Anyone tried renegotiating a lease?

[captainindignant]

I like my 2012 Leaf well enough, but am appalled by how much I'm overpaying relative to folks who held off a couple more months. My 39-month lease began almost exactly a year ago, and my monthly payments are nearly twice what people are reporting now for 24-month leases.

I have to imagine many of you are in the same spot. It would almost be cheaper for me to buy out my lease, sell it to my dealer, and refinance it, than to keep paying my payments!

It seems unlikely we have any grounds to force Nissan Motors Acceptance Corp. to renegotiate the lease contract, but as a matter of customer relations I would think they might want to do something to mollify the true early adopters, like me, who sat or a reservation for over a year and picked up the Leaf the first day it was ready. Obviously Nissan can afford a significantly lower money factor than they offered in November 2011 now that they want to move inventory.

Has anyone attempted to renegotiate with NMAC? Any advice? Suffice it to say my tweet to this effect to @nissanleaf went unanswered.

Scott

 

[Weatherman]

It's all about supply and demand. A year ago, demand was high and supply was low. Now, demand is low and supply is high.

There's no question that lease terms were awful in 2011. Kind of surprising, given Andy Palmer's statements that he expected his customers to lease rather than buy. But, Nissan has already demonstrated they are giving no special favors to early adopters.

(which is why I'll never be an early adopter, again)

 

[mkjayakumar]

I am in the same boat. Leased it 9 months ago for 24 months at a rate twice or more as much as one would pay now...

 

[gsleaf]

What's the penalty for turning a lease in early?

 

[jimcmorr]

I was over at Carriage Nissan a few weeks ago having the 5K mile check done on my LEAF. One of the Sales Guys there said I could trade my 2012 lease for a 2013 lease. I don't know if this is really possible or practical if possible but might be worth investigating. When the 2013s are out I may look at this more closely. Certainly worth the look.

 

[z0ner]

What's the penalty for turning a lease in early?

There is no "penalty". You satisfy your payoff balance (available on NMAC web or by phone) and you turn your car into the dealer.

One of the Sales Guys there said I could trade my 2012 lease for a 2013 lease

Yes, they'd roll your 2012 payoff balance into the new lease. That's the only way you're going to "trade" up.

I was trying to get the trade-in value for my 2011 SL from my dealer Fontana Nissan, and I was advised not to bother as it would be ridiculously low compared to private party. Private party and/or CarMax would be your best bet.

 

[JeremyW]

I don't have much to add, other than I'm in the same boat. Part of me wants to buy out the lease and wring the life that I can out of it. I could do the Engineer add on battery and *maybe* Phil's add on charger kit in time.

 

[Stanton]

Do people not realize that Nissan (and every car dealer) is in this to MAKE MONEY? :roll:

They don't have MBA's figure this stuff out so they can get fleeced on leases (or financing, or whatever). Remember, things like 0% financing weren't even available when I bought my Leaf. I purchased my Leaf knowing that--in the long run--I was going to "drive it into the ground" (and buy another--probably better--battery pack when that time comes).

 

[hd172]

In California 2yr lease does not qualify for free blink or the $2500 rebate.

 

[captainindignant]

Thanks for commiserating, folks.

OF COURSE I know that Nissan is in it for the money and calculated its lease offers to maximize revenue. That's more or less what they should be doing. Except that this is a pretty unusual vehicle, with an insanely steep amortization, which is to say, Nissan was quite pessimistic about the long-term value of these cars. They got a bunch of us to buy or lease them anyway, and then figured out that they were not even going to clear a first-sale market with that cost structure.

In 2007, I was one of the idiots in line for a $600 - no subsidy - iPhone. There were a lot of us. But a couple of months later, Apple dropped the price to $400. And it wanted to KEEP us early adopters loyal, and gave back $100 of the difference (admittedly, in Apple credit) when the price dropped.

It seems to me that Nissan is in a similar boat. It's finding its way creating an entirely new market. It could treat early-adopter Leaf customers just like customers, to be taken for every dollar whenever possible, or it could treat us as a potential constituency of repeat buyers, to be made happy and loyal. Right now I don't have much interest in being a repeat Nissan electric buyer - not only because Tesla is offering so much more car per dollar, but because it is plainly interested in developing a community of repeat buyers.

 

[NYLEAF]

I'm in the same boat. I could basically trade my current Leaf in for another 2012 and pay about $110 less per month. I've decided to just wait for the 2013's. I figure that, at worst, I'll wind up paying exactly what I pay now, but I'll have a newer car. At best, I'll pay less per month, and still have a newer car. Win win!

 

[JerryEdgington]

For what it's worth, I'd like to thank all of you who took a chance on being an early, early adopter.

You may have paid full price for an uncertain piece of technology, (if you can renegotiate, more power to you), but it's people like you who widen the crack in big oil's wall to let the masses of the rest of us pour through.

If you hadn't been here, posting all the details of your experiences, I may never have taken the leap to try a Leaf. Reading all your posts reassured me that the car was reliable enough to commit to.

On the plus side, you've had one for a year or two while I hesitated, and so have had the fun of driving it while I drove a 2001 Focus with 170k on it. ( A whole new level of anxiety.)

Some of you have had the fun of disassembling it and remaking it in your own image. You may have taught Nissan a thing or two and so improved it for all of us. They should pay you for that, but we who will benefit in future are grateful at least.

But, if you want to make a switch, good luck, this opportunity to get a 2012 cheap wont last long, it's just a temporary thing while thet get rid of the 2012's. The 2013 lease rates will probably start high again.

Maybe, at least in the New England market, they'll be a low cost opportunity every December as they come out with improvements every year and the old year's go on clearance. I sure hope so.

 

[mrdcmills]

I'm kicking myself too. I'm paying $278 for an SL for 39 months. But I still love the car. This is my first lease. I'm putting $1 bills in the safe every month for the mileage and enjoy a car where my only obligation is to wash it. That's my luck. I thought I was smart and sold Apple for $465 for an $85 gain. Then watched it go to over $700.

 

[x10guy]

I'm kicking myself too. I'm paying $278 for an SL for 39 months. But I still love the car. This is my first lease. I'm putting $1 bills in the safe every month for the mileage and enjoy a car where my only obligation is to wash it. That's my luck. I thought I was smart and sold Apple for $465 for an $85 gain. Then watched it go to over $700.

Actually that's not too bad of a lease deal. I'm sure there are quite a few early adopters that would love to trade places with you.

BTW, Apple stock has quickly fallen to $515. I'm sure very few people were able to time the market and sell at the peak.