2011, 2012 Nissan Leaf Leasing Information

[Gonewild]

My payment is $414 with tax included. So I drive it for most of August and instead of a payment due on the 28th I make a payment on 26th and walk.
with the peace of mind knowing I saved 18 month of a worthless car in the end.

Dont get me wrong I love my car in everyway. It was the battery and Nissan that let me down.

:evil:

I'm still curious about how this works with "cancelling" the lease, something I assumed was out of the question unless you didn't mind paying through the nose. So I called NMAC and asked about whether that is an option, and the nice lady told me not until the 12 month mark. She said you always have the option of going to a dealer and having them buy out the car, but that sounds like it would be an ugly experience.

So maybe the 18-month mark is a point where the "upside-downedness" isn't too great. You've made about $7400 in payments at that point, which might be about what it has depreciated once you factor out some interest.

When you say "worthless car in the end" do you mean a car that is worthless, or a car in which you have no equity?

The car is worthless to me because I drive 76 miles RT to work every day. If it can not drive it and is sit in the drive way.

I also figure I saved about $3,000 in gas as I would have driven my other car which gets 30 mpg. And I put 25,000 mile on the leaf 30X25,000=834 gal of gas at a avg $3.50=$2,900.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

My payment is $414 with tax included. So I drive it for most of August and instead of a payment due on the 28th I make a payment on 26th and walk.
with the peace of mind knowing I saved 18 month of a worthless car in the end.

Dont get me wrong I love my car in everyway. It was the battery and Nissan that let me down.

:evil:

I'm still curious about how this works with "cancelling" the lease, something I assumed was out of the question unless you didn't mind paying through the nose. So I called NMAC and asked about whether that is an option, and the nice lady told me not until the 12 month mark. She said you always have the option of going to a dealer and having them buy out the car, but that sounds like it would be an ugly experience.

So maybe the 18-month mark is a point where the "upside-downedness" isn't too great. You've made about $7400 in payments at that point, which might be about what it has depreciated once you factor out some interest.

When you say "worthless car in the end" do you mean a car that is worthless, or a car in which you have no equity?

The car is worthless to me because I drive 76 miles RT to work every day. If it can not drive it and is sit in the drive way.

I also figure I saved about $3,000 in gas as I would have driven my other car which gets 30 mpg. And I put 25,000 mile on the leaf 30X25,000=834 gal of gas at a avg $3.50=$2,900.

you did not lose any money. the only way you can get a realistic value is if you bought a comparably priced new car and put 25,000 miles on it. how much would it have depreciated?

add it up, i think you might have come out ahead of the game.

 

[davewill]

... add it up, i think you might have come out ahead of the game.

It's the subsidies. Sticking $7,500 in your pocket when you pull off the lot pays for quite a bit of depreciation.

 

[Gonewild]

What I was saying is the car is not worthless but not useful for me to drive the trip to work without QC everyday. And as of the first of the year they are going to charge to use them.

So I am getting out of the deal and will buy the next car that has TMS. Ford or Nissan.

What helped this car hold value was the $7,500 tax credit helped pay down the loan amount plus my payments.

It was a nice car and I enjoyed it but if it can not do the job it has to go.

 

[mynameisjim]

...The car is worthless to me because I drive 76 miles RT to work every day...

I don't understand how the car was ever going to work for you on paper. Your 76 mile daily commute exceeded the 73 miles EPA range estimate. Did you plan to beat the EPA estimate by 4% and have no degradation for 3 years?

 

[Gonewild]

I did beat the EPA and if not for the 5 years of losses all at 7 month. I would still be driving the car.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

...The car is worthless to me because I drive 76 miles RT to work every day...

I don't understand how the car was ever going to work for you on paper. Your 76 mile daily commute exceeded the 73 miles EPA range estimate. Did you plan to beat the EPA estimate by 4% and have no degradation for 3 years?

Ya Jim; that is pretty much exactly what he planned. for one thing; beating the EPA is hardly monumental. i can get 90 miles on the freeway by doing nothing but slowing down to 55. it is PERFECTLY legal to drive 55. about 25% (it goes up to over 35% when gas prices hit $4 a gallon) of drivers in my area drive legally.

 

[evnow]

My Payoff is $20,500.

I wonder whether I should buy the car and sell it off for a couple of thousand more (very low miles). Then, I can lease a '12 for 2 years.

 

[Gonewild]

That is what I am doing but not buying but I owe $20,432 I am looking for a dealer to pay higher or I will walk out on the lease on Friday which will cost me $429. That will let me buy either new TMS version of a leaf or some other brand car like a ford in 2014

 

[TonyWilliams]

Has anybody looked at an 12-18 month lease?

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Has anybody looked at an 12-18 month lease?

I considered a two year lease, but the payments were a good bit higher. You have to assume the depreciation is steepest at the beginning and the lease has to cover that.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

... add it up, i think you might have come out ahead of the game.

It's the subsidies. Sticking $7,500 in your pocket when you pull off the lot pays for quite a bit of depreciation.

I'm not so sure. Seems to me the value of the new ones is reduced by $7500 to begin with and they keep dropping from there when they go over the curb.

 

[evnow]

Has anybody looked at an 12-18 month lease?

I'd be very interested in a 18 month lease ... I should check with the dealers.

 

[RichUT]

Hi all,

Since this appears to be the "leasing thread", I will post the two scenarios I was given today by Town North Nissan in Austin, TX. I would appreciate any thoughts that you would be willing to share on how good of a deal I am getting:

39 month lease for LEAF SL

Retail Price - $38,270
TTL, etc - ~$2,725
Rebate - $8,055
Tax Credit - $7,500
Cash Down - $3,593.85

12K miles payment - $299
15K miles payment - $308

24 month lease for LEAF SL

Retail Price - $38,270
TTL, etc - ~$2,725
Rebate - $8,055
Tax Credit - $7,500
Cash Down - $3,620.39

12K miles payment - $325
15K miles payment - $341

My situation:

I really, really want to get off of gasoline reliance for one of our two vehicles. My commute is 30 miles round trip, and my office has two EV charging stations (not that they are needed, but nice nonetheless). I am not concerned about range in the least bit.

However, I am concerned about battery degradation due to the Texas heat. That's why I am leasing, even though I have never leased before in my life. So, Town North gave me the two estimates you see above.

I'd like others opinions on the quality of the "deal" being offered, in addition to some thoughts around 24 months vs. 39 months. I like the lower payments of the longer lease, but I also have to imagine that 2 years will hopefully bring about some pretty solid improvements to the EV technology scene.

Any and all opinions welcomed. Thanks.

 

[MrIanB]

Your total rebate is $8k with the 7500 included from the government already? Seems low since for example, Fontana Nissan in California is offering 1,500 off msrp on 2012. I think those numbers can be lower specially for the 24 month lease. May want to try and hold off till weekend and see if they come back with lower offer since it is end of the month. I would go with 24 month lease to avoid any battery issues should they happen to you and in 2 years new models with possible longer range and better batteries will be around like the Infiniti LE and the Audi A3 Tron.

I bought mine Leaf in January from Town North and have not had a single issue nor battery degradation during this summer's heat. i do work out of the house and the car is always in the garage for what is worth.

Go for it and you will find out fast how quickly you forget about gas prices on the Leaf.

PM or call me with any questions or what to talk before you buy.

Ian B

 

[RichUT]

No, that's a rebate on top of the $7500 tax credit, I believe. It's a rebate offered by Nissan that is driving the $249/mo lease offer on the SL. My payment is higher because they are rolling TTL into the deal instead of having me pay it out of pocket.

The current deal on the Nissan website is this:

$3,000 down PLUS TTL
$249/mo for 39 months (@12k miles per month)

So, there is a MFG rebate being offered to drive up leasing at the moment.

 

[MrIanB]

Ok, just want to get you the most savings. Take a look at this thread on the last page for the most recent leases for the time you mentioned. So, are you saving the $38k price comes down to$23k with both discount and rebate before tt&l? Wow!! Is Dana your sales guy?? Cool guy.


http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=10060&start=30" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ian B

 

[RichUT]

Hmm. Looking at that, I may have it wrong. It would seem that there is still some negotiating to do here.

Thanks for directing me that way.

 

[MrIanB]

Hmm. Looking at that, I may have it wrong. It would seem that there is still some negotiating to do here.

Thanks for directing me that way.

Any time, that is what we are in this forum for. What color are you looking at. I think Town North has over 30 Leafs in stock now.

Ian B

 

[QueenBee]

Hi all,

Since this appears to be the "leasing thread", I will post the two scenarios I was given today by Town North Nissan in Austin, TX. I would appreciate any thoughts that you would be willing to share on how good of a deal I am getting:

39 month lease for LEAF SL

Retail Price - $38,270
TTL, etc - ~$2,725
Rebate - $8,055
Tax Credit - $7,500
Cash Down - $3,593.85

12K miles payment - $299
15K miles payment - $308

24 month lease for LEAF SL

Retail Price - $38,270
TTL, etc - ~$2,725
Rebate - $8,055
Tax Credit - $7,500
Cash Down - $3,620.39

12K miles payment - $325
15K miles payment - $341

My situation:

I really, really want to get off of gasoline reliance for one of our two vehicles. My commute is 30 miles round trip, and my office has two EV charging stations (not that they are needed, but nice nonetheless). I am not concerned about range in the least bit.

However, I am concerned about battery degradation due to the Texas heat. That's why I am leasing, even though I have never leased before in my life. So, Town North gave me the two estimates you see above.

I'd like others opinions on the quality of the "deal" being offered, in addition to some thoughts around 24 months vs. 39 months. I like the lower payments of the longer lease, but I also have to imagine that 2 years will hopefully bring about some pretty solid improvements to the EV technology scene.

Any and all opinions welcomed. Thanks.

First congrats for thinking of making the EV switch. Minus the potential battery issues that I assume you've been following closely I think you'll completely love the LEAF.

If I'm reading that correctly the rebate is the amount off the list price they are offering? Or do you have some other local government rebates?

Two things to verify. The price of the car directly impacts your monthly payments and residual value if you decide to buy it so ensure that you are being presented a great deal. Then also figure out what money factor is being used to ensure that you are getting the best rate and they are not inflating it.

If I were in your shoes and you are comfortable that the LEAF with three years of capacity degradation will meet your driving needs I'd be included to get the 36+ month lease. I say that just because the cost of leasing 3 cars for 2 years each is more than leasing 2 cars for 3 years and also because 3 years gives you even more chance to capture better EV technology when you trade it in, assuming Nissan doesn't resolve the battery issue.