# Buying an Xtrail



## X-Trail Guy (Jun 23, 2005)

Hey everyone 
I would like to hear some responses to your own personal experiences buying an X-Trail. My experience was great I did not have to deal with the dealer at all. I hired a third party to arrange the sale of the vehicle. All I had to do was test drive the vehicle and get a ball park cost for the vehicle. The company I used was dealmaker.com :thumbup: and they saved me alot of cash and made the experience as enjoyable as possible. I highly recommend them. I can't wait to pick up my X-Trail SE AWD 5Sp next week. :cheers:


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## chansen (Feb 7, 2005)

Are you sure? The domain is expired:

Registrant:
Pending Renewal or Deletion
P.O. Box 430
Herndon, VA. US 20172-0447

Domain Name: DEALMAKER.COM

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
Pending Renewal or Deletion pendingrenewalordeletion AT networksolutions DOT com
P.O. Box 430
Herndon, VA 20172-0447
US
570-708-8786

Record expires on 29-May-2005.
Record created on 30-May-1998.
Database last updated on 23-Jun-2005 00:44:25 EDT.

Domain servers in listed order:

NS1.PENDINGRENEWALDELETION.COM 216.168.225.129
NS2.PENDINGRENEWALDELETION.COM 216.168.225.130


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## boatek (May 13, 2005)

*Car Cost Canada*

Hi,

I did the reserch and chose the vehicle that I wanted... X-Trail SE FWD in "Sunlit Sand" and faxed a bid request to 6 dealers. My local dealer and 5 others in the area who according to Nissan's web site had the one I wanted in stock. I also checked Car Cost Canada and found that one of the dealers that I selected would offer me the X-Trail at $500 over dealer invoice. 

All in all, it was relatively simple process. I got the vehicle I wanted at the best price that I could. 

Ken


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## X-Trail Guy (Jun 23, 2005)

*My Mistake!*

My Mistake its a canadian website (www.dealmaker.ca) sorry for the confusion.



chansen said:


> Are you sure? The domain is expired:
> 
> Registrant:
> Pending Renewal or Deletion
> ...


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## chansen (Feb 7, 2005)

Sorry, but that doesn't appear to be correct, either.


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## Canada's Far East (Jun 15, 2005)

It worked for me when I cliked on the link in the post.....


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## chansen (Feb 7, 2005)

It just a generic page, meant to generate "hits" and income for the domain owner, Christine Schilling



> Status: EXIST
> Registrar: Tucows.com Co.
> Registrar-no: 156
> Registrant-no: 436873
> ...


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## Ryan_U (Apr 29, 2005)

The proof is in the pudding. This is a spam scam and the post should be deleted. If I was a moderator I'd be looking for an explanation from MR. Xtrail Guy. :thumbdwn:


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## X-Trail Guy (Jun 23, 2005)

*My Apologies*

I would like to apologize for my delayed response. I had a family emergency and have not been able to respond to the incorrect information I posted in regards to the service provider I used in obtaining my X-Trail. The following site www.dealfinder.ca is the service I used. Once again I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. X-Trail Guy :givebeer:


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## chansen (Feb 7, 2005)

Fair enough, but for $65, I still support non-profit www.apa.ca for buying a new car, not to mention thier work with CTV's W5 in exposing poor sales practices at dealerships and repair shops. Their service sounds exactly the same.

For a greater level of customer service in the GTA, I'd recommend Car Sense. I've met the owner at an entrepreneurship class, and he's a great guy. For his fee, he'll pick up the car and deliver it right to your door, and explain everything to you.


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## X-Trail Guy (Jun 23, 2005)

$385 seems to be alot of money to have your car delivered! (Car Sense) Dealfinder completed the entire transaction for me. All I had to do was agree on the price. They are even arranging the dealer to deliver the car to me because it is coming from Barrie. But on the other hand I wish I checked out the APA web site. The site is very well laid out and I would probably use them based on the cost differance and being non-profit. Thanks for the info Chansen



chansen said:


> Fair enough, but for $65, I still support non-profit www.apa.ca for buying a new car, not to mention thier work with CTV's W5 in exposing poor sales practices at dealerships and repair shops. Their service sounds exactly the same.
> 
> For a greater level of customer service in the GTA, I'd recommend Car Sense. I've met the owner at an entrepreneurship class, and he's a great guy. For his fee, he'll pick up the car and deliver it right to your door, and explain everything to you.


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## m77m7 (Jul 2, 2005)

Would anybody be kind enough give me their best (educated) guess on the best price I can get for an X-Trail SE AWD? I am in Toronto (Canada)

The MSRP for an SE AWD with Automatic is 29,898 + 1000 (4sp-auto) + 1000 (Freight) + 100 (air tax) = $31,998 (Cdn)

If I decide to buy this it will be my first import buy so I dont know what is a fair price. With a GM car, I was able to bargain my way to get the MSRP price as my drive-away price (all fees and taxes in), but I'm sure japanese cars cannot be discounted this much).

thanks for the help.


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## Canada's Far East (Jun 15, 2005)

m77m7 said:


> Would anybody be kind enough give me their best (educated) guess on the best price I can get for an X-Trail SE AWD? I am in Toronto (Canada)
> 
> The MSRP for an SE AWD with Automatic is 29,898 + 1000 (4sp-auto) + 1000 (Freight) + 100 (air tax) = $31,998 (Cdn)
> 
> ...


Have a look at the post below - titled " Country Differences" in particular, post #8. These are 2 Canadians who have purchased. You'll note that one of them got quotes from 16 Nissan dealers in Ont. This may be helpful to you.

One of the biggest factors to influence price at this time seems to be the 'ol "supply & demand" issue, which appears to be putting the dealers in the driver's seat. I've seen post here where individuals were waiting several weeks for delivery. While it may be hard to negotiate on the MSRP, they seem more open to including other items instead, such as, reductions in ASP warranty cost, freebie oil changes for life of vehicle, reductions on costs of "accessories" etc. etc.

Some members have also used "3rd. party" agencies to work out "best price" - you'll see this in the same post that I mentioned earlier.

In the context of "domestic" vs. "import" negotiating, it still just that !! Drive a hard bargain, pit one dealer against the next (they all want to make sales) and if you can't get the reductions you want from the MSRP, then look at other alternatives, which will affect your "drive-away" price.

Good luck and let us know how it plays out......

Cheers = Roger


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## m77m7 (Jul 2, 2005)

thanks for the quick reply. I did in fact read the post you mentioned before I posted the above. CiscoKid was the member who referred me here from another forum. If I get this vehicle I'll be paying cash to own. The other member mentioned he got $500 above dealer price but didnt mention the actual price he got it for or the dealer price.

I agree with the supply and demand thing at this time but I'm hoping it could also work in my favour because they'll want to get rid of the 05 models. Its always easy to "threaten" to wait for the 06 models if they dont meet my price expectations.

With a GM car, I know I would be ripping myself off if I didn't get at least a 10% discount from the MSRP and as if freight/pdi never existed. So it would be
[MSRP - 10% - Freight - PDI - Gas/air tax = subtotal]
my total = subtotal + GST + PST
Is that an unrealistic goal with a Nissan? (I think it is!)


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## Canada's Far East (Jun 15, 2005)

*DISCOUNTS*

m77m7:

Your goal (as stated below) SHOULD NOT be unrealistic, but probably is (IMHO). 

[MSRP - 10% - Freight - PDI - Gas/air tax = subtotal]
my total = subtotal + GST + PST
Is that an unrealistic goal with a Nissan? (I think it is!)

Additionally, I don't think that it's Nissan in general, but specifically the X-T, which has become a very popular choice in this market segment.

You're lucky to have multiple dealers that you can negotiate with. I've been hesitant to speak specifics about my experience, in that I have only one dealer in my area, which makes for some tough bargaining. I was happy to get a $150 reduction on the ASP warranty, a reduced interest rate (by 1/4 % point), a $500 relief on the early turn back of my Sentra GXE lease, and a 20 % reduction on some accessories. 

The kicker for me (aside from my like of the Nissan product and my belief that the X-T is the perfectly suited vehicle for my needs) was the fact that Nissan offered me $3000 more for my trade than did Honda on a CRV (my trade was a Mitsubishi Lancer).

While money is always a big factor in the acquisition of a vehicle, ones "satisfaction" with the product can off times offset a less than "perfect" deal.

Hope this is a tad helpful. Again, keep us posted on the outcome.....

Cheers = Roger


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## chansen (Feb 7, 2005)

m77m7:

I'd say about 6% off is realistic, but if you want the real answer, join www.apa.ca. It's your best bet.

I feel like I'm repeating myself...


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## m77m7 (Jul 2, 2005)

chansen said:


> m77m7:
> 
> I'd say about 6% off is realistic, but if you want the real answer, join www.apa.ca. It's your best bet.
> 
> I feel like I'm repeating myself...


Thanks for the advice. Is APA the most widely liked organization? I was looking into Car Cost Canada as well (http://www.carcostcanada.com).. they appear to be really good.


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## chansen (Feb 7, 2005)

APA is a non-profit organization. For that reason, I'd trust them further than CCC, and the extra $25 is peanuts compared to the cost of the truck. I got the APA number for my XE auto, and with a LOT of legwork, managed to beat it by $100. It wasn't worth the hassle.

You call APA, give them your CC info so they can bill you $65 for membership, tell them which car(s) you're interested in buying, and they'll give you up to 3 "estimates" with your membership (iirc). Pick the one you want, call the salesman provided, sign the deal, and pick up your car. There will be a further $65 APA referral fee built-in. It's still a great deal.

Then (if you believe in rustproofing) take your new X-Trail to Krown, and get 10% off with the APA membership. Means you'll be paying ~$105 per year. I want to keep ours for a while, so it's going in this week.


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## m77m7 (Jul 2, 2005)

chansen said:


> APA is a non-profit organization. For that reason, I'd trust them further than CCC, and the extra $25 is peanuts compared to the cost of the truck. I got the APA number for my XE auto, and with a LOT of legwork, managed to beat it by $100. It wasn't worth the hassle.
> 
> You call APA, give them your CC info so they can bill you $65 for membership, tell them which car(s) you're interested in buying, and they'll give you up to 3 "estimates" with your membership (iirc). Pick the one you want, call the salesman provided, sign the deal, and pick up your car. There will be a further $65 APA referral fee built-in. It's still a great deal.
> 
> Then (if you believe in rustproofing) take your new X-Trail to Krown, and get 10% off with the APA membership. Means you'll be paying ~$105 per year. I want to keep ours for a while, so it's going in this week.


Thanks for the tip. My plan was to get the information from CCC and keep it in my pocket and deal my way down and beat the price on my own. If the dealer refuses, then I'll just show them the paper and tell them I"m going to Sherway Nissan (the dealer that CCC deals with) unless they beat it (matching isn't good enough).

I'm actually looking for this type of service to give me the numbers, not to avoid the trouble of negotiating... I like every bit of it  Thats why I want the "numbers" the cheapest method possible. Regardless, thank you for your help... its always great to hear as many stories/experiences as possible.


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## chansen (Feb 7, 2005)

I did what you plan to do. My mistake was I went too far afield for $100, because nobody else would beat the APA number. Sherway, Dixie, Oakville, and other dealerships refused to beat the APA price by $100. Yes, I visited in person. If you can beat the CCC number without too much stress, my guess is the CCC number ain't that good. I'm in Mississauga. I had to go to HAMILTON to beat the APA number. Yes, I factored the two $65 fees into my calcs.


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## m77m7 (Jul 2, 2005)

chansen said:


> I did what you plan to do. My mistake was I went too far afield for $100, because nobody else would beat the APA number. Sherway, Dixie, Oakville, and other dealerships refused to beat the APA price by $100. Yes, I visited in person. If you can beat the CCC number without too much stress, my guess is the CCC number ain't that good. I'm in Mississauga. I had to go to HAMILTON to beat the APA number. Yes, I factored the two $65 fees into my calcs.


Very surprising that a dealer would let you out the door over $100. I'm in Mississauga as well and I plan to visit those same dealers plus woodchester. I am skeptical right now that the CCC price would be significantly different from the APA price. At Sherway, they will refund you the $40 CCC fee if you buy from them. That means CCC would have to be more than $65x2=130 more than the APA price to make the APA worth it. We'll see, I might end up waiting for the 06.


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## chansen (Feb 7, 2005)

Dixie gave me the whole song-and-dance to show them my best number, and they would beat it. They would not. Woodchester is the local APA dealer. I should have just taken that bloody deal. Now I drive to Hamilton for my 4 free oil changes.

In the end, I used APA for one service - their window-etching kit. For (again) $65, you get your vehicle's VIN on a bunch of sticky templates and a small bottle of acid. Pretty easy to do. Dealers charge much more for the service.

Just trying to save people some time. Maybe the CCC price is the same, but it isn't going to be better.


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## boatek (May 13, 2005)

*CCC*

Hi,

I used CCC for the purchase of my vehicle... here are the details...

X-Trail SE FWD
MSRP: 28,498.00
Dealer Invoice: 26,225.00
My Price: 26,725.00
Freight/PDI: 1000.00
Gas Tax: 75.00
Air Tax: 100.00
Total: 27,900.00 + PST and GST

As you can see the lowest I could get to was $500 over invoice. 
Dealth with a dealer in Toronto (St. Clair Nissan) and found them fair as they opened their pricing books for me to review.

Best of Luck

Ken


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