2008 Nissan Altima Coupe

madmanmoo

Grats Kaya!

We have only received one 3.5 SE w/ Navi so far. It's a very nice car and very fast. Enjoy it, they look awesome!

-Moo

jaeger1

"It's essentially the same car that's been around for years, albeit with fresh styling, and now, a swoopy 2-door shell. A few flavour du jour features have been added, and a few horses boosted to Nissan's 100th iteration of the VQ."

Which magazine did you get this from? Most people would not describe a model built on an entirely new platform with an entirely new exterior and an entirely new interior and significant engine upgrades and a brand new transmission "essentially the same car". Dude, please.

Jaeger

kaya1

Thanks Moo.

It's actualy my wifes everyday car and ours on the weekends and nights. It was hard to get back in the company car today, but can't complain as the the price is right on the Mini Van.

I am assuming you are a Nissan sales rep by your post. Is it true about the limited supply on the Coupes w/ Navi? I did a search in the local area 100 miles out in So Cal (which is a lot of dealers) and was only able to find (2) others and only (1) in the Slate color we wanted. Did you guys sell the 3.5 and how much mark up?

BTW the Bose system is another awesome feature on the car.

I think I will go for a little drive when she gets home :shades:

bodble2

"...a model built on an entirely new platform with an entirely new exterior and an entirely new interior and significant engine upgrades and a brand new transmission..."

You sure about all those "entirely new" and "significant"? Better do your homework before using such absolute adjectives. You sure Nissan hasn't done a bit of parts-bin raiding? But...whatever. If you're happy with it, then great! This discussion is getting old and boring for me. As I have already said, I really couldn't care less. I'm not trying to bash, nor to defend this car. It's a decent, attractive offering. It seems to represent good value. It's probably exactly what poseurs have been wanting from Nissan. I suspect a few more secretaries and high school grads will be getting new cars this year because of it. You think what you want. OK...DUDE? :sick:

altimacoupe

For a neutral member, I think you protest way too much. For a BMW guy it seems like you are really pimping Honda. I have only owned Fords since I received a family discount till now, so I have no bias with any of the Japanese companies. After a great deal of research, reviews and forums, I tend to like the Altima Coupe for it's style and what's in it. All of the other FWD coupes are boring except the G6. You might as well get the 4 doors with the greater trunk space and rear seat space than waste your time on the other FWD sedan based coupes.

The new Accord coupe may appeal to some people and is a HUGE improvemaent over the current offering but I think it has a really CHUNKY [non-permissible content removed] from the spy shot. The concept car was beautiful but that was the concept...

No car is perfect, so thanks for pointing out all the perceived flaws, but the new accord coupe will be less than perfect as well.

The only thing I am 100% behind you is taht nobody should pay 2-3 Gs above MRSP for any car. That's just nuts.

jaeger1

"You sure about all those "entirely new" and "significant"? Better do your homework before using such absolute adjectives. You sure Nissan hasn't done a bit of parts-bin raiding? But...whatever. If you're happy with it, then great! This discussion is getting old and boring for me. As I have already said, I really couldn't care less. I'm not trying to bash, nor to defend this car. It's a decent, attractive offering. It seems to represent good value. It's probably exactly what poseurs have been wanting from Nissan. I suspect a few more secretaries and high school grads will be getting new cars this year because of it. You think what you want."

Yeah, I have done my homework. And I stand by my comment. Anyone that could call a replacement model that features a new platform (yes, it is new), new interior, exterior and transmission "essentially the same" definitely has a trollish agenda. For someone who "couldn't care less" you sure spend a lot of time bashing the car. Oh, and saying "I'm not bashing" then going on to describe the car as secretarial transport for poseurs - who do you think you're fooling, exactly?

Jaeger

madmanmoo

Very, very limited. Yes, I'm a Nissan rep. We haven't sold our Navi 3.5 SE yet, but I sold one without Nav for sticker. Other dealers in the area are marking them up over sticker, we're comfortable with MSRP.

Have fun!

-Moo

pat

Okay, it's time for you and bodble2 to agree to disagree and give this up. Neither of you are going to change the other's mind and things are getting too personal.

Let's move on.

mf15

Moo: Since you are a Nissan rep, perhaps you can tell me why in the Philly area I looked at 5 or 6 dealer online inventory and cannot find a base 3.5 SL they all come with Navi which really raises the price to 32000 and over.
Is Nissan shipping any SL's without Navi.
Since this is a coupe thread I will make this comment.
It seems that there is a 1500 cash to dealer on the G35 coupe but not the sedan, I assume this means that it is not selling well. I wonder if the same will happen to the Altima coupe.
Old Mike

madmanmoo

Hey Mf15,

Sorry, I can't comment on the Philly area. I don't know anything about it. Yes, they are shipping SLs without Navi.

The Altima coupe has only been out for a couple of weeks. It is a 2008 model and there will not be incentives on it for quite awhile. Which model year of the G35 are you talking about?

-Moo

rachelmarie

I am a recent college graduate who just got a first full time job! The altima coupe is the car that I have wanted to buy since I knew they were coming out with one. Went to the lot at Sutherlin Nissan Mall of Georgia, drove off the lot in a brand new altima coupe. Although I stuck with the 2.5 S with no add ons, I absolutely love the car! It drives like a dream, awesome handling and great pick-up. I think this car could be marketed to people like me as well as people looking for more luxuries in a car and are willing to pay a higher price. I believe there is a huge market for this car! My personal opinion is the looks of this car possibly catches the eye of a different market than the Honda Civic and Accord.

thenebean

there is dealer cash on the 2007 G35 coupe because the new G37 coupe will be out in a few months with a larger engine and newer body style. its just incentive to help move any remaining 2007's before the '08's arrive.

-thene

altimachick

I am planning on buying a 2.5s with all the options (navi etc.) within a month. I live in Kansas and was wondering if anyone thought we would be able to get into it for 500 OVER invoice? Or am I wishing on a star? This is the first time I have bought a brand new car but I love the new altima. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
-Jessica

madmanmoo

Wishing on a star, especially on a Navi. It can't hurt to offer it though.

-Moo

altimacoupe

In Canada, you can't get the Nav package with a 2.5. In the US it might be different but I would check.

madmanmoo

You CAN get Nav with the 2.5S. You need Premium and Technology package.

-Moo

thenebean

if you were planning on waiting a little longer, i'd say it would be more possible. but i don't know how the coupes are selling in KS - i think overall, it would be tough, but you don't know until you ask! you might find a dealer that got theirs in a funky color combination that you might just love, and they want to get rid of it and will take $500 over...

too many variables to be definite, but chances are you're wishing on a star...

good luck!

-thene

altimachick

Ok Thanks everyone for your advice! We'll see what happens, I'll let you know how it goes.
-Jessica

jd10013

I think you can get one for 500 over invoice, but it'll depend on how long your willing to wait. right now, the car is in fairly short supply, having only been out for a month, and will be difficult to get at that price. I'd be willing to bet that by the end of the year, as the dealerships are better stocked with them, you wouldn't have as much trouble. but like other have said, doesn't hurt to ask.

madmanmoo

I was thinking about this. When the new Z came out, we held pretty firm to sticker on that vehicle for about a year.

I think that the Coupe will probably do the same. If you want to wait a year to save 2 grand, then by all means do. Cash is cash. My expectation is that this will last for about the same time. We'll see!

-Moo

bodble2

"My expectation is that this will last for about the same time."

I'll bet you it won't!

jd10013

your too much man.

bodble2

Why, what's the matter, jd? I burst your bubble or something? With all due respect to madman, who seems like a decent enough chap, but the guy's a Nissan salesman, for Chrissake! He sells Altima for a living! What did you expect him to say? That there'll be factory incentives within the year? :surprise: He'll tell you the Pope is Polish whether he himself believes it or not! Try thinking for yourself, instead of just following the crowd. The Z was a much-anticipated model introduced with fanfare and pent-up demand. And deservedly so because it was, and is, a much more spectacular, and significant, model than the Alty coupe. So, is it such a stretch to speculate that the demand for the Alty would not hold up as well as it did for the Z? :mad:

altimacoupe

I would start off by offering MRSP or $500 under if it's on the lot. They might even order your car for you. If it's on the lot, I think they would sell it if they have other coupes left without NAVI. I think the projections for the coupes with NAVI are very low from a projection sheet I saw in Canada, so they will be rare but so will the demand. In Canada they project that only 5% of the coupes will be sold with NAVI.

Don't offer more until you see what position the dealer is taking. They still want to sell the cars. You might save some money and can always go to $500 over if they don't take MRSP.

pat

Bodble2, let's tone it down please. Madmanmoo is a straight shooter from everything I've seen. Certainly you can hold a different opinion than he does, but don't imply that because he's a salesman, he's not going to be honest. That may not be what you meant to do, but that's how your post sounds.

You've made your feelings pretty clear here for quite some time. It's probably time you put your posting energy into some discussions on cars that actually appeal to you.

rachelmarie

From personal experience when I went to get my altima coupe they weren't willing to budge at all! They don't have to right now. I got the 2.5s with no options and they were saying they can't keep the ones with options on the lot. A nissan rep that was at the dealership when I bought mine said that in 6 months or so the coupe will be stocked more on the lot and they will offer more incentives. They won't even give the $500 student discount they are offering off of this car. That discount is available on every other car too! But it doesn't hurt to ask!

kaya1

Jessica,

We bought a loaded 3.5 w/ Navi. After, the 1st road trip we will never buy a new car w/o the Navi again. If you can wait, I would hold off until you find exactly what you are looking for. We got lucky as we found the exact car we wanted; fromm the color to the options.

I am no expert, but I did hear they are having supply issues w/ the Navi. With this I would assume it would be rare to find a Navi in a 2.5, as it is tuff to find a 3.5 w/ Navi. I would feel most people would spend the exta money upgrading to a 3.5 then getting a 2.5 w/ Navi. If you waited maybe you save up for a loaded 3.5, and maybe get it at MSRP.....just a thought :shades:

We paid 2K over, but got $1,200 over blue book for the trade-in and got a free window tint. We didn't get raked to bad, as we "got" the car we wanted and it's worth every penny. Plus, if we waited another year our trade value would be that much less.....good luck

altimachick

Does anyone know how long it should take if they have to order a car in? I thought I read somewhere less than two weeks but I could be wrong...
-Thanks, Jessica

altimachick

Ok thanks for the tips. I would rather have the 2.5 with navi than the 3.5, but I know that I differ from the crowd lol. There is one on a lot about 100 miles away that I test drove and LOVE the car. It isn't in my favorite color but isn't in my least favorite color either. I'll have to talk to hubby and see what he says. Thanks again.

flightnurse

Bodble2 Every honda Dealer here in PHX has a Market Adjustment on EVERY new Honda car and truck betweeen 2-4K. What I have seen about Nissan is they only do that on new models for a couple of month then drop it. Currently here in PHX, the Accord Hybrid (which has been discounted) has a 3500 mark up on the window, and that car has been sitting on the lot since Dec of 06.

Regarding which well sell more in 08, it all depends on what people want, granted the photos I have seen of the sedan and coupe make the 08 accord a good looking car, but at what price? The Honda dealers around here are the wrose dealers to work with.

arthwerks

The Altima sedan has been out since November. In February, sales surpassed the Honda Accord for the first time ever. All without factory incentives. Agreed, dealers will negotiate a bit on a Sedan but, I sell Nissans for a living , also. There are not many dealers out there with more than 2 coupes on the lot right now and supplies will not be readily available until around October. Sure, you can probably find a dealer that will cut you a deal here or there but, some people are feeling lucky to find one at sticker. A lot of dealers are charging $1,000 to $1,500 over sticker price. You might not buy one at that price, but, as long as supply is short, someone will. As far as orders go, if an order is placed for any special vehicle from Nissan, it takes 8-12 weeks. That being said dealers can usually trade with other dealers but, with the coupes, no dealers are trading them at this time. The dealership I work at in Baton Rouge, LA has sold 6 coupes. Every one for sticker price.We have 2 other Nissan dealers within 20 miles. They have sold 2 each. When you consider that there are only 10 Altima coupes on the road in a city of 400,000 people, they are not hard to sell at sticker price.

madmanmoo

Jessica,

If you are doing a true order, it could take anywhere from 30-45 days. That is if you order directly from the factory. If, by some miracle, a dealer could negotiate a trade with another dealer, then you could have that vehicle in as good as a day.

Odds are that you're going to have to order the vehicle and wait a little while. Ordering periods start at the beginning of each month. You have a 5 day window (roughly). If you can order your vehicle on the 2nd or 3rd day of the momnth, you should have that vehicle at the beginning of the next month.

I hope that helps! Also, our dealership has been able to snag 3 coupes from other smaller dealerships because they have a vehicle sold on our lot and the only thing we'll take in trade is the coupe. I can't believe that the dealers let us have them! Must have been good deals on the cars they sold.

Anyhow, good luck!

-Moo

Edit: I just read Art's post. Art is in LA and I'm in GA. You can see that the market is a little different for what is able to be done depending on your region.

arthwerks

Moo is right. We are closer to the Canton Mississippi plant. There they make the Titans, Armadas, Quests, Infiniti QX56s, and about one third of the nations Altimas. We get things out of that plant a lot quicker than we get things out of the Smyrna, Tennessee, where they make the coupes. Now, this is also something to consider. There are 1,100 Nissan dealers nationwide. These plants also supply Canada and some of Mexico. The Smyrna plant can't stop production of Maximas, Frontiers, Pathfinders, and Altima sedans just to build coupes. Production will start to rise but, Nissan is also in the middle of a model year change. All of these things contribute to production levels. By the way. Moo, we just got a Dark Slate 3.5SE coupe with the Premium package that if I don't sell quickly, I might just have to buy it. That's the bad thing about working at a dealership. How did you guys get dealers to trade coupes to you?

vasabresfan29

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you are probably going to wait a lot longer than 30-45 days. I order my 2.5 with Navi on May 25th. I am now being told (unbelieveably) I will not have it until August or September which is 90-120 days. This is all after we were told, end of June, then mid July.

Oh yeah, they sure had no problem cashing my check though.

bodble2

A market adjustment on every Honda model? :surprise: Wow, hard to believe they can get away with that. Other than the Civic Hybrid, I can't think of another Honda model that has the draw power to fetch that kind of premium.

madmanmoo

Competition is nasty up here. Some of the smaller dealers are being forced to trade out their small allocation of Coupes just to be able to keep selling ANY vehicles. It blew me away actually.

Like I said, we've snatched 3 coupes from other dealers so far. I can't believe it. I have to take my hat off to our SM. Not everyone can pull that off. :surprise:

As far as Honda production, CR-V's and Fits are still mostly presold. It has been over a year since their introduction. Honda is crazy with their limiting of production I think.

-Moo

arthwerks

Dealers can put anything on the addendum sticker they want to. In other words, if you sold a product that you could get more than retail price for, wouldn't you? That is not saying that they won't negotiate with you. But if you didn't ask for extra money, you wouldn't get it. Here in Baton Rouge, LA, we have sold 7 coupes(Moo, working a deal on that 3.5SE right now). All at MSRP. No discounts and no need. Demand here is high and people are willing to pay. Like I said, there are only 10 on the road in a city of 400,000 people. That is a pretty good bargaining tool. We are almost 9 months into the new Altima sedan model and NO REBATES YET. Nissan seems to be selling more and more sedans every month. Why put a rebate into effect if you don't have to. Maybe people are beginning to realize that the Altima sedan is a good value. So is the coupe.

jd10013

Well said. Its all simple supply and demand. when there is more demand than supply, the price will rise. and when supply pick up, and demand drops, prices will go down.

kaya1

"Maybe people are beginning to realize that the Altima sedan is a good value. So is the coupe"

I agree that the Coupe is a good value even a MSRP. That is one reason I don't feel bad for paying a markup on our loaded 3.5 Coupe. I read somewhere that the production forecast for Coupe w/ Navi is only 5%. Therefore, to get the color of choice Slate loaded w/ the Navi is probably below 1% of Coupes made YTD. To get this car off the local lot w/ out a pre-order, we feel lucky not raked.

I would bet the per-orders for Coupes w/ Navi was much greater then the forecast, thus the reason why there is such a long wait on the Coupes w/ Navi. I even heard they were no longer making Coups w/ Navi, as there is a shortage of the actual Navi system, but that is just a rumor here in So Cal from the dealer. You can take that for what's it's worth.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the MSRP actually increases in 2009 for the same model to justify the supply and demand.

I have heard it's a "poor mans" G35. I would counter and say it's a smart mans G35. :P However, I would have say the G37 is one bad [non-permissible content removed] looking car, but not for 10K+ more loaded

bodble2

"...the G37 is one bad [non-permissible content removed] looking car,"

Interesting description. The G37 is more potent, no question. But somewhat paradoxical is that there is a not uncommon opinion that it is now more feminine-looking. The G35 had that hunkered down, square-cut look, whereas the new one has more soft, flowing lines.

oldfarmer50

"...If you can order your vehicle on the 2nd or 3rd day of the month..."

Is that true of most car companies or is that unique to Nissan?

thenebean

what...you can't be feminine and bad [non-permissible content removed] at the same time?

-thene :P

arthwerks

Can't speak for other companies but, as for Nissan: Ordering is done by dealerships between the 1st and sometimes up until about the 10th of each month. Allotments are already set based on sales. In other words, you have a certain number of vehicles you can order. At that point you can make minor changes to what is ordered ie....color, accessories, etc. After orders have been processed, around the 15th of each month, Nissan opens what is called ground stock. These are vehicles that have been declined by dealers. From here dealers can order from what is available but, no changes allowed. These vehicles can usually be delivered in 3-5 days. This ends at the end of each month and remains closed til approximately the 15th of the next month. If you have a specific order, ie color, accessories, type of car, interior, electronics etc....It could take as long as 8-12 weeks for this order to be porocessed and delivered. Simply because while you are ordering your car, dealers all over the US, Canada, and Mexico are ordering vehicles for stock. The process is long and drawn out and that is why some dealers will offer better incentives for you to take something in stock. How many times have you been to a dealership and they had the exact car, equpped the exact way you want it. With the number of people buying vehicles in the US each year, it is hard to keep everybody's dream vehicle in stock. So next time you visit a dealership, please keep this in mind and don't punish the salesman for it. He is just the messenger.

bodble2

Hmm...ahh...let's see...umm....NO!

pat

Yes you can, I'm here to tell ya, and thene is too. :shades:

dynot

Excellent explanation on the ordering process artwerks. I assume this applies to dealers in Canada as well.

So that I understand it correctly, when could I expect delivery if I'm flexible with the options (well, I'll take any of 3 colors) and I place an order with my dealer in the first 5 days of the month next week?

Thanks in advance...

bodble2

I stand corrected! I also didn't realize thene is of the gentle gender.

arthwerks

It depends on what they have alotted to them to order from. Color is the easy thing. If you want Nav and they don't have 1 alotted to them, probably more in the 8-12 week scenario since nobody is declining orders on coupes right now and there will be no ground stock on them for a while. Good luck and happy coupe hunting.

tokyodrift

I test drove an altima 2.5 S coupe yesterday and LOVED it! I wasn't to crazy about the price though. They quoted me a price of $26,300. It had a convenience package($1,300) and moonroof ($850). From the research i've done it the MSRP should have been around $23,500.

Does anyone else think that quote was ridiculous? I mean i know its a brand new model and there won't be too much "wiggle" room, but $3000 over seems a bit steep. If prices remain this crazy i may be forced to get the Honda Civic coupe EX -- although styling isn't as nice, you seem to get more for your money.

P.S. -- is a Buying Experience/Prices Paid forum going to be starting soon?

flightnurse

Was the 26K the out the door price or was that the window stick price ?

The Altima Couple and Civiv coupe aren't in the same leauge.