End of Lease Strategies?

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My lease ends in March 2018.

By when can I expect a communication from Nissan about any promos / offers for extending my lease ?

Has anyone received calls/ emails like that for early 2018 end of lease ?

-Thanks
 
I've begun the process of buying out my lease. I'm in the process of negotiating with several dealers to try and get the price down. For those who don't know NMAC changed the process a couple of years ago. It *used* to be a simple deal done directly with NMAC - you'd get a discount on your buyout price and that discount changed month to month. But *everyone* got the same discount, based on their Leaf's model year.

That is no longer the case; you have to negotiate with a dealer. The dealer is offered a discount by NMAC, some amount of money that you are never going to be told what it is! I've called every phone number I can to try and get this information but it is nailed down tight. Thanks NMAC! grrrr.

Most dealers, I have found, will express total surprise that any discount exists at all - its in their interest to pretend it doesn't exist. When I sent some reference numbers to one dealer for a 2015 leaf, a $4600 discount, he quickly agreed that was the discount I'd get too, on my 2013 leaf. I strongly suspect that there is a lot more being offered to him by NMAC. I was able to talk him down a bit further from there.

I asked the NissanEV twitter folks WTF this was about and eventually got a call from a nice person at NMAC. They confirmed this is how the process works now and they are not particularly happy about it. They agreed with me this puts all the power in the dealer's hands: the dealer is the only one who knows how much NMAC subsidy is on the table, and they know when my lease expires. They said it was better in the old days when the discount when directly to their customers;us! But I guess the dealers saw the sweet piles of money and pushed their way into the process.

UPDATE: One of the dealers I was negotiating with was kind enough to tell me what the NMAC discount was for my car, which is a 2013 S Leaf. The discounted buyout from, down from the initial $14800 is $8000, so that's a $6800 discount. They want to charge $899 doc fee, sales tax, DMV fees, and I'm inclined to say yes just for the relief of getting it over with.

UPDATE 2: I bought the car at the price indicated - it came to just under $10K all-up. The dealership didn't try and pull any fast ones at the last minute :)
 
Then Nissan should change it back, since this way doesn't seem to work very well.
I've now had 3 dealers in PA tell me there is no discount.

I really enjoy my 2015 SL and wish I had bought as planned, but the dealer steered me into a lease. I would have been fine with the $4K off that was the incentive when I got the car. I think I will probably just accept returning it now and get myself a BoltEV.
Thanks, Nissan stealerships.
 
sirenbrian said:
I've begun the process of buying out my lease. I'm in the process of negotiating with several dealers to try and get the price down. For those who don't know NMAC changed the process a couple of years ago. It *used* to be a simple deal done directly with NMAC - you'd get a discount on your buyout price and that discount changed month to month. But *everyone* got the same discount, based on their Leaf's model year.

That is no longer the case; you have to negotiate with a dealer. The dealer is offered a discount by NMAC, some amount of money that you are never going to be told what it is! I've called every phone number I can to try and get this information but it is nailed down tight. Thanks NMAC! grrrr.

Most dealers, I have found, will express total surprise that any discount exists at all - its in their interest to pretend it doesn't exist. When I sent some reference numbers to one dealer for a 2015 leaf, a $4600 discount, he quickly agreed that was the discount I'd get too, on my 2013 leaf. I strongly suspect that there is a lot more being offered to him by NMAC. I was able to talk him down a bit further from there.

I asked the NissanEV twitter folks WTF this was about and eventually got a call from a nice person at NMAC. They confirmed this is how the process works now and they are not particularly happy about it. They agreed with me this puts all the power in the dealer's hands: the dealer is the only one who knows how much NMAC subsidy is on the table, and they know when my lease expires. They said it was better in the old days when the discount when directly to their customers;us! But I guess the dealers saw the sweet piles of money and pushed their way into the process.

Hi, Could you lease provide references to me. My lease is up ending March 2018. I have couple dents and it looks like cost's me around 3k. This would be real life saver for to use discounts and keep the car. I live in San Francisco Bay Area, CA
 
In light of the stealership's new policy, and in keeping with this thread, this is what I plan to do, and maybe others can point out the flaws:

  • ~ 1 year before lease end, get the median, mode, and mean of used 2016 S values.
    ~ 6 months before lease end, get the same 3 values, and project 2016 S used values @ lease return.
    • - I'm expecting the market values to be lower than residual, due to:
      - poor battery performance of the 2016/2017 leaf's in my region
      - availability of used 2014/2015 leaf S.
      - availability of used Bolts!
      - availability of fed tax credit for new medium-range EV's, effectively reducing the new car price of the 2019 leaf S.
    - Start a conversation (over phone) with at least 2 dealerships about what prices they are willing to sell me the lease return for? Since the lease can be bought out at any point from this point forward, whoever offers the best price gets the sale (plus whatever NMAC credit is offered to them).
    - don't go into the office until a purchase price is agreed upon over the phone, because if you're there, they'll play their games and wear you down.
 
Anyone know NMAC's current (Jan'18) minimum buyout amt for a 2015 S on a 24mo lease initially? I've been told by one dealer that it is $8900, but have received a quote slightly below that figure from another. Would really like to buy the car, but it seems the cost of doing so has been trending up since last summer.
 
Would the mileage on our cars be a factor in how much the dealers are willing to go down?> My 2015S without QC has 38,000 miles on it after using it for 41 months. And it is down to 11 bars. And in the winter, when temps in ATL went down to the teens a couple of weeks ago, with the heater on, I got only 35 miles on a full charge.
 
mantar said:
Would the mileage on our cars be a factor in how much the dealers are willing to go down?> My 2015S without QC has 38,000 miles on it after using it for 41 months. And it is down to 11 bars. And in the winter, when temps in ATL went down to the teens a couple of weeks ago, with the heater on, I got only 35 miles on a full charge.

Maybe. Before they just shipped the cars off. Now they have the option to keep and sell them, and they wouldn't want a higher mileage car with a bar lost (if they know about the bars). I'd say that if the dealership sells used Leafs it matters. If not, then no.
 
After the stealership experience of trying to buy out my 2015, not just no, but hell no. Nissan has lost me as a customer. The 2018 is lipstick on a pig. Still no TMS, still toy car range.

I now have 1.5 months left before end of lease. I would still buy it out if I could get at least a $4 k discount, my kids need a city car. But I’m not going to make a second job of trying to find a decent deal.
 
AlanSqB said:
After the stealership experience of trying to buy out my 2015, not just no, but hell no. Nissan has lost me as a customer. The 2018 is lipstick on a pig. Still no TMS, still toy car range.

I now have 1.5 months left before end of lease. I would still buy it out if I could get at least a $4 k discount, my kids need a city car. But I’m not going to make a second job of trying to find a decent deal.


Don't give up. I would email every dealer in your state or anyone else you care to contact searching for the best buyout offer. My LEAF was bought for roughly $1400 under its remaining residual by my insurance company. Its possible the insurance company simply has more pull or NMAC will deal if pushed? I dk but I do know it meant cash in hand.

http://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2018/01/insurance-leasing-and-valuation-near.html
 
AlanSqB said:
After the stealership experience of trying to buy out my 2015, not just no, but hell no. Nissan has lost me as a customer. The 2018 is lipstick on a pig. Still no TMS, still toy car range.

I now have 1.5 months left before end of lease. I would still buy it out if I could get at least a $4 k discount, my kids need a city car. But I’m not going to make a second job of trying to find a decent deal.

Look for a 2017 Bolt LT. With your state's discount you should be able to get one fairly cheap. It may have to be shipped in from elsewhere, though.
 
AlanSqB said:
I would still buy it out if I could get at least a $4 k discount.

That's where I am now. With 3 dealers telling me there is no discount, I'm wondering if it could be a regional issue.

Filled out the reservation form a while ago, so will definitely test drive the 2018 when it finally arrives. Would love to keep the current one, so will still contact 2 of the dealers later this month to check once more, but it just might be very nice to bump up to 151 miles, or 238 if I go with a Bolt.
 
I picked up a Honda Clarity PHEV today. Super nice car. It will hold me over until Tesla quality improves or until other mfrs catch up to them.

The LEAF will go back in two weeks. Congrats to whoever in Norway ends up with it. It was a fun ride and a good car.
 
Ok, mainly because I'm a glutton for punishment, I'm sending inquiries to dealers for a buyout amount again. My local dealer quoted me a ridiculous reduction that amounted to less than $1000 and then told me that was before fees!!! BTW that was Tynans Nissan and based on my experiences with them, nobody in my family will ever purchase from them again. This is just the last in a long line of crap from that group.

Wish me luck. The kids still need a car and if I can get this thing under $8500, I'll jump. With an $11,700 residual, I'm not holding my breath though. If it doesn't work out, the return is scheduled for the 24th and I'll happily send it on it's way with my crappy lease term fees and whatever arbitrary number they come up with for imaginary damage. Judging how my dealings with NMAC have gone so far, I'm sure there will be something.
 
Don't give up. I know someone who was offered $2500 off their 2015. They aren't sure they want to take it or get a 2018 but they have 2 weeks to think about it.
 
After seeing all of this I feel a little guilty getting $8000 off our 2015 residual last February, over a year before the leased ended. We bought our car for $8960 plus $500 markup for the dealership and the usual fees, taxes etc. So I think it was $9700 in all but at the time you could see listings for 2015 S for about $9000 in our area. I was glad I didn't wait but you never know. By June this year used Leafs might be flooding the market again? But I think general EV acceptance is on the rise and last year the very low price of Nissan leaf got lots of interest.
 
I'm asking for what amounts to about a $4000 lease residual reduction. Current residual is $11,700 and I want the car for no more than $8500 all-in.

I've got a few responses back as they're "working on it" with their finance managers...I hate stealership garbage talk. Will update.
 
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