Peace said:
thanks cgaydos, for your super fast reply! they're very helpful - I 'll keep them in mind when I deal w/ the dealership tomorrow (sign- feel like I'm doing battles soon)
I thought that the warranties are between the manufacturer and you - not the dealership?
P.
Peace: if you're ready to buy and buying new, then I strongly suggest you don't go to the dealerships first. As we've discussed often on this board, the best method is to send an email to each of the dealers in your area stating exactly what you want, say that you are ready to buy now, and ask for a bid. I usually give a cell phone contact as well as email to better enable the process - sometimes you get lucky and a dealer really needs to move a car now and will underbid all the others.
Once you start with that you should get numerous replies and then have to ad lib based on the responses, which will vary greatly depending on the local supply/demand situation. With LEAFs most people report that some dealers will show a lot of interest and as the discussion goes on will lower the bid, eventually leading you to the best option.
Be sure to ask for the out-the-door price with all fees and extras. When you come to agreement set up an appointment to buy the car and ask them to send you a scanned copy of the agreement in advance - this greatly reduces the possibility of last minute extra fees.
This method has a challenge if you also want to trade in a car. To be honest you're usually better selling a car as a separate deal, but sometimes a trade-in makes the most sense when you consider the time factor. If you have a trade in mention that up front and give them the basics of the car - the VIN, model year, options, condition, mileage, color. Certainly be honest about the condition and know that in these days of CarFax that any major repairs will be on record. The dealer can give you an estimate sight unseen, but of course can't commit until they see the car, and you can bet that they'll always drop the price they'll give you for your trade-in once you are on the lot. In this case I'd have 2 or 3 possible dealer purchases lined up so I could walk from the first one in case they downgraded the value of the trade-in too much.
Always remember to walk away from the deal if in doubt. ALWAYS. You are in control of the transaction although dealers are very skilled at making you feel out of control.
Finally, if you are buying be aware of limitations of the federal tax credit. First, you have to have at least $7500 on your 1040 taxes paid during the year to get the whole credit - otherwise it just offsets what you pay. (1040 taxes include Social Security and Medicare as well as Federal Income Taxes.) Second, if you claim the federal credit you will in most cases not be able to claim the 30% credit for a home EVSE (a.k.a. "charger") in the same tax year. The $7500 credit isn't subject to AMT but it changes the numbers or that any other credits which are subject to AMT aren't likely to go through. This isn't so much of a big deal anymore now that people commonly pay much less than $1k to get a home charger installed.