Nissan Announces Up To $7,000 Credit For Buying Your Leased

Wanted to share this news with my fellow LEAFers

BREAKING: Nissan Announces Up To $7,000 Credit For Buying Your Leased LEAF
http://insideevs.com/nissan-announces-up-to-7000-credit-for-buying-your-leased-leaf/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

cut and paste:

In an effort to get LEAF lessees to outright buy the electric car at the end of the lease, Nissan is upping the ante even more – perhaps in anticipation of an expected longer range (30 kWh) 2016 Nissan LEAF changing residual values this fall?

If you recall, a few weeks back Nissan began offering 2012 and 2013 LEAF lessees a $5,000 credit towards the purchase of their leased LEAFs. Basically, Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation (NMAC – the leasing/financing arm of Nissan) was knocking $5,000 off the buy-out price of the leased LEAF.

That $5,000 credit remains in place for some LEAF lessees, but there are even better deals offered for others. The new program announced by NMAC breaks down as follows:

2011 LEAF – $2,000 credit/discount off residual buy-out price
2012 LEAF – $7,000 credit/discount off residual buy-out price for 24-month lessees or $5,000 credit/discount off residual buy-out price for 36-month lessees.
2013 LEAF -$6,500 credit/discount off residual buy-out price for 24-month lessees or $5,000 credit/discount off residual buy-out price for 36-month lessees.

Like before, these deals are offered directly by NMAC, meaning there’s no need to visit a dealer to negotiate the buy out. Simply call NMAC (Customer Service line – 1 800 456 6622 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central Time Zone) and a representative will walk you through the process.

If you’re leasing an eligible LEAF right now, then it’s easy to figure out your buy-out price. Look at the residual value on your lease paperwork. Subtract the appropriate amount offered as credit by NMAC. Add state sales tax to that amount and that’s your buy-out price.

Fortunately, for NMAC, there probably aren't too many 2012, two-year leases maturing right now. Lots of 2012 three-year and 2013 two-year, however.

Wasn't enough to inspire me to keep mine. Buy-out price would have been about $12,000 plus 6% sales tax. Not worth it for a 2012 with no fast-charge port, a slow L2 charger and 25%+ battery degradation.

All these credits to buy out it making me think a lease would have been a better idea than buying....

Slow1 said:

All these credits to buy out it making me think a lease would have been a better idea than buying....

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+1. At least if you were somewhat late to the party and have a 2012 or 2013.

That is awesome. Is there something for the 2015 leases? :mrgreen:

It became pretty obvious, as early as the spring of 2012 that buying was a bad choice, unless you planned on keeping the car for a very long time.

The first bad news was the battery degradation issue and the uncertainty involved in whether anyone could get a replacement pack, either under some form of warranty or buy a replacement if they wanted to. That has since been resolved, although not to everyone's satisfaction. Living with a 25-35% degraded battery for a long time is tough. It's even tougher if you don't qualify for a warranty replacement, just because you happen to exceed the 60,000 mile mark before you lost your 9th bar.

Then came the cost reduction and big discounts applied to 2013 and later models, which significantly reduced the values of the 2011s and 2012s.

Then came the issue of obsolescence, normally encountered with computers and electronics. Once new features (faster charger, improved heaters, more robust battery, bigger battery, etc.) were announced with newer models, the older models rapidly dropped in value.


It looks like GM is catching on to all these factors with the Volt. Leases on the Volt no longer include the $7,500 tax credit. It makes it a strong disincentive to lease.

Weatherman said:

It looks like GM is catching on to all these factors with the Volt. Leases on the Volt no longer include the $7,500 tax credit. It makes it a strong disincentive to lease.

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Their tactic of dumping the $7500 onto the residual (so leases were cheap, but buyouts had to pay) wasn't helping them earn me as a customer. I don't have $7500 of tax obligations, so the Volt is absolutely ruled out as a replacement for my LEAF.

Nissan's battery warranty sucks, but at least you can capture the entire $7500 tax credit with a lease.

Slow1 said:

All these credits to buy out it making me think a lease would have been a better idea than buying....

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Well, you could have done worse, and probably would have if you had bought an I-miev or a Volt.

Sounds like 2012 Volt residuals are ~$12-$14 k above todays retail prices.

My 2012 Volt was the first vehicle I ever leased...

I think my lease was a good deal for me. The buyout on my car would have been $28,000 plus tax or around $30,000. My total lease payments were $18,000. I got by with a whole lot less depreciation than I would have if I had bought the car and traded it in or sold it myself...

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http://www.hybridcars.com/lessons-learned-when-returning-my-leased-chevy-volt/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Those with 2011 models have now realized 4.5 years of driving gas free. In my household, that would have saved me $12,000 in fuel, plus the savings from no oil changes or other ICE related maintenance. Makes the depreciation look not quite as bad.

kubel said:

Their tactic of dumping the $7500 onto the residual (so leases were cheap, but buyouts had to pay) wasn't helping them earn me as a customer. I don't have $7500 of tax obligations, so the Volt is absolutely ruled out as a replacement for my LEAF.

Nissan's battery warranty sucks, but at least you can capture the entire $7500 tax credit with a lease.

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With U.S. Bank and Ally gone as lease providers for GM, even the tactic of inflating the residual is gone. With the newest leases with GM Financial, it's as if the tax credit didn't exist. Best you can hope for is a big discount off of MSRP on the lease of a 2015 (they don't provide leases on any of the 2013s and 2014s, which are still on dealer's lots).

The leases on the Gen 2, 2016s are going to be terrible unless GM Financial changes their approach.

Weatherman said:

It looks like GM is catching on to all these factors with the Volt. Leases on the Volt no longer include the $7,500 tax credit. It makes it a strong disincentive to lease.

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Seems like Nissan's pricing structure heavily encourages leasing, instead of purchasing the car outright. I guess that's nice for early adopters. I remember reading that about half of all Volts were purchased (not leased), but something like 90% of all Leaf's were leased. Plus the Volt doesn't suffer from nearly as much battery degradation as the Leaf, and the Volt ICE will always be there, so the Volt's residual value isn't quite as bad as the Leaf's.

Never thought I'd say this, but with GM Financial dropping the tax credit on the leases and NMAC keeping them as a cap cost reduction, I might even consider going back to a LEAF (probably the 2016, if it really does come with a bigger battery) when my Volt lease expires.

It's too bad there are so few choices for electric vehicles here in Florida.

Weatherman said:

Fortunately, for NMAC, there probably aren't too many 2012, two-year leases maturing right now. Lots of 2012 three-year and 2013 two-year, however.

Wasn't enough to inspire me to keep mine. Buy-out price would have been about $12,000 plus 6% sales tax. Not worth it for a 2012 with no fast-charge port, a slow L2 charger and 25%+ battery degradation.

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My 2012 SL with 17% degradation when I got it (now 18%) and slow L2 resembles that remark but I do have the CHAdeMO port. Thankfully it only cost me $9000* and my commute is 15 miles one way (under 40 miles a day even with a lunch trip). I'm pretty sure I can live on this for many years to come (though I haven't had to drive in the winter yet so winter range is my only unknown).

So when does your lease on the Volt end?


* For those that don't know the story someone turned my 2012 in after lease end, it went to auction, a used car dealer bought it, and the dealer sold it to me cheap ($8995 no fees, no hidden charges). Apparently Nissan ate the difference between residual and auction price on mine.

dhanson865 said:

So when does your lease on the Volt end?

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June 14, 2016 for the Volt.


I am keeping track of the VIN on the 2012 LEAF I turned in a month ago to see where it ends up. So far, nothing. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up on some used car lot in Ohio. Got to keep the battery cool for the next two years so it never qualifies for the warranty replacement.

Hmm, almost makes me wish I had extended my 2-year 2012 SV lease last fall... I might have been able to buy it for $5-6k now (if the offer applied to extended 2-yr leases), if I remember right.

However, it did not have the 6[.6]kW charger, plus I got a good deal on the 2015, which has the new battery and came with the 'No Charge to Charge' promotion. And hopefully NMAC will still be offering deals on lease-buyouts in 2017. What's the conventional wisdom on that, btw?

mbender said:

And hopefully NMAC will still be offering deals on lease-buyouts in 2017. What's the conventional wisdom on that, btw?

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I bet it will depend on how long the residual value on leases remains well above the wholesale price at lease maturity. If there's still a $6,000-$8,000 gap, they'll probably still offer discounts for lessees to buy the cars out. Still a cheaper approach than taking the car back and selling it at auction.

Weatherman said:

It became pretty obvious, as early as the spring of 2012 that buying was a bad choice, unless you planned on keeping the car for a very long time.

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I think it became pretty obvious long before the Leaf was even announced.

Weatherman said:

mbender said:

And hopefully NMAC will still be offering deals on lease-buyouts in 2017. What's the conventional wisdom on that, btw?

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I bet it will depend on how long the residual value on leases remains well above the wholesale price at lease maturity. If there's still a $6,000-$8,000 gap, they'll probably still offer discounts for lessees to buy the cars out. Still a cheaper approach than taking the car back and selling it at auction.

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Well, even now Nissan is only offering $2000.00 reduction on the 2011. Apparently they have some other metric they are working off of because this makes zero sense.

caffeinekid said:

Weatherman said:

I bet it will depend on how long the residual value on leases remains well above the wholesale price at lease maturity. If there's still a $6,000-$8,000 gap, they'll probably still offer discounts for lessees to buy the cars out. Still a cheaper approach than taking the car back and selling it at auction.

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Well, even now Nissan is only offering $2000.00 reduction on the 2011. Apparently they have some other metric they are working off of because this makes zero sense.

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Well, the 2011 leases had much lower residuals (and much higher lease payments). During 2012, they started cranking up better and better lease deals by, of course, increasing the residuals. Also, pretty much all of the 2011 leases have ended, unless they were either extended (who would do that with a $400+ lease payment) or were a 48+ month lease.

At 60,000 miles, my math comes out to about $7,200 in gas based on the mileage the replaced car got... Of course, one must then deduct the cost of electricity from that number... About $2,000 in my case.

asimba2 said:

Those with 2011 models have now realized 4.5 years of driving gas free. In my household, that would have saved me $12,000 in fuel, plus the savings from no oil changes or other ICE related maintenance. Makes the depreciation look not quite as bad.

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