a price.

 

[derkraut]

Do your research diligently, then decide in advance:

1. Exactly what you want---I mean exactly.
2. Determine in advance exactly what you will pay, in cash----no flexibility here whatsoever.
3. No trade in----sell your old car yourself, always.
4. Present your proposal to them, in writing.
5. If they start trying to change the terms, just turn around and walk. Don't stop and argue; You don't have to say a word.
6. If they accept your terms, you've just bought a car. If not, go to another dealer.

I've done the above with my last 5 automobile purchases. It's actually a lot of fun because: YOU ARE IN CONTROL.

The end.

 

[cgaydos]

The first thing I said when I walked into the dealership for the first LEAF was "I'm here to pick up the LEAF". I never visited the dealership with the second LEAF.

Seriously, by going to a dealership to negotiate you use up a lot of your time unnecessarily AND you automatically lose negotiation leverage because you are stuck in their location. If you know exactly what you want send emails to the internet departments of all Nissan dealers within 100 miles of your house (if that is a small sample go wider). Let them know you can buy today if the price is right.

In many dealers there are different salespeople doing internet sales than doing floor sales and often they have different price bidding approaches. I have experienced situations where I got one bid on a car when I dropped by a dealership on my way to someplace else, then a much lower bid when I sent an email to the internet people at the same department.

If you are lucky you may even find dealers who'll start a bidding war against each other. Does not always happen but if there is a quota to be met on the LEAF and they really need that sale it might. On my Red LEAF I was literally driving to one dealer when another called me and, when I told him the price I was getting on a demo, offered me even less on a totally new car.

 

[gigglehertz]

I would say DON'T go in confident, always tell them you have reservations. They had no intention of giving me the $199/mo lease deal on anything but the stripped down S model, but I kept hesitating, telling them I don't know if it will work for me, public charging takes 3-4 hours, etc. (I live in a condo). It wasn't exactly on purpose as I honestly just wanted to test drive one and see if it was possible to someday own one. I walked out with the mid range model w/ quick charge port as added accessory for the same $199/mo and they gave me way above book value for my old car. Dealers have a lot of wiggle room, and the longer the sale takes the more they'll grudgingly come down.

 

[adric22]

I would say DON'T go in confident, always tell them you have reservations.

Absolutely. Make them think they have to earn your business. If you are confident you want that specific car and no other, they will try to take advantage of you.

 

[garygid]

Back two years ago, in the olden days...

I emailed about 15 or 20 dealers, or used their online inquiry system.
I stated clearly what I was looking for, for example to Buy a LEAF,
and a firm discount price.

I got responses from over half, but some just said
"Come on in! "
Or, "Sure, you can Lease any car,... "

I called about 6, and only got somebody who understood
my questions in about 4 dealerships. Only two were
enthusiastic about selling, and offered discounts.
Of thse, one had been active on the forum, and
one of the first dealerships to really get into the LEAF selling
mode of operation. They offered a reasonable discount,
and I gave them my business.

I would suggest constructing some good test questions,
that you know the answers to, and ask the dealership
for answers, to see if they are LEAF-knowledgeable or not.

Perhaps different questions if you are just buying instead
of buying and getting service there.

Report good or bad experiences here to help guide others
to the good guys, and away from the "bad" guys.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Hi acegreatone, welcome to the forum, and hope you find your black beauty.

You have lots of dealers in Leaf range of you, in several states.

I did pretty much the same as the previous posters, took the 12 closest dealers and sent them all the same email proposal and went with best response, which was Marlboro Nissan. No hassles, no wasted time. I don't have time to visit 12 dealers, or even call them. The first time I went there was to check out my Leaf and sign papers. They stuck firm to their counter offer and were the only ones to back it up in writing by attaching a filled out lease agreement to their email. You'll hear dealers say, "we want to make sure you're comparing apples to apples", but when I asked others for a filled out L.A., they didn't want to give me their "apple". Resist the dealers who plead to "call us" and just "come in and see us".

 

[Nubo]

I would say DON'T go in confident, always tell them you have reservations. They had no intention of giving me the $199/mo lease deal on anything but the stripped down S model, but I kept hesitating, telling them I don't know if it will work for me, public charging takes 3-4 hours, etc. (I live in a condo). It wasn't exactly on purpose as I honestly just wanted to test drive one and see if it was possible to someday own one. I walked out with the mid range model w/ quick charge port as added accessory for the same $199/mo and they gave me way above book value for my old car. Dealers have a lot of wiggle room, and the longer the sale takes the more they'll grudgingly come down.

That's my Uncle's strategy. He'll go back to a dealer a dozen times dithering over floor mats, etc... At some point the salesman realizes his dollars per hour is inexorably shrinking and he gives a great deal just to get my Uncle the hell out of his life. :lol:

 

[hill]

Back two years ago, in the olden days...

I emailed about 15 or 20 dealers, or used their online inquiry system.
I stated clearly what I was looking for, for example to Buy a LEAF,
and a firm discount price.

I got responses from over half, but some just said
"Come on in! "
Or, "Sure, you can Lease any car,... "

. . . . . . . . . . . . snip . . . . . . . . . .

Report good or bad experiences here to help guide others
to the good guys, and away from the "bad" guys.

Being one of those with a VIN below ..001000 many of our goals were to simply take delivery quick - regardless. The $ 5,000 CA rebate money pile was running out quickly. :lol:
But now? I'd ask;
"Did they get rid of that crappy carpet that's lower quality than every carpet pad I've ever seen?
"Are you still going to sell to Arizona with the rapid capacity loss, brought on by passive pack management?
Those 2 ... quality issues are the only things that trouble me now.

But the trade off ... 6kW charging? That's a nice tradeoff.

 

[lukati]

I would second the opinion of not going into a dealership until you have a deal. Sales people work on commission and everybody involved in your sale will have to be paid. I called every dealership in my area and asked for the name and email address/fax number of their fleet manager. I then emailed or faxed all fleet managers and asked them to give me their best price. I let them know that I was contacting every dealership in the area and that I would buy the car from the dealership offering me the best deal. Works great every time.

 

[smkettner]

Make them sell you the LEAF. Don't compromise and do expect to walk out the first time.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

I have always found it hard to get anyone to negotiate over the phone, they always want you to come in, have you sit down, offer you a drink, have you talk to their manager... and if they really like you and want to see you get the car, they may even bring over the general manager to talk to you and see if there's anything else that can be done :lol:

No doubt they want to avoid being played against other dealers in a phone bidding war.

The only exception I found is by calling dealers further away. I got my Leaf from a dealer 50 miles away, they cut out some fees for a somewhat better deal and were willing to make that deal over the phone. I think they know that is the only way to poach customers from other territories. Same thing on another purchase I made a couple years ago. After negotiating a substantially better deal over the phone than the dealers closer to me were willing to do, I was a little unsure about driving 45 miles only to get jerked around and have the story change when I got there. The guy assured me that would not happen, and it didn't... we were in and out driving the new car home in well under an hour.

 

[acegreatone]

First of all, where do you live? It would be helpful to know to understand if you are in a market that sells a lot of LEAFs (California).

But back to your original question, I would not walk into a dealership to buy a LEAF. I would do it all over the phone and find a dealer that will sell it to me for what I want to pay. If I know I want and I did all of my test drives, know my options, colors, etc., do research online to find a good price and then start calling dealers and tell them you want the specific car with specific options, "give me your best price because I'll be comparing to 4 other dealers in the area." Then make them compete for your business. Just my $0.02. There are websites that do that too - they put inquiries into dealers for you and then the dealer will call with a price.

i said i live in queens ny. thanks im going to get prices over the phone on thru emails.

 

[kubel]

Do your research diligently, then decide in advance:

1. Exactly what you want---I mean exactly.
2. Determine in advance exactly what you will pay, in cash----no flexibility here whatsoever.
3. No trade in----sell your old car yourself, always.
4. Present your proposal to them, in writing.
5. If they start trying to change the terms, just turn around and walk. Don't stop and argue; You don't have to say a word.
6. If they accept your terms, you've just bought a car. If not, go to another dealer.

I've done the above with my last 5 automobile purchases. It's actually a lot of fun because: YOU ARE IN CONTROL.

The end.

^ This. #5 is important. Walking out of the dealership is your most powerful bargaining tool. Don't allow yourself to be so hyped up about the car that you won't walk out if you don't get exactly what you expected.

Also, this: http://www.theautoleasecalculator.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fill in the blanks, print up everything, know exactly what you will end up paying per month before you even go in. If the figures are off compared to dealers figures, they may be trying some shenanigans with the money factor. You'll want to know your credit score ahead of time, because this score will dictate your tier, and your tier dictates your money factor (interest).

Dealer will negotiate the price and accessories. Once that's done, the finance guy will get your credit and talk about financing and try to sell you extended warranties. Don't fall for extended warranty plans- in fact, don't show any interest at all. He'll come back with something like "if I can get you X plan for 30% off, would interest you". Answer: No. Even if you wanted one for peace of mind, it's always cheaper to purchase later on than in the financing guy's office.

 

[WetEV]

I have always found it hard to get anyone to negotiate over the phone

Don't use the phone, use mail or email. Do not negotiate, you are asking for bids.

"This is exactly what I want. Please reply with your total price, including all taxes, all fees and any other changes."

No doubt they want to avoid being played against other dealers in a phone bidding war.

If they don't want to bid, they don't get the sale. Their choice. No negotiation, they bid or they don't bid.

I was a little unsure about driving 45 miles only to get jerked around and have the story change when I got there. The guy assured me that would not happen, and it didn't... we were in and out driving the new car home in well under an hour.

This happened to me twice. The first conversation went something like this:

Dealer: ... and we need to add in this $300 fee.

Me: Really? That is not what your letter to me says right here.

Dealer: Yes, we must add the fee. Blah blah....

Me: (To wife) "The next dealer on the list was only $30 more, and they are on the way home. Let's go."

Dealer: Wait, the sales manager will be back in a few minutes, and maybe he can do something.

Me: Maybe he could if he was here. But he's not, and I'm not waiting. Too bad guy, you just lost a sale. Bye.

(The next dealer on the list cut the price $30 when the wife called on the cell on the way there, and was very very nice.)


The second conversation went like this:

Dealer: And the car has this $200 dealer installed plastic mud flap option...

Me: I don't want that option. Says so here on this email.

Dealer: Oh, but this option is really nice...

Me: I don't want that option.

Dealer: We can't take it off now.

Me: As the email says, any options beyond these are not to be included in the price. So honor your price.

Dealer: I can't do that.

Me: I'll go look at it. (Went outside, looked at bit of plastic attached with two screws, shook head, headed for our car asking the wife where the next dealer on the list was...)

Dealer: Wait! Wait! Wait! I just found out we can take those off! Please come back in and sit down.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

I've had an even harder time getting them to engage via email. But times may be a changin.