Range in leasing costs based on location?

[gatedad11]

Just wondering if there is a trend for leasing prices to vary depending on the geographical region where you live? I check the forum posts for details of lease deals and realize that there are number of variables that affect the final leasing costs. However, is there a trend or pattern that one area(say CA) gets better terms than other areas? I live in Philly, and have 11 months to go on my Mitsubishi I-MiEV lease, so I am not in a position to do anything right now. However, I wonder if the deals that I am seeing for some Forum members will be available to those of us in the NE? My Mitsu is the first and only car that I have ever leased, and I am pretty sure that I will be leasing another EV once this one gets turned in. But I want to do my homework now, get my ducks lined up so I am ready for if and when. On a related note, I read somewhere on these Forums that leasing companies will sometimes allow you to return a car without penalty when there are 3 months left on your lease, if you finance/lease another new car from them. is that correct?

Thanks,
Lou

 

[braineo]

The trend is how willing and able are the dealers willing to negotiate. just purchased a new 2012 iMIev SE in MS for about $7k after GA tax credits. They couldn't sell it there. I couldn't find any in GA. So I located it and dealt via internet. The dealers that are not aware of the market try to get too much out of the Leaf. The ones that have embraced the LEAF just want to keep the momentum going and willl deal based on their local needs to either address achieving selling tiers or manage their supply. If supply is tight, prices will hold. If they can't sell no matter what, they might give you a break. It's the old supply and demand deal, now with the internet twist that you can buy the car anywhere in the country.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

i cant say I am seeing a lot of regional pricing differences with exceptions of very hot areas of CA/WA but only because there are some dealers with a high enough sales volume of LEAFs that they are able to give better prices because of Nissan incentives that are pushing dealers to increase volume.

the other thing to think about is 11 months is an eternity away. if you look at any 11 month difference since the LEAF came out you will see pricing that makes it difficult to determine that you are talking about the same car. it started extremely expensive with MSRP and premium interest rates which meant $400 + plus monthly payments. sales lagged so interest rates were cut, prices were cut and MSRP was a thing of the past so we saw 2012's going for much less than $200 a month. then the 13's started the same way but as sales climbed the price did too.

now we are getting a bit of a price break to move to final batch before the 14's hit the lot but as far as what deals the 14's will have? hard to say... but whatever happens in the next month when they start hitting the lots will be probably a lot different than what will happen in 11 months

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

i cant say I am seeing a lot of regional pricing differences with exceptions of very hot areas of CA/WA but only because there are some dealers with a high enough sales volume of LEAFs that they are able to give better prices because of Nissan incentives that are pushing dealers to increase volume.

the other thing to think about is 11 months is an eternity away. if you look at any 11 month difference since the LEAF came out you will see pricing that makes it difficult to determine that you are talking about the same car. it started extremely expensive with MSRP and premium interest rates which meant $400 + plus monthly payments. sales lagged so interest rates were cut, prices were cut and MSRP was a thing of the past so we saw 2012's going for much less than $200 a month. then the 13's started the same way but as sales climbed the price did too.

now we are getting a bit of a price break to move to final batch before the 14's hit the lot but as far as what deals the 14's will have? hard to say... but whatever happens in the next month when they start hitting the lots will be probably a lot different than what will happen in 11 months

 

[gatedad11]

Thanks for the replies. Obviously it is too early to have much of a feel for what will happen 11 months from now, since as has been pointed out, so much can change. In fact, I benefitted from a buyers market on my Mitsu I-MiEV, leased mine when they were really pushing to move them last January. Got what I considered a very good deal, so I should probably expect that there will be deals this time next year or very late this year. It will be interesting to see if the new/slightly improved I-MiEV's have any real impact on the EV market. The reduced price and changes to the base package are enticing. I'd still prefer a car with a larger battery, and a larger car overall. My I-MiEV has been a lot of fun to drive, it has become the "go to" car for us other than for trips beyond its range. Having QC on it(and now that we have QC stations popping up at Nissan dealerships--including one that is right by my home and another right by my work---means even longer trips are not a problem. Still, I love the packaging that Nissan has done on the LEAF, nicer across the board, and would appear to be more comfortable. This is an interesting year for EV's and I can't wait to see what next year brings.

Lou