ICEless in Seattle : Official Pacific NorthWest thread

[DaveinOlyWA]

Out of curiosity when were you told that by Auburn Nissan?

aug 27th. friday before "the day" we talked, finalized price, options, etc.

 

[idashark]

Thanx for the info about the sales tax exemption.

If I'd known that and the (IMHO) madness to Nissan's rollout method, I would have kept my Washington residency.

 

[rainnw]

i would have to say that local taxes are exempt as well... but then again, i am getting feedback that that may not be the case.

Washington Department of Revenue made a "private ruling" for me. Local taxes ARE exempt on new Leaf purchases and leases, so 0% sales tax.

i would have to think my dealer would have mentioned that and he did mention that no sales tax applied.

Out of curiosity when were you told that by Auburn Nissan?

When DoR makes a private ruling, does that mean its applicable to me as well?

 

[QueenBee]

When DoR makes a private ruling, does that mean its applicable to me as well?

No, that's the funny thing that about asking such a general question. Clearly the answers apply to us all but it comes with a disclaimer:

This ruling is binding only on the matters expressly addressed herein upon both <name>, and the Department of Revenue under the facts presented. It will remain binding until: the facts change; the law (either by statute or court decision) changes; the applicable rule(s) change; the Department of Revenue publicly announces a change in the policy upon which this ruling is based; or <name> , is notified in writing that this ruling is not valid.

 

[evnow]

Anyone planning to go to the Seattle Auto Show (yes, there is such a thing) ?

Wednesday to Saturday @ Qwest field. $11 per adult.

You can see Leaf, Volt, Smart EV and iMiEV.

There is a pull out section on this in today's Seattle Times.

http://www.seattleautoshow.com/

 

[SeattleBlueLeaf]

Anyone planning to go to the Seattle Auto Show (yes, there is such a thing) ?

Wednesday to Saturday @ Qwest field. $11 per adult.

You can see Leaf, Volt, Smart EV and iMiEV.

There is a pull out section on this in today's Seattle Times.

http://www.seattleautoshow.com/

I was thinking of going down Wednesday and checking out the iMiev for a test drive. The paper mentioned that test drives would be available that day. Don't know if there will be a reservation system.

 

[deetime7767]

Anyone planning to go to the Seattle Auto Show (yes, there is such a thing) ?

Wednesday to Saturday @ Qwest field. $11 per adult.

You can see Leaf, Volt, Smart EV and iMiEV.

There is a pull out section on this in today's Seattle Times.

http://www.seattleautoshow.com/

I'll be working down there on Saturday and Sunday.

 

[evnow]

I'll be working down there on Saturday and Sunday.

Unfortunately - I'll be out on vacation ....

 

[garygid]

LEAFrrs Meeting location suggestion:
Saturday Breakfast at Hometown Buffet in Bellevue,
maybe on the first Saturday in December?

 

[UnlimitedMPG]

Just got back from Nissan Leaf Tour down at South Center / Westfield mall. Very fun drive. Glad I had a reservation, they told the line of people waiting to check-in no walks in today...not sure about Saturday or Sunday though.

 

[SeattleBlueLeaf]

I went down to check it out at lunch. Long lines and no chance to drive without a reservation but cool nonetheless. I took a few pictures and I'll be back tomorrow morning for the drive.

A few pictures I took http://bit.ly/az9vYW

 

[IBELEAF]

Anyone took pictures of the setup and the lines?

 

[evnow]

I went in the afternoon. The lines were small. I waited perhaps 15 minutes to get into the "tour". I was in the drive queue for again 15 minutes or so. I don't know whether they were taking walk-ins.

But the drive is very short. Just a little in the parking lot and then perhaps one mile streatch outside. It was over before I knew it. But you can take as much time as you want checking out the 2 stationary cars.

BTW, for those who attended the Volt drive - this will feel very different. It is like the difference between broadway and your local highschool drama club.

 

[SeattleBlueLeaf]

Okay - more pictures are in my album - link above - from the test drive today.

One note - a white Leaf had been scratched/dented during a drive yesterday. Picture included in album. Nissan decided to use that photo for picture taking and place it against a backdrop with the accident side away from the photos.

VIN's I captured:
JN1AZ0CP7BT000066 - Silver
JN1AZ0CP7BT000068 - Red
JN1AZ0CP7BT000070 - Blue
JN1AZ0CP7BT000082 - White - accident

Some Other notes:

• Rich Feldman from Ecotality is on hand to answer questions in the "refresh" area.
• If your a PSE customer - sign up for their green program and get a free stainless water bottle
• No one mentioned the bracelets before. My kids are into silly bands and these were a big hit.
• Food was limited to crackers and coffee.
• We were there at 8:30 AM so the lines were very small although we still had 20+ in our driving group. The cars were still sitting at least as much as they were being driven.
• The loop for driving is very short. - 2 minutes max to drive it.. that could have been better.
• Cold today - Heater cranked at 90 degrees on full fan took 3 kw. normal driving around in the warm car seemed to be about 1 kw. The pre-heat functionality will be real important if you need to drive it on a cold day.
• I tested the lights, rotated them up down while on the drive and stopped behind a truck at light. I could visually see the center of focus for the light beam change as I adjusted them.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

took my test drive today. appt at 11 am. it was PACKED!!. we did the tour and waited probably 45 minutes for the drive. disappointed that i did not get over 45 mph (and that was not easy to do with Saturday afternoon mall traffic!!)

all in all, still enjoyable. did not rain which was good. the size was very similar to the Volt with the big exception of the center tunnel. the back seats were huge compared to the Volt. plenty of room.

 

[rainnw]

We had a great time today. They were taking walkups and the lines to test drive were a bit long. Met some interesting people in the line who preordered.

That car is super quiet and quite peppy. People ho-hum a 7.8 0-60 time, but a lot of V6 sedan's are in this range.

I was happy to see traffic information on the map screen, and the ability to send google maps to the car somehow.

 

[IBELEAF]

Had a good test drive as well, but after today I am even more bothered about couple of things. As I expected I did not like the seat material and especially the color. The test car we drove (pearl) already had markings on the seats. I guess getting seat cover will be the first thing. Another question I am still interested to find out what's the range I would get if I drive the car with automatic climate on during our winter in Seattle.

 

[TLeaf]

Heading out the door in 5 to go down to Southcenter for our test drive. I was going to wear my Hawaiian shirt as earlier suggested, but wouldn't you know it, one of the buttons broke so instead of showing off my belly button to the world I'll have to go for something more plain. Hopefully all of you earlier drivers didn't mess things up too much for us!

 

[rainnw]

Had a good test drive as well, but after today I am even more bothered about couple of things. As I expected I did not like the seat material and especially the color. The test car we drove (pearl) already had markings on the seats. I guess getting seat cover will be the first thing. Another question I am still interested to find out what's the range I would get if I drive the car with automatic climate on during our winter in Seattle.

On a half tank, I was able to get the 44 mile indicator drop to around 26 or so. Of course, I did have the heat set to 90F

I agree, I have driven cars with leather for years -- not only for the looks, but the shear fact that cleaning them is a heck of a lot easier than cloth. I have done aftermarket leather once in the past with heated leather seats (because they didn't have a stock leather vehicle in the color/trim i wanted), but since this could be a lease vehicle, I am not sure if that will be an option -- let alone the fact that the leather install may not even be possible since the seat design is new.

 

[TLeaf]

I actually walked away from the test drive event very pleased with what I saw: the light-colored interior wasn't so light as I had thought and certainly not an issue, the seats were incredibly comfortable with the middle arm-rest at just the right height (a pet peeve of mine) and the lack of foot space under the front seats for the rear seat passengers was not a problem at all for my 5'10" frame. Though the interior could have done with a bit less gloss-black plastic, my only other gripes would be for a "truer" red color (burgundy will do fine, though) and for a better view over the hood of the car (could just be I didn't "pump up" the seat enough). I admit, perhaps I'm easily pleased owing to my two last cars (a '93 Honda Civic and an '01 Kia Rio)...

I personally would think that folks living in nice hot climates would welcome the light-colored, soft seats as they shouldn't scald your legs on a hot day nor rub your legs raw when wearing shorts. As for the cooler climes like Seattle, I'll be more interested in seeing how they handle getting wet and how easily they can be cleaned instead of how quickly they can get dirty...