Infiniti G37 Prices Paid and Buying Experience

praz

Congrats waltaz!!! What is the $1,995 B.S. add-on package of "extras"?

kman1311

Waltaz,
Congrats on your new G!! Looks like you did everything right and got a great deal.. Would you mind posting what you paid for the license plate registration and title fees? I know that doesn't help anyone on the list outside of AZ, but I will be stopping in this week to see if I can close my deal and want to see if my out the door numbers are correct..

Based on my estimates the license plate/registration fee would be about $630 and the title fee $20. Is this close to what you paid?

Thanks again for your help and congrats!!

Randy

kman1311

Praz,
I have been into this dealer before and I believe the $1,995 in extras includes Nitrogen filled tires, Wheel Locks, Door Edge Gaurds, and Zaktek premium paint protectant. Waltaz would have to confirm but this is what they told me was included with each vehicle.

waltaz

Praz and kman,

I will post up all the fees later tonight when I get home - didn't get around to it yesterday.

As for the $1995, I'm not entirely sure, as the extra sticker detailing that was gone by the time I got the car (which Pinnacle had driven up from Infiniti of Scottsdale on McDowell Rd. - Pinnacle didn't have the color/trim combo that I wanted). I think kman is correct: tint, nitrogen, wheel locks, don't know about door guards as there aren't any of the black ones. The Zaktek is above the $1995 and is shown as a separate, "hard-coded" line item of $297 on the order. I had them white that out, said no way, though you still get it.

More to follow...

dwynne

My G37 smelled that way too - and even with a few hundred miles on it now I still get a whiff of it every now and then.

If you smelled a burning plastic smell you may have caught a grocery bag under the car and it is burning/melting on the cats or other exhaust part.

Mine is NOT anything like a melting plastic smell.

Be sure to check your new engine's oil regularly as you break it in - new motors often will burn a little oil as they wear in and you need to make sure it is topped up if it uses any.

Dennis

dwynne

I understand you didn't invent the fax attack method, but you are a proponent of it.

I used it 3 years ago when getting my wife a new Accord and it did nothing to help me. The dealers that deal low were the lowest, the other dealers would not touch the deal (down into holdback) that I already again. Again, a limited number of dealerships in the area limits the competition.

Miami shows 6 dealers, Orlando or Tampa show 4, but Tallahassee and Jacksonville have just 1 each. So south FL is not too bad a place to shop, but north FL would look a lot tougher.

You and I may be here trying to help folks and post honest prices, but you can't know that for everyone that posts here. In fact, I can only vouch for the veracity of the price that *I* paid in the forum .

The point is - if you can get a price close to invoice for the car, destination, and dealer fee then you have a good price - for sure if you don't have to travel to get it. IF you do have enough dealers to compete for the deal then you may can get lower - but a lot of that depends on how many dealerships are around to compete and who owns them. Patience always serves a buyer well and waiting can often produce a better price - but if you find the current finance rate or lease rate to your liking the waiting could produce a lower price but higher financial numbers.

Dennis

dwynne

Congratulations on the new G!

Sounds like you did fine - you got a good price for the new car and a fair trade and go to use the trade to save sales tax on the new deal. And you didn't have to spend a lot of time travelling way away from home to save money either.

Your car is already tinted against the AZ sun, right?

Dennis

waltaz

Oh yeah, on the tint.

I can't tell you how happy I am with the overall deal - I'm just thrilled. Pinnacle is the closest dealer to me, about 15 minutes from home, and I hit the financial targets I set at the outset of the process. Again, it's a win-win as far as I'm concerned, and I have absolutely no regrets. Well, other than the fact that my wife is the primary driver...

straightdope

Happy Camry,
I agree. Holdback is pure profit so why would anyone ignore it when negotiating a price? I tried to tell the forum earlier that determining Actual Dealer Cost, not just "invoice" is the way to proper starting point for negotiating your final offer, but it fell on deaf ears.
When doing the remote bidding process ('fax or internet attack') ask for and get the dealer's final, out the door, bottom line price including any doc. prep and destination fees but excluding mandatory gov't taxes & fees (tax, title, license, registration, which are constant). That way they can't surprise you when you show up to sign. Tell them that if that's not the price on the paperwork, you'll walk.
Obviously, the fax attack isn't very effective in one dealer towns--but even then you can still use it to bluff you're way into a good price. [The Des Moines Iowa Infinity fleet manager doesn't know that you don't want to drive to metro Chicago to get a better price. Call his bluff. ]

almatti

Dear Nazarenk: Try Pepe Infiniti in White Plains, NY . I am a Costco Customer. I live in Westchester Co., NY and was referred to Pepe as an Executive Member of Costco. They treated me very well. I leased a 2007 G35X - Black/Stone, w/o Navi, Premium package, $2,400 OTD which included sales tax (about $1400), bank fee, a nd fist months payment. Pay $440/mo; 39 months, and they are a very repsonsive dealership. My initial contact was made via the WEB & used the Costco referral. I priced the deal at 5 different dealships: Manhasset, Massepequa, Manhattan, a Jersey Dealer and the one in Hartsford. My cousin is one of the main mechanics at Massapequa, even they couldn't beat the price. Did it at Month's end April 2007. Best bet is to wait for the last day or 2 of the month as Dealers want to make quotas. This forum does not allow me to relay the Internet sales person name. All I can sy is: it was a female.

blov8r

This looks like a good lease, especially when compared to the quoted 24 month lease here in Tucson. $4,500 OTD + ~ $395 + taxes/month. I've found that if I start "trolling" for my next car a couple or three months ahead of my lease's end and contact dealerships in Phoenix as well as here sooner or later one of them will have to move some units at a materially better rate ... and that's the one I deal with. As an aside, ten years ago my daughter wanted a particular Isuzu Rodeo ... color, options, etc, and the Tucson dealer said a) none matching her description were available anywhere in the zone, and b) the price she was quoted in Phoenix was impossible to meet. A week later he called with the exact unit and $500 below the Phoenix dealer's price. We can't outguess these guys ... this is what they do for a living. But if we play it "cool" and have time to fish the salmon will often swim upstream to us. Bart :shades:

dwynne

RTFM - and I posted a link the PDF for the "FM" the other day .

I sat at the gas station after my first fill up looking for this as well - and finally had to pull out the "FM" to see.

The reset is on the left side of the dash on the front behind the steering wheel. Where *I* sit and have the wheel set it is perfectly hidden and on subsequent fill ups I had to hunt for it each time . See item 5 on the cockit layout picture.

Dennis

nazarenk

Hi,

I am in the process of leasing a new 2008 INFINITI G35x/ Premium Package/ Splash Guards/Cargo Net. I am using VPP number. Here is what I got form a dealer (Hartford, Connecticut area):

Retail Value: $37,325
Savings: $2,838
Adj. Sales Price: $34,487
Conveyance Fee: $299
Tax: $2,087
Tag Fee: $165
Net Sales Price: $37,038

They want me to pay $1,800 down that includes:

Bank Fee: $595
Registration: $165
First Month Payment: $477
Conveyance Fee: $299
Cap Cost Reduction: $264

Based on this price the lease for 36 month/15,000 miles per year is:
$477/month

I do not think this is a good deal, but it seams that I cannot find where they are cheating me

Please, help! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

nazarenk

Dennis,

Thanks a lot for your quick posting. I really appreciate it.
I do live in Connecticut Hartford area and the sales tax is 6%

Since $34,487 is correct and you confirmed that, I assume that something is off on the rest of their calculations.

I plugged all the numbers you gave me into Edmund's lease calculator (59% residual value, .000079 money factor - assuming that 1.9% is the rate, then 1.9/2400=.000079) and my number was $465/month.
Still lower then what they want.

I do not understand why am I paying tax twice? I am paying $2,087 tax on the car price and then every month I am paying tax on my monthly payment???

Thanks again,

nazarenk

dwynne

The current MSRP for that car would be $37,575 with an invoice of $34,444. Your MSRP of $37,325 reflect a pre-price increase car. So if we take the $250 difference at MSRP from the current invoice we get $34,184 for invoice (should be close enough). Plugging that invoice into my VPP spreadsheet shows a plan C or pan D price of $34,454.68 which is close to the number you show - so your number should be correct - $34,487 .

The lease residual on a x for 36/15k should be 59% and the buy rate for top tier lessees is 0.00149. Plugging all that into a lease calc show a payment of $430.45 IF you paid everything up front and not including tax. Since you dealer is suggesting that you pay all that up front and a $264 cap cost reduction, that makes your payment $422.73 per month not including tax.

I assume you live in CT? It looks like they tax on the payment at the rate of 6%. So adding that to the payment I figured I get $448.10 per month which is a lot lower than your dealer's payment.

Based on the tax amount you posted, I am guessing that you do not live in CT but in another state that charges a much higher amount of charges tax on the whole car and not just the depreciation or payment. If I had that tax amount shown on top of the car the payment comes out close to your dealer's number.

Dennis

almatti

Oh Yeah. Forgot to add: 16.500 Miles per year with the lease at the price + add tags and title charges - another $78 or so, I think.

allbiz

Does anyone know how to reset the trip miles so I can see how far a tank of gas will get me?

happycamry

This isn't the right forum for that, Allbiz. . . . (Hint: Look to the lower left area on the dash--it's possibly hidden from your view by the steering wheel.)

rwalkeredmund

The biggest problem I see with putting the money up front to make a smaller monthly payment is-
1) You total the car sometime during the lease.
2) Someone steals the car-

In either case, you LOST all the prepaid money.

My wifes leased car was stolen last wednesday. Because I used THIS FORUM and got a Kick-[non-permissible content removed] price and paid NO MONEY DOWN. I actually got $1500 back AFTER insurance paid off the lease and I had a $500 deductible too. So really I had MADE $2000 on the car.

How many leases do that!?

So never pay up front unless you are perfectly willing to consider the money a loss. I have a friend who did the Inifiniti lease on an M45 and totaled it the first weekend. The insurance paid out and he owed nothing but he got nothing. His money was pissed away.

nazarenk

Dear almatti,

Thanks a lot for your suggestion. I will definately try to explore this option.
Thanks again,

nazarenk

dwynne

Maybe that is where the numbers are off? I would ask someone else who lives in CT or check online, but from what I could tell it is 6% state tax on the payment only. Is there a property tax or something else due?

Like I said, if I added that tax on top of the car then the payments work out about right.

I would quiz the dealer about it - tell them you though CT was tax on the payment and it looks like they are charging you sales tax on the whole car up front AND taxing the payment.

I should also mention that the "Conveyance fee" is just another word for "dealer doc fee" and if you leased the same car from another dealer that charge no extra fees - just your VPP price - you could "convey" that $299 into your pocket rather than the dealer's .

Remember when you have a VPP code you are done negotiating, so if you find a dealer with no extra fees that will do the deal for buy rate on the MF then you are "done". You could also talk to area dealers about pricing BEFORE you disclose your VPP - since some folks are reporting getting as good as VPP or lower prices by negotiating.

Dennis

max8085

Hey guys I'm new to this forum, I just got this great Deal from a dealer here on Long Island, NY for 08' g35x premium 439/ 24mo/ 12k miles/ 700 total Out of pocket. Sounds like a good deal to me cars MSRP is 36275, Gonna pick up on friday what you guys think?

dballs

Newbie, look back in the posting from me and see the deal I got, Dealer was on Long Island as well. Mine had Nav and 15K miles, but I thought the deal was pretty good. The previous posting has all the details.

dwynne

what you guys think?

That you work for the dealer? You posted the same message over and over in several forums and seem to be soliciting folks to call you to get this deal.

Other things I think:

Is this the open end lease that is NOT from IFS? If yes, then everyone should stay far, far away.

In all cases the price you pay for the car is the key - and that is one thing you never mention. I could car less what the MSRP is, your payment, your out of pocket, what is the agreed price for the car with destination and dealer fees included?

Dennis

max8085

I Just got off the phone from a dealer and I'm supposed to be picking up a 08' g35x with prem quoted at 439 mo/24mos 12k miles and after reading all the posts I talked to the salesman (by the way easiest person to deal with) and he said he would get my a navi car for only $10 more a month!!! I told him i will tell every1 about him. So if you want a great DEAL email for reply and I'll give you his name and the dealership name. HE WILL GIVE YOU A GREAT DEAL!!

Thanks guys for these posts

gooddeal2

Wow, joined 2/27/2008, all 5 posts about this dealer?

dwynne

If you check the current offers on the Infiniti web page they show the same discounted finance rates as they had for February but the expiration date shows March 31, 2008. The current lease deals also show 3/31 as expiration.

So it would appear that the current offers will just be carried over for March.

Dennis

max8085

Well i dont know the price of the agreed price how do you get that? and what other dealer fees are there?

dwynne

The agreed value/agreed price/selling price - whatever you call it - is the key to getting a good lease and is the first step in negotiating a deal no matter if buying or selling.

If your dealer has just made you a payment offer, then you have to ask them (now) what the price of the car is and how much in dealer doc and prep fees they have added to that price.

There was a NYC area dealer (maybe more than one) that were advertising cheap G lease deals on places like Craigslist. Turns out they were not leasing via Infiniti and they were open end leases. Open end is not what you or anyone else wants - that means you either have to buy the car at lease end or make up the difference between auction value and the residual given in the lease. A big rip off since they decide what that difference is and if you buy the car it is a bad deal since it is like a ballon note. If you wanted to buy a G you could do the cheap finance deal they have now and come out better off.

Dennis

dwynne

I all depends on where you live, the number of dealers, and how hungry/competitive they are.

The VPP price for your car should be less than $300 over invoice. You DO have to pay the dealer's customary doc or prep fee and for any dealer installed options on the car (that they load it up with or you want added).

Depending on where you live, you *I* would do is just find a dealer with $0 or a really low doc fee and no dealer added options and just get the car. If you live where you can generate some competition you may be able to get down to or even under invoice, but chances are when you add in a dealer doc or prep fee you might not save much. Where *I* live VPP is a nice deal, someone in NYC or SoCal or something with a lot of dealers may find they can negotiate a better price - but I would think you are not going to save a LOT of money. Find a dealer with no doc fee and add ons that has the car you want and the purchase will be as easy as pie - and pretty cheap too .

Dennis

nazarenk

That's right Dennis $1,200 less with $3 higher monthly payment!
The difference is about 100 miles between these two dealerships.

Thanks again for your help,

nazarenk

nazarenk

Dear almatti,

Thanks again for your suggestion. I contacted Pepe Infiniti and she gave me a pretty good deal. I am picking up the new car this Friday. Without your advice I would be still dealing with these local crooks trying to reap me off.

Here is the deal:

2008 Infiniti G35x/Premium Package/Splash Guards/Trunk Cargo Net

36 month close end lease/15,000 miles per year/$620 total due at signing (includes first month and dealer fees)/ $480 per month including tax. Emission Test (Connecticut thing) is an extra. License plates are going to be transferred.

I would like to thank all who gave VERY GOOD advices – Dennis, george8100 and others.

Guys, thanks again, I am very grateful.

nazarenk

hpgator

I would love to be able to buy a new G, and since I have a VPP code I basically just pay a set price as I'm sure others in have have done. However, has anyone actually negotiated a price lower than VPP without telling them you had it first? IMO once you tell them you have it they don't really care about you anymore because they can't negotiate anything now.

I'd love to get a G35 journey w/ sport, navi, and premium (which is about $39k sticker, and $35,800 invoice), but I wonder if it's even worth trying to negotiate to save maybe a few hundred bucks if at all possible.

dwynne

So about the same payment as you other deal (that we never could make add up), but $1,200 less out of pocket?

Dennis

carsforall

Do you mind telling me which state you got your car. I also have the benefits of VPP plan D but the dealer is quoting me $600 over invoice in WA state. The final price for a lease based on 600 over invoice comes to 577/month after 895 down. Do you think this is fair considering it is VPP pricing.

thanks....

mikesal

Any recent buying experiences in the Washington, DC / Virginia / MD area? The posts on this board imply that dealers are currently hungry and selling for a few hundred over invoice. But after just a single call to the local Infiniti internet sales managers, they are offering anywhere from a few hundred BELOW invoice to $100 above. Any recommendations or recent experiences to share in the DC market? I'm getting ready to pull the trigger this week. Thanks! -mike

dwynne

Just make sure you get your quotes to include the price for the car with destination and any dealer doc or prep fees includes. Dealers have been known to leave out the destination fee on e-mail or phone quotes and once you show up they add it on top of the price they gave you. Ditto the dealer fees - where not limited in amount by law, these can can be $400, $500, or more. So if the give you a nice price and leave off the fee it turns bad once they roll that on top of the deal. They will say "see, this fee is pre-printed right on all out forms we always charge that.

You should also ask if they routinely add dealer installed options to all cars offered for sale. Another trick it to pack them up with $1k or more of this junk (paint and fabric protectant, wind deflector, nitrogen fill, etc) then offer the car for invoice and THEN say you have to pay $1k or more for the mostly worthless extras.

If the dealers report that is their price for the car with destination and all dealer fees (anything not required as a tax, title, tag type fee) include and you can buy or lease one without any dealer installed options - then good deal for you and go get you one! Hopefully they will not try to add junk to your deal. If you know how your local tax, title, tire fees, etc all work and what they are - then ask for an OTD price from the dealer - then work up your own OTD price based on your knowledge of local and state taxes, inspection fees, etc. If you get the same number then you should be good to go.

Dennis

max8085

Hey Just talked to the dealer and he said the agreed price on the car was 36475 with doc fees , but without DMV

So how does it sound? 439/39/12k

joen05

Dennis is right. I recently (December) purchased a G35x with Premium and Nav, with port installed splashguards for 35769 including destination. If what you state is in fact.. your deal, you should probably try to work out another one....

dwynne

You said before you were getting a "g35x premium" - the invoice on an 08 x with just the premium pack is $34,284 including destination. If that is how yours is equipped then your $36,475 price for the car, destination, and doc fee is terrible. If your car has more options on them then you need to calculate the invoice for the car as equipped and compare it to your price.

Dennis

dwynne

VPP plan C and D pricing should be around $275 to $300 over invoice - depending on the options on the car - not $600 over. Sounds like your dealer is adding a $300 or so doc fee to your deal.

The formula for the VPP price is publish and is simple to drop into a spreadsheet:

In cell B3 put the invoice including destination, then in cells B4-B7 put the following calculations:

=B3-715
=B4 * (1 - 0.0165)
=B5*1.025
=B6+715

The answer in B7 will be your VPP price.

If I were dealing with a VPP code I would call all the dealers within 100-200 miles from home and try to find one that has no doc fee and will honor the VPP code.

$577 a month is meaningless if you don't state the model you are looking to lease, options, the sales tax rate, and or course the lease term.

Dennis

max8085

Okay my dealer is giving me a run around with prices and invoices. I live in NY I want to know how much a premium g35x would go for price wise and monthly wise with the following term:

39/12k With 1st month and DMV

Cause the price of the car Which i was quoted before was I believe according to edmunds is 2000 over invoice, which I still don't understand was giving me a payment of 440 a month.

dwynne

If they are using that open end, non IFS lease then they can over charge you for the car and still give you a low payment. The bite comes at the end when you have to pay up.

I would find another dealer, use the Infiniti dealer locator and see how many dealers you can find in a 100-200 mile radius.

Dennis

carsforall

The car I was quoted for is a g35x with premium, nav and tech (forced to buy tech because the color we liked did not have something with only the premium and nav). Using your formula I came up with a price of $37310 - around $300 over invoice.

I do not understand how they come up with the lease numbers though (24 mths/ 895 down inclusive of 1st month payment/ 577 per mth inclusive of all taxes / the sales tax rate in WA = 9.2). Please let me know if you do.

The dealer finally agreed to waive some fees totalling $300 (B&O and some other fee).

A search around the Seattle area (with a 100 mile radius) brought up only 2 dealerships - both of which are owned by the same person. Calling the other did not help as they said they could not better the deal.

Thanks a lot to Dennis and everyone else for the information and advice! Will post the final price if we go for it.

dwynne

How many miles per year?

The G35x lease buy rate for 24 month is 0.00123, the residual is 69% for 15k and 70% for 12k per year.

You don't state the MSRP, so I will use $40,615 which is the current MSRP for an x with tech/nav/prem and nothing else.

The formula to figure payment is:

(Cap Cost – Residual Value) / Term = Depreciation
(Cap Cost + Residual Value) X Money Factor = Interest
Depreciation + Interest = Base Monthly Payment

We will assume you are rolling in the $595 bank fee and 15k miles per year and your car has the MSRP I showed.

(37905 - 28024.35) / 24 = $411.70
(37905 + 28024.35) * 0.00123 = $81.10
$411.70 + $81.10 = $492.80

Check my math, I did it in a hurry.

It looks like WA taxes on the payment and you say your rate is 9.2% so adding tax to the payment should get us to $538.14 per month. That would be for 15k miles with the car and the $595 bank fee in the lease and you paying anything else (tags, title, etc) at signing.

That is what I get, only the dealer could explain where they are getting their number. But knowing how to work it out yourself you can check tier math to make sure it does match up.

If the residual is correct, I have to add $830 to the net cap cost to get the payment they gave you. You money down less first payment is $318. So using your VPP number you came up with, the lease buy rate and residual for 15k miles, and your tax on payment we are missing $1,148. That is a lot. Maybe there is property tax, dealer fee, whatever - but it sounds like your are getting ripped off.

Dennis

hpgator

Dwynne, I'm in the Houston area so finding an Infiniti dealer is not a problem at all (I think we have 4 or 5 of them at least). My VPP is with my employer and it is 1% under invoice. I don't know what that number would be for the G35 with the options I wanted (premium, navi, sport), but I did email the internet sales manager to find out.

I'll keep the dealer doc and prep fees in mind when buying as I'll get the invoice with pricing before I sign anything, obviously.

dwynne

There is no 1% under invoice VPP plan that I know of. Plans A and B are for employees of NNA and their immediate families and is 3.58% under invoice. For plans C and D (friends and business partners) it is 1.65% under invoice plus 2.5% delivery fee. For a G that is about $275 to just over $300 depending on options.

I posted the formula today or yesterday and it is shown on the VPP web page at this link.

Since you have a VPP claim code the only difference from one dealer to another will be the amount of the dealer fees (if any) and any dealer installed options you are forced to take. If leasing, add in the fact that some dealers mark up the MF on leases.

So shopping for the dealership is key - find the one with no add ons and no doc fee and you have a nice deal. Maybe a BETTER deal even if they have to go get you a car and you pay for the haul. Here, the dealer gets $500 for a doc fee and has > $1k of dealer options on every car. I got my G37 from a dealer 2 1/2 hours away that has $0 doc fee and no add ons.

Dennis

hpgator

I just checked and I'm under the D plan @ 1.65% like you said.

By the way, the Infiniti nearby is currently offering a waive on the state sales tax (6.25%) for all new leases. Is that worth consideration? What would be a good price to pay on a lease for a G35 journey w/ navi, sport, and premium @ 15,000 mile/year if you take away the tax?

I've read that a lot of people here say not to pay anything down if possible on the car. Is that true?

dwynne

Just take the VPP price and plug the numbers into a lease calculator (I posted the Feb lease residuals and money factors at the start of the month) and you will have the payment.

My guess is the the tax waiver is a dealer offer and is based on them charging you enough profit for the car to pay the taxes (nothing is really free). Call them and see if they will do that on a VPP deal and I would think they will say no.

Dennis

kyfdx

If it's Texas, there is some sort of tax credit program that dealers have with the state... It seems to happen about once per year..

I'm not sure how it works, but I've seen it often enough to think that it doesn't cost the dealer anything, so it is a real savings...

regards,
kyfdx