Does Dealership Matter?

[pncguy]

I live north west of Denver and I have quotes for a '15 Leaf SV w/ LED/QC that are within $500 of each other. Does it matter what dealership I use to buy the vehicle? Would anyone recommend Boulder Nissan, Valley Nissan (Longmont), or Autonation104 (Thornton) above any of the others?

In other words, does after-purchase treatment by dealers depend on where you bought your vehicle?

 

[roguenode]

I worked with those dealers before ultimately going with Boulder Nissan over Valley Nissan. Autonation was cut first due to a lack of knowledge from the salesmen and a poor plugshare comment history for their charging.

Boulder is the closest for me, so that was a plus, but it was their experience with the Leaf that really sold me. I believe there are four employees that own Leafs and Nigel is a huge EV enthusiast who knows more about the Leaf, the area owners and their experiences, and local charging infrastructure than anyone at the other dealers. Nigel gave me advice on home chargers, tips on charging, a list of websites, forums, etc. where I could learn more about the car, ev's, the tax filing requirements, etc. that all have turned out to be right on point.

 

[pncguy]

I do get the impression that Boulder Nissan knows more about the Leaf than other dealerships. However, I can do a lot of research on my own to learn all about the things you say Nigel helped you with. My question is more about how the dealership will treat me (let me charge longer than an hour on their chargers, for example) than if I buy somewhere else.

 

[davewill]

SInce you can take it where you want when it comes time to service it, it doesn't matter who you buy from. Go for the best deal.

 

[roguenode]

I do get the impression that Boulder Nissan knows more about the Leaf than other dealerships. However, I can do a lot of research on my own to learn all about the things you say Nigel helped you with. My question is more about how the dealership will treat me (let me charge longer than an hour on their chargers, for example) than if I buy somewhere else.

No doubt the information Nigel provided is available elsewhere. It does provide an example of a dealer that knows the car well and gives reliable advice about the car pre-sale. Given the price was just about the same when I was looking across these dealers, supporting the dealer that knew the most about the car and seemed to do a good job keeping their chargers online and available was a plus for me.

I disagree with Davewill in that price is not all that mattered to me when choosing the dealer. Particularly given how close the local pricing is right now. The other dealers contacted me about purchase and I had the opportunity to let each sales manager know why I chose Boulder Nissan instead of them. Ymmv.

I have charged on Boulder Nissan's L2 for more than an hour with no complaints.