After driving a Smart ED as a loaner car for a day, I'm strongly considering buying an EV very soon. Because I'm careful with my money and believe current EVs are prone to be quickly outdated due to the fast pace of technology advancements, I'm looking to buy a used Leaf instead of new. I'm looking at several 2013 or newer Leaf SV/SL with under 40K miles for about $8K-$9K.
Our driving habits:
My wife and I live in coastal southern California and we do a lot of local errands (less than 5 miles roundtrip), which makes my 01 TDI less favorable as it takes about 5 miles to get the car to normal operating temperature. My wife currently drives an 07 Lexus Rx400h and drives 44 miles each way to work (there are plenty of EV charging stations at her parking facility). The Leaf would be a supplementary car for our short distance needs; though if it works out for my wife, she may use the Leaf as a daily commuter car. She tends to drive average 42MPH in 60% slow and go driving/30% 70MPH open fwy/10% urban driving. We will keep the TDI for long distance driving or survival during the zombie apocalypse. The Leaf will be used in average 75 degree region, rarely seeing overnight temps below 40 degrees or daytime temps above 90.
The used Leaf candidates:
I've been browsing on the regional classifieds and found about 17 2013 Leaf SV/SL for under $9K with mileage ranging from 15K-44K. More than half of the owner history shows the cars were leased, and some were previously leased then purchased. Most are showing 9-12 bars of capacity on the dash and I understand Nissan's battery capacity warranty is good for 5yr/60K miles covering batteries that drop below the 9th bar.
The plan:
I plan on buying Leaf Spy to do my due diligence in evaluating a couple of Leafs. I'll probably buy a leaf with 9-capacity bars with the lowest mileage on the odometer with the strategy that I'll be covered by the warranty if it drops another bar or 2. I've noticed that some low mileage 9 bar Leafs have sat on dealer/auction lots for 1.5 months or longer. This strategy might backfire if I can't get a new battery pack or if there's something wrong with the car that causes more than average strain on any battery pack (I generally try to avoid lemons).
I will use my dryer's 240V outlet in the garage for charging (we only use the dryer twice a month), and I plan to install a roof-top solar array as 20kWh daily recharging will nearly triple our average electricity demand.
Does a Leaf sound like a good vehicle for us? I'm hoping to get at least 5 yrs/80K miles of low-cost ownership…at which time, I'm hoping a reasonably priced battery upgrade will be in the cards. Honestly, I'm a little apprehensive about buying my first car without a manual transmission, mechanical parking brake, or mechanical ignition (I'm a control-freak who likes fail-safes). Thanks in advance.
Our driving habits:
My wife and I live in coastal southern California and we do a lot of local errands (less than 5 miles roundtrip), which makes my 01 TDI less favorable as it takes about 5 miles to get the car to normal operating temperature. My wife currently drives an 07 Lexus Rx400h and drives 44 miles each way to work (there are plenty of EV charging stations at her parking facility). The Leaf would be a supplementary car for our short distance needs; though if it works out for my wife, she may use the Leaf as a daily commuter car. She tends to drive average 42MPH in 60% slow and go driving/30% 70MPH open fwy/10% urban driving. We will keep the TDI for long distance driving or survival during the zombie apocalypse. The Leaf will be used in average 75 degree region, rarely seeing overnight temps below 40 degrees or daytime temps above 90.
The used Leaf candidates:
I've been browsing on the regional classifieds and found about 17 2013 Leaf SV/SL for under $9K with mileage ranging from 15K-44K. More than half of the owner history shows the cars were leased, and some were previously leased then purchased. Most are showing 9-12 bars of capacity on the dash and I understand Nissan's battery capacity warranty is good for 5yr/60K miles covering batteries that drop below the 9th bar.
The plan:
I plan on buying Leaf Spy to do my due diligence in evaluating a couple of Leafs. I'll probably buy a leaf with 9-capacity bars with the lowest mileage on the odometer with the strategy that I'll be covered by the warranty if it drops another bar or 2. I've noticed that some low mileage 9 bar Leafs have sat on dealer/auction lots for 1.5 months or longer. This strategy might backfire if I can't get a new battery pack or if there's something wrong with the car that causes more than average strain on any battery pack (I generally try to avoid lemons).
I will use my dryer's 240V outlet in the garage for charging (we only use the dryer twice a month), and I plan to install a roof-top solar array as 20kWh daily recharging will nearly triple our average electricity demand.
Does a Leaf sound like a good vehicle for us? I'm hoping to get at least 5 yrs/80K miles of low-cost ownership…at which time, I'm hoping a reasonably priced battery upgrade will be in the cards. Honestly, I'm a little apprehensive about buying my first car without a manual transmission, mechanical parking brake, or mechanical ignition (I'm a control-freak who likes fail-safes). Thanks in advance.