Now I'm as smart as the rest of you!

We came to terms on an 08 G35X today with the dealer I've been working with. We're picking up the car tomorrow. Here's the run down for the rest of you still shopping.

2008 G35X, Obsidian Black with Black Interior

MSRP - Base $34,750
P01 Premium Pkg $ 2,300
U01 Nav Pkg $ 2,150
F01 Tech Pkg $ 1,100
W01 Wood trim $ 450
B94 Splash Guards $ 155

Destination Charge $ 815
--------
MSRP Total $41,720 Invoice $38,055 Margin $3,665

Negotiated Price $36,000
---------
Negotiated Savings $5,720 Less Infiniti Rebate $3,000 Dealer Margin $2,720


Dealer profit before expenses $3,665 - $2,720 = $945

This obviously only includes margin between MSRP and invoice. I have no idea what other incentives or holdback Infiniti is offering dealers if any.

The dealer came up with financing @ 5.49% for 60 months which beats my bank @ 5.64% so I'll give them the finance business.

We ended up getting fair market wholesale value on our trade. A total of $4,700 more than their initial offer.

I'm happy with the deal. You won't see any threads from me asking if I got a good deal. If the dealer has incentives that boost their profits above the $945 I was able to estimate, good for them. They need to make a living and I want them to stay in business to service my car.

The reason I'm not gonna lose a moments sleep over "the deal"? Well, after shopping around for a while, I found very little competition for the G35X in general. In the end, at $36,000 there was really nothing close to the powertrain, features, chassis, and interior of the Infiniti. The closest finisher was the Caddy CTS but equipped similarly, it was $39,155 with GM's current Employee Pricing promotion. The G35 was the better car (IMHO) and 3 grand cheaper.

The only knock I can give the G35 is that I think the exterior styling is a bit lackluster but clean and sophisticated. I'm just not a huge fan of the melted jelly-bean look a la Ford Taurus. My wife on the other hand loves the styling. Hey, it's her car.

The European cars (Audi A4, Volvo S60, BMW 3, Mercedes C) all seem to be suffering from higher production costs and an unfavorable exchange rate. The cars were simply not that impressive in absolute terms. Once you factor in price, I think only idiots are buying Euro cars right now.

As for the Japanese competition. Lexus just doesn't make anything I like. IS350 is smaller, pricier, softer and I didn't like the interior as much. Acura really has nothing that appeals.

For domestics, well Chrysler doesn't make a small luxury sedan. Lincoln (who?) has disappeared off the face of the earth. And GM had the Caddy CTS which was impressive but ultimately couldn't compete.

For me, a good deal is measured relative to the value of the competing alternatives not how much profit the dealer earns. Did I get a good deal. Ya, I think so!

 

why not use the 0.9% financing?

 

Let me the first to congratulate you.
Edit.. second somebody just beat me to it...
As I said before I like to be proven wrong. Good job on the negotiation.

G will suit your wife better the the CTS. I know you were not happy what I said about the CTS but that's what I think. I think those car suits better the 60-70 years old people. Maybe just me.

Have fun and looking forward to see you around here.

tg

 

Congratulations on your new ride!

 

Subsidized financing is a sucker bet. Most people will not keep the car for the term of the loan no matter what they say when they buy the car.

The cash on the other hand will be in my pocket tomorrow, never to be seen again. I may keep the car 5 years or, I may keep it 5 months. But the $3K is mine. It reduces your principal value and helps keep you from going upside down on the vehicle assuming you borrow to finance it. If I find that we need to switch cars in the next 5 years, my decision won't be constrained by some low rate loan.

If you don't go full term on the loan the "incentive" financing is reduced accordingly. Manufacturers are counting on you to do this. They have analysts studying this and statistically, they know that this is a far cheaper incentive for them than cash.

If my cost of money were 8 or 9%, I'd consider the subsidized financing. But at 5.5%, I wouldn't even consider it.

 

Thanks. The CTS really is a decent effort by GM. But given their track record, IMHO they should be pricing a little more agressively until they prove themselves. My wife was clearly biased towards the G35 the minute she drove it. She generally doesn't react that strongly to any car. I was shocked.

LOL, I've looked at Nissan products many times since the eighties and have been "that close" to buying one many times but never did for one reason or another. This will be our fist Nissan product. They finally got me.

The G35X is a great sports sedan but a superb value.

It will get snow shoes. 1-800-TireRack

 

First, congrats on the new G! I just picked up my new 08 G35x last week (traded in my 03 G35) and love it.

I hear what you are saying about the financing and you are probably correct if you don't keep the car for the full 5 years of the loan. However, some math tells me that total interest on that 5 year loan will be over $800 more than that $3000 you banked now. So, there will be a break even point somewhere in the 4th year of the loan. Therefore, if you were to replace your G sometime between now and somewhere before that 4th year break even point then you made the right decision. If you keep the car longer than the 0.9% financing would have made more sense. Of course, this doesn't take into account what you do with that $3000 you banked. If you were to invest it then maybe there would never be a break even point. Of course, most people won't do that. Especially people that think it's possible they might only keep the car 5 months.

For me, I chose the 0.9% financing because I do intend to keep my G a minimum of 5 years. The 03 G I just traded in was 6 years old. Also, I was able to take advantage of the $1000 loyalty cash in addition to the 0.9% financing (and they were only offering $2000 dealer incentive at the time). So, the break even point for me was even sooner due to the $1000 cash.

So again, I hear what you are saying but I'm not sure I would call it a sucker bet.

 

Hey! Congrat!! and welcome to the G35er's
G35X is Fun to drive.

 

Somehow I knew you'd sign on for the G, IMO it's a no brainer over the CTS. The G has a significant performance advantage and although the CTS has a pretty impressive interior it probably won't look as tight a couple years down the road. And please don't ever mention Taurus on this forum again in regard to Gs styling, lol.
Welcome to the club!

 

Um...not really. I did invest the $3,000. That money reduced my principal on the car loan. Since I'm paying 5.49%, lets compute the compound interest on $3,000 that I have today monthly for 60 months @ 5.49% annual rate. ((1+(.0549/12))^60)*3000 Answer = $3,945. So, that cash up front will save me another $945 in interest over a 5 year term. Unless I choose to retire the loan early for some reason.

You may be the exception but on the whole, those low interest loans never reach full term. The automakers know it and count on it. People have kids, get the itch for a new car, have accidents, change jobs, lose jobs, get divorced, get married, move to cities, buy a house, have illnesses, get a lemon, etc. Can you say with absolute certainty where your life will take you over the next five years. I can't!

 

I know plenty of people that keep cars 5, 6, 7 years or more. Plus, $3000 is a drop in the bucket from a financial perspective if you are moving in and out of new cars every few years when you think about depreciation.

Obviously the smaller the cash incentive the more attractive the 0.9% financing becomes (like in my case). But in your case with the higher cash incentive available now it probably did make sense to go the way you did. But that doesn't mean the 0.9% financing math doesn't work out for some, particularly those of us that bought when the factory to dealer cash was $1000 less than it is now AND the additional $1000 loyalty cash that was available then.

In my case the difference would have been almost $1000 in interest more over the 5 years assuming I got 5.49% (had I taken the $2000) compared to not taking the $2000 and getting 0.9%.

 

Congrats! Just went through the same thing (as we found out on the other post). I ended up leasing but my choice seemed narrowed between the CTS and the G.

For the CTS that I wanted the price was about $10k higher than the G (before the employee discount) and the lease ridiculous as well due to poor residuals and GM's recent leasing troubles.

I think you made a great choice. Funny, I agree about the interior/dash - thought the CTS was stellar. G is very functional and I do like it a lot it just doesn't have the panache of the CTS' dash.

That being said - I'm sure you guys will enjoy your G and I think the debate between the $3k or the financing can only be answered by you and your own decisions. As you said - you really weren't looking for feedback on whether or not you got a good deal. The important thing is that you feel comfortable with the deal that you received.

Not trying to flame anyone at all. I always find the pricing threads to be interesting.

Either way - congrats! I'm sure we'll be seeing you around the boards.

Jay

 

Agreed, many people do keep em long term. We've kept a few of our cars for 10+ years. Unfortunately many do not. If you take full advantage of the manufacturers low cost money the math can work.

For us, we moved from CT to PA in 2004 and then back to CT in 2007. Too lengthy to explain but these life events caused us to totally re-jigger our transportation both times.

Gone
Yukon Denali
Volvo 850 Turbo
Mercedes R500
Pontiac GTO

Current
Volvo XC90
Honda S2000
Infiniti G35

The Honda was not a need to have. That's my stress reliever. The Merc is being tossed for the G35.

 

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't trying to judge whether or not you got a good deal. I was just saying that really good financing incentives (and the 0.9 is indeed really good) can work out better in certain situations. Again, congrats on the new G! I really loved my 2003 G35. In fact, I'd still be driving it right now if it weren't for the incentives and the fact that new G's are being negotiated at attractive prices right now. That car (with over 100k miles) still drove the same as it did the day I drove it off the lot 6 years ago. So, I'm hoping for the same with my new G and your new G. Many years of happiness behind the wheel.

 

We picked up the G35 this afternoon. I'd have to say the delivery experience was among the best I've ever witnessed.

Of course the finance guy made the pitch for gap insurance, extended warranty, pre-paid maintenance (that's a new one). But when I politely refused, he quickly moved on to the loan docs. The whole process with the finance guy took maybe 15-20 minutes.

The car was washed, waxed, and sitting in a sort of covered carport when we arrived. There was a full tank of gas.

Our sales guy was very knowledgeable about the product. This is not always the case in the car sales biz so, it was noteworthy and appreciated. He spent about 1 1/2 hours going over the car with us. We paired all of our phones with the car, plugged in our "home" in the Nav system, set the fobs up to remember our personal preferences for mirrors, seats, and steering column. We also set up personal favorites for XM, and local FM stations on the entertainment system. All of this was the initiative of the sales guy. We didn't ask him to do any of this. Of course we also went through the basic functions of every button in the car and all the manuals and warranty docs.

I must say that the 90 minute tour was overwhelming. There is just so much stuff in this car! Too much. But, there is no doubt that the sales guy saved us hours of reading the manual to figure out all the basics on our own. We left the dealership with all the stuff you need to enjoy the car functioning, leaving us free to enjoy the car safely.

I'd mention the dealer's name but I assume we're not supposed to plug non-sponsor businesses on a forum. They get 5 stars, A+ on the delivery process.