turtles

Hi,
anyone know of a good dealer around Seattle? I've heard Nissan of Fife and Campbell-Nelson are good. Anyone have opinions on them? I want to order an 04 in about a month.

Thanks!

tanakaZ

I picked my DB Touring from Steve Murphy at Campbell Nelson Nissan. He was a genuine and cool dude, but didn't know all that much about the Z. All in all, the guys over there are very friendly and seem to care about you, before and after the sale.

If you do go over there, let me warn you that they can be very pushy. Also, if you want a test drive you can BEFORE signing any paperwork. They'll tell you they can't give you a test drive before signing paperwork or giving a deposit, but they can. It's total BS.

At the time I bought mine, they had 6 Zs on the lot and were really pushing to move them. I paid MSRP, but got them to throw in the window tint and a few extra bucks for my trade-in (above blue book).

Good luck!

wildone_106

I got mine from them too and they were pretty easy going, except they will REALLY push the after coating/extras crap, in fact they signed me up for it before I even agreed at finance time..I hate that crap. Apart from that it was a nice experience there.

Btw dont expect any looks from Seattle women, they suck (i.e.. they will pretend to look at the sky rather than a nice stylin car it seems)

DrawFour

I have mixed feelings about Campbell-Nelson Nissan.

First off, they are VERY pushy. My friend and I both went there together in early March 2003 to look at the Z. Obviously, we both wanted one, but just wanted to see them in person instead of watching them pass us on the highway. I fell in love with it when I saw it up close. Beautiful to stare at, great to sit in. But no test drive. Maybe we should have pushed harder. They did the typical "What would it take for you to drive home tonight in that car?", and my answer was "give it to me for free". I was NOT going to let them push me into a sale that I was not 100% committed to. I wanted time to think it over. Next day, my friend and I convinced each other to buy, and we went back on the next Monday and bought the cars.

Plus there was the original saleman I was talking to, and I got handed over to another salesman within about 15 minutes. I think he thought I wasn't serious. I was, I was just being cautious. When they finally realized we were serious, that's when they started the "what would it take..." speech.

One thing they did which I didn't like was they told us that Nissan Customer Service (or whatever) would be calling us within a few days to get information about the process -- they basically demanded that we give them an "EXCELLENT". Anything other than that (even a GOOD) was considering a "failure" and unless everything was "EXCELLENT" then the process was considered by corporate Nissan to be a bad sale. There was a joking threat of "oil changes have been known to go wrong". I tried to laugh, but I didn't like the joke. Neither did my friend.

They also didn't want to talk deals with us, even though they had two (2) sales on the same day for 350Zs, and they were selling at MSRP, which they refused to budge. The only "deal" we got was if we both would buy it, they'd knock $300 off the 3-way undercoating, leather, and interior protective package. That went from $799 to $499, which is a more reasonsable price anyway. So it didn't seem to be a real "deal". Also my friend felt that his trade-in value for his car was about 1.5k too low. He got them to bring it up a bit. I felt that mine was OK -- maybe could have been a bit higher, but my trade-in had enough issues that it was an OK deal.

The sales staff seemed knowledgable and courteous, but they were a bit hard nosed. Maybe I should have pushed back... I'm a non-confrontational type of person...

I had an issue with my transmission at about the 2000 miles mark or so... Shifting into 3rd (either from second or from forth, with or without double-clutching and/or rev-matching) would grind... Took it in, they looked at it, said I needed a new tranny. It was there in a week, and installed in about 4 hours. Haven't had any issues since. I'd say the service staff is pretty good.

So I'd say that the sales staff is pushy and hard-headed -- but maybe now that 2004s are coming out, the 2003s will sell for much cheaper. My friend and I made sure that Campbell-Nelson was the only dealer in the Seattle area that had the cars we wanted, so we felt like it was "now or never".

Hope this helps ya out. At least go talk with them... Maybe they'll give you a test drive.

- Alan

turtles

Wow. Thanks for the feedback guys. I'd like to go check them out and get a test drive a week or two before buying. But it sounds like it's going to be tough to get below MSRP from Campbell-Nelson.

Kame

When I was looking for a deal on my 2003 350z, I checked with ALL the dealerships in Washington....but couldn't get a really good deal. There is too much demand for the Z in the Seattle area so they know they can get away with selling at or above MSRP.

I basically went to Nissan's site, and emailed offers to every dealership that had the one I wanted. I even tried using those web services like vehix and whatnot. In the end, the "special internet savings" was that you got to buy the Z at MSRP. Wow how special...and they make it sound like they are doing you a favor or something. When you call them up, they tell you to go to their dealership and MAYBE they can work something out under MSRP. All LIES...I went into Younker Nissan after talking to them on the phone and when we got there they wouldn't budge from MSRP.

I actually did have some luck with Downtown Seattle Nissan though. After a few short emails with them, I got a deal for $1500 below MSRP...unfortunately, it was not the color I wanted.

After dealing with all the Washington dealerships, I got fed up and started emailing dealerships in Oregon. In the end, I had two dealerships fighting for my business...love it when that happens. One in Portland and the other in McMinnville. The Portland dealership was willing to go close to $3000 under MSRP but I went with the McMinnville dealer since the car was equipped exactly like I wanted and $2300 under MSRP. This was all in late April this year. Two days after I started sending out emails to the Oregon dealers, and I was in my Z. I had been messing with Washington dealers for 3-4 weeks prior to that.

Anyways, my advice would be to try dealerships outside Washington state...best bet would be to find a smaller dealership or one that is in a less populated area where demand would be much lower. Good luck!

BTW, I did talk to Campell-Nelson on the phone and they wouldn't budge from MSRP.

cwerdna

I recommend Nissan of Fife. I bought my Maxima from there back in 11/01. I'll probably be getting a Z from there too (if I get one at all).

I'd avoid Burien Nissan. I went there thinking they've be ok, since they have an award from Nissan. The salesman was fine, but the other sales staff were VERY PUSHY and wouldn't budge from MSRP even though it was the end of the month. That's probably why they had 6 on their lot. The dealer was a ghost town too, there were hardly any customers there.

I've never had so much sales pressure in my life and never got such treatment when I shopped for my current car Maxima (test drove an Accord V6, Camry V6, and Acura 3.2TL).

I dropped by Campbell Nelson over the weekend and they were ok, seemed quite busy. They weren't pushy w/me at all, but I'd bet part of it was me being so horrible at driving stick. I felt so embarrassed. If I get a Z, it'll be a 5AT sure...

3rdpower

I bought my Z from Seattle Auto Center... horrible experience. Nissan of Fife is suppose to be very good...

derekjsmith

Got my LS Enthusiast under MSRP, even thought they had to ship it in from Utah, it arrived with only 11 miles on it

Was able to test drive with only a photo copy of my license.

It told them which model, color and price I wanted and they found it for me at that price.

With all dealerships ask for the internet or fleet sales manager they will give you the best deal to start with. The internet sales manager at Performance is Mike Petre 800 621 8857.

Performance Nissan

---
Derek

turtles

Again, thanks for the replies!

Let me ask this; if my car needs repairs under warranty, do I have to take it to the dealer I bought from or can I go to any Nissan dealer to have it serviced? And can warranty repairs be only done by Nissan dealerships? I've never owned a new car before.

I have no problems buying the car from out of state as long as I can still get my car fixed (without a lot of hassles ) if there's a problem.

cwerdna

You can go to any Nissan dealership. I've never had any work done by my original dealer since it's too far. Yes, only Nissan dealers can do warranty and recall work. I wish I could go to Infiniti of Kirkland since it's WAY closer than the next closest dealer for me, Pacific Nissan.

turtles

Great! That makes me feel much more comfortable about buying from whoever has the lowest price.

Hey Kame, how does the sales tax work when you buy a car from Oregon? Do you pay WA tax when you register it? Any hidden fees buying in one state and registering in another?

Vspec2

If you don't mind driving, you may want to check out some dealers outside the Seattle metro area.

Sometimes they are more willing to work a deal because they're so far away from a lot of potential customers.

Plus you save a couple of hundred because of the lower sales tax rate.

I ordered my 350Z with the exact options I wanted for under MSRP from Advantage Nissan in Bremerton.

-V

2003WV2

I live in Oregon and the best deal I found was at Nissan of Fife. Steve Perovich is the fleet/internet manager and made the transaction very smooth for me.

Kame

When I bought my Z in Oregon, we paid WA sales tax at the time of signing. Then they sent a notice or letter so that when we went to get it registered they would know we already paid the tax.

You can tell them you want to pay the tax yourself when you register the car though...it was easier to just get it done there when we signed. No hidden fees that I remember...

Rahtok

I got mine at Auburn Nissan. My second choice would have been Fife, but their waiting list was too long. I ordered mine last October, so not many were able to do anything better than MSRP. At any rate, Auburn has a new facility, good techs, and nice sales. I take my car there for service, and they've always treated it with respect, they know not to wash it, and they park it either by itself or taking up two spaces to avoid punks putting dings in it.

If you decide to talk to them, ask for Jose, and tell him Brian sent you.

zmaster03

I got my Z at Burien Nissan. They are a little bit agressive with the sale with me. But I stand on my prices. The salesmen are very nice guys. Got it a couple hundred dollars more then msrp. for a Touring. I hardly see any fellow Z around here. We should have a Z meet to help with our baby.

turtles

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Yeah, I hardly see any Zs around Redmond/Seattle. Weird.

cwerdna

I've seen a few here and there on the road. There are two in the parking garage in my building. Both people are coworkers of mine. Another friend of mine in another building and group says there are two in his.

Keep in mind the Z isn't THAT popular a car. I posted another thread w/Nissan's June sales figures. You'll see what I mean.

Jason

I purcahsed mine at Nissan of Fife. Everything went just fine, I'd definately recommend them.

The guy I talked to wasn't exactly a Z expert, but I didn't really need anybody trying to sell me on the car either.