Most Expensive Leaf Ever?

[habu]

I just got a all in quote for a Leaf in Canada.

$43274 for the car and the options (quick charger, cargo mat, floor mats and lock nuts for wheels) It also comes with the winter pack.

Plus 183 for some unspecified charge (maybe license)

Total 43358

Plus 13% tax

Grand total $49,107 Canadian dollars (which a few weeks ago was about equal to US dollars)

There is a 8,500 government rebate but the total is still well over $40,000 (41,593 to be exact)

Is this the most expensive leaf you have seen? I am wondering if Canadians are paying more than anyone in the world for the car. It seems so based on the MSRPs I see quoted here. Am I right?

 

[cwerdna]

Seems pretty expensive in some parts of Europe. See http://autobloggreen.search.aol.com/search?o_q=leaf+priced&s_it=topsearchbox.search&q=leaf+priced+2011" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

I don't think the Leaf is selling in Singapore, but cars are REALLY expensive there (from what I understand) due to their crazy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certificate_of_Entitlement" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; program. I see a Nissan March w/manual transmission starting at 86,300 Singapore dollars (http://www.nissan.com.sg/lookfor/march/march_price.cfm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false. Google says that's $69125 CAD or $66543 USD.

Look at the heart attack prices of the 370Z at http://www.nissan.com.sg/lookfor/370z/370z_price.cfm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. $178,800 Sing == $137,867 USD! 370Z in the US base price is $31,450 USD per http://www.nissanusa.com/zcoupe/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

If it ever sells in Singapore, I wonder what the price will be.

 

[pjoseph]

Equivalent US $ prices are higher than $50,000 in many countries (Wikipedia).

 

[habu]

The Canadian price was higher than 50,000 USD before the Canadian dollar dropped 13% over the past few weeks, also not all provinces have a rebate. :shock:

Cost to land the car in Canada for Nissan is the same as in the US. So there really should not be any difference in price except maybe a bit for currency fluctuation. Seems that is not the case.

 

[TonyWilliams]

The Canadian price was higher than 50,000 USD before the Canadian dollar dropped 13% over the past few weeks, also not all provinces have a rebate. :shock:

Not every US state has a rebate (actually, probably very few of the 50 states do), and the California one dropped from $5000 to $2500.

Is there a Canadian federal/national tax rebate, credit, or refund? Currently, our federal (US government) tax credit is $7500. As you are probably aware, both our state and federal governments are broke.

Is the 13% tax a sales or value added tax? That's impressive, as I thought 8%-9% here in the People's Republik of Kalifornia was high.

 

[habu]

The tax is HST or harmonized sales tax. It is 13% in Ontario but varies province to province. No Federal tax rebate on EV's in Canada but two provinces give rebates of 8,500 and 8,000 respectively.

The MSRP is much higher in Canada. I am trying to get a handle on real selling price for the cars in the US and what they are being sold for here. So far there has only been a couple of private sales in Canada so this is all in the early stages. My quote is pretty sobering. You can buy a lot of really nice cars for 50,000. We are in BMW territory at that price.

 

[gboudreau]

Will pay mine $42,954.54 (MSRP+options) + $5,981.42 (taxes) = $48,935.96.
I took less options than you (only lock nuts and paint pen), but we have no HST here in Quebec, and the two taxes (federal + provincial) together = 13.925%

Quebec has a $8,000 refundable tax credit for the LEAF right now.
Starting on January 1st 2012, that tax credit will become a purchase or lease rebate.

 

[vegastar]

I payed 32k Euros for mine, after the 5k Euro incentive. Thats 43k USD, or 50k USD before the incentive at the current 1.35 USD per Euro exchange rate.

 

[dgpcolorado]

Pardon my ignorance, but is it possible for Canadians to buy a LEAF in the USA and take it home? Would there be prohibitive duties and the like? Those in BC, for example, could just get one in Seattle. You'd still have to pay local taxes and all, but the exchange rate isn't all that different at present ($1US = ~$1.04CA).

 

[daggad]

I pay $ 49200,- here i Norway.
And this is about equal price to a VW Golf of Ford Focus over here.

 

[Deleted member 3147]

Pardon my ignorance, but is it possible for Canadians to buy a LEAF in the USA and take it home? Would there be prohibitive duties and the like? Those in BC, for example, could just get one in Seattle. You'd still have to pay local taxes and all, but the exchange rate isn't all that different at present ($1US = ~$1.04CA).

I don't know the real answer to that, but there is definitely the problem of DRLs. US Leafs do not have daytime running lights but I understand that Canadian law requires them. There are Leafs in the world with DRLs (in the UK, I understand that the fog lights have two bulbs in the fixture), just not in the US.

I don't know if user-added DRLs would be acceptable.

 

[muus]

Pardon my ignorance, but is it possible for Canadians to buy a LEAF in the USA and take it home? Would there be prohibitive duties and the like? Those in BC, for example, could just get one in Seattle. You'd still have to pay local taxes and all, but the exchange rate isn't all that different at present ($1US = ~$1.04CA).

I've seriously looked into it and for me it doesn't work out.

You can import any Nissan vehicle from Canada as long as you can enable DRLs. There are several ways to do this (see one way here:http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=6134)
BUT
The Nissan Leaf is made in Japan and therefore is subject to a 6% duty fee. (ok it's still cheaper)
BUT
New U.S. market Nissan cars must first be registered in the U.S. for the warranty to apply. If the car is sold within six months of the original purchase, the warranty becomes void. (see http://apa.ca/CanadianWarrantyinformationonnewcarsboughtintheUS.asp)

So essentially unless you don't mind forgoing the warranty you have to buy a 6+ month old used Leaf. (good luck) Also, if you live in one of the two province that has incentives (like I do) you have to be the original owner so no used Leaf.

If you live in a province with no incentives, are able to find a 6+ month old Leaf the only last question to be answered is, how do you transfer Carwings onto a Canadian cellphone carrier?

 

[dgpcolorado]

I've seriously looked into it and for me it doesn't work out...

That certainly takes care of my question!

Barring paying the very high price the OP quoted, it would seem the best thing to do is be patient and wait a couple of years to see if prices come down as volumes go up and other EVs appear on the market. Or buy a used Canadian LEAF when some of those appear, perhaps as cars go off-lease.

CA$41K, after incentives, is a lot to pay to be an EV early adopter. I am fairly stretched by my net of ~US$26K here but it seems like a bargain compared to the Canadian price.

 

[TEG]

$43274 for the car and the options (quick charger, ...

When you say "quick charger" is that a way of saying you ordered the CHAdeMO port option?
I don't think it adds any new charger to the car (the charger would be outside the car), but does add the left-hand large socket in the charging bay so you can do high speed CHAdeMO charging.

 

[habu]

I ordered the CHAdeMO port (quick charger) it cost $900 as an option on the 2011 here. The cold weather package was included which is another reason the US cars are not really that great for import. It gets really cold here in Dec Jan and the battery preheater is almost a necessity if you are going to drive in the winter.

 

[muus]

CA$41K, after incentives, is a lot to pay to be an EV early adopter.

Remember, the incentives are only available in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, the rest of the country has to pay full price!!! If Nissan intends to make the Leaf a "mainstream" car they will have to bring the price down by at least 10 grand. No wonder they will only bring 600 cars to Canada this model year.