Anyone out there have any experience purchasing their Infiniti with the VPP program? What was your approximate savings off the MSRP? Are the dealers reluctant to sell to a VPP customer as opposed to someone else who they may make a higher profit off of? Also, I have my VPP claim number, but how do I know the price they are quoting me is actually the VPP price? Seems like there would be alot of ways the dealer could scam VPP customers unless there is some benefit for them offering the vehicle at such a reduced price.

 

I got my Infiniti and a Nissan on VPP, the savings is about 10% of sticker, but it depends. They have some formula to figure out the actual cost that basically takes the invoice price and adds some minor costs like dealer options, marketing, etc. I have noticed some dealerships seem to add more in this area, but maybe the one just did not know what they are doing.

Many dealerships operate on volume and get extra cash for cars sold, hidden payouts, etc.

You should not have a problem using VPP, especially for a sedan (coupe originally was banned from VPP when it first came out).

 

I got $500 quote over "true" invoice on an '05 6MT sedan...

 

VPP will save you about $2K to $2500 under sticker price. Not a huge amount, and you could probably negotiate this sort of savings on your own, especially if you're not interested in a 6MT. The value is in the purchase experience itself: all you do is call the dealership, ask for the internet sales group and tell them you've got a VPP pin, make sure they've got the car you want in stock, walk in and fill out the paperwork. Easiest $30K I've ever spent in my life

 

Saved about $2500 with VPP on mine. I like it because it is a one price deal...no haggling.

 

i agree w/ TBone & Osclib, VPP (& the knowledgable Internet Manger) made car buying easy.

The program is very cut-and-dry. There are various levels of VPP tiers (employees of Nissan/Infinity will be in a different tier than employees of Affiliate Businesses). Based on the Claim ID # you provide, the discount is automatically calculated. You shouldn't have to worry about any hidden costs because the sheet that they give you will show the vehicle invoice, VPP discount, any Dealer-added options, delivery fee, and Destination and handling charge.

take it for a spin

 

Grizzly is right - that's exactly the process in practice. They show you a print out with the invoice, minus the VPP discount, adding on an dealer-added stuff, and adding on the destination fees. Sign on the dotted line where the sales manager points and you're good to go!

My wife's dad is a Senior Buyer for powertrain components at the Nissan plant in Smyrna. We got my G35 four weeks ago at the employee family VPP price - 3.58% below dealer invoice, plus whatever dealer options you get/negotiate. In my case, I ended up saving nearly $4,000 below sticker price for '05 5AT/Premium sedan. For non-employee/family VPP purchases, the discount is smaller and you'll save less. It's still a better price than most can negotiate on their own.

 

My company is a Nissan/Infiniti supplier so we qualified under the Business Associate VPP plan. The dealer is not required to participate in VPP sales but Infiniti does offer them incentives to do so. I got my '05 6MT through the plan (they would not sell coupes on the plan). The formula from their web site for price is For Business Associates, the VPP price is calculated as follows:


Dealer invoice
- Minus VPP discount (Nissan 2.87% : Infiniti 1.65%)
+ Plus dealer added options, Security Plus, etc. (they charged me "0")
+ Plus 2.5% delivery fee of dealer invoice after VPP discount has been subtracted
+ Plus destination and handling charge
+ Plus marketing assessment as applicable (they charged me "0")
- Minus applicable incentives
=====================
Equals paticipant's purchase price

It took about five minutes, sticker on my car was ~$34.5K and I bought it for ~$31.6.

 

is only the employee eligible for the VPP pricing? for example, my fiancee's sister is eliglible since she works for one of the listed companies, but does she have to buy the car, or can my fiancee or i go with her and buy through her? or can she buy it and have everything transferred in my name after a few weeks?

 

Hey Lamelefty, got my VPP discount from a freind in purchasing in Smyrna as well. Are you in Middle TN?

 

drewdogg808 - When I bought through the VPP plan as a business partner, the dealer told me I had to present a picture ID (company badge for instance) or a payroll stub to verify that I worked for my employer (business partner). Don't know the rules but my dealer said the person purchasing had to be an employee.

 

"The value is in the purchase experience itself"

Tbone is 100% correct. I got my VPP number through a family business connection. Did the dealership pull their pants down and give me the car at a loss? No. Could I have gotten the same deal or close without the VPP? Maybe, given the options I chose and time of year my car was purchased. However, I got a fair deal and it was the first time I've been to a car dealership without any BS from the salespeople or purchased a car without running around town to negotiate a better price. I sat down with the 'head honcho' [can't remember his actual title], discussed options, racing schools, and other incidentals. A few weeks later I picked up my car. All told, a worthwile experience.

 

I priced the VPP program and actually was able to work on a broker to get it even cheaper!

 

dwg-35 - thanks for the response...i figured as much, but sure would love to get the vpp pricing. i'll just have to negotiate a little harder to get as close to the pricing as i can.

 

No, in my experience they are actually very nice about it, especially if you are getting the VPP price from someone who works at that dealership.

Follow the formulas listed in the above posts (or at http://www.insidenissan.com/vpp/nissan/offer.html) and you will know exactly how much you should be paying. The dealership I went to quoted me all options at dealership cost in addition to the 3.58% below invoice base cost. The savings amount to around $4100. So your savings by bargining vs. using the VPP plan probably depend on which VPP plan you qualify for.

Also, I believe the dealership receives money back from Infiniti to make up the difference on that 3.58% and they still get the sale stat for the month.