I am graduating college this year in May, and like many college graduates, I am shopping for a newer vehicle. For the meantime, I will be driving approximately 9,000 miles per year just to work, so I need a reliable, fuel efficient vehicle.
Nissan has recently come out with an amazing new vehicle that requires no gasoline, and solely runs on electric and solar power. The Nissan Leaf really is the gateway to the future of automobiles. As political events in Egypt take way, gas prices in the U.S. are elevating with each passing day.
Sooner or later, America will no longer wish to be so reliant on the Middle East for our fuel, hence the hybrid cars of the future. As a person that lives in Arizona, where there is little practical public trasnportation offered, and everything is extrememly spread out, fuel efficiency, as well environmental impact are key concerns for me in my car-buying adventure.
Sadly, I was cut short of hoping to own such a vehicle, seeing that the costs of the Nissan Leaf are just too high at this point in time in my financial life. I find this interesting, seeing that I am smack dab in the middle of Nissan's target market, according to the interview Nissan's CEO Carlos Ghosn did with Fast Company magazine in the March 2011 edition.
"Fast Company: Who are your prime targets?
Ghosn: Women and young people. Our problem is not selling the car. This is something people have been asking for...[The first electric cars] were selling for $100,000. Who's going to buy that?... This is $25,000 [after Government incentives], but even that I consider expensive."
After reading this interview, I was really excited about the Nissan Leaf. I jumped on my computer and started crunching numbers. I wondered, with the approximately $130 a month I pay for in gas I would be saving by purchasing an all-electric vehicle, I wondered if I could afford it...
My car is 11 years old, good shape, but 11 years old. I'm being realistic in saying that I will get at least $1,500 for a trade in for my silver hot rod. I also figure that a decent down payment on a car is at least 20% of the car's purchase price. The national average for a car payment is approximately 10% of your take home pay. If I were to purchase the Leaf, I would also be saving approximately $130 a month in gas.
Here is the breakdown for the Nissan Leaf SV:
Max Government Incentive: $7,500 off purchase price
Arizona Incentives: $100 off purchase price
(see the Nissan Leaf website for State Incentives that apply to you)
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Cost thus far: $25,180 (not including tax, title and licensing fees)
Break down of the payments:
Down payment of 20%: $5,036.
Trade In value: $1,500
(With a sales tax of 8% and an interest rate 6%)
With these numbers, if purchasing my payments would be as follows:
24 month loan: $933/month
36 month loan: $640
48 month loan: $495
60 month loan: $407
72 month loan: $349
I would basically have to put $13,000 down in order to afford monthly payments on this car...no thank you. Looks like green isn't the way I'll be going.
