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Hoping to get more info soon from dealers who have dealt with the Nissan Leaf. I hear there are now EV-certified dealers. Once I find out which nearby dealer is EV-certified, I will give them a call and see what's going on.
 
Figured I'd throw my experience/advice out there, even though this thread is already kinda insane at 1200+ posts. :)

In 2013 I wandered into a Nissan dealer based on Nissan's corporate site offering a $250/mo lease deal on an SV. I'm more a technologist than an environmentalist, and I've wanted an electric car since the days of Beyond Tomorrow on the Discovery channel but it wasn't a "must buy" for me.

Nearly 6 hours of "haggling" later (this dealership was quite literally criminal - story for another day), I got my $250/mo for 3 years with $2500 down. That's $11,500 total paid into the car for the lease.

In the summer of 2016 my lease was coming due. NMAC initially offered me a $17K buyout (less than what was on my original lease agreement). I told them I wasn't interested. They came back a couple of times, and eventually settled at $11,192 (inc'l taxes, etc).

I couldn't pass that up, as it was a total of $22,692 for a fully-spec'd SV with sticker price around $35K. Plus it had under 20K miles on the clock.

The entire buyout transaction took about 15 minutes with no surprises or nonsense (I went to a different and less sleazy dealer).

My current thinking is that if NMAC was willing to come down that low last year, I have to imagine that by 2020 they'll be willing to go even lower. Considering the number of EVs and PHEVs on the market (plus the 2018+ models), I can't see demand being high for used "107 mile" LEAFs three years from now.

It's just speculation FWIW, but I'd be willing to wager that NMAC won't want 2017s back by the time late 2020 rolls around, and will bend over backwards to unload them.

At the very least if you're considering buying out your lease now, haggle with them extensively.
 
You were lucky to have done that deal back in the “good old days” when NMAC would negotiate with the buyer. They have now handed the entire process over to those criminal stealerships who probably whines about losing profit because of NMAC deals.

Now, the only ones told about the discounts are the stealerships and they don’t share. They now hold all the cards, forcing us to have to try and find the few who don’t want to screw the customer to complete the deal. The dealer I originally bought my car from flat out lied to me that there were no more NMAC buyout incentives on my car. It’s because they know they can still sell it for more than my low buyout+NMAC incentive. I also got screwed on my lease so the residual is low.

Anyway, I did the lease extension to kick the can down the road a bit. I’m hoping that by February I can find a dealer that will give me a square deal. Either way, this is my last Nissan and hopefully my last stealership experience.
 
Man, I think there were better deals last year itself. I got a 2 year lease for a 2015 S without Quickcharge in July 2014. Last year, I got it extended after they gave me 2 months free. After the third year expired, I got another extension for 9 months until April 2018(with 3 months free and I could cancel starting next month which is good as my stupid Georgia $210 registration surcharge is due in a month).

My residual is supposedly 14K plus and my payoff on my monthly invoice has gone down to 11,500. So the dealer (Town center in kennesaw, GA) is offering me pretty much the payoff price. He did say i get an 8 year warranty(which means another 4 and a half years) and 100000 miles bumper to bumper.

I was hoping for something in the 7-8K range based on the assumption I could have gotten a buyout last year for 10K or so. But they seem pretty firm so far on that price. And I glanced at the used market and it looks like 3 year old LEAFS are going for higher prices now than they were last year. Problem is I leased my car at the inception of the LEAF 2015 rollout. So even though it is more than 3 years old, the value of it seems to be higher than the 2014s that were being sold just weeks before I got mine.
 
Just a thought, that bumper to bumper warranty will probably not include the battery (if it looses it's 4th bar), but everything else I assume. I never take warranties.
 
Hello,

I am posting for the first time regarding Nissan leaf 2016 buyout.
NMAC offered me buyout price of 12,300. Mileage is currently 14000 miles. Is this price OK? Please let me know your opinions.

Thanks
 
tinker said:
Hello,

I am posting for the first time regarding Nissan leaf 2016 buyout.
NMAC offered me buyout price of 12,300. Mileage is currently 14000 miles. Is this price OK? Please let me know your opinions.

Thanks

That sounds like a typical 33% residual. You've been paying a high payment, now you get a low residual as a reward.
 
So what would you guys think is this big disparity in buyout deals . Not too long ago, Nissan was offering 3-6K off the residual. What has changed recently where the prices seem to have gone up in the used market even though newer models with larger ranges are imminent.
 
There is no reason to expect residual discounts on 2015+ Leafs, because the residuals were set at a reasonable level. And since dealers now negotiate buyouts, they try to keep as much of the discounts on older Leafs as they can. In at least one case, they tried to keep ALL of it.
 
2015 SV, 23k miles. Lease was up on Oct. We did the 6 month extension with 3 free months. A good deal by any view really. Would like to keep the car at the end of the 6 month extension, but I'm not paying the full residual and the thought of dealing with stealerships is no very appealing. I wish the lease company was still in charge. Ah well, guess they will get it back. Good luck selling it with a range of less then 100 miles in 2018.....
 
What is the incentive for the dealers not to budge on the price. If they dont sell it to me at a discount, would they receive full price from the manufacturer? Or is the resale price so good they can get 11000 plus on a 40 month old car with 35000 miles on it?
 
Good question. I think it's the 'stealership' mindset If they can't get most of the incentive for themselves, they don't want to play. Looking back, though, you have a 2015 Leaf. You have a reasonable residual, especially considering that you have a Lizard pack. There may well be little or no manufacturer's incentive for your car.
 
My local (and ONLY I might add!!!) Nissan dealership here in Des Moines has been able to move off-lease 13, 14, and now 15's for more than the residual on my 30kW '16. With NMAC being out of the picture on the incentives, if this trend continues, for a dealer like that there is zero reason for them to help you out. They'll throw a detail on your car, and flip it to the used lot for a quick buck.

That's how it looks from my tower anyway :)

mantar said:
What is the incentive for the dealers not to budge on the price. If they dont sell it to me at a discount, would they receive full price from the manufacturer? Or is the resale price so good they can get 11000 plus on a 40 month old car with 35000 miles on it?
 
mantar said:
What is the incentive for the dealers not to budge on the price. If they dont sell it to me at a discount, would they receive full price from the manufacturer? Or is the resale price so good they can get 11000 plus on a 40 month old car with 35000 miles on it?

profiteering.

Its my guess that the dealership has the option to buy the lease and resell it, turn it in, or sell it to you.

What they decide to do is based on the same criteria that governs any car deal. Greed.

A good dealer or at least one that wants to earn your loyalty will share profits with you on the buy out.
 
Gimpster said:
My local (and ONLY I might add!!!) Nissan dealership here in Des Moines has been able to move off-lease 13, 14, and now 15's for more than the residual on my 30kW '16. With NMAC being out of the picture on the incentives, if this trend continues, for a dealer like that there is zero reason for them to help you out. They'll throw a detail on your car, and flip it to the used lot for a quick buck.

That's how it looks from my tower anyway :)

mantar said:
What is the incentive for the dealers not to budge on the price. If they dont sell it to me at a discount, would they receive full price from the manufacturer? Or is the resale price so good they can get 11000 plus on a 40 month old car with 35000 miles on it?

That is not saying a lot. the residual on my 2016 is $9100. A pretty good deal for a lightly used LEAF in good climate.
 
My original residual for a 2015 S was $12,310. I did the extension and now my payoff is $10,520. So, not sure what I will end up doing. The problem is the EV-certified dealer in my area is terrible. They keep spamming me about buying used leafs, when I've repeatedly said I have a leased Leaf that will come off lease soon, so I'm curious about options. That's not got me anywhere. What a terrible experience.
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
That is not saying a lot. the residual on my 2016 is $9100. A pretty good deal for a lightly used LEAF in good climate.
Here's the "closest" deal to me (Spokane, so 150 mi): $9000 for a 2011 SL with 24,000 mi.
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/718769609/overview/
These things are huge profit centers. Buy at auction and selling with $4000 markup. Heck, if I could sell my 2011 SL for $9000 and buy a 2016 for $9000 I would in a heartbeat. Sorry, it ain't gonna happen. That's the difference between wholesale auction and retail. Sorry, I guess it's just easier for me to keep my 2011 and depreciate it to zero, and never pay another dollar to the oil industry (that was always the plan). :twisted:
 
My local dealer has been listing '13-14's for 13.5-14.5k ......and they are moving. I mean, they don't stay on the used lot long. I assume they keep the incentives for themselves and get the car, thats not a bad no-effort (other than having the lot boy clean it up) profit.

The used prices on these are highly regionalized from my observations. The Bay Area has the best deals, but that said I couldn't deal with a 11-12 in this cold climate and the miles per day I need :)

It also seems the masses are waking up to the value a used LEAF offers commuters.

DaveinOlyWA said:
That is not saying a lot. the residual on my 2016 is $9100. A pretty good deal for a lightly used LEAF in good climate.
 
I did not realize how well the used LEAFS were doing. I guess I cant blame the dealership then if they can get a better price. I guess those who got the 2015 Leaf in July 2014 pay a much higher amount than the ones who got the 2014 Leafs in June 2014 because of the residual values with the big difference between the two scenarios is my 2015 has a better battery for long term ownership. My car has 35000 miles on it. I guess I can be satisfied that I got good value out of it for 3 and half years(209 a month with 5 free months total on the lasst two extensions) and just turn it in.

Or should I just wait until the 2018s come out, get a brand new 2018 for 23,000(which is 30K minus the federal tax credit). I wonder if those cars rollout will reduce the price of the 2015s even more.
 
Our local "EV-certified dealer" keeps trying to get me to buy the following:

2015 with only 1,100 miles - $12,980

Mine is a 2015 S w/QC, 23000 miles ($10,500 payoff). Seems like they can't go much lower.
 
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