Buying a 2012 Leaf SL with a new battery question

[LeftieBiker]

Considering that the car has spent most of its life in MN, and only has 20,000 miles, there is no way it has qualified for a new HV pack. The VIN is newer than my 2012, which now has >40,000 miles in Florida heat, and has just now finally qualified for a new pack. And, as you mentioned, the 54 miles on the GOM looks suspicious. It could be another case of a reset BMS.

I'm pretty sure it was the 12V battery that was replaced as others in this thread have discovered. Would replacing the 12V battery reset the BMS? Also if the BMS was reset wouldn't it reset to the default 82 miles of estimated range like when the car was new?

Yes, most likely. I think that either the Seller is counting on people misinterpreting the paperwork with the car, or once the OP misinterpreted it, is deciding not to correct the misconception.

 

[Evoforce]

I'm getting a flavor of a BMS reset and a 12V battery replacement. I wonder if there is anyone in the area with Leafspy that can help you.

 

[LeftieBiker]

Why are people finding the 54 mile range estimate suspicious?

EDIT: OK, I see. It's equally possible, though, that the low estimate is the result of aggressive driving by dealer staff, and/or leaving the climate control on with it parked. Still, you never know.

 

[Flyct]

In my opinion, this USED CAR dealer is a USED CAR DEALER playing with words

A) insinuating that the traction battery is new when all that was changed was the 12 volt battery
B) Nissan Corporate car? I had another dealer tell me this because it was lease buy back and titled to Nissan and auctioned off by Nissan

The only way I would trust this battery is to run LeafSpy on it.

 

[caffeinekid]

The "dealer" (from New Jersey no less) in question deals with manufacturer buybacks and lemon claims. They have sold several reconditioned Leafs on eBay over the last year or two that I have been following. As others have stated, $9500 is not really a very good deal either way. I have seen several MY 2012 SL here in Houston go for $9K with low miles. One of them (that I checked myself) was showing 2 bar degradation in the ad photos, but when I went to test drive the car it only had one. When I asked about the discrepancy, it turned out that they had it serviced at Nissan to replace the auxiliary battery, but Nissan had also performed the firmware update that adjusted for degradation. LeafSpy showed health at 75%.

Bottom line: To properly buy a Leaf, it takes quite a bit more research than most people realize. Personally, I wouldn't even touch an eBay Leaf unless it was local and I could perform an inspection myself. Also, CarFax cannot be trusted. Here is an example of that:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171963079938?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

In the link above, the car is in fact a 2011 SL, not an SV. It also has approximately $2500 (maybe more) worth of damage to the front end- to the point that the charge cover doesn't even close properly. Do you see an accident listed on the free CarFax report? No. Is it mentioned in the description that the vehicle has been wrecked? No. Imagine buying this and paying to have it shipped across the country thinking that it is a great contender for a soon-to-be-replaced-under-warranty-battery-Leaf, only to find that it has been damaged and pulls to the right. Also, seller shows 100% positive feedback. Looks great, right? Google the dealer and look at the Yelp reviews...and then keep looking some more.

And last I checked, price for 2011/2012 Leafs were in the $5000-$7000 range at auction. It makes $9500 look even that much more unattractive.

 

[rcm4453]

Oh wow thank you for all this great information! The more I read on here the more leery I am about going the used route. Mostly because the only local used Leafs are either priced too high or they are all missing 1 or 2 capacity bars already.

 

[cwerdna]

In my opinion, this USED CAR dealer is a USED CAR DEALER playing with words

A) insinuating that the traction battery is new when all that was changed was the 12 volt battery
...

The only way I would trust this battery is to run LeafSpy on it.

I searched the listing for batter and they don't (currently) say anything about the high voltage, HV nor traction battery being replaced. They talk about "BATTERY REPLACED", "BATTERY INSPECTION PERFORMED", "BATTERY INSPECTION COMPLETED AT LYNNES NISSAN", "BATTERY SYSTEM SERVICED AND TESTED", and "CORPORATE NISSAN WANTED TO PUT A BRAND NEW BATTERY ".

Whether you choose to interpret that as the 12 volt or the HV battery...

The work order I glanced at also didn't imply the HV battery was changed. Insinuate traction battery changed? Maybe.

And yes, I'd want to run Leaf Spy on it.