I finally got a real job after graduation, and as to celebrate it, I've decided to purchase a versa! However, I am really persistent on what I want with my versa.... black or white, SL CVT with Convenience PKG and Sports PKG. anyways.....I was talking to this sales ,and finally he offered me a price, 16799 + fees , but I am looking for about 17000 out the door. I live in LA and I don't know if it's cheaper or more expensive. Folks, please post your specs and out the door price so I will know what price I should pay for.. Thanks ya'll.

Go to West Covina Nissan, they will take really good care of you, and hook you up. Talk to Walt the finance manager and tell him Wayne with the black Versa sent you, he will get you a salesman to work out a better deal. I actually paid close to 16,500 for my SL CVT with ABS, splash guards, and aluminum kick plates before taxes and extra doodies. Out the door with taxes, title, fees, my alarm, extended warranty, and they threw in 2 years free oil changes, it was close to 19,500. 0 down, I am paying $331 @ 6%. Great perks, great people at this BRAND SPANKIN NEW dealership, I bought mine right before they moved into the new building, have not had one issue with them at all. They also threw in a $500 tint job for free, because I had told them that for $500 they can take it off. But the tinter that they use (Silver Tinters) are also great at what they do! Same guy that owns West Covina also owns Glendale and Universal City, but from what I hear they are not as customer friendly as West Covina has been. Also I do not think anyone in the area has the sports package yet. If you need a deal let me know, I will call down there for you and make sure they hook you up, I know quite a few people there now.

Actually, it sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Of course, I bought mine in September when there were none around, and they had to send a guy a few hours away to trade with another dealer. But I didn't get the convenience or sports package and had to pay sticker - about 16300 - before taxes and fees. I'm planning to get a second one, though, and am hoping for a better deal.

I got my Versa S with ABS and power package for 14k even. The dealer threw in free sill plates and floor mats. The factory threw in free splash guards by accident After looking over my paperwork a couple weeks ago, I saw that the dealer slipped in a VIN etching charge. The financing guy checked the wrong box and I signed in the wrong place. I went back and complained that I didn't want it and they refunded the money back ($499). They work directly with my lender so it was easy to update all of the financing. I received a check with the overpaid interest and taxes. Since you can't remove VIN etching, I have VIN etching for free now

I was also an early Versa buyer (end of July 2006) and was actually in a way lucky to get one at sticker price. In the middle of my negotiations, someone else walked in and wanted to buy the car. I'm sure if they wanted to, the dealer could have pitted the two of us in a bidding war against each other since it was the last Versa left in the state, but they didn't.

For my particular Versa, I managed to not only get a deal because of the fact that I knew the dealer's Daughter, but I made sure they knew I was interested and then pretended I walked out on the deal.

2007 Nissan Versa 1.8S Hatch with the power package. (6spd) - Blue Onyx

12,988 + tax, tag and title.

That also includes the aluminum kick plates, mud guards, VIN etching, day running lights, and the clear coat ($600 value).

5 year plan @ 225 / month!

did you have to deal with a salesperson or the owner? because if I was your salesperson and I had to work FOR you and you didn't allow me any profit I wouldn't have sold it to you. And trust me, there's almost NO profit in a Versa in the first place.

***EDITED ONCE AGAIN!!!! The question is a valid question in response to the last comment posted***

Whoever edited my post, please justify your decision, as I do not believe it should have been edited since there is no concern on if she was selling a car to the other person or not.
Modified by Clipsed at 11:45 PM 3/13/2007

i paid close to sticker at douglas nissan in HB. This was also when there were a shorter, i dont know if there still is one.

I paid 15k out the door for a 6speed S model with only the power packages. I tend to mod my car, so getting all the other bells and whistle seems like it would be worthless in a year, because i have grand plans for the V.

I got mine in late July, and paid sticker price, $16,315 plus taxes and fees. I pay only $270 a month at 5.99%, I think I got a pretty good deal.

Picked up mine in October. Supply was low then. I paid sticker but got undercoating and clearcoat thrown in.

TweeKeer wrote:did you have to deal with a salesperson or the owner? because if I was your salesperson and I had to work FOR you and you didn't allow me any profit I wouldn't have sold it to you. And trust me, there's almost NO profit in a Versa in the first place.

Well actually that's a fallacy! The price listed for the Versa includes all kinds of miscellaneous fees, and the dealers actually pay closer to 7 or 8,000 for any individual versa. Do you really believe that a dealer would sell such a difficult item that only yielded minimal returns?

HA!

No way, in fact most dealers have a base listing price that their owners and / or Nissan sets for them to maximize profits. If you work them, you can get a good deal too, but hey, what do I know... I got the Versa for 12K...

Greek.intuit wrote:Well actually that's a fallacy! The price listed for the Versa includes all kinds of miscellaneous fees, and the dealers actually pay closer to 7 or 8,000 for any individual versa. Do you really believe that a dealer would sell such a difficult item that only yielded minimal returns?

HA!

No way, in fact most dealers have a base listing price that their owners and / or Nissan sets for them to maximize profits. If you work them, you can get a good deal too, but hey, what do I know... I got the Versa for 12K...

That's great for you, but the salesperson now get's nothing for the deal and he doesn't need to feed his family or anything.

Yes, the dealership buys the cars for lower than the MSRP that's LOGIC! But, the cost of designing, building and shipping a Versa is not between 7 and 8 grand, give me a break man. You must live in fantasy land. The MSRP HAS to (it's the law) be posted in the windows of all cars, the MSRP designated BY THE MANUFACTURER. So it can't "include all kinds of miscellaneous fees." Besides if you're dealing with a dealership that has "Miscellaneous fees" you probably shouldn't be dealing with them in the first place. If you were to report such a dealership to Nissan then there would be an investigation by Nissan about that dealership, because they don't want that image associated with their company.

The car market is a volatile market and if Nissan had set the price higher (as you so eloquently eluded to) to reduce demand and increase profits on the units sold, because it's a so-called commodity at this time, Nissan would probably have LOST thousands of those units because it brings it out of the price point for the market it is in. Unlike the gaming market where the purchase is an emotional purchase and people are willing to spend 5x the MSRP aftermarket for the first while, this doesn't work for the car market. Cars are the 2nd largest purchase a family/person makes and, more often than not, logic overcomes emotion in the buying decision.

Modified by TweeKeer at 5:02 AM 3/14/2007

Greek.intuit - You are incorrect. Here are the dealer invoices for the Versa.

S - Invoice: 12,065 / MSRP: 12,550SL - Invoice: 13,989 / MSRP: 14,550

As you can clearly see, there's not much profit on the Versa. From talking to dealers across the country, they believe the prices were set because this car was meant to be a volume seller. So substantial profit will be had when you sell a lot of them. Back when there was a shortage of Versa and everyone had to order one, everyone felt the dealer was pushing them aside. One theory was that they didn't make enough money on the V, so it wasn't a high priority. These prices are set by Nissan as the dealer purchase price. Dealers aren't allowed to purchase the cars from Nissan lower than that amount. This is pretty much the lowest a dealer will sell you a car before they loose money on the car itself. Sometimes the manufacturer will offer rebates on certain cars that will further reduce their cost. These rebates are given to dealers to encourage them to get specific cars off the lot. The rebates are given only after the car is sold. Furthermore, rarely will a dealer sell a car at cost. Dealer's have to pay their financing company interest when cars sit on their lots. If cars sit too long, dealers will get desperate and will sell at cost or below to rid themselves of the car. 06' Sentra anyone?

Tweeker - You are absolutely correct. The sticker is known as the Monroney sticker and it does have to be affixed to every new car sold in the country and can only be removed by the purchaser. Here's the requirements of the sticker.

- The manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP)- Engine and transmission specifications- Standard equipment and warranty details- Optional equipment and pricing- City and highway fuel economy ratings, as determined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

There's a $1000 fine for each car sold without the sticker or a sticker with incorrect information. Vehicles over 8500 GVWR do not have to comply with this. So if the MSRP has been inflated, you can easily get the dealership in hot water. Misc fees are pretty common, but you don't have to pay them and they can not be included in the MSRP. That would be a blatant violation of the Automobile Information Disclosure Act. The majority of fees are junk fees the dealer adds to get more money for the cars. Legally, they are allowed to charge the fees and collect them. Oh yea, I edited the last comment in the post. You know why. I'm going to let that one slide as your freebie, but it was a good one though

Clipsed - I edited your post. Tweeker's question was in response to Greek.intuit last posting. It was a valid question. He simply wanted to know if he worked with the dealer or owner. Once again, Tweeker's question was in response to Greek's posting and not to the topic in general. It seems that you have some beef with Tweeker and you enjoy "backdooring" his posts. Spring Break is getting really close for you if you get what I'm putting down.

Thanks proxim for for those dealer invoice prices.

As for the last comment in my post I guess I was getting a little personal and shouldn't have let it slide...it was a rant, what can I say?

some of the "miscellaneous fees" that dealerships include are legit. e.g. etching and security, tire recovery fee (gov. fee) and air condition fee (gov. fee). paint charge (nissan).

In the US:Etching is an option that most dealers will offer before installing. I'm not sure, but we have no Tire Recovery or A/C fee. We don't get charged a paint fee from Nissan although there are other manufactures that do. The fees I speak of are mostly junk fees. There's not federal requirement to pay them (and you shouldn't), but the dealer does have a right to charge and collect them. Here's a list and definition of the most common fees from carbuyingtips.com.

"ADM" or "ADP" Charges (Additional Dealer Markup)Bogus charges added by greedy dealers. It means "Additional Dealer Markup" or "Additional Dealer Profit", and appears on a sticker next to manufacturer's MSRP sticker. I call it Arrogant Dealer Markup. ADM is an artificial buffer to bargain down the price. If ADM is $1000 and you talk them down $800, you still paid MSRP plus $200 for the car! If you see this toxic waste, have them nix it. One buyer of a Honda Civic got the dealer to drop a $1995 ADM! But what if she had no idea what was going on?

Advertising FeesUsually when you buy through discount sites like Cars.com, InvoiceDealers, Yahoo!Autos, CarsDirect, Edmunds.com, Autoweb, Autos.com and Car.com you avoid ad fees. Car makers charge dealers for regional and national advertising campaigns. These charges are reflected on the invoice and are a legitimate cost of doing business. This is where opinions differ, as I feel it's their cost of doing business, not ours. Tell them to pay your fees like gas, wear and tear, and your time for driving all over town to shop for the car. Many dealers are sticklers about this fee, and it's difficult to get them to drop it, but some do waive the fee. If a dealer adds on their own advertising fee above and beyond this, they are out of bounds. Dealers try to charge $250-$1000, but it should not be more than $250. You're not paying for their inability to find cost effective ads. $1000 ad fees allow the dealer to charge you a lower price on the car. You think you're saving money, but ad fees take it right back. This fee may also show up as "Sales Promotion Fund", or DAA, or ADA, or anything referring to ads. Edmund's says it's non-negotiable, but they are wrong. Anything in life is negotiable, and I don't give up that easily. What angers me the most is the cryptic way that dealers hide this fee from you by using huge acronyms, then playing stupid when you question it. "Duh, I don't know, we always charge this fee". A Nissan Dealer in Chicago told one of our visitors that they have to charge the Nissan advertisement fee and can't drop it or they can face a class action law suit. Nice scam. Where's my bull icon?

Ford dealers use the cryptic term "FDAF/LMDA" on their invoice. "FDAF" stands for "Ford Dealer Advertising Fund", and the "LMDA" stands for Lincoln Mercury Dealer Advertising. Why can't they just disclose it as "ad fee"? I didn't pay an ad fee for my Lexus in 1998 or the Mazda Millenia in 1999. Honda add fees are built into the invoice price, don't let them charge you extra. Other companies choose their own cryptic acronym, like DAA (Dealer Area Advertising), TDA (Toyota Dealer Advertising Fee), HDA, you get the picture. If it ends with an "A", it's most likely an advertising fee. Speaking of advertising, dealers are neither grateful nor shy about plastering their name on the trunk of your shiny new car at a cost of $0 to them. You then spend the next several years advertising their dealership free of charge with your moving billboard. You should charge them a $600 advertising fee for that.

"Dealer Floorplan Assistance" Fees/Wholesale Financial Reserves/Dealer Interest FeeSome dealers charge this fee, which is icing on the cake. Have them remove this insult. Dealer Floorplan Interest is the interest that dealers pay for loans to buy the cars on their lot. Usually the factory pays this as part of the holdback, itemized as a separate invoice item. Floorplan interest can cost $150 per month for each car. On an Eclipse invoice I have, the factory gave the dealer $185 in floor plan assistance, and the dealer itemized it to the buyer as a fee, double collecting for $370! The factory gives the dealer 1-2 months of interest. The longer the car sits unsold on the lot, the more $150 interest checks the dealer pays. They want you to "assist" them in "paying it", which is the factory's expense, not yours. Dealers know we are on to them, so some have changed the name to a confusing term called "Wholesale Financial Reserves." or "Dealer Interest Fee".

"Dealer Markup Value" Fees in HawaiiDealers in Hawaii charge a "DEALER MARKUP VALUE," fee of $1000-$5000 over the selling price. They claim it offsets "high" transporting costs from the US mainland to Hawaii. Our visitors have bought cars in Los Angeles and shipped to Hawaii for $895. If my geography serves me correctly, Japan is closer to Hawaii than the US, so it should be cheaper to send Japanese imports from Japan to Hawaii. I suggest you let them charge no more than $600.

Dealer PrepThe most common scam, because it's so believable. They act like a team of NASA experts performed a 3 day 15,000 point check of your car. Dealer prep "covers their cost" of removing plastic films on the seats, vacuuming the car, and preparing it for sale, done by their lowest paid employee. But most MSRP stickers show these costs are covered by the car maker. Here's the MSRP sticker from my Lexus SC300:

See What I mean?

The factory pays the dealer for this pre-delivery service. When my Lexus SC300 arrived, it took the dealer 2 hours to peel the film, remove cardboard, install fuses, check the liquids, perform a 10 mile test drive, and hand me the keys. If a dealer charges a $500 dealer prep, you're paying them $250 per hour! Are you boiling mad yet? Often it's permanently printed on the buyer's form to make you think it's mandatory, but nearly everyone I know is able to make the dealer drop it by adding a credit to the next line. If they refuse to remove it, just walk. Tell them you want to see if the other local dealers will drop the fee.

Destination ChargeDealers pay a destination charges to have cars delivered on auto transport trucks. For my 1998 Lexus SC300, it's $495, passed on to us. This is one of the few legitimate fees. Verify the amount with online pricing sites before you go in to buy.

Documentation FeesExpenses like registration, tags, title, and other state fees. Determine the fees your state charges before you go shopping. Call the Department of Motor Vehicles to determine the cost of registering a new car, and getting the tags if necessary. It may be cheaper to transfer the tag from your old car to the new one. Once you know all documentation fees, determine if the dealer is padding the charge. Have the salesman give a breakdown of every fee in writing.

Drive off DepositA bogus fee that greediest of dealerships pile on those with bad credit. The purpose of this fee is to steal your rebate from you. One reader had a $900 rebate on his car, but the dealer stole it right back with a $900 drive off deposit. What does "Drive Off Deposit" mean? Nothing, it's a meaningless term. If you see a drive off deposit on your worksheet, just drive off, no deposit.

Window VIN# Etching FeeA stupid fee for etching the VIN# or other anti theft information into your side windows. It costs next to nothing for the dealer to do it, and the average fee is about $300. You can buy same kit in auto parts stores for $20, and do it yourself.

Factory HoldbackUS auto makers pay dealers a "factory holdback" of 3% MSRP on every car sold. Mercedes pays 3%, Lexus is 2%, but Edmunds claims Lexus has no holdback. BMW, Japanese imports, etc., pay 2% quarterly to the dealership. It's called holdback, because the factory holds back money from the dealer until they sell the car. This is accounted for by charging the dealer for holdback on the invoice, paying them back when the car is sold. On a $30,000 car, the holdback is $900. This appears to you and me as though the dealer paid $900 more for the car than he did. This is done by the factory as a means to compensate dealers for interest on loans that they take out to buy the cars from the factory, and also to provide a little bit of profit to the dealer. The holdback is included in every invoice price. This is how dealers can sell you a car at invoice, because the factory refunds them the holdback once the car is sold. They can sell you a $30,000 car at invoice and have a $900 positive cash flow. Many people don't know holdback exists, including many car salesman, as this goes directly to the dealer, and it effectively reduces the dealer's cost of the car. Many dealers deny it exists, or tell the customer it's a dealer expense, and try to add it on to the contract make the customer "pay" for it. It's the factory's expense once the car is sold. Now the dealer is double collecting. If any dealer tries to itemize you separately for holdback, leave immediately, you'll surely be subject to many more unscrupulous tricks. Don't let a dealer tell you there's no holdback, it's the business plan that the whole industry is structured to. Denial is a popular trick used by dealers in Hawaii. But many good car dealers list holdback on their web sites.

LieNance ManagersThat's my funny name for some Finance Managers who lie and cheat, for example, telling you that your credit score is too low to get a good APR, or telling you that the bank requires you to buy a warranty, gap insurance, VIN etch, or credit life in order for you to get the loan.

Port Prep Fee or Port Installed Options (PIO)These are fees for prep or options installed at the port of entry by the manufacturer. For example, Toyota has a Port Installed Option added to the cars once they land in Florida called ToyoGuard, an extremely overpriced rubberized coating sprayed inside your wheel wells to prevent rust. Sometimes this adds up to $600 your Toyota. Some port prep fees might only be $25. VW in Washington D.C. seems to have some PIOs that are unavoidable too..

Registration FeesThat's a tough one to determine, each state is different. There may also be small tire and battery fees around $10 levied by the state. In Florida, it's cheaper to transfer your plates from the trade-in to the new car, about $50 instead of $180 for new plates. Some states charge hundreds, so check with your DMV before going shopping. Print out the DMV fees online and bring them to the dealer. Quite often dealer charge up to $400 "document fees" supposedly to handle paperwork transfer of the plate, done by their lowest paid secretary. Give me a break.

Washington Association FeeBuyers in Washington D.C. buying a Volkswagen said the dealer tried to charge a $175 Washington Association Fee claiming it was "the cost that the manufacturer charged them for doing business in this area". We don't know if this is a valid fee or not. It sure sounds like a bogus charge to me.

yeah, we don't have stuff like that here at the dealerships I visit. But I still maintain the etching and security fee, because the dealerships here offer the protection that if your vehicle is stolen they will give you $5000 over and above the insurance you collect on your car if it isn't recovered, and if it is, they'll give you $1000...not a bad deal.

That's the same that we get here. It's a good feature to have. I opted to not take the coverage because I didn't want to finance the additional $500. I opted to get extensive coverage and gap to make sure I'm protected if something like that comes up. The dealer decided to install it anyway (with a little sleight of hand game they ran on me with the paperwork). It may have been an accident, but you can't trust dealers. After a few months I caught it and demanded that they give me all my money back and reset my financing, which they complied. I still have the etching (the important part), but they won't pay out if it's stolen. But I won't need it anyway.