Is Nissan on the way out?

[jmowreader]

Last week I was out in the bay measuring a car I was getting ready to wrap, and heard a commercial from the local Nissan dealer: buy a Titan pickup and we'll throw in a Versa for free. I thought that was kinda weird, but okay. Maybe they're just really overstocked on Titans--they are full-size pickups, and not popular in Fayetteville, so maybe the bank came in and said "get rid of these things, we don't care how."

Today I was driving home and heard an ad from Wilmington, NC's Nissan dealer: buy a Quest minivan or Xterra SUV and we'll give you a Frontier pickup free.

Okay, so now we're up to TWO dealerships offering the same brand of vehicle that are giving them away. What the hell is going on here?

[lost-in-nj]

1. Geesh

all there is on the road here are Nissans

cars, trucks, whatever...

they are doing OK here in NJ!!!



:hi:


lost

[jmowreader]

5. They're NOT doing OK here in the Cape Fear Valley of NC!!!

Rough estimate--ten Toyotas for every Nissan. You just don't see them on the road here. You'd think "okay, Jim, you live in the redneck capital of the Southeast, there's a municipal ordinance against buying a Japanese truck." Not so. There are a lot of American trucks on the road, to be sure, but Japanese pickups are well represented.

If I was going to buy a full-size pickup, the Titan would be really high on the shortlist...okay, I'd probably just play it safe and get an F-250 with a diesel engine, but Titans are pretty sweet.

But yeah, it got a little scary when every Nissan dealer in the area is giving cars away.

[blue sky at night]

2. had a rental car nissan.........

thought it was a clunker....just didn't feel solid on the road.

[Greyhound]

8. Which model?

When I was on the road full time in the 90s I drove Altimas and Contours and there was no comparison, the Nissan was superior in every way for the same price.

[REP]

9. We've got two (Infiniti FX35 and a 350Z)

Obviously, we like them!

[flvegan]

3. Unlikely. Devil is in the details.

Like any other "incentive" it's likely you'd get the bottom line bare bones Versa or Frontier which you'd then request one or two options on. You still pay tax, etc and clear out their insurance liability, but also pay a couple grand for a few hundred bucks worth of options, PLUS you're probably bound to use Nissan's financing front. A $30k truck will cost you $45k that way. Kind of makes up for a $7k tag along.

[Catch22Dem]

4. Nissan was one of the only automakers to make gains last quarter

I believe.

I won't stand by that, but I seem to recall reading it somewhere

[Greyhound]

7. Toyota supplanted Ford as number 2 worldwide last quarter.

Not sure if that is a result of gains or just fewer losses. They will probably be #1 sometime next year.

[Greyhound]

6. I've been driving them for (OMFG, I can't believe how old I am) over 25 years.

My first was a '73 240Z (used 8 years old) and it was instant love, I loved zipping through the Rockies embarrassing yuppies driving cars that cost 10 times as much. They are less expensive than either Toyota or Honda, just as reliable, better fit & finish than Toyota, with better performance than Honda. Nissan's biggest problem has always been that they just can't seem to figure out how to market to Americans, their ad campaigns are typically quirky, some say weird, and don't follow the typical American "this car will get you laid/a bigger dick" strategy that has consistently been the key to our wallets. Bottom line is that you can buy a great car for less money than the other big Japanese manufacturers.

Now, that doesn't mean that they are salable in your region and the dealerships may be hurting, but more likely this is just a gimmick. They got into the land barge market late and, no offense intended here but, the South is not indicative of the big picture. That is the land where guys really believe in such tripe as "I'd rather be pushing my Harley than riding a rice burner" (BTW, all 3 big Japanese companies have plants in the area and none of the "American" companies do). One indicator might be looking at the used car ads and see how many Quests are available. Here on the west coast you can't find them at all, whereas you can pick up a 2 year old Ford/Chevy minivan for about 30% of retail.

My last two Nissans were a Hard-body truck that was stolen with over 200,000 miles on it and I currently drive a 22 year old 300ZX with 230,000 miles on it. The only problems I've had were 1 broken fan belt (Z) and 1 water pump (truck) and their V-6 is the industry standard.

[Maine-ah]

10. I love my xterra, and I see tons of them on the road up here

along with many other makes from Nissan.

[SmileyRose]

11. There's no such thing as a free car - or truck

has to be a marketing gimmick with a catch. Please understand, I believe you heard it, I just don't believe they are actually giving away brand new vehicles in a buy one get one deal.

[KharmaTrain]

12. Another Proud Nissan Owner Here...

My first was a Datsun Sentra in 1984...drove the thing into the ground...but it took 8 years...and still got great mileage up until I got rid of it. Now I have a 2003 Altima 5-speed...the car rides like a Lexxus for far less and I get upwards of 30mpg or more on the open road. I've thought of trading it, but it's been a great car...I'm holding out until there are more fuel cell cars out there.

I see a lot of Nissans on the road around the Chicago area...lots of Altimas and Maximas...not as many as Toyota, but still every time I go out I pass several cars just like my own.

Sounds like the big trucks and vans are albatrosses...no surprise. People around here are trying to dump their SUVs and Vans...my BIL had a PT Cruiser...took a big loss to dump the thing and picked up a Toyota. I joked at him that if gas goes back down in price, he'll be back in a boat...he said, "no way".