The Nissan GT-R: No Lease Info Yet?

The buzz began last summer: Nissan would be producing a new GT-R supercar, the fifth generation of the performance legend, for the 2009 model year.

As summer faded into fall, more details were made public. The 2009 GT-R would have, under its hood, a newly designed 3.8 liter twin-turbo V6 engine that would provide 480 horsepower and 430 lb-ft of torque (give or take) and feature an equally fresh GR6-type dual clutch rear transaxle with paddle-shifters.

In February of this year, Nissan released more details. Pre-orders would begin in June, they said, with fewer than 700 of the United States’ roughly 1,400 Nissan dealers being certified to sell the car. On top of that, the criteria Nissan imposed in order for the lucky dealers to gain that GT-R certification includes performance and sales commitments, service agreements and facility improvements, as well as having a “master technician” who is a literal expert on this car. As well, only the general managers, executive managers, or dealer principals of each dealership will be authorized to handle the sales – Nissan is forbidding cars from leaving the lot in anyone else’s hands.

With all those requirements, and the knowledge that only 1,500 2009 Nissan GT-Rs are even coming to the US, it should be no surprise that dealers are adding huge markups to the already-stiff price of this car. How stiff? According to ExhaustNote.com, consumers can expect to pay as much $60,000 over the base price of $69,000, with average markups being in the $20,000 - $35,000 range, either of which still pushes the price-tag into the upper echelons of personal automobiles. Don’t expect Nissan USA to step in and mitigate those costs, either. While the corporation can suggest pricing and advise dealers on what they should charge, they can’t actually mandate anything. They are, however, requiring that pre-sale paperwork showing the markup and how it was derived be submitted to headquarters for approval, after which Nissan will provide “ongoing counsel” in regard to dealer-added surcharges.

With markups that high, the question then becomes, “why not lease?” After all, leasing is generally less expensive than an actual car loan, and certainly less costly, at least up-front than buying a car outright. Nissan has said that a lease option will be available, and initially promised specifics by March or April of this year, though none have yet been released, but Darryll Harrison, spokesman for Nissan North America told reporters from Inside Line that, “It is too early for us to discuss lease penetration on this vehicle. As you know, the GT-R is a supercar that will be sold in very low volumes and, as such, we anticipate that the vast majority of consumers will opt to buy the vehicle rather than lease.”

And so we wait. Pre-orders begin in roughly a month, car loans for the supercar also have a super-scary price, and the lack of concrete lease terms might not matter to Nissan, but for consumers, it’s the difference between affording a dream, or settling for a fairly ordinary daily drive.