Decoding the Confirmation Number

My initial thought is that it is a random sequence, since mine is ##A#####.

 

I think I've figured it out!

My confirmation number is 1B619XXX.

I figure it means I'll be the 619XXXth person to get one after all the 1A's have theirs.

 

doubtfull... 50559EXX is mine, they are randomly generated codes, nothing more, nothing less.

picked Red, SL Trim model (the loaded one) $33,720 ($26,220 with the $7500 Federal credit), Lease: $379 month/36 months/$1999 down.

The "free" chargers are only if you are in one of the "EV Projects" 10 citys, they are not really free, the federal government has as $98 million $ grant for those "free" chargers.

Btw, my reservation didn't arrive until 7:40PM EDT, I was one of the first to sign up on the website initially, but it does not matter, they are not shipping cars to the east coast for a long time.

 

additionally, I'd been told the criteria includes one more thing ~ you had to be one of the 1st 1,000 to sign up.

 

I think the codes are random. Even the format of numerals/letters seems random.

 

My code is A0000001 :mod:

 

When did you sign up? I signed up in NOV, 2009.

 

Now we can start working on the sig digs!

(Ah, memories of when phone freaking wasn't for psychos)

 

Long time lurker - first time poster here.

My confirmation # is 2CAEC3XX. It does look random - even though earlier I was thinking the alpha meant something in terms of market & options chosen, with 3XX being my reservation number. But it is a little strange to have random alpha codes ...

On the chat the rep said the reservation is by market - but couldn't give any reservation number.

What I really want to know is my number in the line. It would be helpful to know whether I can get the car this December or not (helpful for tax planning etc ...).

 

It is my considered opinion (just an opinion, but arrived at after considering what we know) that there is as yet no line. We have confirmation that we've paid the refundable $99 deposit. But I don't believe that gives us any priority in ordering. I imagine that will happen in August when those of us in the initial market launch get the opportunity to place a firm order.

Consider: If they gave the first people on the pre-order list the first opportunity to reserve a car, and gave them any reasonable time to respond, it would take months to go through the whole list.

Just as dealers will determine actual pricing, I suspect dealers will determine your order on their own list, subject to availability to the dealer. I think they said that when the time comes to place a firm order, we will have to visit a dealer. So I suspect that each dealer will have an allocation, and first to the dealer will be first in a car.

 

My vote is for completely random. Mine is 1BE648D3.

 

daniel, I do believe you are pretty close. my best guess on this whole "deposit" process, is for a few reasons:

1 Judge demand for the Leaf, if it's huge, they will have no problem getting some Japanese banks to finance the startup of the Japanese assembly line.

2. Determine color/model distribution. They will learn what colors are popular, and the percentage of each color to make in each model, roughly, to satisfy the initial demand.

3. If they take deposits on 100,000 Leafs, that gets them $10 million USD in the bank, which goes along way to assisting #1 above (convince banks to loan them any money needed for actual production of the cars)

4. judge demand in each area, and they may well discover they are wrong in their assumptions on where the cars are wanted. I predict the Northeast will be much higher demand than they would have predicted, and California will be large as well, but with only San Diego in the initial launch cities, and none in the Northeast, they may try and ramp up production faster than initialy planned. and if they do, they have a list of ready to go customers who have already paid a $99 deposit, they can have the local dealer to each preorder contact the customer and close the deal, or see if they are no longer interested.. the order does not matter so much, as by the time each person is contact, things may have changed for that person, either money wise, or they may have already bought another car, or just simply changed their minds...

 

I've to search for it - but official statements say the opposite. Each Leaf leaves the factory with a name on it (paraphasing here).

There are easy ways to do this. For eg., after Jun 30th - give everyone 2 months to firm their order. Whoever does, will preserve their seniority in the queue.

 

considering they where only planning to built the 4700 initial Leafs for the EV Project, maybe they will just up that to the actual #'s of those who are paying the $99 deposit and commit to a firm order, since it isn't that much larger than that (less than twice the #), 6635

I hope they are not too disapointed, but they need to get these cars produced and "out there" to convince the rest of the public this is "real"

 

Apparently they've gotten under 7,000 deposits so far. Assuming the really interested rushed to reserve, 10,000 may be a good guess on total early reservations.

But they won't be built until we place firm orders in August. Thus the above does not tell us if we have a place in line yet.

 

There is this little ditty at the end of the "pricing" pop up - "Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price. Dealer sets price."

If the dealers try to add additional markup above the MSRP, it's going to be hard for me to buy one of these. Besides the hassle of shopping an allocation around to different dealers, it would be a shame if early adopters were forced into paying a premium for being guinea pigs.

For me - it's really important that *purchase price* be cost competitive with traditional vehicles, so that any efficiency savings start on day one, rather then think about what savings you might have over the entire lifetime of the car. For me - the only thing that really makes this cost competitive is the 12,500 tax credit (fed + state). If not for those credits - I'd just be buying a second Prii.

Guess we won't know for sure how the pricing will go until after 30 June when people start getting firm commitments and firm pricing.

 

I beleive thats according to the law. Manufacturer can't force a price.

I won't pay a penny above msrp. I'll look for another dealer - I've already sounded my nearest dealer on that. All of us should. I plan to widely publicise and shame the dealer if they try to charge anything more. With various social networking sites etc., it is going to be difficult for dealers to do that now.

This is what my dealer, EastsideNissan (Bellevue, WA), wrote back ...

 

Probably - but Nissan will have to face angry early adopters if people who reserved early don't get in front of the queue. But, I do intend to go and firm up my order as soon as they allow it.

 

In the early days of the Gen II Prius, some dealers were charging more than MSRP, and some were requiring people to buy unwanted dealer add-ons. But other dealers were charging MSRP. It's likely to be the same with the Leaf. You may have to shop around. My Nissan dealer has stated categorically that he'll charge MSRP and will not add any extra fees. (I presume there will be the universal "document fee.")

All we'll get in June is information about availability. What areas will get the car, and perhaps how many. MSRP has already been announced, so there'll be nothing new then.

In August we'll be able to place firm orders. Only then will we visit the dealer, place a firm order, and negotiate price and terms with the dealer. It would be nice to get a delivery date then, but I suspect the dealers will say they cannot promise a firm date, and Nissan will say something useless like "We'll get it to you as quickly as we can." For those of us in WA it's critical because the sales tax exemption on EVs expires at the end of the year, so a Leaf purchased on Jan 1 will cost $3,000 more than one purchased on December 31.