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Just registered and it's my first time posting, though I have lurked here from time to time over the years. We leased a brand new 2015 S w/QC in December 2014 from a local Phoenix area dealership, and it's been my husband's trusty commuting car for the past 42+ months. Being Phoenicians, we never anticipated that we would want to *own* this car, figuring we were lucky to get one of those great 3-year promotional leases at the end of 2014 to try out EV "ownership" to see if it worked for us, then maybe look at buying a fresh EV (with a new battery!), or leasing another new EV, if the 3-year Leaf lease was a success. Amazingly, after two lease extensions (with the three free months), we completed an end-of-lease buyout of our 2015 yesterday.

I'm taking the plunge to post here both to share our buyout experience, and to express our sincere gratitude to leafer007 (if he's still here) for posting the then-current Leaf GPO Discount bulletin on 7/2. Because of you, leafer007, we were firm and relentless from the day I read your post (7/5), and managed to get the published Minimum Purchase Price for the 2015 S of $8300 at the 11th hour, yesterday.

So as not to bury the lede, here are the car and buyout deets:

2015 silver S w/QC, 42+ months and 42k+ miles, 1 bar lost shortly before the 36-month mark;

Total $$$ in vehicle before buyout, including cash down, all lease pmts, dealer fees, TT&L, inclusive ("all in"): just over $12,000;

Gross Payoff amount reported by NMAC to dealerships: just under $11,300 (Note: This amount was about $800 *less* than the amount showing on our current NMAC statement, after the most recent lease payment had been credited);

Buyout terms: $8300 "Minimum RPM Purchase Price" + $300 contract end-of-lease fee + sales tax (high in AZ, 7.8% in dealership municipality) + title & license (low in AZ) + $35 in misc dealership admin charges = just a hair over $9300 out the door.

I still can't quite believe we pulled it off -- we told ourselves that unless we could convince a dealer to give us the published deal, we just weren't going to do it. (In the Phx area, used 2015 S's are currently listed on TrueCar generally in the $10,000s and $11,000s, with at least 2 particular specimens under 25k miles including all 12 bars advertised at $10,990. With supposedly around 230 used Leafs for sale in the Phx area on TrueCar right now, there are a few 2015s advertised under $10k, but their battery status is unknown to the online looky-loo.)

Getting the deal done was incredibly time consuming and painful, including one fruitless trip to a dealership (where they wouldn't budge on their made-up $500 doc fee), and another false start toward the dealership where it ultimately *did* happen, but not without strife, tumult, bad mojo and some yelling (from me toward the salesman we ultimately got the deal done with).

Like others have posted before, some dealerships refuse to admit that the incentives or discounts exist (even when you send them the bulletin), others insist on padding with so much dealer crap $$$ that it was taking the price over $10k, a no-go in the current market conditions. (As I said to my husband, we might be better off by letting this one go back, and buying one of those $10,990 2015s with half the miles and all the bars. Of course, who knows what the *real* cost of one of those would be, after all the used-car dealer add-on fees, plus TT&L, naturally.)

Well, I'm out of time and that's plenty for an inaugural post . . . if you made it this far, thanks again for paying it forward, leafer007!
 
I am so glad that I could be of some help to this community!! Never pay extra to those dealers, it is always a long struggle to pay the right price :)

leafiewife said:
Just registered and it's my first time posting, though I have lurked here from time to time over the years. We leased a brand new 2015 S w/QC in December 2014 from a local Phoenix area dealership, and it's been my husband's trusty commuting car for the past 42+ months. Being Phoenicians, we never anticipated that we would want to *own* this car, figuring we were lucky to get one of those great 3-year promotional leases at the end of 2014 to try out EV "ownership" to see if it worked for us, then maybe look at buying a fresh EV (with a new battery!), or leasing another new EV, if the 3-year Leaf lease was a success. Amazingly, after two lease extensions (with the three free months), we completed an end-of-lease buyout of our 2015 yesterday.

I'm taking the plunge to post here both to share our buyout experience, and to express our sincere gratitude to leafer007 (if he's still here) for posting the then-current Leaf GPO Discount bulletin on 7/2. Because of you, leafer007, we were firm and relentless from the day I read your post (7/5), and managed to get the published Minimum Purchase Price for the 2015 S of $8300 at the 11th hour, yesterday.

So as not to bury the lede, here are the car and buyout deets:

2015 silver S w/QC, 42+ months and 42k+ miles, 1 bar lost shortly before the 36-month mark;

Total $$$ in vehicle before buyout, including cash down, all lease pmts, dealer fees, TT&L, inclusive ("all in"): just over $12,000;

Gross Payoff amount reported by NMAC to dealerships: just under $11,300 (Note: This amount was about $800 *less* than the amount showing on our current NMAC statement, after the most recent lease payment had been credited);

Buyout terms: $8300 "Minimum RPM Purchase Price" + $300 contract end-of-lease fee + sales tax (high in AZ, 7.8% in dealership municipality) + title & license (low in AZ) + $35 in misc dealership admin charges = just a hair over $9300 out the door.

I still can't quite believe we pulled it off -- we told ourselves that unless we could convince a dealer to give us the published deal, we just weren't going to do it. (In the Phx area, used 2015 S's are currently listed on TrueCar generally in the $10,000s and $11,000s, with at least 2 particular specimens under 25k miles including all 12 bars advertised at $10,990. With supposedly around 230 used Leafs for sale in the Phx area on TrueCar right now, there are a few 2015s advertised under $10k, but their battery status is unknown to the online looky-loo.)

Getting the deal done was incredibly time consuming and painful, including one fruitless trip to a dealership (where they wouldn't budge on their made-up $500 doc fee), and another false start toward the dealership where it ultimately *did* happen, but not without strife, tumult, bad mojo and some yelling (from me toward the salesman we ultimately got the deal done with).

Like others have posted before, some dealerships refuse to admit that the incentives or discounts exist (even when you send them the bulletin), others insist on padding with so much dealer crap $$$ that it was taking the price over $10k, a no-go in the current market conditions. (As I said to my husband, we might be better off by letting this one go back, and buying one of those $10,990 2015s with half the miles and all the bars. Of course, who knows what the *real* cost of one of those would be, after all the used-car dealer add-on fees, plus TT&L, naturally.)

Well, I'm out of time and that's plenty for an inaugural post . . . if you made it this far, thanks again for paying it forward, leafer007!
 
leafer007 said:
The salesman gave me a call and they finally agreed to not charge an additional $395 but instead do the $300 purchase option + $75 nissan fee.

So the price is coming to
$10800 + $300 + $75 + 6.25% tax + $341

He is throwing in detailing and extra car wash.

I guess this is the best I can get afer trying out other dealerships. I had to literally send the other dealers the Leaf GPO discount quote and even then they had no clue. :(

Anyways. This is the best I got and Im cool with it

I have one more important question. I guess this is specifically for Texas buyers - I was under the impression that texas leasees pay the full sales tax upfront so we dont have to pay sales tax again? I brought this up but the finance manager was adamant saying we pay the sales tax only on the leased portion. We are required to pay tax on the residual when you buy it.

Almost all online forums say texas leases suck big time because of upfront sales tax. And my lease contract doesnt show any sales tax so it looks like i didnt pay any tax! Can somebody please clarify this?

It wouldn't make sense to pay tax on cost of entire vehicle if you aren't buying it. A lot of states charge sales tax and its on the leased portion only so yeah, sales tax if purchasing is applied to purchase price since it would be no different than buying any other used vehicle. You have your lease paperwork. Should be easy to verify that.
 
blueblob06 said:
My lease is ending in Sept. I have a 2015 Leaf SV.

Residual Value: $10,118.10

Excuse my ignorance but my understanding is if I wanted to buy the car, I'd owe Nissan $10,118.10 + TTL + any other BS fee the dealer makes up that I can't talk them out of, correct?

My wife knows I'm adamant about having an EV, whether it's this one or another, but she wants one with longer range. I'm learning towards keeping this one and paying it off quickly so we have no car payments :D . It only has 30K miles on it and battery is at 12 bars. It has the Around View Monitor and Bose system (no quick charge though). For a 2015, hard to beat that. Do wish it had the range of the new ones but not looking to start over buying a new car.

The price is not set. Buying a lease out is like buying any used car. The dealership makes money doing so. How much they make is entirely up to them. There have been many people here who got theirs well below the residual. Same goes with fees since they are simply part of the profit or loss to the dealer's bottom line.

For many, its a matter of luck and timing based on the EV market and its current demand. Used EVs have fluctuated regularly and in times of high used volumes, it would be easier to get a better price since the dealer is likely faced with dumping the car at auction "hopefully" at break even prices.

You might want to contact dealers in areas that have a larger EV presence. You don't have to use the same dealer to buy out a lease. Any Nissan dealer can do it for you.
 
oleviking said:
Approximately how long before the end of the lease would you start negotiations? Also, can ANY Nissan dealer in the US handle the transaction?

Deals change monthly, so negotiate in the same calendar month that your lease ends. Yes, any dealer in the continental US should be able to do it. If you want to try the excellent guy I leased my car from, contact David Seacord at Lia Nissan of Colonie NY.
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
It wouldn't make sense to pay tax on cost of entire vehicle if you aren't buying it. A lot of states charge sales tax and its on the leased portion only so yeah, sales tax if purchasing is applied to purchase price since it would be no different than buying any other used vehicle. You have your lease paperwork. Should be easy to verify that.

It doesn't make sense, but in some states they do charge sales tax on the full value of the car at the beginning of the lease, not just on the leased portion. Illinois used to be like this. Texas, I think, still is.
I'm about to buy my leaf at the end of the lease in Illinois and trying to figure out if I have to basically pay sales tax a second time on it, since we paid sales tax on the full value of the car when we leased it. The dealership is telling me we do have to pay sales tax again, which seems absurd, but may be true. Paying sales tax on the full value of the vehicle in the first place was absurd, but true.
 
My lease is up in October; I’m leaning towards purchasing unless the power company starts doing $10,000 rebates again. Anyway, Nissan Finance have me a 6 month extension when I told them I was waiting for the 2019s to arrive. They actually asked me when that would happen. The lease extension can be cancelled at any time by me. The terms of my lease reduce the residual value by almost the entire payment, so I figure I’m not out anything if I do purchase it in 8 months.
 
I wonder what the dealer GPO is for a 2016 leaf S with 30kw battery. I went to Test drive a new leaf. The dealer told me I would have to pay an additional $1500 if I kept my current leaf. My lease purchase is $11800 + 300 + whatever other fees.
 
Called another dealer and they said the 1500 fee would be waived if I get a loan from a bank. Amazing that a cash buyout costs more.
 
WaKirk said:
Called another dealer and they said the 1500 fee would be waived if I get a loan from a bank. Amazing that a cash buyout costs more.

Many people finance through NMAC and then pay the loan off soon thereafter, with no penalty, in order to take advantage of perks like that.
 
Thanks for the response Leftie Biker. I will ask Nissan if I end up buying my current leaf. Still wonder if Nissan has GPO info for my 2016 leaf. I have to decide before mid December.
 
leafer007 said:
I bought my lease for the price quoted below. I am also posting an image that shows Leaf buyout incentives available between July1st to 9th here https://imgur.com/a/meScTR2. I am a newbie and not sure if the image uploaded well. Let me know

Thanks for sharing the example of some gross payoff discount info from this last summer.

My question to the group: is there a way to know this info for any given moment? Our lease is up this coming February, and we're a little on the fence about whether we'll buy our 2015 SV at that time. Knowing whether an additional discount (and roughly how much) is possible might go a long way to helping us decide before spending a whole bunch of time with various dealerships.

Thanks,
Keith
 
I returned my 15 LEAF. The inspector put in a $192 charge for a rear bumper. Said inspector decided the white paint on the bumper looked a little different than the metal due to poor quality repairs. The bumper was original. I have a dispute with Nissan Finance. I had to pay because they gave me a short deadline to do the disposition fee and the bumper fee was attached. The only repair ever I did was the front fender opposite side and the inspector never saw it.
I hope my 16 is not misdiagnosed as well in a year when it goes back.
 
As I noted earlier, try to schedule the inspection for a day when steady rain is predicted. Not only do the inspectors look more quickly and less thoroughly, but the rain itself disguises many small imperfections. I had a spot of bad factory paint on my 2013 that was about the size of a solver dollar, but it passed. The same with the scratched, slightly rusty front gravel shield.
 
LeftieBiker said:
The dealerships don't get the monthly amounts until a couple of days into the month. The best you can do is find an honest salesperson who will share this info.

OK, I'll hunt around for a friendly dealer and see if I can get the same info.

Any advantage to starting early? Ie, if there's a particular month where there are favorable buyout discounts, should I end the lease early and buy it then? Does this sheet showing discounts even exist each month or only at certain times?

Thanks,
Keith
 
Thanks to leafer007, I was able to negotiate what I think is a reasonable deal to purchase my 15 Leaf. I felt lucky to be able to get this done, considering the issues that have been reported here. I thought I'd contact the d(st)ealership that leased me the car, much to my surprise, they got very close to the posted discounts from that chart. Again, thank you leafer007, and to everyone contributing to this thread.

With a 2015, I was on a 24 month lease, extended in April, for 4 months. Then an additional month, because I couldn't get together, I or the dealership was too busy to get the paperwork accomplished, mostly my fault. So I made 29 payments of $273.44, then one final payment t of $9621, (the buyout price was 12.2K, according to the NMAC website) which included their $299 service fee. Plus TT&L, it was a plate/tag transfer of $99, and tax of $481.05. So out the door for $10,201.05.

I did finance through NMAC at a horrid rate of 5.93%, but will refinance that soon enough at a more attractive rate. I wasn't going to quibble about something that I can easily make go away after I owned the car.

And I will be purchasing the 60/60K mile extended warranty as soon as my mileage is closer to the factory warranty expiring.

http://nissansrextendedservicecontracts.com/leaf-coverage/gold-preferred/100-deductible/pre-owned-vehicle-plan/current-mileage/0-40-000-miles/leaf-gold-preferred-60-month-60-000-mile-coverage/

I've leased these cars since 12, the lower 84 EPA range works for me, and will continue to work with no range problems for the anticipated future. The car and battery have been taken care of, I don't see myself losing a bar for quite sometime. I couldn't think of any good reason to not buy this car considering the lease rates of the My2018's.

To repeat, THANKS to EVERYONE that posted on this thread, it was extremely helpful.
 
Any advantage to starting early? Ie, if there's a particular month where there are favorable buyout discounts, should I end the lease early and buy it then? Does this sheet showing discounts even exist each month or only at certain times?

If you see a discount you find palatable, I suggest you take it. It could go up in the future - or down. The "sheet" exists every month, although possibly not in printed form if it's an email.
 
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