Upfront
It seems pretty certain that leasing is the right thing to do now. The electric vehicle market is developing very rapidly and so it's very likely that great looking technology today will soon be the boat anchors of tomorrow (viz. computers and phones). Buying a Leaf today seems like a $30K gamble with quite long odds!
I got a chance to ride in a workmate's Leaf and was surprised at how spacious and peppy it is, but the thing that finally made me decide to go ahead was hearing from colleagues that they'd managed to arrange $99/month leases. This is substantially less than the amount we've been spending on gas each month so, at least at face value, there's a certain satisfaction in being able to go green and save money!
Nissan has a Vehicle Purchase Program which, depending who you are and where you work, can result in significant savings ($2545 in my case), so the first thing to do is head to the VPP site and get a claim identification number.
With my claim ID in hand I called the dealership on Friday and they put together three deals:
- 2 year, $99/month
- $4500 upfront
- $99/month including tax
- Total $6876 or $3438/year or $289/month
- 2 year, $2000 down
- Discount $2545 and $17,550 sticker price
- Monthly $119 + tax $129
- $2000 down payment
- Costs (title, license, tax, etc) $1417
- Total $6513 or 3256/year or $271/month
- 3 year, $2000 down
- Discount $2545 and $17,550 sticker price
- $2500 back from state subsidy (claimed separately)
- Monthly $195 + tax $212
- $2000 down payment + costs $3570
- Total $8702 or $2900/year or $241/month
At the dealership
With the deal sorted out the big challenge was find two hours to sit in the dealership to do the paperwork. Yin and I found a gap amongst the weekend's soccer Saturday afternoon and headed there with Mark in tow. In the event we were there from 4-7PM so it was a significant commitment! That said, the process itself was straightforward and efficiently handled. They said they might do as many as 40 deals a weekend and more than 80 Leafs a month. The salesman said the Leaf accounts for 40% of their business these days!
Early on in the process the salesman brought up two partnership deals.
The first was to give us a Blink membership package which appears to have no real value to us other than making us conscious of their existence!
We're anticipating doing all our charging at home, so the second deal - free purchase and installation of a home charging station under the California Energy Commissions's EV Program - has real value. The salesman said they only get assigned ten or so installations every month or so and we got one on a first-come, first-served basis. There'll be a follow-up with a crew surveying and installing AeroVironment's Home EV Charging Station in the next few weeks, it seems. That'll give us a 240v charger that'll greatly reduce charge times.
Of course there are always a couple of gotchas in any car deal and this occasion was no exception!
Firstly, we're limited to driving 12,000 miles a year with a charge of 15c/mile kicking in after that. Shouldn't be a problem, though, since we have lots of bicycles too!
Secondly, six monthly maintenance is a requirement of the lease and so we ended up spending an extra $425 on a prepaid agreement. The salesman assured me it was good value and the finance guy showed me Edmunds numbers purportedly giving me average maintenance costs, but I would have been happier if they'd been a lot more straightforward about the actual pros and cons of the deal. I still don't know if it was worth it!
Thirdly, with my pen poised over the bottom line, I saw a $395 lease "disposition fee" in the fine print! It seems you might actually have to pay it if you don't end up buying the vehicle or at least lease another from Nissan. I was assured that the fee is often waived as a matter of customer loyalty. We'll see in two year's time!
When the finance guy presented the contract the monthly charge came to $136/month. Of course, this was only $160 or so more than the original quote but (being a lifelong pedant) I felt I had to make the point that it wasn't the original deal. As a result the finance director swooped in and overrode the system in our favor. Nice!
Chaaaarge!
We've no idea how to use the car, of course. In fact, I'm writing this from a Starbucks in Union City since James has a soccer game this afternoon and am feeling quite antsy about our prospects of getting home. I guess that's the usual "EV range anxiety syndrome" kicking in!
One thing I did take a look at is PG&E's EV charging plans. Seems that the EV-A rate plan is the one for us and as a consequence we'll want to charge the car between 11PM and 7AM to take advantage of off-peak rates. Turns out that there's a charge timer built into the car itself, so you can plug in when you park but defer charging until the price is right!
More on running the car later ...
(By the way, we did get back home with 29 miles range remaining ... so no sweat ... not that I was worried, of course!).
Maintaining second thoughts
- 6mo: $19.95 (they only charge for wheel rotation)
- 12mo: $71.93
- 18mo: $19:95
- 24mo: $109.00
- 30mo: $0.00
... nowhere near the $425 of the agreement. Armed with that knowledge I went back to the dealership to sign the cancellation form and am expecting a refund in the mail. No problem.
Shady deal
While I was back at the dealership I visited the parts department to buy a sunshade for the windshield (turns out that you want to use every means possible of avoiding turning on the AC in order to maximize your range!).
Imagine my surprise when the cashier asked if I was signed up for Nissan's One To One Reward loyalty program and informed me that I get $75 credit upfront! Paid for my shade, and left enough to cover the cost of the first service. Sweet!
