How aggressive is Infiniti

[david.uter]

with keeping established customers?

Mom will be going into her 6th lease with Infiniti at the end of the month. I am trying to get her into a 335i with the great deal BMW is currently running. She like Infiniti and doesn't like the hassle. But have talked her into looking at other cars if the dealer doesn't take care of her.

Anyone have advice on what she should expect for her loyalty over the years?

[Mudgen]

It very much depends on the dealer, but a 6 time lease customer is a money machine, and they should work pretty hard to keep her.

I got treated pretty well by my local dealer on my G37, under invoice-dealer incentives, and I think it was partly because I had bought a Q45 from them back in the 90's and paid with a check.

[david.uter]

Thanks for the response.

I am a noob when it comes to negotiating. Can you give me an example of what an aggressive dealer would do for her? Would asking to waive the 2499 due at inception be too much?

[SleepyMonkey]

no, that's not too much to ask - just make sure the other terms don't change after it's 0 down.

[audtatious]

Thanks for the response.

I am a noob when it comes to negotiating. Can you give me an example of what an aggressive dealer would do for her? Would asking to waive the 2499 due at inception be too much?

Nothing is too much, the worse they can say is "no"

[bentrod]

Loyalty works both ways. Your mother has had the use of five relatively trouble free cars from Infiniti that hold their residual value well, thus keeping the lease payments down. If her five Infiniti's have been loyal to her, then she should reciprocate! I came to Infiniti in 2003 and am also on my fifth one. I left a BMW 540i that was an absolute repair nightmare plus you could not drive the car in any adverse conditions ("S-package"). This car tortured me with thousands of dollars in repairs and every BMW dealer I went to was more arrogant than the previous one. Thusly, my loyalty to BMW is null and void. Unless something drastic changes at Infiniti, I'll be buried in one! Nuff said!

[kmckis1029]

why would you reccomend your mother an unreliable BMW when she has had a great experience with infiniti? kinda backwards...

But as far as keeping customers, on my second infiniti i was given their best interest rate, last year was 2.9%, just because i was a repeat customer. I was told that i would always be given their best interest rate when ever i decide on another infiniti. I also got some money off the car for customer loyality and more on my trade in. this could be just my dealer but this is what happened for me.

[david.uter]

I like Infiniti, but like my BMW more. Am in my 3rd BMW, just going down to a 3 series from my 5 series and have never had any issues. In addition, service comes with the lease regardless.

Since a 335i right now is just a bit more off the lot vs. a G37, I was curious how much I could ask from Infiniti to keep a 15 year customer. So will go in asking for them to waive the 2499 down payment and see where we go from there. Appreciate all the answers.

[bentrod]

David, the price difference for a comparably equipped 335i vs a G37 is almost $10,000 MORE. You can look it up on their web sites. That's a nice chunk of change for your mom to cough up. The residual value on both cars is the same so a G37 lease will be considerably less that a BMW. Just helping you do your due diligence. I agree that if you are a multi-repeat customer, the dealers will do just about anything they can to keep your business. They ate 6000 miles I was over my last lease and still gave me $5k off the MSP.

[scoe11]

You get a much better package with Infiniti. Just think if the G37 had twin turbos like the 335i. No need to overcompensate here. Plus BMW interiors plain suck.

[david.uter]

Thanks guys.

I am the kind of customer a dealer just loves. I take their advertised lease deals and take it as is. Right now - the 335i is 419/mo vs. 379/mo and an additional 1500 down. Money isn't that much a concern - she just likes having hassle free new cars every few years. She really likes driving my car, so figured maybe I would start her off as a long time customer of BMW.

BUT, since she likes Infiniti ( I do too, hopefully no one is taking offense) and they will probably cut her an even better deal, will definitely start there.

As you can see, I am a not a haggler - so figured I would ask.

[Mudgen]

You get a much better package with Infiniti. Just think if the G37 had twin turbos like the 335i. No need to overcompensate here. Plus BMW interiors plain suck.

SteveTheTech said:

Interiors of bmws always smell like crayons and I do not care for that,
but that is just me. The stigma is the only thing that is worse.

[makeni]

If your mom like Infiti then maybe the car dealers could reciprocate good deals since she is already in the sixth deal. I wonder if she is already in the final deal, which she could buy the car.

[joe603]

Last year I was in the market for a new car. I looked at the 335i and G37 sedans extensively. There was a few reasons why I decided to go with Infiniti. The BMW engine (N54) has a problem with its high pressure fuel pump. If you get a bad one, it will die without warning and it could be a safety concern on the highway. A replacement does not guarantee it will be fixed either. The interior of the 335i was very drab and significantly smaller than the G37. Finally, the price for a similarly equipped vehicle (NAV, Sport, Premium packages) was around 10k more. In fact the "base" G37 was 5k less then the 335i optioned up with the same amenities.

Just have her look at all the facts.

[Mudgen]

^+1 on what Joe said. The most common counter-argument is that the 335i can be pushed to ~400hp with a ~$500 tune, but that probably doesn't make a lot of difference to your mom.

[joe603]

Yup...that's what attracted me to the 335i Also, the NAV system allows you to make changes while driving...With Infiniti you need to install a NAV By-pass.

But, I couldn't justify the price. Plus, that device to bump up the HP costs about $800 and could cause warranty issues.

[kmckis1029]

Last year I was in the market for a new car. I looked at the 335i and G37 sedans extensively. There was a few reasons why I decided to go with Infiniti. The BMW engine (N54) has a problem with its high pressure fuel pump. If you get a bad one, it will die without warning and it could be a safety concern on the highway. A replacement does not guarantee it will be fixed either. The interior of the 335i was very drab and significantly smaller than the G37. Finally, the price for a similarly equipped vehicle (NAV, Sport, Premium packages) was around 10k more. In fact the "base" G37 was 5k less then the 335i optioned up with the same amenities.

Just have her look at all the facts.

this was basically what happened with me, had to option up the BMW 335ix to get to a standard G37x, then futher option up the BMW to get to a fully loaded G37. the BMW name plate, and the fuel pump problem wasnt worth the extra $10k+. Then i like to track my cars, and i didnt want to worry about nothing breaking...

sorry i couldnt resist, i just saw this video...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXddwNy8uRg[/youtube]