Leaf S + charge package (WA): $0 down, $249/mo

[njb27]

Hi all -

Here's the latest, from the same dealer I talked to a few days ago. Essentially it's $0 down, $0 out the door costs, $249/mo. Good deal? (Starting to sound better to me - was $999 down before.)

State : WA
Sales tax % : (none - EVs exempt from sales tax in WA)
Leaf Trim, options : S with charge package
MSRP : 31,120
Invoice : (if you know)
Negotiated Price : 28,445
Taxes, Title, Registration : (Not sure, but don't need to pay upfront.)
Residual: .40
Acq fee: $595 (Pay upfront?: No)
Rebate: $8150
Any other fees (doc, administrative, marketing etc) : $150 (Pay upfront?: No)
Money Factor : .00003
Downpayment : $0
Monthly payment : $249.71

Remaining questions:
1) I was asking for 15k miles/year for the same price, but dealer said:
"Unfortunately, the miles directly affect the residual, so If I were to give you the 15k miles/year Nissan would automatically adjust the residual down to account for the expected increase in miles."
My understanding with the Leaf is that the value's going to plummet in 3 years as the tech improves, so I'm not planning to buy the car If that's the case, do I need to think about the residual? Could I say, "No worries. Give me 15k and adjust the residual down."?

2) I'm not sure I can get out to the dealer before the weekend, so would pass the end of the month. Should I worry that Nissan lease terms will change in November? Here's what dealer said:
Assuming we come to an agreement on terms I can't guarantee that this offer will be available after the 31st. I CAN guarantee that the price of the vehicle won't change, but Nissan can change the rates and residuals at anytime.

3) Anything else I should be asking for here? Another dealer was offering 10 free car rentals throughout the year (although his price wasn't as good). Also, I saw someone on here get a free L2 charger as part of the deal. Any other suggestions?

 

[Boourns]

That money factor seems way too low to be true. Have you plugged in your numbers to an online lease calculator? It is possible Nissan changed it, but I Tier 1 money factor in August was something like .0017.

EDIT: Looks like I am behind the times and the money factors did go significantly down the beginning of september. Sounds like a good deal to me.

 

[kubel]

1) With a lease, you're basically only buying the estimated depreciated value of the car, so if the residual (which is a best guess of the value of the car after the lease) goes up, your payments go down- if the residual goes down, the payments go up. Residual will be less with a 15K/year lease compared to a 12K/year lease. The values are fixed by NMAC percentages based on the MSRP of the vehicle. They take into consideration the length of the lease and the miles on the lease. Lower residual means higher monthly payments (or higher down payment, or both). Residual is important in figuring out your payments.

The ACTUAL residual (not just the best guess they made when you sign the lease, but the real residual value after the lease) is relevant in deciding whether or not you want to buy the car at the end of the lease. If the guessed residual (the one on the lease) is higher than the actual residual (the market value of the car after the lease), you probably want to walk away from the car at the end of the lease. But if the actual residual is lower than the guessed residual, you might want to consider buying out the lease, because you might be able to sell the car for more than you bought it for from Nissan.

2) He's correct, they *can* change at the end of every month. He's suggesting the money factor might go up or the residual might go down (bad news for a lease). But it could just as easy be opposite- the money factor could go down and the residual might go up. Most likely- it will stay the same.

3) It looks like a really good deal to me. The only issue I would have is the lack of a heat pump on the S trim.

 

[Deleted member 8423]

I thought they had been advertising free charger + the car rentals.

The car rental thing is a "feel good" freebie that they can toss in, knowing that many people won't take advantage. It's not like a rental car at the airport, there will be some hassle in picking it up, etc.

For the charger, remember that you still have to pay to have it installed. 2-3 years from now, if you move to a different EV, this may not be a good enough charger for you. For the Leaf, you may actually be fine with the included 120v charger, so the free charger might not be worthwhile.

Along those same lines, you might want to re-think the charging package too. Blink now charges $5-8 per session to use their DCFC's. They used to be free, and that's why so many people got this port. Sure, you'd still get the faster charge on the regular L2's, but you'll have to evaluate how you'll use the car. If it's <100mi per day, and you have a place at work & home where you can let it charge all day, then it should be fine.

 

[ttime4four]

When I Leased my leaf in the beginning of October for 24 months, the residual = 50%. The other elements seem right - negotiated price, 8150 "tax rebate", etc. I was lead to understand that NMAC set the lease variables for the month, so I was surprised to see that they have you at 40% residual. If you can get them to go to 50%, that will save you $3,112 over the lease period.

 

[njb27]

Thanks for the responses everyone.

kubel - thanks for the explantion re: residiual, etc. That makes sense. Will look into the heat pump.

tt4four - I'm looking into 24 month lease to see how the terms compare, have asked about the residual as well.

ITestStuff - okay, I think I'll let go of asking about the free car rentals and charger. I've seen a lot of advice saying I should go for the charge package, so not sure about forgoing that, but will think about it.

Cheers.

 

[Deleted member 8423]

ITestStuff - okay, I think I'll let go of asking about the free car rentals and charger. I've seen a lot of advice saying I should go for the charge package, so not sure about forgoing that, but will think about it.

You should still bring them up as part of the process to see if they'll match

As far as the charging thing, it's hard to know in advance and you can't change it later

http://www.clippercreek.com/blog/three-things-you-need-to-know-to-determine-your-electric-vehicle-charging-time/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
That's a breakdown of charging time.

 

[njb27]

okay, so I'm getting pretty close to pulling the trigger this coming weekend on the deal I've stated above. Still considering between 3 year lease at $249/mo or 2 yr at $261/mo. ($0 out the door for both.)

I've seen some advice suggesting to wait for year end specials. Agree/disagree? Also, since 2014s are scheduled to come out in Dec., anyone think it's worth waiting to see what lease deals will look like on both the 2013s and 2014s?

Also wondering about heating on the S. With no heat pump, I want to make sure I'm not leaving my wife and daughter to freeze with just a heated seat and steering wheel to keep them warm. (They'll likely be the ones using it the most during the week.)

 

[sirfergy]

The S doesn't have the updated heater?

 

[Deleted member 8423]

http://www.plugincars.com/nissan-brings-2013-leaf-market-major-price-reduction-126093.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hybrid heater only in SV/SL. My understanding was that it's just a more efficient heater. The S still has heat. People prefer not to use it because of the impact on battery life.

 

[TonyWilliams]

http://www.plugincars.com/nissan-brings-2013-leaf-market-major-price-reduction-126093.html

Hybrid heater only in SV/SL. My understanding was that it's just a more efficient heater. The S still has heat. People prefer not to use it because of the impact on battery life.

The heater has no significant "impact on battery life". Use it if you want to and don't need the full range of the LEAF.

Of course, this may be a semantics issue, whereby you mean "life" to mean increased energy consumption from the heater? If so, the heater doesn't matter if you are only driving less than about 70% of the range of the LEAF, since it would be rare that the heater would use more than 30% of that stored power.

 

[apurena1]

Sound like a pretty good lease to me. I think you should go for it!
The Hybrid Heater system is only available in the SV or SL model.

The S doesn't have the updated heater?