Random "offer" letter from dealership to buy my 2011 LEAF

[phastphill]

Has anyone seen this or has it been discussed on the forum already?

Today I received a letter from Hilltop Nissan in Richmond CA. (It's near my home.)

The letter is not addressed to me. It's a printout of an internal email, from David Duran to Victor Duru, and it says:

Victor, Please try to contact Phillip.

As we discussed in our morning meeting, we really need to increase our pre-owned inventory. Here is one of the vehicles we were discussing. We need several 2011 Nissan Leafs like Phillip's and I'm willing to offer top dollar to get a nice trade-in. I would like to get the deal done quickly because I need to know which cars we need to search for at the auction next week. I will make it worth while if Phillip is interested.

Note I'm not interested in selling my LEAF, this is just random. It smells a little like a scam to me.

-Phill

 

[VTLeaf]

Just a marketing gimmick to try to get you in the door to buy a new car. Guarantee everyone in their database got one saying "we need a _________ [fill in your car's model and year here]".

We've gotten plenty of those letters for our cars over the years, but that one takes it to a new level of drama - I tip my hat to their marketing department!

 

[Nubo]

Hell I've gotten those for cars I haven't owned for 2 or 3 years. Got one for the 2012 LEAF, from a Nissan dealer, months after I'd turned in the lease. So I had to read a "memo" between 2 people I never heard of, who wanted to pay me "top dollar" trade-in for a car I *used to* lease. Nobody does IT like Nissan.

 

[LeftieBiker]

Then there is the scam letter that tells you that they can get you a new lease for your existing payment. Sure - with a big new down payment.

 

[cgaydos]

Just a marketing gimmick to try to get you in the door to buy a new car. Guarantee everyone in their database got one saying "we need a _________ [fill in your car's model and year here]".

Exactly. I can't count the number of times a dealer has said to me something like "I'll make it worth your while" or "we'll offer you a great deal" only to end up quoting me an absurdly high price in the end.

A couple of things to keep in mind. First, the goal is to get you into the dealership, and once there to get you to psychologically commit to buying a new car. This is why the lowest-level sales people who greet you in the lot are trained to ask "If I could get you (fill in the blank), could you buy today?" It doesn't matter what (fill in the blank) is or whether they can actually do it, the goal is to get you commit to possibly buying today and then get you into the negotiating chamber inside the building. This letter is just another ploy along those lines - they hope to get you into the dealership and sitting idle for an hour or so while they "assess" the value of the used car (in truth they can assess the wholesale value in a matter of a few minutes). Second, dealers are never desperate to buy your used car and will never give you more than wholesale for it, although they can sometimes structure a trade-in deal to make it look like they did (instead, what they do is increase the price of the new car to cover it). They take trade-ins both because: 1) some customers just won't buy without trading-in at the same time, and sometimes financially this is required due to credit reasons, and 2) a customer with a trade-in has far less negotiating leverage than one without, since the trade-in forces the customer to drive the trade-in to multiple dealers for assessing its value, as opposed to just getting bids for a new car from dozens of dealers over the internet.

 

[adric22]

Yep - I get those letters all of the time. They are automated by computer and there is no human thought put into them at all. Just like the ones offering you an oil change on your Leaf.

 

[redLEAF]

+1 on another dealer letter … this one featured 'trade up to a new Nissan … Black Book (for a 2012 SL) estimated value of $12,900' which translates to a residual of about 34% after about 3 1/2 years (of course based on the original MSRP and not the fed tax credit + IL EV rebate -- including those its about 48%). Would be curious but not really all that interested -- a recent Kiplinger feature on new cars pegged a 2015 Leaf S at $29,860 MSRP with 33% resale at 3 years and 18% at 5 years. As always, negotiation and advance local market knowledge helps but a letter like these doesn't typically move me enough unless I happen to be in the market at the time and even then, buyer beware.

I would wonder if the dealer I bought my '12 would have as little interest as the one mentioned in this thread … about the only Chicago area 'trade-in' LEAF experience I've seen on EV's on this forum is when someone couldn't live with the winter range and traded in for a Volt but I'm sure they exist, BTW, 2015 Volt MSRP of $35,170 and 3/5 year resale at 32%/19% in Kiplinger.

 

[kubel]

Typical dealership marketing, with a little twist of pseudo-personalization. Your name and your car are nothing more than variables, with hundreds of these letters cranked out. They actually have no interest in your car and will probably only offer you $4,000 for your trade, if they accept it at all.

 

[phastphill]

Thanks for the replies. I'm surprised I've never gotten one of these before.

I guess these letters self-select in the same way that Nigerian money scams do.

 

[smkettner]

It smells a little like a scam to me.

Because it is.
This one more reason why Elon wants nothing to do with independent franchise dealers.

 

[gbarry42]

I got that letter too, though I have never seen that angle used before. Seems like a good deal--they said I'd get a free oil change just for stopping in! :lol: But I can wheel and deal...I'll hold out for a new set of spark plugs as well

 

[2014GunMetalSL]

I got that letter too, though I have never seen that angle used before. Seems like a good deal--they said I'd get a free oil change just for stopping in! :lol: But I can wheel and deal...I'll hold out for a new set of spark plugs as well

they offered me 25bucks at a gas station for stopping in. The dealership was close, and I needed a level 3 charge anyway. The letter they sent said my leaf was in "HIGH DEMAND". They later said Nissan had a policy of not buying used Leafs. Not the smartest folks...

 

[TomT]

I've gotten more of these than I can count over the years!

I got that letter too, though I have never seen that angle used before.

 

[gbarry42]

I just found the letter again. It came from a Ford dealer.