Chicagoland area

[Sergiov]

Hi all,

I am looking to lease a 2014 Leaf (SV or SL) this year. Browsing the Chicago-area dealer web sites it seems like inventory for both 2013 and 2014 Leafs is sparse right now. Are dealers typically just ordering the cars once the sale is made rather than keeping inventory around? If so, what kind of delay should I expect from purchase to taking delivery?

Reading through this thread of posts, Rosen Nissan seems like a dealer that knows their Leafs. Any other dealers that people had great experiences with?

Thanks!

[hicorrie]

If a dealer does not have the car you want, they'll get it from a dealer that does. You should go through truecar.com to get competitive quotes from dealers. They will be the lowest price. Just make sure you know the trim and options you want. Then you work out the lease agreement, number of months, etc. they all use nissan finance so all the terms are the same. But it's important to first negotiate the price of the car, including any trade-in first. Some dealers want to just give you a monthly payment amount. That is completely wrong and you'll pay too much for the car.

In my experience dealing with 3-4 dealers, you'll know more about the leaf through all your research than the dealer will. Sometimes you'll find an enthusiast, but mostly the salespeople are as bemused by electric cars as the average person on the street. A lot of them let ICE cars park in front of the EV chargers! And don't be surprised if you are offered free oil changes

[greengate]

Hi all,

I am looking to lease a 2014 Leaf (SV or SL) this year. Browsing the Chicago-area dealer web sites it seems like inventory for both 2013 and 2014 Leafs is sparse right now. Are dealers typically just ordering the cars once the sale is made rather than keeping inventory around? If so, what kind of delay should I expect from purchase to taking delivery?

Reading through this thread of posts, Rosen Nissan seems like a dealer that knows their Leafs. Any other dealers that people had great experiences with?

Thanks!

The Autobarn Nissan of Evanston.

Great dealer from my experience.

Ask for Martin. He is their Leaf go to guy.

Here's their DCQC Level 3 charging station

[djkjmuoh]

Hi all,

I am looking to lease a 2014 Leaf (SV or SL) this year. Browsing the Chicago-area dealer web sites it seems like inventory for both 2013 and 2014 Leafs is sparse right now. Are dealers typically just ordering the cars once the sale is made rather than keeping inventory around? If so, what kind of delay should I expect from purchase to taking delivery?

Reading through this thread of posts, Rosen Nissan seems like a dealer that knows their Leafs. Any other dealers that people had great experiences with?

Thanks!

The Autobarn Nissan of Evanston.

Great dealer from my experience.

Ask for Martin. He is their Leaf go to guy.

Here's their DCQC Level 3 charging station

You can also reach out to Vito of Kelly Nissan in Oak Lawn (https://www.facebook.com/kellynissan" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). He is a personal friend of mine that got my 2013 LEAF SL to me faster than promised. Do your own research as you will indeed be more knowledgable than pretty much any dealer, besides you should be if you are going 100% Electric.

Rosen in Gurnee does have a HUGE amount of LEAF's per the last time I drove by there on the way to Milwaukee and they do have a Level 3 DCQC according to PlugShare and their own Facebook response to my inquiry.

[Sergiov]

Excellent -- thanks for the help!

[JohnTomaszewski]

Hi all,

I am looking to lease a 2014 Leaf (SV or SL) this year. Browsing the Chicago-area dealer web sites it seems like inventory for both 2013 and 2014 Leafs is sparse right now. Are dealers typically just ordering the cars once the sale is made rather than keeping inventory around? If so, what kind of delay should I expect from purchase to taking delivery?

Reading through this thread of posts, Rosen Nissan seems like a dealer that knows their Leafs. Any other dealers that people had great experiences with?

Thanks!

Bill Kay Nissan in Downers Grove demolished all the rest of the Chicagoland Dealers during my search last summer.

[IrvingHarlem]

Hi! I'm proud to say I bought my 2013 Nissan Leaf S on January 31st and received my new title and plates today: 1594 EL. Seems like a pretty good turnaround from the Secretary of State.

About half the Leafs (Leaves?) I see on the road have standard passenger plates.

As IL does not 'require' an EV to use the lower cost plates and many dealer's are not aware of the program it's actually amazing that there are many with them ... if you're talking a 100% EV company (like Tesla) the percentage with the 'EL' series goes way up as I'm sure Tesla makes it a selling point with their IL customers -- we also have a number of special series and vanity plates that are much better looking than the rather plain white one that IL has designated for EV's so that's a factor as well.

Of course it's an unscientific way to look but, at least 'EL' registrations in IL for production EV's have passed the 1,000 mark as prior to about the mid 200's plate numbers range in the EL series here in IL the majority were home built or converted ICE's and not a 'mainstream' off the production floor EV that you could simply order.

Also here in IL, a PHEV like the Volt is not eligible; only 100% electric so cars like the Volt, Ford C-Max Energi, etc. aren't in these numbers ... hopefully those new to the LEAF (leased or otherwise) know about the 50% EVSE 'charger' incentive as well; much better deal than saving a few bucks on license plates.

[redLEAF]

Hi! I'm proud to say I bought my 2013 Nissan Leaf S on January 31st and received my new title and plates today: 1594 EL. Seems like a pretty good turnaround from the Secretary of State.

About half the Leafs (Leaves?) I see on the road have standard passenger plates.

As IL does not 'require' an EV to use the lower cost plates and many dealer's are not aware of the program it's actually amazing that there are many with them ... if you're talking a 100% EV company (like Tesla) the percentage with the 'EL' series goes way up as I'm sure Tesla makes it a selling point with their IL customers -- we also have a number of special series and vanity plates that are much better looking than the rather plain white one that IL has designated for EV's so that's a factor as well.

Of course it's an unscientific way to look but, at least 'EL' registrations in IL for production EV's have passed the 1,000 mark as prior to about the mid 200's plate numbers range in the EL series here in IL the majority were home built or converted ICE's and not a 'mainstream' off the production floor EV that you could simply order.

Also here in IL, a PHEV like the Volt is not eligible; only 100% electric so cars like the Volt, Ford C-Max Energi, etc. aren't in these numbers ... hopefully those new to the LEAF (leased or otherwise) know about the 50% EVSE 'charger' incentive as well; much better deal than saving a few bucks on license plates.

Congrats and welcome to the forum !! -- very nice to see the 'EL' series almost reach the 1600 level; the other plus with this series is that it's good for two years (every December). Of course regardless of the plate you'll also never need to get tested by IL EPA for emissions; be sure to check here for info on the IL cash rebates if you haven't already … I've seen a Tesla with a mid-1500 EL plate so good to see more EV's out there

[greengate]

Hi! I'm proud to say I bought my 2013 Nissan Leaf S on January 31st and received my new title and plates today: 1594 EL. Seems like a pretty good turnaround from the Secretary of State.

About half the Leafs (Leaves?) I see on the road have standard passenger plates.

As IL does not 'require' an EV to use the lower cost plates and many dealer's are not aware of the program it's actually amazing that there are many with them ... if you're talking a 100% EV company (like Tesla) the percentage with the 'EL' series goes way up as I'm sure Tesla makes it a selling point with their IL customers -- we also have a number of special series and vanity plates that are much better looking than the rather plain white one that IL has designated for EV's so that's a factor as well.

Of course it's an unscientific way to look but, at least 'EL' registrations in IL for production EV's have passed the 1,000 mark as prior to about the mid 200's plate numbers range in the EL series here in IL the majority were home built or converted ICE's and not a 'mainstream' off the production floor EV that you could simply order.

Also here in IL, a PHEV like the Volt is not eligible; only 100% electric so cars like the Volt, Ford C-Max Energi, etc. aren't in these numbers ... hopefully those new to the LEAF (leased or otherwise) know about the 50% EVSE 'charger' incentive as well; much better deal than saving a few bucks on license plates.

I'll say! Took 4 months for mine to arrive.

[brianchi73]

I noticed a couple of nice features of the Leaf that really aren't specific to an EV, but I've found them helpful for Winter, so I thought I would mention them here.

1. Being able to disable traction control. We are probably beyond this for the season, but I got stuck twice in the last few weeks when driving through the alley. Both times I was able to get out by disabling traction control. When it was on the computer would just step in so quickly that I had no chance of getting out.

2. The headlight adjustment control. I usually have the headlights pointing directly down since I live in the city, but I've found it useful to bump them up a notch or two to help with spotting potholes.

Hopefully this is helpful.