Car dealerships have largely stayed open through the COVID-19 pandemic, on the theory that owners may urgently need a car fixed, or replaced, even while much of the economy is standing still. Essential workers need transportation. So dealerships have implemented masks, social distancing protocols, and enhanced cleaning procedures. Now, Nissan is going a step further, enabling car shoppers to complete most of the buying process from home.
The automaker’s new Nissan@Home program allows shoppers to search dealer inventory, book test drives, explore financing, get a firm price, and even take delivery of a new car without setting foot in the dealership.
For more shopping convenience, you can also compare any price offer to our dealer price quote when doing your homework.
Nissan ran a pilot project testing the system with seven dealerships over the summer and liked the results enough to make it available nationwide. Each individual dealership will have to enroll in the program and adopt some new procedures to make it work (such as arranging contactless test drives), so we expect to see it rolled out gradually over the next several months. Dealerships are not required to participate. But the automaker expects the program to reach most of its dealership network by the spring of 2021.
