[turbodiesel]

First of all thanks to all those who might be able to assist me. My wife and I have been test driving probably every crossover and or midsize suvs there are. We think we've decided on the Murano. At first we thought there was a lot of road noise compared to the Honda and new Jeeps we drove. We finally decided we were being nitpicky, because we basically loved everything else about it (fun to drive compared to all the others, good mileage, fantastic legroom, cool have little video dash, great engine, and good styling).
So that leads me to needing help. Here are some questions I have before we take the plunge.

1) I always told myself I'd never buy new again but the leases they currently have going seem to be a good deal and if gas goes up to $4 a gallon it might help to have an out in a few years? My question is, how the heck do you negotiaite a lease. I refuse to pay much if any over invoice, but is the negotiation the same on a lease? Also, I've never had a trade in before that is free and clear so how does that affect the overall lease. I saw a post on here with money factors etc. That is where I feel like the ball is in there court on a lease, all I know is the finance manager makes more than most everyone at a dealership.

2) Second, I notice every single dealer nowadays says that "You don't really have to put premium in it" I'm guessing three years ago they would have said definetely put premium in it. For all those that do have Muranos, is anybody using Regular or combos and what effect has it had on mileage or performance?

3) We really liked the looks on Edmunds photos of the 2003 Orange with the Cabernet? leather. Can't seemed to find any though. Any suggestionsAlso, did Nissan ever come out with the Hazlenut leather for this year?

Thanks again for anyone who can help us out.

 

[Frumunda Cheese]

Personally I don't like leases. I tend to drive more than 15k miles a year and don't feel like paying overage charges per mile when I take it back. I wouldn't worry too much about $4 gas prices. You know how many more people out there that have Yukons and suburbans that will be hurting more than you? You'd be able to sell your murano to those folks and then you can trade up to your hydrogen car. As for the premium fuel, I have never used premium. I get 24 mpg. There are several posts on her that claim highway mileage is better with premium. I plan on doing my own test in a couple weeks when I take a road trip to FL. I recommend the MO. I love this thing. I took it in for the first oil change and all the guys at the shop were in awe of the backup camera. The cabernet as far as I can recall was only offered with the copper murano. The copper was replaced by that new red. I don't thing cabernet is available anymore. Hope this helps.

 

[Nfilippelli]

I had a 2003 MO, and just traded it in and leased a 2006 MO.

my mileage after 3 years was about 46000 which is close enough to 15000 a year for me...

i am now paying a hella lot less a month, and was able to now get Nav, VDC, and Sirius.

I traded in the old MO, leased the new one with no money out of pocket.

For me, the lease works out great, i did the 42 month deal, as it had the best numbers.

good luck!

-Nick

 

[shappy0869]

1) My question is, how the heck do you negotiaite a lease. I refuse to pay much if any over invoice, but is the negotiation the same on a lease? Also, I've never had a trade in before that is free and clear so how does that affect the overall lease. I saw a post on here with money factors etc. That is where I feel like the ball is in there court on a lease, all I know is the finance manager makes more than most everyone at a dealership.

If you go with the 42 month term, the lease rate can't be marked up by the finance manager. Otherwise, they have the option of marking up the rate on the other terms.

As far as your trade, you are always better off selling it yourself, since you will get more for it. However, if you do decide to trade it in, I would only use the value of the trade to cover your lease inception costs (first payment, acquisition fee, tags, etc). Take the rest and put it in an interest bearing account. It is easy to get more than a 4% return on your money these days at places like INGdirect.com. The 42 month lease rate is the equvalent of 1% interest, so you can earn 3% by keeping the money in an account and drawing from it each month.

Also, you don't want to put money down on a lease since if the car is ever stolen or totaled, the insurance company will only pay off the lease. The money you put down will never be seen again.

2) Second, I notice every single dealer nowadays says that "You don't really have to put premium in it" I'm guessing three years ago they would have said definitely put premium in it. For all those that do have Muranos, is anybody using Regular or combos and what effect has it had on mileage or performance?

You can use regular, but you will get more power and better MPG using premium. With premium costing about $.20/gal more than regular, you are talking about $4 more/fill-up. If it costs nearly $60 to fill up, what is $4 more. Plus, you will recoup much of the cost in better MPG.

3) We really liked the looks on Edmunds photos of the 2003 Orange with the Cabernet? leather. Can't seemed to find any though. Any suggestions Also, did Nissan ever come out with the Hazelnut leather for this year?

The orange and Cabernet were discontinued for '06. Hazelnut was supposed to become available, but Nissan pulled it early in the production year. I wish it was available since I would have picked it in a heartbeat!

Thanks again for anyone who can help us out.

You are welcome! If you have any other specific lease questions, feel free to e-mail or PM me.