Not to resurrect an old thread but I will as I couldn't find this listed anywhere else and wanted to at least post for responses and experiences. As my order changed from 'month of' to 'week of' (also got the VIN and activated CARWINGS successfully) decided to go about seeing what I want to do with car that the LEAF will replace as I'm about a month or so away from delivery. All the while, as my order date changed I'm emailing my dealer contact to see if they may have some additional info as well as now we have a VIN ... didn't get anything back but assume they were busy so let it go for a few days (and as many have jobs like me can't be on the forum ALL the time, etc.)
-- in any case, had yesterday off so other than some errands had the 'other' car checked out by my OEM dealer for a few minor things which get fixed (plus they wash inside and out) and decide to try Carmax first to see what it will bring (of course the rep was nice, explained the whole thing about it's an auction price, etc., etc.) but was pleasantly surprised that it was only a few hundred under what I see on edmunds.com for 'trade-in' value
-- the rep said I had a real cream puff (more about that another time) but could understand if I didn't want to go through the hassle of selling it myself + the tax savings advantage (you pay sales tax only on the difference of the trade-in versus 'new' or newer car you're buying) so confident that I have a good base price to start from, I call my designated Nissan dealer only to find out the rep has left the dealership and I'm on the phone with his backup (I later find out that he's getting all the former rep's emails from me, so why not introduce yourself, etc. ??)
I ask if I can bring the car in for a pre-appraisal as we are just a little over a month away which he agrees to. Long story short(er); they take a drive in the car and their appraiser says it looks like it has mis-matched tires and may need new ones (doesn't; verified by OEM dealer and Carmax) but otherwise looks good and their initial 'offer' is $1,700 LESS than Carmax !! I keep my cool as I didn't give them a target price but remember Carmax is typically a low ball as they move lots of cars and mention how far off they are to an ‘auction’ price (remember we don't have the LEAF yet, not even sure when it will be there) so he goes back to the appraiser and they say now they actually like the car and will basically 'match' the Carmax price (rounded down of course). Well, as we don't have any other real business although I did meet the GM and owner, I'm looking at other cars in the showroom and they all have the infamous 'add-on' sticker ($69 for Nitrogen, $150 extra cost 'wheel locks', etc.) so I’m thinking --- hmm, perhaps the dealer quote I have for ‘just MSRP, no markup’ may not be as well as he low balled my trade-in (obviously, I’m OK with buying at MSRP but he can’t make it on BOTH ends) and the original rep is now gone
-- so to get to the gist, I contact Nissan CS to see if I might be able to change my dealer – explain the concern about the new inexperienced rep, possible later fudging on the sale price, low trade-in value, etc. CS says my car is ‘in transit’ but not yet in port BUT too late to change dealers – I say OK I’ll contact the dealer but what was also interesting is that I mention that I could also ‘decline’ the car when it comes in and CS says ‘well there may be charges for that’ – of course, I’m thinking possibly just the $99 reservation fee as I did NOT put any other money down but didn’t we see someone who refused delivery due to poor paint – if so what out of pocket did you pay? I know that simply cancelling the order due to these unknowns would be foolish as it would put me to the end of the queue but what alternatives has everyone else done in similar situations? Sorry being long-winded but yesterday (also being Halloween) I seemed to have been tricked versus treated !!
