Issue with Long Island (NY) Dealers

[NYLEAF]

Hello,

This is my first post, so please be gentle! I paid my $99 a few days ago to reserve a Leaf, and I am up to the RAQ stage. I put in a request with a dealer that is close to my house, but after 48 hours nothing had happened. I called the dealer, got bounced around a bunch of times, and finally spoke to someone who understood that the Leaf was not just "a small test in California". I told him that I needed him to submit a quote on the website for me to accept or reject, and he said that because I had selected Lease, he wasn't sure what to put in, because the Lease program can change at any time. I told him that he just had to put in the actual price of the car he wanted to charge me, NOT the lease payment. He said OK, he would just put in sticker, because no one is getting it less than sticker. He also told me that his dealership would be getting 1 Leaf per month, and that I would be his #4, so I would be getting the car in June 2012. I said that was fine, as I am currently trying to pay off my current car, and would feel better about my credit situation in June. With this, he said that I should check out the EMAC (I think?) credit pre-approval page, and that he would not submit a quote for me until he was sure that I was creditworthy. I told him that he isn't allowed to do it that way, because technically I have the right to back out of even getting the Leaf until the very moment before I sign the paperwork at the dealer. He said that is crazy, what is he supposed to do with the car if I don't take it? I told him that in the unlikely event that I am not approved for a lease/loan, and that I don't take the car, he could just sell the car to someone else, probably for above sticker, and make even more money on the thing. He again said that he was refusing to give me a quote on the website until I completed a credit app and proved my creditworthiness to him, so I responded that I would just switch to a different dealer.

I proceeded to call the 866 number for Leaf, and spoke with a helpful rep. We switched my dealer to another (much larger) Nissan dealer that isn't too much farther from my house. I put a quote into them, and the Rep advised that I call them and speak to someone. When I called this dealer, I got the same runaround, but they eventually got me to the right person. Unfortunately, he was even more clueless than the guy at the first dealer! Essentially, he was telling me that he has 4 quotes waiting right now, but he isn't able to give any of us quotes because he is waiting for corporate to tell him the price for the car. I told him that the sticker price is fine, and he responded that he doesn't know what sticker is yet. Plus, he said, he wouldn't know what to charge us for the extra options that we picked. (The first dealer had the exact config of my car in front of him, and the exact sticker price, too). This dealer also stated that I wouldn't be able to proceed until I had the 220 charger installed at my house, but I told him that I had done the waiver, and he didn't seem to understand (the first dealer also mentioned I needed the charger first, but I gave him the same response and he dropped the issue). Ultimately, he told me he would get back to me in "3-4 weeks" with more information. I told him that I was not going to wait that long, I just need him to submit a price so I can order my car and Nissan can build it. He said not to worry, I'll get my car, and he isn't even getting any in until the month of October. I reminded him that it currently IS October, and that if he hasn't provided ANY quotes yet, NO cars are going to be delivered, except maybe one for test drives. Ultimately, I got him to agree to contact me by tomorrow with more information.

So, knowledgeable forum members, what should I do? Obviously, the dealers here in NY are totally clueless about what is going on, but I feel like I'm going to get screwed out of even getting a car if I wait any longer. Hope someone can help!

 

[mitch672]

I had the a similar issue with the MA Nissan dealer I chose.

The reason for the "credit check", is for them to quote you the correct Lease rate, which will affect your monthly payment. I filled it out, and they came back with a .00195 factor, which is good.

The credit report is only good for 30 days anyway, and you will have to fill out another one closer to the cars delivery anyway... the link is from NMAC:

https://secure.nissanusa.com/apps/preapprovedinput" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[NYLEAF]

Well, he was telling me that even if I took the credit app now, the lease program could totally change by June, so the rate wouldn't be guaranteed or anything. The credit app was solely to satisfy the dealership that I was even worth dealing with. If I took a credit app right now, I'm not sure I would even be approved. I have a car lease in my name, and I have a car loan in my name (co-signed with someone else). It is this second car that I am actually looking to trade in for the Leaf. I am in the process of paying off my credit card debt so that by the time the car shows up, I have a better score. I'm definitely not looking to fill out a credit app right now.

 

[kmp647]

Nissan really needs to grab these people by the neck and fix em

this is a joke

how can you have your sales persons this totally uninformed about the process?


they are losing sales for Nissan, this is the type of crap people just walk away and go buy a prius or something off the dealer lot

I cant believe Nissan isnt retraining these stores .

any one of us could help a dealership get the process straight and explain it to the staff

 

[mitch672]

Nissan really needs to grab these people by the neck and fix em

this is a joke

how can you have your sales persons this totally uninformed about the process?


they are losing sales for Nissan, this is the type of crap people just walk away and go buy a prius or something off the dealer lot

I cant believe Nissan isnt retraining these stores .

any one of us could help a dealership get the process straight and explain it to the staff

well, the Leaf is also on allocation to these dealers, and they are only getting a single Leaf or maybe 2 or 3, if they are lucky. I agree they should be trained better, but these Leafs are not putting much "food" on their table(s), so they are not putting out much effort either, sad to say.

 

[Smidge204]

Yeesh. What a story! I suppose there will always be a learning curve but clearly the information is not making its way down to the salespeople properly.

"I want to give you my money. Why are you making it hard for me to give you my money? Should I find someone else to give my money to?" :lol:

I'd call that first dealer up and let them know they lost a customer.
=Smidge=

 

[kmp647]

make sure they know the Leaf isnt just a "small trial" in California

 

[Boomer23]

The best advice that we "veterans" of the Leaf RAQ process can give to ALL new buyers is to select your dealer well ahead of the RAQ time, and go and talk with the Leaf specialist there. Get to know them a little and decide whether this is a dealership that you want to do business with. Tell them that you are trying to decide which dealer to bring your business to. Remember that with Nissan's online ordering process, YOU are in charge. You get to bring your order to whichever dealer pleases you. If you wind up buying from a dealer that is further away than your local one, you can drive the car home, or get it flat bedded to you, and you can use the local dealer for service. Ask them to tell you why their dealership stands out from the rest. (Many of us out west got $1,000 or more discount by shopping dealers, some by email with the fleet or Leaf specialist at the dealer. This discounting might not be available where you live, but if you don't ask, you don't get.) Discuss the waiver for the EVSE if that is what you want to do. Talk about the MSRP and leasing ahead of time, and get a quote from them. For a lease, if you don't want to fill out a credit check form, ask them to quote you the best lease rate for their most qualified customers. Bring in pricing information that you can get from Nissan's web site.

And yes, if you choose to decline the car when it arrives, the dealer can sell it, probably for more money to the next customer. And he knows that. The dealers in the East may be skeptical that there will be a ready market for these "orphans", but there will be.

I'm leasing my Leaf and for my RAQ, my dealer just entered the agreed selling price of the car, rather than the lease terms, etc, and the RAQ took 30 minutes, all over the phone. But that was because we had agreed on the price long ahead of time. Then when the car came in, they just set the deal up as a lease. For leasing, though, do find out the best available money factor/interest rate so that the dealer can't cheat you by raising the interest rate when the car comes in. Also, some dealers in CA have tried to get extra money down. I paid a TOTAL of $2,000 out of pocket, including all initiation fees, DMV, etc, but some dealers have tried to get $2,000 down PLUS the delivery charge, the cost of options like floor mats, etc. Don't fall for this stuff. You should be able to get their best lease deal with a total of $2,000 out of pocket. Of course, if you choose to put more down in order to lower your payment and interest costs, that's up to you, but the payment should drop by about $30 per month per $1,000 extra that you put down (very roughly).

Keep in touch with us on this forum, we're glad to help and advise. Good luck!

 

[garygid]

We have several (now old) topics on dealing with Dealers and handling the RAQ.

1. do not "select" a dealer and RAQ until you have negotiated a deal in writing, it just wastes tour time.

2. I called or emailed about 15 dealers within about 60 miles, found some that knew that I wanted a LEAF and not a "lease". Some of those offered only MSRP, others $500, $1000 off, and a few, even more.

3. Check their reputation, ask questions, and I even helped a few willing-to-learn LEAF Specialists understand how the whole process works.

4. Negotiate a deal, select "your" dealer, and then an RAQ to them should take 5 or 10 minutes, while you are on the phone with them, with no surprizes.

5. Lease negotiations are MUCH more difficult. Many of us negotiated a lease in principle, but got an RAQ for the total purchase price, minus taxes and DMV, etc. It was important to find a trustworthy dealer. Not always easy to do.

The advantage of this forum is, with considerable reading effort on your part, you CAN benefit greatly from those of us who have been through the process.

Yes, everybody has different state and local laws and rules, PU, DMV, and personal needs and desires. We did too, along with debugging the NissanUSA order web-site and process.

Help us help you, help yourself ... to our experience.

 

[NYLEAF]

An update...

My most recent RAQ, with this second dealership, expired this morning with no response. I spoke again with the same rep from the 866 number and explained what happened with the 2nd dealer. She bumped up my complaint to the head Leaf guy for the entire Northeast. She also tried speaking with the general manager of the dealership, but was unsuccessful in getting through. However, she seems hopefully everything will get sorted out for me. She did suggest that I take a look at a third dealership, but for right now I'm going to hold off.

And thank you all for your replies. If anyone else has any additional advice, please share. Treating customers like this, especially here on the east coast where the car is basically unheard of, is not going to help sell cars. It just makes it feel like we are inconveniencing the dealership by asking about the Leaf.

 

[NYLEAF]

Another update...

Third time's a charm I guess. Found a dealer here on Long Island (although not that close to my house, it's still only about 23 miles away, so not an issue) that actually knows what the heck is going on. I submitted a quote, and after only 3 phone calls, I got a quote on the website. I was quoted $37,240...per month. I called and asked about it, and the Leaf guy at the dealer said that he must have put it in wrong, but not to worry about it, it's obvious that he meant that to be the price for the car overall.

He also quoted me a money factor of .00148 (which sounded a bit too good to be true based on what I've read on here) and a residual after 39 months (12k miles) of 42%.

 

[tps]

I'm in Tier 4 (probably won't be allowed to RAQ and order until late Nov / early Dec), but I'm starting the process of getting ready for the RAQ and order now. Hopefully it will be a formality when it gets here, as I'll already have all the important details worked out with the dealer.