Dealer visit. Well that didn't go so well.

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mwalsh

Well-known member
Leaf Supporting Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2010
Messages
9,781
Location
Garden Grove, CA
So I go to my most local Nissan dealer. One, according to the Leaf website, who should already have a "Leaf Specialist".

Bear in mind too that this was the dealer as I listed as my preferred one when I made my reservation, and one of three I said could contact me (even though none have attempted to do so yet). This is what transpired:

Me: "I'd like to speak to your Leaf Specialist for a few minutes please."
Him (General Sales Manager): "You want a lease?"
Me: "No, LeaF....Nissan LeaF"
Him: "Oh, Leaf. You want our Fleet Department then"
Me: "Really? I thought you were going to have a Leaf Specialist, or team of Leaf Specialists, who were just going to deal with that car. Plus, I'm an individual buyer, not a fleet buyer."
Him: "Oh, but we'll be selling them through our Fleet guys. Except none of them has been trained yet, so they really don't know much about it."
Me: "Hmmm......perhaps I'd better come back in a few months then."
 
sjfotos said:
Yeah, that is incompetent. Completely the opposite of my visit, but really, they could at least show a little initiative!

Check out my post in the Ask Nissan discussion for a wonderful phone discussion I had with one of the dealers in my area.
 
Not sure if you saw this, but at the recent Auto Dealers Association conference in Florida, reports have come out that not one single dealer asked any questions at all about the Leaf. How to sell it, who the expected buyers are, how to service it, charging stations, nada...Scary...

http://www.autonews.com/article/20100227/BLOG06/100229884

Other than finding a dealer to sell me one at MSRP, I don't anticipate having much to do with them after the sale...Hopefully the car won't need warranty service after the fact...
 
Randy, Very good link. I had not seen this before. Automotive News is the US industry trade journal, very credible, even if the reporter was not physically in the room. Not very reassuring! Though I have to say my local dealer was far more interested than I expected.
 
Randy said:
Not sure if you saw this, but at the recent Auto Dealers Association conference in Florida, reports have come out that not one single dealer asked any questions at all about the Leaf. How to sell it, who the expected buyers are, how to service it, charging stations, nada...Scary...

I remeber this news coming out. It was panned at that time - the "journalist" didn't make the slightest effort to ask some dealers why they didn't talk about Leaf.

BTW, End of March (a day before they announced Leaf price in Japan) they had a special Leaf related dealer conference.

PS : BTW, don't expect major enthusiasm from an average dealer for EVs - they make their living selling gas guzzlers :(
 
While visiting the Automotive News website, which I had not had any reason to do over the past couple of years, I picked up this more positive article.....Nissan using the LEAF as a dealer recruitment tool.

PASTED here, as they blocked the original with a subscribe screen....really I generally don't cut and paste, but....from May 3rd.....

NASHVILLE -- Buyers are not the only people Nissan hopes to attract with its upcoming electric Leaf. It also wants to meet new dealers.

The automaker is using the Leaf as a conversation starter to talk to retailers who might be interested in adding a Nissan franchise, says Brian Carolin, Nissan North America Inc.'s senior vice president for sales and marketing.

"It's not just new partners wanting to add the Nissan brand to their portfolio," he says. "It's also existing partners wanting to expand. The shrewd businessman sees the potential. And that will accelerate as we get closer to launch."

Carolin believes the allure of a mass-market electric vehicle will help Nissan fill in some holes in its U.S. market coverage. Most notable among them: San Francisco.

Few cities in America have a more environmentally conscious reputation than San Francisco. Yet Nissan, which counts heavily on West Coast sales, currently has no dealer in downtown San Francisco.

"We will fill that point," Carolin vows. "I can't say it will be next month, but we will definitely have representation in downtown San Francisco. That Bay Area is such an important green market."

With the Leaf launch eight months away, Carolin has been talking with dealers who have never considered a Nissan franchise.

"I think this car can act as a real halo for the Nissan brand," he says. "It can have a transformative effect on the Nissan brand and how people perceive us."

You can reach Lindsay Chappell at [email protected].
 
I went to my local Dealership yesterday in Arlington, TX. (Don Davis Nissan) I was pleasantly surprised. They knew about the Leaf, knew when they would be getting one in for sale, and said they would hopefully have a demo car that people could look at in just a month or two.

Why was I surprised? My best friend works as a technician at Don Davis Toyota. I asked him one time about the new Prius. He said "what prius?" Then he told me that the first they ever hear of a new model of vehicle is when one of them roles into the service department for the first time. Then, a month later they'll usually get sent for some training on it. From what I gathered the sales department is pretty much the same. So the fact that the Nissan dealer was well aware of the car was a sign of hope.
 
I guess all I've learned so far is that I'll have to shop a few dealers to find one I can be comfortable with. And, unfortunately, it doesn't look like it's going to be the one just a couple of miles from home.
 
mwalsh said:
I guess all I've learned so far is that I'll have to shop a few dealers to find one I can be comfortable with. And, unfortunately, it doesn't look like it's going to be the one just a couple of miles from home.

Request to speak with someone in the Internet Sales Department. They tend to be the most relaxed and easiest individuals to deal with.
Where are you located in SoCal? I may be able to refer you to someone at a dealer within your geographical zone.
 
Hmmm...I guess the next question is how big are these geographical zones within which you can choose a dealer.

Try Megan Buell at Connell in Costa Mesa...please let her know I sent you.
 
The answer to that question is one of the reasons I came looking for this place.
Our market is fairly isolated, especially when you look at the local geography.
The best I have heard so far, and not here btw, is something like "the four closest".
So the size of the are may vary, but at least you will have four choices.
Not sure where I read this so PLEASE don't quote me.
Was hoping for confirmation on this from anyone.
Or perhaps info on areas where dealer/customer contacts have already been made.
 
mwalsh said:
SBNissanLeaf said:
Or perhaps info on areas where dealer/customer contacts have already been made.

LOL! That assumes the dealers who were authorized to make contact have made any effort! The ones I chose certainly haven't!
How many were you allowed to choose and which were they? You said you are in Garden Grove?
 
I've not yet selected a dealer.

Does the site allow you to select multiple dealers ? Atleast I can search for dealers upto 500 miles when I log in to the Nissan Leaf website ...
 
I just visited the nearest Nissan dealer, one NOT listed (a week or so ago) as having a Leaf-specialist.

To my surprise, they DO have one, and he seems reasonably well informed. He also seemed interested in learning more, and willing to share information. He did not know of this forum, but appeared happy to get the reference.

He said that many dealerships are not yet listed as having Leaf Specialists, but the dealer database will/should get updated. So, even if your favorite dealer is not listed as Leaf-friendly, visit (or call) them anyway.

Overall, it was an apparently-positive "first contact".
 
evnow said:
I've yet selected a dealer.

Does the site allow you to select multiple dealers ? Atleast I can search for dealers upto 500 miles when I log in to the Nissan Leaf website ...

As I remember it (and I'd have to go log in again to double check), you select a preferred dealer and then you can select a(ny?) number of other dealers, all or any of whom you can authorize to contact you.

Rather poor forethought and programming (yet again) that it let me choose a dealer in northern SD county as one I would welcome contact from, IF it turns out that we're geographically limited to whom we can buy from. BTW, is that even legal?
 
mwalsh said:
IF it turns out that we're geographically limited to whom we can buy from. BTW, is that even legal?

I think a Nissan dealer can legally refuse to sell to a particular potential customer (based on geography). Nissan can prioritize the people it wants the dealer to sell the cars to.

But I don't think Nissan can dictate to dealers who they can or can't sell to once Leaf becomes available off the lot.
 
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