Nissan

The rebates apply generally across the entire product line, although the amount of the rebate varies by model and style.

But that’s not all the good news. Nissan is also offering 0% APR interest rates on all the same models. However, as you know, you must choose between the rebate and the 0% loan. You can’t have both.

How do you choose between a rebate and a 0% loan?

Generally, if the rebate is about $2000 or more, you’ll be better with the rebate — especially if you are short on down payment money. The rebate acts as a down payment. Furthermore, if your credit score is not so great — less than about 700 or 720 (you can check your credit score at FreeCreditScore.com), you won’t qualify for the 0% loan rate.

Here are the current Nissan rebate deals:

Nissan Titan – $3500-$4500

Nissan Altima – $0-$4000

Nissan Frontier – $2500-$3000

Nissan Pathfinder – $2000-$2500

Nissan Xterra – $2000

Nissan Maxima – $1000-$1500

Nissan Murano – $500-$1000

Nissan Quest – $750

Nissan Rogue – $500-$750

Nissan Sentra – $500

You can get free price quotes on any of the above Nissan vehicles from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

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However, the Mercedes-Benz company does offer special lease deals from time-to-time that  are genuinely good deals but hide the fact that the vehicles are being discounted. Such is the case here in July 2011.

A number of excellent leases are being offered on a variety of models and styles for July. All have a 10,000 miles/per/year allowance for 33 months, although some are for other terms as can be seen in the list shown below.

Notice too that a few of the Mercedes-Benz leases have no down payment requirement and no “due-at-signing” amount, which means the first month’s payment is waived for that deal.

Here is the list of current Mercedes-Benz lease deals for July 2011:

If you don’t understand how car leasing works or how to determine if leasing is right for you, we suggest you visit LeaseGuide.com before you make your decision.

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Of course, Honda and Toyota were hit particularly hard in the March earthquakes and have experienced some shortages in certain models and styles. In that kind of situation, it is expected that we would not see an abundance of sales incentives.

We list the current lease incentives below that have monthly payments of $200 or less. All require a down payment (cap cost reduction) as well as the first month’s payment up front (due at lease signing). Most include a mileage allowance of 12,000 miles per year, for terms between 24 and 39 months. Most expire on August 1, 2011.

Also note that only selected styles of the listed models are available with the low lease payments. You must choose the style(s) being offered to get the deal.

These special lease deals being offered are nearly all excellent deals, as rated by LeaseGuide.com. Car companies create the deals by lowering price and money factor (finance rate), raising lease-end residual value. In combination, this amounts to low monthly payments — much better than customers could negotiate for themselves.

Here are the current cheapest car lease deals for July 2011:

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You would also know that dealers can, and usually do, use this factory cash (often called “marketing support”) to discount prices to customers. Therefore, any vehicle with a high dealer cash incentive will nearly always have a good price discount. The higher the incentive, the better the price.

These direct-to-dealer rebates are one part of incentive programs that might also include direct-to-customer rebates, low-interest loan rates (including 0% APR), and special lease deals. These incentives are usually only good for one month.

Listed below are some the best factory-to-dealer cash offers for July 2011. Most expire on August 1. All are for 2011 models except where noted otherwise.

BMW ActiveHybrid 7 – $2000

Dodge Dakota – $4500

Ford Focus – $2000

Mercury Grand Marquis – $5500

Mercury Mariner, Milan – $3500

Ford F-150 (2010) – $$4500-$5500

Lincoln MKT (2010) – $5000

Mercury Grand Marquis (2010) – $5500

Mercury Mountaineer (2010) – $4500

Mercury Mariner, Milan (2010) – $3500

Chevrolet Corvette – $3000

Mercedes-Benz CL, S Class (2010) – up to $10,000

Mitsubishi Endeavor (2010) – $4500

Mitsubishi Galant (2010) – $3500

Mitsubishi Eclipse, Eclipse Spyder (2010) – $3000

Infiniti FX50 – $3000

Infiniti EX35, FX35 – $2000

Infiniti G37 Convertible (2010) – $3500

Nissan 370Z (2010) – up to $2000

You can get free price quotes on any of the above cars from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

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However, this means the hot-months are one of the best times to buy because car dealers and manufacturers are offering some great incentives to help boost sales during these normally slow times.

Rebates, in particular, are in good supply right now from a number of carmakers. Some of the best are from General Motors (Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, GMC).

Let’s take a look at some of the best rebate offers currently available for July 2011. Most of these deals expire August 1 (except Volkswagen – August 31, and General Motors – September 6). All are for 2011 models except where noted otherwise.

BMW ActiveHybrid 7 – $7500

Dodge Nitro – $3000

Dodge Journey – $2000-$3000

Dodge Grand Caravan – $1500-$2500

Jeep Liberty – $3000

Ram 2500/3500 – $2000-$3000

Ford F-150 – up to $3000 (selected styles)

Ford Expedition – $2000

Lincoln Town Car – $3000

Lincoln Navigator – $2000-$3000

Lincoln MKS – $1500-$2500

Buick Lucern – $2500

Cadillac DTS, STS – $7000

Cadillac Escalade – $3500

Chevrolet Silverado 1500 – $4000-$4500

Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD/3500HD – $3000

Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe – $3000

Chevrolet Colorado – up to $3000 (selected styles)

Chevrolet Malibu – $2500

Chevrolet Impala – up to $3000 (selected styles)

Chevrolet Avalanche – $4000

Chevrolet HHR – up to $3500 (selected styles)

GMC Sierra 1500 – $4000-$4500

GMC Sierra 2500/3500HD – $3000

GMC Yukon – $3000

GMC Canyon – $1500-$3000

Mitsubishi Endeavor – $4500

Mitsubishi Galant – $3500

Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder – $2000

Nissan Titan – $3500-$4500

Nissan Altima – up to $3000 (select styles)

Nissan Frontier – $2500-$3000

Nissan Pathfinder – $2000-$2500

Nissan Xterra – $2000

Suzuki Equator – $2000

Toyota Tundra – up to $3000 (selected styles)

You can get free price quotes on any of the above cars from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

Like always, car manufacturers never, ever announce new incentives until old incentives expire. In the case of the current June 2010 programs, most expire on July 6, 2010, right after the July 4th holiday. They don’t even announce new incentives to their dealers any earlier. That way, they can keep the old programs alive up to the last day.

How can we know if the July incentives, rebates, 0% APR interest loans, and special lease deals are going to be as good, or better than the old incentives? We can’t. However, we can make some good educated guesses based on our experience and knowledge of what drives incentives.

We know, for example, that car sales nearly always slow down in summer. People are taking vacation, the kids are out of school, the weather is hot, and gas prices go up due to heavier demand. Although sales are slow, which would ordinarily imply that car makers would throw incentive programs our way, it is not necessarily the case for the Summer season. Sales are going to be slow regardless of the availability of incentives and rebates.

Therefore, we think that, overall, incentives for July 2010 are not going to be any better than those for June. And in many cases, the incentives will not be as good. If you are thinking about buying or leasing a car now, and you can get a good deal now, don’t hold out hoping for July will be better. If you wait, it’ll be too late.

In fact, we think that incentives won’t start to perk up until about September, the traditional Fall buying season when many manufacturers bring out their new models. Fall and Winter are always good car-buying times.

There may be some exceptions, however. Toyota is still recovering from bad press over some of their problems of the last few months. They want to let people know they have solved the problems and that you can now get good deals on Toyota vehicles. Incentives will continue to be good.

Also watch for good deals on discontinued or sold-off brands such as Pontiac, Hummer, Saab, Volvo, Mercury. And there are still many 2009 leftover (and some 2010 leftover) models still in dealers’ inventory that will have good incentives.

We’ll all have to wait until after July 6th to see if we’re right about these predictions. Most new programs will not be announced until about July 8th or later.

Here’s are some of the best deals:

By far, the best deals are on left-over 2008 models (see Leftover 2008 Models for Cheap). We’re not talking about used cars here. We’re talking about brand new 2008 vehicles that are still on dealers’ lots waiting to be sold. Some dealers have a large number of leftovers, some only have a few, and some have none. Of course your choices are limited but the prices are the best.

Next, for 2009 models, Infiniti, Hummer, Saab, Mercedes, Nissan, and Land Rover have the highest factory-to-dealer cash on most of their vehicle models — in the $2000-$9000 range ($13,000 on some Mercedes models), depending on vehicle. This is “hidden” money given to dealers by the manufacturer to help him sell vehicles. Dealers can use the money for advertising, tent sales, or discounts. Most of the money goes back to customers in the form of large price discounts.

For direct factory-to-customer cash rebates, Chrysler, Infiniti, Nissan, Chrysler, Ford, Hyundai, Toyota, and GM are currently offering the best rebates on most models. For example, Nissan has $5000 on the Armada and Titan, $2500 on the Pathfinder, and $2000 on the Sentra. Acura, GM, Mitsubishi, and Subaru also have some very attractive rebates on many 2009 models.

The best 0% APR and low interest loans are being offered by Chrysler, GM, Ford, Suzuki, Toyota, Lexus, and Land Rover. Remember, in most cases, you can’t take the low interest loan AND rebates. You choose one or the other.

The best lease deals are being offered by Honda and Acura (on a select few models and styles), BMW (some models), Infiniti, Mazda, and Mercedes. These deals have highly discount prices, low money factors, and high lease-end residuals — all of which makes for low monthly lease payments. If you are interested in leasing, make you understand how it works so that you don’t make mistakes. See LeaseGuide.com for explanations and advice.

In our opinion, the best overall deals are now on Honda, Infiniti, and Mazda vehicles. Surprisingly, the American brands, GM, Chrysler, and Ford are offering only so-so deals, not great deals.

You can get free price quotes on any of the above cars from Edmunds.com. The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

So, at the time of this writing, we don’t know what deals will be offered for August 2009 for those deals that are ending on July 31 or August 3. New deals won’t be revealed until the day after, or sometimes a few days later. Will the new incentives be better than the last ones? Nobody knows.

However a few car manufacturers have already announced incentives for July that extend through August and September.

Here are some examples:

BMW is currently offering (through August 31) low interest rates on most of its models and styles, and special lease deals on the BMW 3-Series models, as well as on selected styles of the BMW 1-Series, 5-Series, X5, X6, and Z4. Also available are cash back rebates on the BMW 3-Series sedans and BMW X5. These are all good deals.

Volkswagen has current incentives that expire at the end of August. The Volkswagen deals come in a variety of forms, from “scrappage” rebates that supplement the new government “cash for clunkers” program (see Cash for Clunkers Rebate Program), to 0% APR loans on many models, to special “subvented” lease deals on selected styles within each model line. They also have some VERY healthy hidden factory-to-dealer rebates that show up as customer price discounts. For example, $6000 on the Volkswagen CC, $3000 on the Volkswagen Passat, and $1000 on the Volkswagen Tiquan.

Infiniti has some of the best deals for August and September we’ve ever seen on most its models and styles — some HUGE factory-to-dealer cash incentives that can’t be ignored. We’ve already written about these Infiniti deals in our article, Great Deals on Infiniti.

Honda’s current incentives are good for August 2009 and end on September 8. As usual, Honda has some incredible good deals on most models and styles. Low interest rates apply to nearly all models and styles. There is also factory-to-dealer cash — which translates to lower customer prices — on the Honda Accord, Civic, and CR-V. The cash is in the $500-$1500 range depending on model. And some very nice lease deals (see Honda Lease Deals for July and August) on one selected style within each of the Honda Accord, Civic, and CR-V model lines.

Land Rover has some very attractive incentives, including 0% APR loans, bonus cash rebates, and some very generous factory-to-dealer cash deals, all of which go through July, August, and September 2009. For example, for the Land Rover LR3 model, you get $1500 bonus cash, 0% APR loan interest for 36/48 months, and $3000 factory-to-dealer cash (dealer can give all or most of this cash to customers). For the Land Rover Range Rover Sport HSE, there is $1500 bonus money, low interest loans, $799 a month lease deal, and $5000 factory-to-dealer cash (Wow!!).

You can get free price quotes on any of the above cars from Edmunds.com. The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

Infiniti

All these deals are being offered for July, August, and September, until September 30, 2009.

Infiniti likes to be seen as a luxury, non-discount brand, so you won’t see any direct factory-to-customer rebates (except for a “loyalty” rebate for previous Infiniti owners). Therefore, it’s incentives are a little more subtle but nevertheless very significant. If you are in the market for an Infiniti vehicle, this is a great time to buy or lease.

Let’s look at some examples of these Infiniti deals:

2009 Infiniti EX35 Journey AWD – $500 loyalty bonus rebate for current Infiniti owners/lessees, 0% APR loans for 24/36 months (0.9%, 1.9%, 2.9% for 48/60/72 months), $399 a month lease deal, and a whopping $4000 factory-to-dealer cash rebate that dealers can give to customers as price discounts.

2009 Infiniti FX35 AWD SUV – $2000 loyalty rebate for current Infiniti owners/lessees (Wow!), 0% APR and low interest loans as for the EX35 above, $539 a month lease, and a big whopping $5000 factory cash to dealer (Wow!!!), which translates into heavy price discounts for customers.

2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD SUV – $2000 loyalty rebate, 0% APR and low-interest loans, $719 a month special lease deal, and $6000 factory cash to dealer (Wow!!!!!!!).

2009 Infiniti G37 Journey Coupe – 0% and low-interest loans like the EX35 above, $419 a month lease deal, and $2500 factory-to-dealer cash rebate which can be used by dealers to give to customers as a price discount.

2009 Infiniti M45 – $2000 loyalty cash, $1000 bonus cash rebate, 0% APR and low-interest loans, $759 a month lease deal, $6000 factory to dealer cash, and $2250 factory to dealer cash for leasing customers. Similar incentives are available for the Infiniti M35.

2010 Infiniti QX56 SUV – $1000 loyalty cash, 0% APR and low interest loans like the EX35 above, $799 a month lease deal, and $6000 dealer cash, which can be used by dealers to discount customer prices.

Similar deals are available for most other Infiniti models and styles. Make no mistake about it, these are the best deals we’ve seen on Infiniti vehicles ever. If you want an Infiniti, now is a fantastic time to buy or lease.

You can get free dealer price quotes on any of the above Infiniti vehicles from Edmunds.com. The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

Chrysler is desperate to sell cars these days and is putting up some serious money to help move them.

Here are some examples of these great rebate deals on Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep vehicles.

2009 Dodge Charger – $3500-$4500 cash to customer rebate. The rebate depends on where you live in the U.S.

2009 Dodge Caravan – $3500-$4500 customer cash rebate

2009 Chrysler 300 – $3500-$4500 rebate

2009 Chrysler PT Cruiser – $4500 rebate

2009 Chrysler Town and Country minivan – $3500-$4500 factory-to-customer cash rebate

2009 Jeep Commander – $4500-$5500 rebate (WOW!)

2009 Jeep Grand Cherokee – $4500-$6500 rebate (WOW!!!)

2009 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup – $3500-$5000 rebate

2009 Chrysler Sebring – $4500 customer cash rebate

These are just example of the generous rebates currently being offered across the entire line of Chrysler company models. Make no mistake about it, these are GREAT rebates. If you are thinking about getting a new Chrysler, Dodge, or Jeep vehicle, now is a good time to buy.

You can get free dealer price quotes on any of the above Chrysler vehicles from Edmunds.com. The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates and dealer discounts that are currently available.

The incentives come in the form of rebates, bonus cash, loyalty cash, 0% interest loans, low APR loans, and factory-to-dealer cash — depending on the manufacturer and specific vehicle models/styles.

The following deals are generally for 2009 models. Deals are also being offered for available 2010 models, although the deals are not as good as on leftover 2009 models.

Some of the current deals that end on 7/31/2009 or 8/1/2009 are the following:

Acura – not-so-low APR interest rates, lease deals on selected styles within each model line, and $1000 factory-to-dealer cash to help with price discounts. We don’t see any fantastic deals here for July.

Audi – modest cash rebates ($1000), and low APR loans (1.9% for 12/36 months) on most models, and good factory-to-dealer cash ($2000-$5000) on certain models. These factory-to-dealer rebates can be turned into nice price discounts by dealers.

BMW – low-interest loans (2.9% for 12/60 months) and heavy factory-to-dealer cash (translates to price discounts by dealers) of $5000 on the BMW 5 Series and M5.

Chrysler (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep) – big heavy rebates from $2000-$5000 on most models, plus $2000 factory-to-dealer cash (price discounts) make for great deals if you are in the market for a Chrysler product. Dealers have too much inventory and need to get rid of it.

Ford (Ford, Lincoln, Mercury) – customer rebates (typically $1000) plus additional rebates on certain models with selected options, plus $1500 “Drive the Difference” bonus rebates, and 0% APR loans for 36/48/60 months (typically). Ford’s deals end on 8/3/2009.

GM (Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Saturn, Saab, Hummer, Pontiac, and Cadillac) - cash-back rebates that range from $1000-$2000 plus $1000-$1500 bonus cash on most 2009 models and styles. As an alternative, 0% loans are also being offered on most models for 12, 36, 48, and 60 months. One deal worth noting is a $5000 rebate, plus $1000 bonus cash on the Hummer H3. And $8500 plus $750 on the Saab 9-3 — what a deal! There are still many, many leftover 2008 models that have incredible rebates (see Leftover 2008 Cars for Cheap).

Honda – low APR loans (typically 2.9% for 24/36 months, and 3.9% for 60 months) on most models and factory-to-dealer cash (typically $1500) which cannot be combined with a low-interest loan. Honda is currently offering special lease deals on three models – Accord LX ($199/m0), Civic LX ($199/mo), and CRV LX ($239/mo). Leases on Hondas are generally good deals even without the special deals due to the high residual values for the brand.

Hyundai – rebates ($1000) and factory-to-dealer cash ($1500) make for some good Hyundai deals. Interest rates are reduced but not especially great. The Hyundai Genesis 4.6 sedan has a special $489 a month lease deal (36 months, $2599 due at signing).

Kia – large rebates in the range of $2000-$3600 make for some great deals on Kia models that already have affordable sticker prices.

Lexus – current Lexus incentives for July are very modest. Cash-back rebate on the Lexus ES350, not-so-low APR loans on the ES350, IS250, and IS350, no special lease deals, and $2500 factory-to-dealer cash on the GS450h.

Nissan – rebates (typically $1500) and low-interest loans (typically 0% for 12/24/36 months and 2.9% for 48/60 months) on most models. The 2009 Nissan 350Z gets a $2500 customer rebate since the new 370Z replaces it. There are no national Nissan lease deals for July.

Toyota – special deals on Toyota vehicles for July are pretty skimpy, limited to a few special rebates (for military personnel), a few low-interest or 0% APR loans, and some modest factory-to-dealer cash for most models. It seems Toyota is laying back for July, but watch for better deals in the next couple of months.

Volkswagen – mostly 0% (12/36 months, 2.9% for 48 months, and 3.9% for 60 months), and a number of good lease deals on selected styles within most model lines. For example, there is a special $199 a month lease (36 months, $2699 due at signing) on the Volkswagen New Beetle hatchback.

You can get free price quotes on any of the above cars from Edmunds.com. The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.