Nissan

High rebates and low interest rates — including many 0% APR rates — are being offered across the Nissan product line.

The Nissan Titan truck has the highest rebates at $4500 for the 2011 models and $5500 for leftover 2010 models. Zero percent APR loans are also available for both of these models.

The 2011 Nissan Altima Hybrid gets a healthy $4000 rebate ($4500 for 2010 model) or a 0% APR loan rate.

The 2011 Nissan Armada is being offered with a $3500 rebate or 1.9% APR loan rate.

The 2011 Nissan Pathfinder, Sentra, and Frontier have a $2000 rebate or a 0% APR loan rate.

The 2011 Nissan Maxima, Altima, Versa, and Xterra have a $1500 rebate or 0% APR loan rate.

Additionally, 2011 Infiniti EX35, FX35, FX50, G25, and G37 are being offered with a very low 0.9% APR loan rate.

All the current Nissan and Infiniti incentives are good through March, ending on 3/31/2011.

As we’ve mentioned in a previous article, we don’t expect Nissan and Infiniti incentives to continue in April and for months to come because of the recent damage and destruction to their manufacturing plants in Japan. If you are looking for a Nissan or Infiniti, now might be the best time to act.

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.

We’ll show you some of the best and cheapest car lease deals available now. The Honda deals expire on 5/2/2011 but the others are only good for March and end either on 4/4/2011 or 3/31/2011 depending on the car company.

Nearly all of the special leases require a down payment (cap cost reduction) as well as the first month’s payment and official fees. These up-front costs, all together, are called “cash due at signing.”  All are for 36 month terms and 12K miles per year except where noted.

Honda, however, offers their special leases two ways — one with the normal up-front costs, and another with $0 up-front (no first payment, no security fee, and no down payment, but you still have to pay official registration and tag fees).  Of course, your monthly payment is higher with the $0 up-front cash option but it doesn’t change the value of the deal. A good deal is still a good deal with or without a down payment.

Here are some of the cheap leases — under $190/month — we’ve found for March 2011 (and April for Honda):

2010 Honda Fit 4dr Hatchback (1.5L 4cyl 5A) – $139/month, $1999 due at signing 0r $190/month, $0 due at signing

2010 Honda Civic DX-VP 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl 5A) – $139/month, $1999 due at signing 0r $190/month, $0 due at signing

2011 Nissan Sentra 2.0 SR 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl CVT) – $139/month, $1999 due at signing

2011 Suzuki SX4 LE 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 6M) – $149/month, 39 months, $1999 due at signing

2011 Honda Civic LX 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl 5A) – $149/month, $1999 due at signing

2011 Honda Fit 4dr Hatchback (1.5L 4cyl 5A) – $159/month, $2499 due at signing

2011 Nissan Versa 1.8 S 4dr Hatchback (1.8L 4cyl 4A) – $159/month, 39 months, $1999 due at signing

2011 Subaru Impreza 2.5i 4dr Sedan AWD (2.5L 4cyl 5M) – $178/month,  42 months, $1177 due at signing

2011 Volkswagen Jetta S 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 5M) – $179/month,  39 months, $1999 due at signing

2011 Nissan Cube 1.8 S 4dr Wagon (1.8L 4cyl CVT) – $179/month, 39 months, $2499 due at signing

2011 Suzuki Kizashi S 4dr Sedan (2.4L 4cyl 6M) – $189/month, 39 months,  $2531 due at signing

2011 Mazda MAZDA3 i Sport 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 5A) – $189/month,  $1783 due at signing

2011 Mitsubishi Lancer ES 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl CVT) – $189/month, $2688 due at signing

These deals are all rated “Excellent” by LeaseGuide.com. Many other lease deals being offered at this time are not shown here — many under $200/month. The car companies offering these other good deals are primarily Honda and Subaru, with BMW and Mercedes at the high end of the payment scale (although still good deals), and a few other companies in between. 

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Toyota

To make things more complicated, Toyota has two large independently-owned distributors that control sales and financing in 10 states — Southeast Toyota Distributors in Jacksonville controls all Toyota sales from dealers in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Gulf State Distributors in Houston handles all Toyota sales in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.

Each of these large distributors has its own captive finance company. This means when you buy or lease a car in one of the above states, you won’t be dealing with Toyota Finance, but with the finance company associated with the independent distributor. The reason we explain all this is that Toyota incentive programs may vary depending on the state in which you buy or lease your car. Some come directly from Toyota Finance, others come from the distributors’ finance companies — and might be different as to applicable models, styles, and program details.

The Toyota deals were discuss here on this web site are generally those that come directly from Toyota Finance.

Following are some of the best of the current Toyota deals for March 2011, ending on 4/4/2011. Notice that many of the best deals are on leftover 2010 models.

2011 Toyota Camry – $1000 rebate or 0% APR loan for up to 60 months — $189/month lease for 36 months on LE 4-door sedan automatic

2011 Toyota Corolla - $500 rebate or 1.9% APR loan for up to 60 months — $189/month lease for 36 months on LE 4-door sedan automatic or $209/month lease on S 4-door sedan automatic

2010 Toyota Corolla - $750 rebate or 0% APR loan for up to 60 months — $169/month lease for 36 months on LE 4-door sedan automatic

2010 Toyota Highlander Hybrid - $2000 rebate or 0.9% APR for up to 60 months

2010 Toyota Matrix – $1500 rebate or 0% APR for up to 60 months — $229/month lease for 36 months on Base model

2010 Toyota Prius – $750 rebate or 0.9% APR loan – $199/month lease for 36 months on II model

2011 Toyota Tundra – $2250 rebate or 0% APR for up to 60 months — $359/month lease for 36 months on Grade Double Cab model 

2010 Toyota Yaris – $1500 rebate or 0% APR for up to 60 months

2011 Toyota RAV4 – $750 rebate or 1.9% APR loan — $199/month lease for Base model w/4-speed auto

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

Mazda

Some of these deals are for 2010 model vehicles, some for 2011 models, and even some for 2012 models that are currently available. All deals end on March 31, 2011.

Here are examples of the best new Mazda deals:

2011 Mazda2 – 0% APR loan for up to 60 months, no payment for up to 90 days

2011 Mazda3 - 0% APR loan for up to 60 months, no payment for up to 90 days, $500 factory-to-dealer cash — $189/month special lease for 36 months (Mazda3 4-door) or $219/month, 36 months (Mazda3 hatchback)

2010 Mazda3 - 0% APR loan for up to 60 months, $750 rebate

2012 Mazda5 –  1.9% APR loan for up to 36 months — $267/month special lease for 36 months

2010 Mazda5 – 0% APR loan for up to 36 months, $500 rebate, $1500 factory-to-dealer cash

2011 Mazda6 – 0% APR loan for up to 60 months, no payment for up to 90 days, $500 factory-to-dealer cash — $239/month special lease for 36 months

2010 Mazda6 – 0% APR loan for up to 60 months, $750 rebate

2011 Tribute – 3.9% APR loan for up to 60 months, $1000 factory-to-dealer cash — $329/month special lease for 36 months

2010 Tribute – 0% APR loan for up to 36 months, $2500 factory-to-dealer cash

2011 CX-9 – 0% APR loan for up to 60 months, no payment for up to 90 days, $500 factory-to-dealer cash — $359/month special lease for 36 months

2010 CX-9 – 0% APR loan for up to 60 months, $750 rebate

2011 CX-7 – 0% APR loan for up to 60 months, no payment for up to 90 days, $500 rebate — $259/month special lease for 36 months

2011 CX-7 – 0% APR loan for up to 60 months, $750 rebate, $2000 factory-to-dealer cash

2011 MX-5 Miata – $269/month special lease for 36 months (MX-5 Sport) or $339/month (Touring Retractable Hardtop)

2010 MX-5 Miata – $3000 factory-to-dealer cash

2010 RX-8 – $3000 factory-to-dealer cash

These are excellent incentives from Mazda for March 2011, especially the lease deals. All the current lease deals are rated “Excellent” by LeaseGuide.com.

You can get free price quotes on any of the above Mazda vehicle from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any incentives that are currently available.

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We have recently reported that the company is only offering a smattering of incentives, not including rebates, but a healthy dose of zero percent loans and $2000 in factory-to-dealer cash on some models and styles. Actually, these are not bad incentives at all and maybe our expectations are just too high. See our article, Toyota Deals So Far, for more details.

Now, however, Toyota has added some very attractive lease deals on most models. The current deals are good until March 31.

[ UPDATE 4/7/2010: Toyota announced today that the March lease deals, including 2 years free maintenance, will be continued through April 2010. ]

The “catch” is that the special lease deals only apply to one style within each affected model line. For example, for the Camry model line, the special lease is only for one style, the Camry LE 4-door, 4-cylinder sedan. It’s your only choice. You can’t get the same deal on other Camry styles such as the 2-door coupe.

Here are examples of the best Toyota car lease deals for March 2010. All are for 36 month leases, 12K miles annually. All are for 2010 model vehicles, except where noted.

Toyota Prius (style II) – $169 a month, $2869 due at signing

Toyota Camry LE – $149 a month, $2859 due at signing

Toyota Matrix – $169 a month, $2934 due at signing

Toyota Venza – $259 a month, $3704 due at signing

Toyota RAV4 – $159 a month, $2624 due at signing

Toyota Highlander – $299 a month, $2944 due at signing

Toyota Sienna LE (2011 model) – $349 a month, $3024 due at signing

Toyota Tundra Double Cab – $299 a month, $3834 due at signing

Scion XB – $239 a month, $889 due at signing

Scion TC - $266 a month, $910 due at signing

Scion XD – $217 a month, $857 due at signing

The above are all great lease deals based on discounted prices, low money factor, and high lease-end residual. However, if you don’t understand leasing and aren’t sure leasing is for you, we strongly recommend that you learn how car leasing works at LeaseGuide.com before you make a decision.

These are genuinely good deals in which the lease price is set low, the lease-end residual set high, and the money factor (finance charge) set low. Combined, these factors make for a low monthly payment.

What is the catch?

There’s nearly always some catch when good lease deals are involved. In the case of Honda, the catch is that they only offer these special lease incentives on a select few cars. It’s usually only one style within each model line.

For example, for March, one of the best deals is on the 2010 Honda Civic LX 2-door coupe with automatic transmission. The deal is $169 a month lease payment, for 36 months, and a 12K miles per year (36K miles total), no security deposit, and $1699 due at signing. 

If you prefer to pay no money at signing, you can get the same deal at $210 a month.

You can a similar lease deal on the 2010 Honda Civic LX 4-door sedan for either $179 a month ($1799 due at signing) or $220 a month ($0 due at signing).

If you don’t understand car leasing, we strongly advise you to learn how it works and how to determine if it’s right for you. The best place for this information and expert advice is LeaseGuide.com.

Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available

You can get free price quotes on any Honda vehicles from

Good deals can also be created when manufacturers provide dealers with “secret” per-car factory-to-dealer cash. Even though dealers can use this money for advertising and sales promotions, much of it usually ends up back in customers’ pockets as price discounts.

For March 2010, we have identified where you can find the best deals:

Ford is leading the pack for March with excellent rebates and 0% APR loans on nearly every 2010 model in it’s line. With Ford’s rapidly growing reputation for quality products, good styling, and great reliability, it’s hard to go wrong. 

Chrysler is not far behind Ford, at least in terms of incentives. Rebates, on average, are a bit smaller, but 0% APR loans are available on nearly every model.

General Motors has very attractive rebates on all 2010 makes/models (except Cadillac) but fewer 0% APR loans, although very low interest rates are available on models that do not offer 0%. However, if you are interested in picking up a leftover 2009 model, you can get some incredible deals — rebates as high as $4000 ($6000 on Hummer H3 and H3T), and 0% APR on nearly every model.

Nissan is next, offering very good rebates, as high as $5000, on most 2010 models, and even higher rebates on some leftover 2009 models. Alternatively, Nissan is also offering 0% loan rates on nearly every 2010 model, as well as on 2009 models.

Hyundai/Kia comes next with some decent rebates in the $1000-$2500 range, depending on model and low interest loans (a few zero percent).  However, rebates become higher ($1500 – $5000) for certain 2009 models.

Mitsubishi is offering, for March, some modest rebates on every 2010 model except the Lancer Evolution, higher rebates on 2009 models, and 0% APR loan rates on nearly all models, 2010 and 2009.

Toyota, at this time, is offering limited rebates and 0% loans on most models. We expect to see more from Toyota later, possibly as late as next month.

Other manufacturers, such as Acura, BMW, Honda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, Infiniti, Mercedes, Subaru, Volkswagen, and Volvo, are offering only selected low-interest loan rates.

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.

However, in these times of slow sales for all, BMW manages to slip in some pretty good deals without being too obvious. The current deals — good for March and April 2010 — include various combinations of  ”Spring Drive Credit” (wouldn’t want to call it a rebate, would we), owner loyalty cash credits,  low-interest loans, and special lease deals.

In some cases, BMW makes it a little complicated with some models that have “secret” factory-to-dealer cash (they call it Build Out Dealer Cash) that can’t be combined with some special financing and lease deals. Furthermore, some deals are only available in selected regions of the country.

Here are some examples of current BMW new-car deals:

BMW 128I coupe – $1500 credit and 0.9% APR loan for 24 months (2.9% for 60 months), or $339 a month special lease

BMW 135i couple – $1500 credit and 0.9% APR loan for 24 months (2.9% for 60 months), or $399 a month special lease

BMW 335i sedan – $2500 credit and 0.9 APR loan for 24 months (3.9% for 60 months), or $419 a month special lease

BMW 335i coupe – $2500 credit and 0.9 APR loan for 24 months (3.9% for 60 months), or $439 a month special lease

BMW 550i sedan – $1500 owner loyalty cash, 2.9% APR loan for up to 60 months, $6000 factory-to-dealer cash, or $809 a month special lease

BMW 650i coupe –  2.9% APR loan rate for up to 60 months, $10,000 factory-to-dealer cash, or $1129 a month special lease

BMW Z4 sDrive351 convertible – $2500 credit and 2.9% APR loan for 24/60 months, or $679 a month special lease

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

The new Toyota deals, which end on March 31, 2010, although attractive, are probably not as aggressive as the incentives that the company is likely to offer as soon as they get past their current problems.

It could be that they will modify the current incentives, or simply wait until next month to announce new and better deals. We expect Toyota to maintain these incentives throughout 2010, with adjustments from month to month.

It’s certain that Toyota must create incentives to get customers to come back and buy again. Full-page ads in local and national newspapers, and feel-good TV commercials simply aren’t going to do it. For sure, Toyota will come back with better safety, better reliability, and better quality control than ever before, but it will require a herculean effort and big monetary incentives to get most customers’ to start buying again.

Most of the current (until March 31) incentives are in the form of 0% APR and low-interest loans, and factory-to-dealer cash that dealers can use to offer price discounts. However, customers can’t take both. It’s the price discounts or low-interest loans, but not both. Obviously missing from the current incentive program mix are direct factory-to-customer rebates.

[ UPDATE: Toyota has now added some very attractive leases for March. In fact, these are some of the best car leases available for any automobile make or model right now. We discuss them in a separate article here.]

[ UPDATE 4/7/2010: Toyota announced today that the March lease deals, including 2 years free maintenance,  will be continued through April 2010.]

For example, on the much maligned 2010 Toyota Camry, there is $2000 factory-to-dealer cash, or a 0% APR loan rate for 36/48/60 months. 

The 2010 Toyota Highlander SUV gets the same loan deal but only  $1500 factory-to-dealer cash.

The 2010 Toyota Tundra gets 0% APR only for 36 months (1.9% for 48/60 months) or $3000 factory-to-dealer cash.

The 2010 Toyota Yaris gets the same loan, but instead of factory-to-dealer cash, customers get a $1000 rebate, which of course can’t be combined with the low-interest rate deal.

The 2010 Toyota Camry Hybrid, FJ Cruiser, 4Runner, Land Cruiser, Prius, and Sequoia get nothing.

The possible Toyota incentive program “improvements” that could come at a later date are to 1) add customer rebates to most models/styles, including a “customer loyalty bonus”; 2) extend 0% APR loans to more models/styles; and 3) extend special lease deals to more models/styles. It is also possible we’ll see some kind of free extended warranty or maintenance to help alleviate customers’ concerns about reliability.

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

And our answer is always the same each month. We don’t know and neither does anyone else. Car manufacturers don’t announce new incentive plans until the old plans expire. This month, most plans expire on March 1. The manufacturers don’t even tell their dealers in advance.

It would certainly be nice if we knew next month’s plan before the old plan expired. Then we would know whether to take the current deal or wait for the better deal next month. But we don’t have that luxury. Manufacturers want it that way.

We expect that most new car deals and incentives will be announced during the week of March 1.

One of the unknown factors this month will be Toyota’s plans. As you may know, Toyota has had sales problems due to all the publicity surrounding a couple of serious defects and resulting recalls (see our article, Toyota Fire Sales Soon?). We can be sure that other manufacturers are going to try to take advantage of Toyota’s temporary problems and will offer some interesting incentives to try to lure buyers away from Toyota.

But as soon as they fix their problems, which could be soon, Toyota will begin offering incredible incentives to get those customers back and restore confidence in the brand. That, in turn, could start a snowball effect, in which the other manufacturers could then begin offering even better incentives. And so on, and so on.

So the next month or so could be very interesting for car buyers. March could be the month that car buyers dream about — or not. As we stated at the beginning of this article, nobody knows.