Will dealers be allowed to gouge us?

[mwalsh]

Gas 2.0's take on why we won't get gouged:

http://gas2.org/2010/05/26/nissan-leaf- ... heres-why/

"..........................According to Perry, there are major differences between a LEAF sale and a conventional car sale that should put to rest the question of price gouging. “The difference in the distribution process is, it’s not an allocation to the dealer, it’s a customer order, so [the customers] have the control,” said Perry on the sidelines of the groundbreaking event. As he explains it, if you go to any particular dealer and say ‘I have an order, would you like to deliver my lease? (me: I'm sure this is supposed to say Leaf)’ and they come back with a price $5,000 higher than list, you can simply take your order and go to another dealer. In this system, the people with multiple Nissan dealerships in their area will be at an advantage, but even the folks with only 2 or 3 within 60 miles will have excellent bargaining power.

This system is exactly what I had suspected and mused about in some comments sections on older posts. It’s an elegant way to solve the problem from the manufacturer end. There will still likely be dealers that try and price gouge, but all you’ve got to do as a customer is simply walk away from that dealer and take your order elsewhere. Plus, there’s always the onus of bad press to discourage dealers in the first place."

[sjfotos]

Beautiful Nissan, Beautiful....customer orders ---- too good.

[jhm614]

This system is exactly what I had suspected and mused about in some comments sections on older posts. It’s an elegant way to solve the problem from the manufacturer end. There will still likely be dealers that try and price gouge, but all you’ve got to do as a customer is simply walk away from that dealer and take your order elsewhere. Plus, there’s always the onus of bad press to discourage dealers in the first place."

Wow! This is fantastic news -- I was certain it was going to go the other route as "dealer allocation". Go, Nissan!

[redLEAF]

We've got 20 Nissan dealers in metro Chicago, high likelihood that at least 1 or more will sell for MSRP, I'm sure other metro areas with multiple dealers will benefit from this strategy as well --

[daniel]

In (or near) most of the "first" areas, we should have a chance to see, sit in, and even drive a LEAF before August.

Has Nissan said this?

IIRC, Nissan has said they will get cars so that everyone can test drive before ordering. May be in one of Perry's interview videos ?

That's great news, though I'd probably buy one anyway. For me, a guaranteed delivery date is more important than a test drive.

The guys at the Nissan booth following the Tour of California indicated that we would be able to test drive the cars in the fall. They did not have any specific dates, but that there would be cars going out to many of the dealerships to have as test cars.

My guess is that this will happen in late September or October...

That still puts it after we have to place a firm order if we have any hopes of getting a car early. Unless the sale contract has a safe back-out clause contingent on the test drive. They could probably safely offer that, considering the low volume and high demand in the early roll-out phase. But it will surprise me if they do.

[garygid]

One could simply insist upon a test-drive back-out, full refund clause, right?

So, now we have the new question - What dealers will accept adding the full-refund bail-out clause?

[palmermd]

One could simply insist upon a test-drive back-out, full refund clause, right?

So, now we have the new question - What dealers will accept adding the full-refund bail-out clause?

According to the guys at the Nissan booth at the Tour of California, all deposits taken prior to signing a contract are fully refundable for any reason at any time. $99 is for the pre-reservation, they'll likely want more money for the full deposit with the details of what you want to order in the August reservation. If you test drive the car in October and you don't like it then you can just ask for all deposits to be returned.

[Bicster]

One could simply insist upon a test-drive back-out, full refund clause, right?

So, now we have the new question - What dealers will accept adding the full-refund bail-out clause?

Probably most of them, because if the customer declines their order the dealer gets to sell the car to anyone, and tack on market adjustment fees. "Get the only Leaf in town that isn't reserved!"

[palmermd]

Probably most of them, because if the customer declines their order the dealer gets to sell the car to anyone, and tack on market adjustment fees. "Get the only Leaf in town that isn't reserved!"

Not exactly. According to yesterdays news, the car is the customers car and not the dealers. The car is assigned to a customer based on the reservation process and the customer chooses where to have his/her car delivered. If you back out (decide to get a refund), then your car goes to the next person in line in the reservation process. They have more orders than cars for the first year, so this system should work fine. The following year, when production ramps up, the dealers should be able to order cars for their inventory.

[daniel]

According to the guys at the Nissan booth at the Tour of California, all deposits taken prior to signing a contract are fully refundable for any reason at any time. $99 is for the pre-reservation, they'll likely want more money for the full deposit with the details of what you want to order in the August reservation. If you test drive the car in October and you don't like it then you can just ask for all deposits to be returned.

Not necessarily. We do not know if the August reservation process will involve signing the contract. And regardless of speculation above, we do not know what will happen if a buyer refuses delivery. Maybe the dealer gets to keep the car; maybe Nissan keeps the car. We simply do not know. We do not know if any dealers will agree to a test-drive back-out clause. We don't even know if Nissan will permit dealers to accept such a clause. Dealers get to set the price (subject to negotiation with buyers) but is the purchase contract with the dealer or with Nissan? We do not know.

It's all speculation, and speculation is pointless and futile.

Perhaps the promised June "communication" from Nissan will clarify all this. Perhaps not. The only thing we really know is that the $99 is fully refundable. And it's reasonable to assume that if we buy the car, the $99 will be credited towards the purchase price. But the terms of the contract, or what we might demand be added to it, only Nissan knows (assuming they've even decided).

And it's a seller's market. We can decide not to buy, but if we do, someone else will happily buy the car, so Nissan could play hard-ball with the contract. Or they could let us back out at the last minute, knowing they'll still sell the car.

We just don't know.