The Leaf orphan thread

[LakeLeaf]

Sky -

Any word on your car yet? Do they know where it is now?

 

[evnow]

LOL. This is now getting funny. They are using the old autoshow photo too !

 

[Skywagon]

Sky -

Any word on your car yet? Do they know where it is now?

Yeah, I already talked to Joanna a few times tonight. The tech came in late this evening to PDI the car so it will be ready for me tomorrow. I should be arriving at Fontana around 10-10:30am PDT tomorrow to process everything (leaving my house near Phoenix at 4:30am our time, 3:30am PDT).

 

[LakeLeaf]

Cool - good for you. Can't wait to hear about your first impressions.

 

[evnow]

I should be arriving at Fontana around 10-10:30am PDT tomorrow to process everything (leaving my house near Phoenix at 4:30am our time, 3:30am PDT).

How are you taking it back ?

 

[Skywagon]

I should be arriving at Fontana around 10-10:30am PDT tomorrow to process everything (leaving my house near Phoenix at 4:30am our time, 3:30am PDT).

How are you taking it back ?

Via flatbed... dont think it will make it 349 miles on 1 charge. :lol:

 

[garygid]

#182 is no longer listed, I think.

mal..., get in there!

 

[malloryk]

oh jeez!! What the hell is going on. I just left a message for Danny and I emailed him. sigh


Edit: well, at least I know where my car is now!

 

[sparky]

They're just torturing you malloryk!
Oh well, I've scanned two Fontana truck-o-leafs for my Black LEAF and keep getting fooled by a Rogue in (my) LEAF's clothing.
An early congrats... hope the delivery is tomorrow.

 

[malloryk]

aw Sparky, that sucks! Why do they even put other cars on there with the Leafs? I hope you hear something very soon!

 

[ttweed]

Possible orphan? You decide:

My PD has a white Leaf delivered yesterday and the owner has yet to respond to voicemail or email concerning pickup.

Granted, only 24 hours have elapsed but you'd think that someone who got in so early on the ordering would be someone paying at least a LITTLE attention to what was going on.

People are busy. Could be on vacation or something.

Pacific Nissan say how long they'd hold the car before "orphaning" it and what their next steps would be?

I saw this car today. The person who originally ordered it has "declined" to purchase it due to financial considerations. I asked what would be done with it now, as an orphan. The dealer informed me that it is their car now, and they have decided to offer it to their waiting list of non-reservation holders. No mention was made of what price it might fetch, but those who believed and stated earlier in this thread that Nissan Corporate will control ALL the deliveries and that cars that are orphaned at the dealer will be "taken back" and distributed to the next reservation holder are sadly mistaken, based on my firsthand experience today.

What was stated earlier by Leon from Mossy seems to be the truth about the "orphan" policy. Once the car gets to the dealer, and the order does not result in a sale, the dealer is free to dispose of the car any way they want. It is pretty obvious to me that based on demand, selling the car for over MSRP to eager buyers who are not on the reservation list will be the most likely and profitable course for the dealer to take, and who can blame them? In many ways, they have been cut out of the process by Nissan in the Leaf release, and have sacrificed a lot of easy money that might have come from the usual wholesale/retail "free for all" involved with the conventional release of a highly popular model. Corporate is throwing them a bone on this one detail of the rollout.

TT

 

[evnow]

I still think the best option for the dealer would be to do a major PR auction and donate anything over MSRP to the local school / charity. That will earn them more in goodwill than any one off premium can.

 

[Train]

A dealer is in business to make money. They should sell it to whoever would pay the most for it.

Is anyone willing to donate the difference to a school if they paid UNDER MSRP?

 

[BlueSL]

Thank you, Train, for injecting a tiny dose of economic reality into this morass of free stuff (tax credits, rebate checks, and artificially low prices on vehicles more scarce then hen's teeth).

 

[EVDRIVER]

A dealer is in business to make money. They should sell it to whoever would pay the most for it.

Is anyone willing to donate the difference to a school if they paid UNDER MSRP?

YEs, let's start a fund and I'll manage it for 10%, I should make about 10% of Zero.

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

Power to'em, I say.

If there's a list of no-reservation/no-order people, I would *hope* they pay a premium. The dealer ordered the car and it's in their inventory.

Hell, when that California Rebate fund gets dangerously low, I'm going to start looking for MSRP+ orphans. I'd rather pay the dealer more and get in on the rebate, than wait for delivery much later and miss out on $5k, right?

 

[walterbays]

A dealer is in business to make money.

evnow didn't suggest they should be required to do a charity auction. He suggested they should choose to do a charity auction. Indeed they might calculate the resulting publicity would bring them more traffic and increased sales of Leafs and other vehicles, than would the same amount spent in ordinary advertising, and more than the markup given up. But, Nissan having assigned the car to them, it is their calculation to make and decide.

 

[evnow]

I've confirmation now about the orphan. Campbell had an orphan which they have decided to keep for test drives than sell.

 

[evnow]

A dealer is in business to make money. They should sell it to whoever would pay the most for it.

Is anyone willing to donate the difference to a school if they paid UNDER MSRP?

Noone is talking about legally what they should or shouldn't. I'm talking about whats good for PR.

 

[HighDesertDriver]

News on available orphans seems to be scattered all over the forum, so perhaps now is a good time to resurrect this long-dead thread and make them easier to find. I'll be the first contributor. . .

Antelope Valley Nissan in Palmdale CA currently has one 2011 Silver SL with Quick Charge on the lot. At the end of month (Nov 2011) they will also be selling their 2011 Ocean Blue SV demo vehicle. Asking price is Invoice+$750 plus options@list. The AV Nissan Leaf contact is Victor Salas, 661-505-5206. Victor did alright by me for our Leaf and is prompt at returning calls.

Edit: Corrected from "MSRP" to "Invoice"