It's time for a hassle-free shopping experience.

At Stephen Wade Nissan, we've made buying a car easier than ever. We can help you through the entire process and you'll never need to leave home. Need a quote? Give us a call at 888-671-6622.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Finally! The ALL NEW 2011 Nissan Quest is almost here!

 That's right!  The Nissan Quest is coming back into the automotive world with an all new 2011 model and here at Stephen Wade Nissan, we couldn't be more excited for it.  We've had so many people asking why they didn't make the Quest in 2010 and now we finally have a new one to offer! 

 As you can see, the 2011 Quest has been completely redesigned with a fresh new exterior.  It has a bold front grille and and a broad stance, giving a beautiful but strong look.


 We're digging the side profile.  The new window design provides optimum visibility.


 The 2011 Nissan Quest will also be available in several new colors like Black Amethyst (shown here).

 The DVD screen also gets an upgrade.  The new Quest has an available 11 inch screen.


The Quest continues to maintain the ultra-large captain's chairs up front, giving ultimate comfort for Mom and Dad :)  The dash also gets a sleek new redesign.


 Hate dealing with blind spots?  The new 2011 Quest has you covered!  Now available with a Blind Spot Warning System.  Wow.


 The Quest now has has quick release fold-flat 2nd and 3rd rows, making it ultra-convenient to late those seats down and load up some cargo.


 Located behind the 3rd row, the 2011 Quest also has a permanent rear storage well with a 60/40 lid.


Between the fold-flat seats and the storage well, the Quest offers a wide variety of seating configurations.


 The Quest continues it's legacy as one of the most comfortable minivans on the planet with plenty of leg room all around and large captain's chairs in the middle row.


Since one is never enough, the Quest continues with it's available double sunroof.

Forgot your pressure gauge?  Don't worry!  The Quest now has a new feature that actually sounds a friendly horn beep as soon as you've reached the appropriate tire pressure.  What will they think of next?

Follow the blog for more information regarding pricing and availability on the new 2011 Nissan Quest.  Have questions?  Please don't hesitate to contact our Nissan Quest expert - Matt Muir at (888) 671-6622.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

What happens when we don't sell cars?

Spanish speaking salesman extraordinairre Salvador Ibarra decided to make a bet with our sales manager, Gio Mazur. He bet that he could sell two cars by Tuesday or he would shave his head. Well, he didn't make it - so enjoy the video :)

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Hey Business Owners! Your next vehicle purchase may be tax deductible:

Source:  smSmallBiz.com - SmartMoney's Small Business website.  Click Here to go to the original article


Tax-Deductible Business Vehicles

January 18, 2005
Updated on February 3, 2010.
HEY SMALL-BUSINESS OWNERS: How'd you like to use pretax dollars to buy an SUV or pickup?
Many small businesses can instantly deduct up to $250,000 worth of new and preowned equipment in the year it's first placed in service. The name of this generous break is the Section 179 depreciation deduction, and it can reduce both your federal income tax and self-employment tax bills. (You may get a state-tax deduction too.) Without it, you'd have to depreciate most business equipment gradually over five to seven years.
New and preowned "heavy" SUVs, pickups, and vans used more than 50% for business purposes are eligible for the Section 179 write-off (as is, for that matter, most other small-business equipment, such as computers (plus software) and home-office furniture or software).

Reduced Writeoff for Heavy SUVs

Congress imposed a reduced $25,000 limit on Section 179 deductions for heavy SUVs. Not to worry! The idea of buying a heavy SUV still works quite well. Why? Because the tax law allows you to claim the $25,000 Section 179 writeoff plus the "regular" first-year depreciation writeoff. For example, say you spend $60,000 in 2010 to buy a new Cadillac Escalade that is used 100% in your business. You can generally claim at least the following first-year deductions on your business's 2010 federal return: the $25,000 Section 179 writeoff plus $7,000 worth of regular depreciation [20% x ($60,000 - $25,000)]. So your first-year depreciation deductions add up to $32,000, or about 53% of the new Escalade's cost. This is a far better deal than if you spent the same $60,000 on a new BMW used 100% for business (in that case, your first-year depreciation writeoff would be limited to about $3,000 under the so-called luxury auto depreciation limitations).

Heavy Non-SUVs Still Generate Oversized Tax Savings

The full Section 179 deduction ($250,000 for tax years beginning in 2009; probably the same for 2010) is still available for heavy business vehicles that are not considered to be SUVs under the tax law. Both new and used vehicles can qualify for this important exception. Non-SUVs include:
  • Vehicles with a cargo area of at least six feet in interior length that's not easily accessible directly from the passenger compartment. For example, many pickups with full-sized beds will fit this description. Beware: some "quad cab" and "extended cab" pickups may have cargo beds that are too short to qualify.
  • Vehicles designed to seat more than nine passengers behind the driver's seat. For example, many hotel shuttle vans will fit this description.
  • Vehicles with: (1) a fully enclosed driver's compartment and cargo area, (2) no seating behind the driver's seat, and (3) no body section protruding more than 30 inches ahead of the leading edge of the windshield. This sounds weird, but many delivery vans will meet this description.
Bottom Line: Heavy vehicles that fall under these three exceptions remain eligible for the full Section 179 writeoff ($250,000 for tax years beginning in 2009). That means you can probably deduct the full business portion of your heavy non-SUV's cost in Year One. Sweet!
The catch? Only that your newly acquired vehicle must be used more than 50% of the time for business purposes. But as I'll explain below, setting up a business office in your home can give you a big leg up in meeting this requirement. Before we get to that key point, however, here's a little more background so you'll understand how the Section 179 break works in this context.

First, Pick Out a Suitably Heavy Machine

The Section 179 deduction is available only when your SUV, pickup or van has a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) above 6,000 pounds. (First-year depreciation deductions for lighter vehicles are subject to much skimpier limits.) Fortunately, it's very easy to find attractive vehicles with GVWRs above the magic 6,000-pound figure. Most machines that look big enough to qualify do qualify. Examples include the Chevy Tahoe and Dodge Ram pickups. You can verify a vehicle's GVWR by checking the label on the inside edge of the driver's door.

Then, Buy It (Don't Lease It)

Here's another very important point: Leasing a heavy SUV, pickup or van will disqualify you from claiming the generous first-year Section 179 deduction. Instead, you'd only be able to deduct your lease payments as you make them. For this reason, you should generally buy rather than lease heavy SUVs, pickups and vans that will be used over 50% for business. The fact that you may finance some or all of the vehicle's purchase price won't affect your Section 179 deduction in the least.

Next, Play the Home-Office Angle

As mentioned above, the lucrative Section 179 write-off is available only when you use your heavy SUV, pickup or van over 50% for business. Your business-use percentage is based on your business and personal mileage.
Unfortunately, this over-50% business-use test can be difficult to pass. You're much more likely to clear the hurdle if you can also claim a principal place of your business is an office located in your home. Why? Because then all the commuting mileage from your home office to various temporary work locations (client sites, etc.) will be considered business mileage. Ditto for commuting mileage between your home office and any other regular place of business — such as another office you keep in the city. (Frustratingly, if you only have an office outside your home, your drives between home and office won't count as business mileage.) You can also treat all the mileage between your other regular place of business (that office in the city) and your various temporary work locations (client sites, etc.) as additional business mileage. Source: IRS Revenue Ruling 99-7.
More business mileage also means a bigger first-year Section 179 deduction. For example, a $60,000 heavy non-SUV used 100% business means a $60,000 first-year write-off (100% x $60,000 = $60,000). In contrast, 70% business use cuts your deduction down to $42,000 (70% x $60,000 = $42,000).
Last but not least, your home-office deduction counts as a business write-off as well. As such, it reduces your federal income-tax and self-employment-tax bills. And as if that's not enough, you'll probably also get a state-income-tax write-off.
All that — plus the option of showing up for work in your pajamas. You just can't beat it.

Making Your Home Office a Principal Place of Business

So how do you make your home office a principal place of business if you haven't done so already? The tax law gives the self-employed types (sole proprietor, partner or LLC member) two ways to qualify:
1st Way: You conduct most of your income-earning activities in the home office.
2nd Way: You conduct your administrative and management functions in the home office. However, to take advantage of this taxpayer-friendly qualification rule, you can't make substantial use of any other fixed location (like that other office downtown) for your administrative and management chores.
For either qualification rule you must use your home-office space regularly and exclusivelyfor business purposes during the year in question. Regularly means often and continuously, as opposed to occasionally. Exclusively means no personal use at any time during the year. (Granted, if you occasionally use the TV in your home office to catch the scores of your favorite sports team, the IRS is obviously never going to be the wiser — but you do need to take these rules seriously.)
So if you don't already have a home office dedicated to your small business, you may have to wait until next year to set one up and buy your heavy SUV, pickup or van. No problem. That gives you plenty of time to shop around for just the right vehicle.
Beware of the Taxable Income Limitation 

A taxpayer's annual Section 179 deduction can't exceed that year's aggregate net business taxable income from all sources (calculated before the Section 179 writeoff). With the current huge Section 179 allowance ($250,000 for tax years beginning in 2009; probably the same for 2010), this rule will now affect many more taxpayers than ever before. 

The good news: When you conduct your business as a sole proprietorship — or as a single-member LLC treated as such for federal tax purposes — you're allowed to count any salary, wages, and tips that you may earn as an employee as additional net business taxable income. If you're married and file jointly, you can also count your spouse's earnings from outside employment as well as any net self-employment income from business activities in which he or she actively participates. These taxpayer-friendly loopholes greatly reduce the odds that you'll be adversely affected by the net business income limitation. 

If, however, you run your shop as a partnership, multimember LLC, or S corporation, please consult your tax pro about how to take full advantage of the expanded Section 179 write-off. Why? Because the Section 179 deduction maximum and the net business income limitation apply at both the entity level and at your personal level. This means some careful planning may be required in order for you to collect the expected tax savings from your heavy SUV, pickup, or van.
Stricter Rules Apply To Corporate-Owned Vehicles 

When the heavy SUV, pickup, or van is owned by your C or S corporation, it must be used over 50% for actual corporate business activities (based on mileage) to qualify for the Section 179 writeoff. Unfortunately, personal use by an employee who is also a more-than-5% shareholder (this means you) doesn't count as corporate business use for this purpose, even though the personal-use value is properly reported as additional taxable compensation on your Form W-2. The same restriction holds true for other corporate employees who are related to a more-than-5% shareholder. When the over-50% business-use test is failed, your corporation must depreciate the vehicle using the straight-line method, which means it will take six tax years to fully depreciate the darned thing. That takes a lot of the air out of this idea. The corporate-owned vehicle situation also creates another complication: a shareholder-employee (like you) can have a principal-place-of-business office in the home only when the arrangement is for the convenience of the employer (your corporation). For these reasons, the heavy SUV/home office combo doesn't work as easily in the corporate scenario. But don't give up hope. Consult your tax pro about this scheme.

Thursday, October 07, 2010

Nissan Juke Reservations Available!

Hey, we've got some great news! We now have 6 Jukes scheduled to arrive at Stephen Wade Nissan before the end of the year! If you're not familiar with the Nissan Juke, it's a sporty new crossover by Nissan. They'll have a peppy turbo motor and some really neat design aspects. You can find more information by visiting Nissan's Juke web page ----> HERE.

Now, for the good stuff: We also have just received Nissan Juke official pricing. We've had the Jukes on order for a little while, but haven't known what they would cost. Now we do :) Two of the Jukes have already been reserved by very happy customers, but as of now there are still 4 available. Here are the details on the Nissan Jukes available for preorder:


2011 Nissan Juke S Front Wheel Drive
CVT Transmission
Exterior color: Gun Metallic
Interior color: Black
Options: Carpeted floor mats, Illuminated kick plates, Splash Guards
MSRP: $20,280
Scheduled Arrival: Week of 10/29/10




2011 Nissan Juke S All Wheel Drive
CVT Transmission
Exterior color: White Pearl
Interior color: Black
Options: Carpeted floor mats, Illuminated kick plates, Splash guards
MSRP: $21,780
Scheduled Arrival: Week of 10/15/10




2011 Nissan Juke S All Wheel Drive
CVT Transmission
Exterior color: Sapphire Black
Interior color: Black
Options: Carpeted floor mats, Illuminated kick plates, Splash guards, Vehicle alarm
MSRP: $21,900
Scheduled Arrival: Week of 11/12/10



2011 Nissan Juke SV All Wheel Drive
CVT Transmission
Exterior color: Cayenne Red
Interior color: Black/Red
Options: Carpeted floor mats, Splash guards
MSRP: $23,200
Scheduled Arrival: Month of 12/10




As we mentioned above, these vehicles are available for reservation.  To reserve yours today, or for any questions please call JOSH MANWARING @ (801) 380-0615.  

Friday, July 02, 2010

It's Back! The RED WHITE & BLUE SALE!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

New Nissans AT INVOICE!

We're overstocked and need to blow out some cars! Come on in to Stephen Nissan today and purchase a vehicle AT INVOICE less applicable rebates! This is crazy! You've gotta get in here. Call Matt Muir for details at (435) 705-9243.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Nissan LEAF Reservations Available NOW!

We just had to share this new Nissan LEAF commercial with you. Why? Because it's just plain cool. Around here, we are rediculously excited for the release of the LEAF. Why? Because it really is the very first 100% electric vehicle available to the general public.
Here's the really exciting part:
You can reserve yours today! But you'll want to hurry. With over 6,600 reservations in the first few days, these spots won't last long.
Here's how to reserve your new LEAF today:
1) CLICK HERE to visit the official Nissan LEAF website
2) Find out if the LEAF is right for you and your driving habits.
3) Click "Reserve your LEAF", fill out the information and pay your $99 reservation fee.
What happens next?
1) You will be contacted by a certified LEAF representative from our dealership in August to dicuss financing and pricing options.
2) Upon agreement, your new Nissan LEAF will arrive late this year!
Now, enjoy the video:

For further questions regarding the Nissan LEAF and reservation process, feel free to Contact Matt Muir at:
Call or Text: (435) 705-9243
Email: mattm@stephenwade.com

Friday, February 19, 2010

Get HUGE Deals on Small Cars!



Thursday, February 04, 2010

Why Nissan Now? Technology.....

Accelerator Pedal Assembly
• The Nissan accelerator pedal assembly uses an enclosed housing which is not as susceptible to the effects of humidity.
• The friction pad in the Nissan accelerator pedal assembly, which generates pedal feedback, is made of a different material which is not as affected by moisture. Therefore our assembly cannot have the same issue that has been mentioned in the media as apparently causing problems in the vehicles involved in the recall.
• Nissan vehicles also have an electronic throttle-control system that recognizes when the brake and accelerator are depressed at the same time and automatically reduces engine power under these circumstances.

Key Start/Stop Button:
• Nissan’s Intelligent-Key system can recognize when the driver intends to turn off the engine in conditions other than Park.
• In order to turn off a Nissan vehicle equipped with Intelligent-Key, drivers may either:
• Push the Start/Stop button three times consecutively
• Press and hold the Start/Stop button for more than two seconds
Note: The engine may be turned off while the transmission is in any position, however we don’t recommend turning off the engine while the vehicle is moving. If the engine is turned off, power assist for steering and braking will be lost and it will be more difficult to steer and slow the vehicle.

Floor mats: Floor-mat design and retention methods help keep the mats in the proper place.
• The design provides adequate clearance between the mat and the accelerator pedal.
• Floor mats have nibs on the back which help prevent properly positioned floor mats from sliding on the vehicle’s carpet.
• Floor mats are specifically designed for each vehicle model to help mitigate possible interference with the pedals.

Awards and Accolades 2009/2010 Models

J.D. Power and Associates
2009 Altima: Highest Ranked Midsize Car in Initial Quality
2009 370Z: Highest Ranked Compact Premium Sporty Car in Initial Quality

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Highest Rating – 5 Stars
2009 Quest: Front and Side impact crash safety 2010 Sentra: Front impact crash safety
2010 Maxima: Front and Side impact crash safety 2010 Altima: Front impact crash safety
2010 Rogue: Side impact crash safety 2010 Murano: Side impact crash safety
2010 Xterra: Side impact crash safety

Consumers Digest Best Buy Award
2009 Altima: Consumer Digests Best Buy Award Winner – Family Cars
2010 Versa: Consumer Digest Automotive Best Buy Award
2010 Rogue: Consumer Digest Automotive Best Buy Award

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
2009 Quest: Top Safety Pick by IIHS for Front and Side Impacts
2010 Versa: Top Safety Pick by IIHS for Side and Rear Impacts
2010 Cube: Top Safety Pick by IIHS for Front, Rear and Side Impacts
2010 Murano: Top Safety Pick by IIHS

For more technical information, please refer to the Nissan Consumer Affairs at 1-800-NISSAN-1 (1-800-647-7261)

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Nissan's electric Leaf goes on tour

Source: http://www.sfgate.com/

Nissan's all-electric car, the compact Leaf hatchback, is making its first U.S. tour as the Japanese automaker drums up interest for the vehicle before it officially goes on sale in December in a few states — including Texas.
Nationwide rollout of the vehicle will come in 2012, but other states will be added along the way as charging infrastructure is installed, Nissan said.
The automaker already has had discussions with Reliant Energy in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, as well as with the electric utilities in Houston and Austin, and will be meeting with CPS officials Feb. 3 in San Antonio, said Mark Perry, Nissan North America's vice president for product planning.
The Leaf's nationwide tour, which began in Los Angeles in early November, will include just one stop in Texas, Feb. 5-6 in Houston.
I caught up with the Leaf this week at Nissan's Americas headquarters near Nashville, Tenn., where I got to see and drive the vehicle.
It's a four-door model similar in size and shape to Nissan's compact “C-platform” car, which is sold as the Versa in the United States. But Perry said the car is slightly larger and roomier than the Versa, with some of that extra interior space made available because the car has a flat floor not possible in a gasoline-engine vehicle.
The car comfortably seats five people and can go more than 100 miles between charges, a range designed to satisfy “real-world consumer requirements,” Perry said, noting that most Americans drive an average of 40 miles a day.
For those who must drive farther than 100 miles, Nissan is working with various government agencies, electric-power providers and businesses to set up charging stations in a variety of settings, including fast-food restaurants along the interstate-highway system.
One of those is already in place, Perry said — at a McDonald's restaurant in Cary, N.C. Nissan didn't set that one up, though – it was done by the restaurant's franchisee, who wanted to be among the first businesses in his area to accommodate electric cars.
Recharging at commercial stations such as those along the interstates could take as little as 25 minutes, which would work well in conjunction with fast-food restaurants as the typical road-trip stop at such a restaurant lasts about 20 minutes, Perry said. The chargers for the Leaf will be compatible with other electric vehicles being readied for the U.S. market, including plug-in hybrids from Toyota and General Motors, such as the Chevrolet Volt.
Most recharging of the Leaf will be done overnight in owners' garages, Perry said, which will take just eight hours if the battery is nearly exhausted. That's based on using a 220-volt, 30-amp charger that Leaf buyers will need to purchase and have installed by a licensed electrician.
The car also will have an onboard charger for emergencies that can be plugged into a standard 110-volt household electrical outlet. With a discharged battery, the recharging time would be about 15 hours, Perry said.
While no prices have been announced yet for the home chargers, they could cost up to $1,500 when the expense of installing 220-volt service is included, he said. But a federal tax credit of up to $2,000 is available for home-charging stations, and up to $50,000 for business or public charging stations.
The Leaf drives like an ordinary car, with a brake and accelerator pedal, but it's extremely quiet, as there is no motor noise. And it has surprisingly quick acceleration, giving it the feel of a car with a V-6 gasoline engine.
Top speed will be about 90 mph, although I wasn't able to go anywhere near that fast on Nissan's closed test loop at its headquarters building in Franklin, Tenn.
The car has no transmission — power from the electric motor goes straight to the drive wheels — so there are no gear changes. It has very smooth acceleration from start to highway speed, and 100 percent of the available torque is present immediately.
While some might compare the driving experience to that of a golf cart, Nissan says the Leaf is “no golf cart; it's the real thing.” It's designed to perform just like any other highway-capable vehicle, with the only compromise being the limited range provided by the lithium-ion battery.
The battery is installed under the rear floor of the vehicle, where it is as protected from impact as possible in the event of a traffic accident.
Under the hood is the electric motor, and on the front of the hood is the charging port. A flap is lifted up to open the port, where the cord from the charger is plugged into the car.
With its hatchback configuration, the Leaf has plenty of cargo space, which can be expanded by folding down the rear seatback if necessary.
No price has been announced yet for the Leaf, but Perry said Nissan's intention is to make it a mass-market vehicle, with a price similar to that of a typical compact family sedan in the low- to mid-price range. That would seem to indicate a price beginning under $20,000.
A $7,500 federal tax credit will be available for U.S. Leaf buyers, but Nissan hasn't said yet whether the affordable price it's promising will be calculated before or after the tax credit is applied.
The five-passenger gasoline-electric Toyota Prius hybrid starts just under $23,000, and the new Honda Insight hybrid is just under $21,000. But they come with a gasoline engine along with the battery-operated electric motor. The gas engine actually does the bulk of the driving and keeps the battery charged.
While the Leaf's 100-mile range isn't nearly as far as automakers had been hoping for with advances in battery design, it's a vast improvement over the 40-mile range of earlier electric vehicles using lead-acid or nickel-metal-hydride battery packs, such as those now found in vehicles such as the Prius and Insight.
The Leaf's battery is designed to have a useful life of 10 years, but that doesn't mean it will stop working at the end of that period; instead, it will be capable of just 70 percent to 80 percent of full charge by that time, Perry said.
Already, about 35,000 people have registered on the Leaf Web site — www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car — to receive updates about the vehicle, he said.
In April, those who registered will be asked if they want to reserve one of the vehicles for purchase.
Initially, the Leaf will be imported from Japan. But Nissan plans to assemble the car at its Smyrna, Tenn., manufacturing plant beginning in late 2012, using batteries that will be made in a new facility on the same site — financed in part by a $1.6 billion loan from the U.S. government.
Construction will begin on the battery plant this spring, and it will open in mid-2012. When it is at full production, the battery plant will employ more than 1,000 people and produce about 200,000 battery packs a year, Perry said.
The Leaf will offer the equivalent of 357 mpg when comparing the use of electricity to what it would cost to power the same vehicle with gasoline, Nissan said.
The automotive columns of G. Chambers Williams III appear Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Drive. Contact him at (210) 250-3236; chambers@express-news.net. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/topdown/detail?entry_id=55862#ixzz0dSqvXh2k

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Utah Haiti Relief


The Wade Family Foundation, several other charitable foundations and concerned citizens in our local area have teamed up to help with relief in Haiti. Several members of the foundation are over there now volunteering with helping direct efforts to bring food and supplies to villages and orphanages. Please keep them in ......your thoughts and prayers during this time. We have oranized a website at www.UtahHaitiRelief.org where people can follow the daily updates of what is happining on the ground in Haiti as well as donte to the cause. Please take a look at the website when you get a chance!!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Nissan Plans Two Sub-$10,000 Cars for North America

Source: Automotive News

The idea of bringing a Nissan smaller than the Versa isn’t new, but corporate officials suggest there’s room for two sub-$10,000 Nissan subcompacts in North America.
Carlos Tavares, Nissan’s chairman for the Americas, told Automotive News that two models -- yet to receive names -- are destined for our market. Both models will ride on the new V-platform that will also underpin the forthcoming Micra.
V-cars built for North America will be assembled in Mexico, helping to keep costs low. We wouldn’t be surprised if either model largely resembles the base Versa (which stickers for $10,710, including destination), which sports manual windows, no air conditioning, and an optional radio.
Tavares, however, says it is still “too early to tell” the standard equipment for either V-car.
“The only thing we can tell you is that we will hold that price point,” he said.

Saturday, January 09, 2010

Nissan's Smiling Car Concept Turns Road Rage to Highway Happiness


Source:InventorSpot

Author:Steve Levenstein
Date: January 9th, 2010

Grinning grills may be about to make a comeback, and I don't mean those mile-wide chrome smiles formerly plastered across the snouts of Detroit's finned fifties freeway flyers. Nope, you won't find much chrome on Nissan's "Smiling Vehicle" concept but you WILL find much to smile about... in fact, you'll be smiling back.



The Nissan Motor Design Center and Hara Design Institute are displaying the prototype vehicle - actually a shrunken Nissan Cube - at the Tokyo Fiber '09 Senseware show. The car's body panels are covered in a soft & stretchy polyurethane elastomer fiber made by Asahi Kasei called ROICA. Not only does this allow the car to have flexible outer skin
(ideal for absorbing parking lot dings), it allows for the installation of animatronic hardware
hidden beneath the panels that can distort areas of the body by 500% to 900%. Even more importantly, the skin has "memory" and can snap right back to its original configuration. Check out this short video of the Smiling Car in action at the Senseware show:

Follow this link to watch a Youtube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYa2UZnn8j8

NDC and HDI are touting a number of applications
for ROICA that go beyond automotive use, including clothing (outerwear, innerwear and sportswear) and shoes, but by adding a mechanical smile to the Nissan's face they instantly create an empathetic bond with human onlookers. Smile at somebody and they'll usually smile back, and vice versa - try it! Now how would you feel if a car driving in your direction should suddenly flash a grin? According to Diginfo-TV's report, "Sounding a horn has negatives connotations, but if cars could smile a new method of communication while driving could evolve. This work considers the car as an extension of the driver’s character, and suggests that it might give rise to emotional exchanges." (via Technabob and Diginfo-TV)
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