My buying a 2012 Nissan Leaf experience

[bernie82]

I went to the Nissan dealer near my home in Sacramento, Ca to check out the Leaf with no intention of buying it. I felt the $35000 price tag was out of my reach and 'm not in a position to take advantage of the $7500 federal income tax credit, and finally, 17 hours to charge it doesn't work for me and I wasn't about to spend $2200 to put a 7 hour charging station in my garage. The limited driving range concerned me as well so I was ready to buy a Volt.
I test drove the Leaf and was really impressed with the way it performed. The salesman showed me the lease option and I was blown away. Nissan has a lease deal going for $289 a month and $2999 down. Here's the deal I got. The dealer applied the $7500 toward to price of the car and gets the tax credit. The City of Sacramento gave me $2500 which I applied to the down payment so my down was only $500. I qualified for a free charging station including installation from Charge Point and the dealer gave me the LS for $15 more per month. My Electric company gave me a deal as well. They installed a meter to monitor the charging station and gave me about a 3 cent a kilowatt hour off peak time discount.

I felt bad for the Volt salesman who was sure I'd buy the Volt after I checked out the Leaf so I drove there with my new Leaf and instead of buying his Volt, I offered to give him my wife. :lol:

 

[EdmondLeaf]

Congrats and welcome another Leaf owner. Looks like you got great deal on the car. Hope your wife will ride with you

 

[TonyWilliams]

Welcome aboard!!!

 

[adric22]

I wish Nissan would advertise the lease price more. I think that would attract a lot more customers. Maybe they are waiting for Smyrna to come online first.

 

[kovalb]

...I drove there with my new Leaf and instead of buying his Volt, I offered to give him my wife. :lol:

Rodney Dangerfield would approve! :lol:

"I haven't spoken to my wife in years. I didn't want to interrupt her."
Rodney Dangerfield

 

[Stoaty]

I felt bad for the Volt salesman who was sure I'd buy the Volt after I checked out the Leaf so I drove there with my new Leaf and instead of buying his Volt, I offered to give him my wife. :lol:

Did he take you up on your offer, and if so, how did your wife feel about it? :twisted:

 

[Boomer23]

I hope that you're also aware of the $2500 CA state rebate. You are also eligible for that rebate, even though you leased, as long as the lease is 36 months or more. This is a rebate check to you, not a tax credit, and it only applies to new owners of new EVs on the CVRP list who register the car in CA. You will need a copy of your (fully signed and dated) lease agreement and your DMV registration form that the dealer stuck on your windshield.

Welcome. I know that you'll enjoy your new EV!

http://energycenter.org/index.php/incentive-programs/clean-vehicle-rebate-project" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[OrientExpress]

Excellent, and welcome, you are gonna love your LEAF!

 

[thankyouOB]

welcome and welcome.
wait till you see the gas bills on your credit card go bye bye.

 

[surfingslovak]

I qualified for a free charging station including installation from Charge Point and the dealer gave me the LS for $15 more per month. My Electric company gave me a deal as well. They installed a meter to monitor the charging station and gave me about a 3 cent a kilowatt hour off peak time discount.

Good for you, Bernie! Coulomb makes great stations, and you are lucky that the Sacramento metro area qualifies for the ChargePoint America program. In addition to what others have said, would you mind sharing what your average monthly gas bill was, and how many miles you were driving in your old vehicle? Please consider posting to the My Leaf Replaces thread.

 

[elmobob]

I went to the Nissan dealer near my home in Sacramento, Ca to check out the Leaf with no intention of buying it. I felt the $35000 price tag was out of my reach and 'm not in a position to take advantage of the $7500 federal income tax credit, and finally, 17 hours to charge it doesn't work for me and I wasn't about to spend $2200 to put a 7 hour charging station in my garage. The limited driving range concerned me as well so I was ready to buy a Volt.
I test drove the Leaf and was really impressed with the way it performed. The salesman showed me the lease option and I was blown away. Nissan has a lease deal going for $289 a month and $2999 down. Here's the deal I got. The dealer applied the $7500 toward to price of the car and gets the tax credit. The City of Sacramento gave me $2500 which I applied to the down payment so my down was only $500. I qualified for a free charging station including installation from Charge Point and the dealer gave me the LS for $15 more per month. My Electric company gave me a deal as well. They installed a meter to monitor the charging station and gave me about a 3 cent a kilowatt hour off peak time discount.

I felt bad for the Volt salesman who was sure I'd buy the Volt after I checked out the Leaf so I drove there with my new Leaf and instead of buying his Volt, I offered to give him my wife. :lol:

what are your monthly payments on the lease? I just got an SL, I gave out of pocket $1360 and my monthly lease comes out to $440 a month for 39 months.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I felt bad for the Volt salesman who was sure I'd buy the Volt after I checked out the Leaf so I drove there with my new Leaf and instead of buying his Volt, I offered to give him my wife. :lol:

what are your monthly payments on the lease? I just got an SL, I gave out of pocket $1360 and my monthly lease comes out to $440 a month for 39 months.

I did an SL lease on Monday for $299 monthly, $4200 total down. California charges $32 in sales use tax monthly, for a total of $331. In addition, I get $2500 rebate from the state of California.

 

[abasile]

I did an SL lease on Monday for $299 monthly, $4200 total down. California charges $32 in sales use tax monthly, for a total of $331. In addition, I get $2500 rebate from the state of California.

Just curious - is the new LEAF to replace the one you're about to drive from Mexico to Canada? Or are you going to keep both?

 

[TonyWilliams]

I did an SL lease on Monday for $299 monthly, $4200 total down. California charges $32 in sales use tax monthly, for a total of $331. In addition, I get $2500 rebate from the state of California.

Just curious - is the new LEAF to replace the one you're about to drive from Mexico to Canada? Or are you going to keep both?

I plan to sell the red one.

 

[edatoakrun]

I did an SL lease on Monday for $299 monthly, $4200 total down. California charges $32 in sales use tax monthly, for a total of $331. In addition, I get $2500 rebate from the state of California.

Just curious - is the new LEAF to replace the one you're about to drive from Mexico to Canada? Or are you going to keep both?

I plan to sell the red one.

Did you get a CA rebate on the 2011?

What happens when you sell?

- Applicant must retain ownership of the rebated vehicle for a minimum of 36 consecutive months immediately after the vehicle purchase or lease date. Rebate recipients who do not retain the eligible vehicle for the full 36-month ownership or lease period will be required to reimburse ARB all or part of the original rebate amount.

http://energycenter.org/index.php/incentive-programs/clean-vehicle-rebate-project/frequently-asked-questions-cvrp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Valid8r]

Can I ask why you said in OP that you were not eligible for the $7,500 tax credit? I ask because I checked with my tax accountant and he assured me that no matter what your income level is, you/I are eligible...

- Jon

 

[Herm]

Your Federal tax liability has to reach at least $7500.. perhaps he has a lot of deductions with 5 kids

 

[bernie82]

My monthly payment on the LS is $370 a month, 12,000 miles a year for 39 months. I put down $2500 and got that back from the state of California. The Charging station cost me $250 and it was done by Solar City. I learned it was free until early May when the subsidy was reduced from $1200 to $600. I got there a few week too late.

 

[bernie82]

On a lease, the $7500 tax credit goes to the dealer regardless of your tax situation so I believe it's far better to lease the Leaf than buy it. Since the Leaf LS is a $38000 vehicle before the tax credits and there are no tax credits to buying a used Leaf, I imagine there should be a lot of equity in the car in 3 or 4 years. The Leaf will depreciate from the $38000 base price, not the $28000 we actually paid for it.

 

[Chieftan68]

Can I ask why you said in OP that you were not eligible for the $7,500 tax credit? I ask because I checked with my tax accountant and he assured me that no matter what your income level is, you/I are eligible...

- Jon

This is one of the most misunderstood tax credits. The media doesn't help here either (do they on anything?).

It is a dollar-for dollar tax credit against the amount of taxes you pay to the Feds. If you don't pay $7,500 in taxes for the year that you purchase the Leaf, you only get to deduct up to the amount of taxes you did pay. I'm talking purchasing a Leaf outright, not leasing. Not familiar with leases but the person who started this thread got a super deal.

Sooooo, if you paid only $2k in taxes, you get to deduct $2k tax credit for the Leaf off that--no more. No Free Money (except in the state of California where you as a taxpayer are subsidizing EV ownership to the tune of between $2k-2.5k of free money--actual rebate check). But that gets us into the area of politics so let's leave that.

Your accountant better check that again. If you are a low income person, you are getting a tax credit equivalent to the taxes you paid--no more. For me, that meant going the pre-owned route as I don't earn enough to take real advantage of that program.