Wealth of information thanks!

Hey just wanted to thank all of you for a lot of the posts here. Very informative.

I am a recent addition to the sales staff here at Kayser Nissan and was tasked with becoming the Leaf Guru. Well a month in and a lot of reading, studying, tests, later I still found a lot of new information around on this site that I wasn't even aware of. Guess I got a lot more homework to do!

Anyways thanks again, and keep up all the informative posts, I will be a regular around these parts and hope to get to know you guys, and pull information and whatnots into my brain.

Joe

(PS obviously as a sales guy at a Nissan dealer I do have a few Leafs laying around for sale :lol

Any LEAF discounting going on in WI?

Also, what's your take on the recent low sales numbers for Nissan? I don't think it's a supply problem anymore... lack of awareness, high price for the perceived benefit maybe? Something else?

cracovian said:

Also, what's your take on the recent low sales numbers for Nissan? I don't think it's a supply problem anymore... lack of awareness, high price for the perceived benefit maybe? Something else?

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Early adopters already got theirs.
Gas/oil prices came back down a bit.
Waiting for the 2013 model update.
Volt and Plug-in prius get CA carpool stickers now.

Fairly limited supply here in Madison (only 3 unspoken for atm), so we're holding at MSRP at least for the next month or 3 which is a mistake in my mind, getting a few more of them on the road to increase their presence would be a good idea. Although since you would be paying sticker, I can offer oil changes for the life of the LEAF :lol: :lol:

As for the low numbers, I was talking about this topic with my manager and our other LEAF specialist this morning. In my opinion supply IS the big issue, but its not for the reason that one would normally associate with lower/limited supply. The individual Nissan dealerships are taking the current limited availability to mean that they can charge sticker (or above sticker in some cases I've heard of) or not discount the vehicles much/at all. It is a perception that every dealership has always had when they got something new, or it was limited availability.

In that same thought though, this isn't the Volt where they are getting it tossed into TV shows, or the new Prius commercials blasted on primetime TV for a week straight, It appears that they are counting on viral, underground, word of mouth marketing to get these sold. Which isn't an awful strategy, but you need to get these introduced into the market, flood it early on, get people talking about them and then once the demand is higher than supply start charging MSRP for these.

I have 3 of these on my lot right now unsold, the primary consumer (in my mind) looks like a lot of the posters here, internet and tech savvy folks who do their research, and will get them shipped over from Cali or wherever they can get a $2k discount, pay $600 for shipping and still walk away better than if they bought it here from me.

If it was my call personally I would maybe charge MSRP, but include the home charging station, get more of these moving because Nissan sure as heck isn't going over the top to get the word out there. Set up a partnership with a local electrician and buy a bulk lot of the EVSEs so it would only run $1000-1200 at cost, so still wouldn't be a crazy discount, but would be a nice perk.

This is the first vehicle that will literally pay for itself with fuel savings. Reading some user stuff here $5-15/month change in your electric bill for 500-800 miles driven. $100-150 per year on 'fuel', that is sick.

KayserNissan said:

Fairly limited supply here in Madison (only 3 unspoken for atm), so we're holding at MSRP at least for the next month or 3

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After I wrote this I went back to flipping around the forum here, just curious what are some of the other dealers out there in the world doing? What is/was the good deal that you'd consider going out of state, or you did go out of state for? We talking just like $1-2k off +shipping? Just curious as to giving me excuses to bring up to my GM...I would love some reasoning to get more of these gone

KayserNissan said:

After I wrote this I went back to flipping around the forum here, just curious what are some of the other dealers out there in the world doing? What is/was the good deal that you'd consider going out of state, or you did go out of state for? We talking just like $1-2k off +shipping? Just curious as to giving me excuses to bring up to my GM...I would love some reasoning to get more of these gone

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Fontana Nissan

$2,000 off MSRP on orphans, and a little over $1,000 to ship all the way from Southern California to South Florida. By far it beat any local offers, which were all MSRP, and, most of the time, included a $600+ "dealer service fee" on top of that.

The most amusing part is that the local dealer, with whom I placed my first order, and who was not willing to budge on MSRP plus a $700 dealer service fee, still has my orphan in their inventory six and a half months later.

KayserNissan said:

Hey just wanted to thank all of you for a lot of the posts here. Very informative.

I am a recent addition to the sales staff here at Kayser Nissan and was tasked with becoming the Leaf Guru. Well a month in and a lot of reading, studying, tests, later I still found a lot of new information around on this site that I wasn't even aware of. Guess I got a lot more homework to do!

Anyways thanks again, and keep up all the informative posts, I will be a regular around these parts and hope to get to know you guys, and pull information and whatnots into my brain.

Click to expand...

Welcome to the board, and I hope you are able to convince management to sell at MSRP. Do you at least match the advertised $289/$319 SV/SL lease rates by Nissan? If you can avoid marking up the money factor that may help move the LEAFs.

My main suggestion to a dealer would be to set up the cars with the 80% long-life-mode timer set so the cars don't sit on the lot for extended periods of time at 100% charge - not sure if that's something Nissan trains dealers on or not.

drees said:

Welcome to the board, and I hope you are able to convince management to sell at MSRP. Do you at least match the advertised $289/$319 SV/SL lease rates by Nissan? If you can avoid marking up the money factor that may help move the LEAFs.

My main suggestion to a dealer would be to set up the cars with the 80% long-life-mode timer set so the cars don't sit on the lot for extended periods of time at 100% charge - not sure if that's something Nissan trains dealers on or not.

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Thanks! I am selling them at MSRP, just management doesn't want to dip any lower until we have a more steady stock.

And yes, I already have the LEAFs we have sitting around set at 80%, Nissan didn't say anything directly, but their are a few mentions of not charging past 80% regularly to extend the battery life so I took it upon myself to do that to all of them in case they do sit for a while

KayserNissan said:

KayserNissan said:

Fairly limited supply here in Madison (only 3 unspoken for atm), so we're holding at MSRP at least for the next month or 3

Click to expand...

After I wrote this I went back to flipping around the forum here, just curious what are some of the other dealers out there in the world doing? What is/was the good deal that you'd consider going out of state, or you did go out of state for? We talking just like $1-2k off +shipping? Just curious as to giving me excuses to bring up to my GM...I would love some reasoning to get more of these gone

Click to expand...

+2 welcome to the forum -- as to the comment on dealer discounts, perhaps a bit closer to WI; my dealer in Elgin, IL (McGrath Nissan) was offering discounts on two demo LEAF's (an '11 and a '12) awhile back as Nissan encouraged them and removed the restriction on selling their demo cars with Nissan opening up orders nationally. A new LEAF is still a fairly rare sight even down south of you around Chicago. The IL EPA also offers a 10% off MSRP rebate (up to $4K) but only for purchased, not leased cars. IL EPA has a restriction that it needs to be purchased 'locally' so this discourages out of state sales as well so doubtful you'll see much across the border activity from IL. We also have discounted plate registration fees for EV's and a 50% EVSE rebate as well (despite the financial crisis, appears these programs are well funded, at least for now!); surprised that WI doesn't offer much; I haven't checked recently but you may want to so that you can advise your potential customers ?

What's fascinating is Mitsubishi which I assume has even lower sales than Nissan. My local Jim Ellis has been sitting on their six i-MiEVs in obscure location for months now and not budging from the MSRP either. 35K, so no one is even looking and not a single one on the road. They have no charging station and I'd hate to see what state the batteries are in baking in the sun (probably at 100%) all day. I would just throw them into the river and write off as total loss.

cracovian said:

What's fascinating is Mitsubishi which I assume has even lower sales than Nissan. My local Jim Ellis has been sitting on their six i-MiEVs in obscure location for months now and not budging from the MSRP either. 35K, so no one is even looking and not a single one on the road. They have no charging station and I'd hate to see what state the batteries are in baking in the sun (probably at 100%) all day. I would just throw them into the river and write off as total loss.

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From the pricing you mentioned, sounds like these are 'loaded' Mitsu 'i''s which pale in comparison to even the SV LEAF in equipment, etc.; I would think the base 'i' models which undercut the base LEAF by a few thousand may be something for those who simply need a local EV commuter vehicle and the lowest price possible -- sounds like no takers so they need to do something to move them. Mitsu dealer's around Chicago have at least said they have them in stock but do not discount them (currently) either.

To be fair a loaded i is nice, the sound system is great, it has a quick charger, and 6.6 kW. To me the biggest drawback is 4 seats, the same for Volt. Mitsubishi offers no leasing options, so whatever... With a $5K rebate, I'd jump on it, so it is a question of price.

redLEAF said:

+2 welcome to the forum -- as to the comment on dealer discounts, perhaps a bit closer to WI; my dealer in Elgin, IL (McGrath Nissan) was offering discounts on two demo LEAF's (an '11 and a '12) awhile back as Nissan encouraged them and removed the restriction on selling their demo cars with Nissan opening up orders nationally. A new LEAF is still a fairly rare sight even down south of you around Chicago. The IL EPA also offers a 10% off MSRP rebate (up to $4K) but only for purchased, not leased cars. IL EPA has a restriction that it needs to be purchased 'locally' so this discourages out of state sales as well so doubtful you'll see much across the border activity from IL. We also have discounted plate registration fees for EV's and a 50% EVSE rebate as well (despite the financial crisis, appears these programs are well funded, at least for now!); surprised that WI doesn't offer much; I haven't checked recently but you may want to so that you can advise your potential customers ?

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Thats good to know! I was down in Chicago the past weekend, and with everything I've heard about them pumping up the charging stations and access I was expecting to see 1 or 2 of them, but alas none on the road I heard they have a quick charge station at the Des Plaines and O'Hare Oasises, was hoping the Belvidere Oasis was going to have one so you could easily make the trip from Madison to Chicago with the Leaf, but no one there knew anything about the project.

It is good to see the IL is supporting the movement, but yeah I've and I am not seeing any that would help owners here in WI (there are a bunch for businesses) I've been having people peak at http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/laws/matrix/incentive" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and yeah IL looks sweet. Great for the local Nissan dealers, horrible for me trying to poach other localish consumers haha :lol:.

Joe,

I'm curious. Do you have people coming in to look at them, and it's just that the price is too high? Or is no one coming in?

Craig

I see maybe 4-5 people in here a week asking about the Leaf. I would say both are issues, price isn't awful, but a lot of resistance to spend $400-450/month on a pure commuter car (which is why I am very interested in learning where Quick Charge stations are towards Chicago :mrgreen We have a ride and drive event coming up, I am working a lot of side things around town here to try and get some businesses driving them around.

To be honest I am the 'backup' Leaf guy, so I do not know what the internet situation is like, if that is also slow, if sales are just being handled 100% through the website, or what. Only 3 on the road, and 3 ordered that I am aware of though, so I dunno. Actually we'll have 4 on the road shortly...guy here in town won some bridgestone tire contest and won a Leaf.