How irritating buying a used Leaf online.

I've been looking at used Leafs on places like cars.com and the constant headache is figuring out whether the Leaf has a DC fast charge port or not. 99% of the online dealers will provide 100 photos of the car, but not one photo of the charge port(s). If I send an email and ask them they usually have no idea what I'm talking about and either won't give me a straight answer, or will just lie and say that it does even though I'm pretty sure they don't really even know. So I've gotten to where I ask for a photo of the charge door, but they'll almost never bother to get one. Or I'll ask them if they can just look under the charge door and tell me how many ports it has. They usually won't bother to do that either.

The last dealer I just dealt with, besides completely blowing off my question, also added this little gem to their sales pitch:

"an added value of $243.90 to this vehicle: Completed the North Carolina Safety/Emissions Inspection, New oil and filter, New windshield wiper blades and New air filter."

They seriously have no clue. It is saddening and maddening at the same time.

How long is your commute needs? You might want my SL and I'm willing to negotiate....

braineo said:

How long is your commute needs? You might want my SL and I'm willing to negotiate....

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I'm just feeling around for prices at the moment. I already have a Leaf and a Volt. I just paid my last payment on the Volt and it has to go back in about a month. (I won't pay the $29,000 residual they are asking for) and so I'm just looking for the cheapest plug-in car possible (except an i-Miev) to hold me over until the 2nd Gen Volt is on the market.

My commute is 4 miles one direction and I have free L2 at work. So I'd say any EV will work for me

Here's one in Plano listed for $10,900 that might be worth looking at:
http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/618309611/overview/

It's the SL, so it might have the QC port. Can you tell by looking at the "time to charge" screen? They have a picture of that in their listing. It also appears to be down to 9 bars, so it might qualify for a new battery soon.

billg said:

Here's one in Plano listed for $10,900 that might be worth looking at:
http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/618309611/overview/

It's the SL, so it might have the QC port. Can you tell by looking at the "time to charge" screen? They have a picture of that in their listing. It also appears to be down to 9 bars, so it might qualify for a new battery soon.

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I can't tell. But I just sent them an email.. we'll see if they are any smarter than the others I've contacted. At least being in Plano I could drive over there and look at it myself.

adric22 said:

billg said:

Here's one in Plano listed for $10,900 that might be worth looking at:
http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/618309611/overview/

It's the SL, so it might have the QC port. Can you tell by looking at the "time to charge" screen? They have a picture of that in their listing. It also appears to be down to 9 bars, so it might qualify for a new battery soon.

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I can't tell. But I just sent them an email.. we'll see if they are any smarter than the others I've contacted. At least being in Plano I could drive over there and look at it myself.

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I'd suggest this - take leafspy and OBDII adapter with you and you can see battery level at the same time. If you know your parameters to buy, you could make an offer after inspection... may well be a good deal at under 11K. If they are desperate to dump it maybe they would take under $10K

Have any of you looking for high-quality used LEAFs tried contacting one of the west-coast high volume new LEAF dealers and asking about their trade-ins/lease returns?

I am fairly satisfied with my LEAF (would prefer a faster L2, though) but considered trading it in last December, since the combination of Nissan/State/Federal incentives made buying a 2015 (almost) irresistible.

Several dealers have pretty good reputations for their new LEAF sales practices, and I would probably feel a lot better buying sight-unseen from one of them, than from most on-line used car dealers.

On the other hand, they know what a DC port is, and why it increases resale value.

adric22 said:

I've been looking at used Leafs on places like cars.com and the constant headache is figuring out whether the Leaf has a DC fast charge port or not. ...It is saddening and maddening at the same time.

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At least one buyer on this forum has reported getting their DC port for free, after the oblivious seller didn't list it in the ad...

adric22 said:

I've been looking at used Leafs on places like cars.com and the constant headache is figuring out whether the Leaf has a DC fast charge port or not. 99% of the online dealers will provide 100 photos of the car, but not one photo of the charge port(s). If I send an email and ask them they usually have no idea what I'm talking about and either won't give me a straight answer, or will just lie and say that it does even though I'm pretty sure they don't really even know.

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I feel your pain, had the same issue getting my second Leaf. The easiest way is to look for the "engine" pictures and check for two orange cables in the shot. Those go to the DC quick charge port, makes it easy to figure out if the car has the charge upgrade or not.

Here is an example, go to this car (since you mentioned cars.com http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/629713144/overview/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; )

Now look at the "engine" picture here http://images.cars.com/supersized/DMI/1037/EC334403/21.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Look down where you see the orange cables, look close enough, you'll see those side-by-side two smaller orange cables. Those are for the DC quick charge. If you see those, you know it has the QC port (and the 6.6kW upgrade also if it is a 2013 or later model).

Hope that helps, it sure helped me when I figured it out

adric22 said:

99% of the online dealers will provide 100 photos of the car, but not one photo of the charge port(s).

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I experienced the same frustrations just this week. It's a major component of the car and they don't list it as a feature or show a picture of it! Another annoyance is trying to find a snapshot of the battery capacity bars.

edatoakrun said:

Have any of you looking for high-quality used LEAFs tried contacting one of the west-coast high volume new LEAF dealers and asking about their trade-ins/lease returns?

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There is an MNL member here who is a used EV dealer in Oregon who buys off-lease and other used Leafs from the PNW with low battery degradation. IIRC he said they offer shipping. I forget the username but hopefully he or she will see this thread and chime in.

EDIT: found the username, it's PlattAuto and the guy's name is Greg Platt. Here's his thread:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=18900" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

EDIT2: looks like the OP is already aware of this vendor.

Look down where you see the orange cables, look close enough, you'll see those side-by-side two smaller orange cables. Those are for the DC quick charge. If you see those, you know it has the QC port (and the 6.6kW upgrade also if it is a 2013 or later model).

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I'm guessing you mean the two red cables that are visible at the bottom front of the motor compartment, and are also visible running through the nose?

knightmb said:

I feel your pain, had the same issue getting my second Leaf. The easiest way is to look for the "engine" pictures and check for two orange cables in the shot. Those go to the DC quick charge port, makes it easy to figure out if the car has the charge upgrade or not.

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That is brilliant. I feel bad for not thinking of that myself. Almost all dealers will show a picture of the engine bay. So that's what I'll look for from now on! I'll have to investigate what a 2011-2012 looks like with quick charge under the hood. The pictures you showed were of a 2013 or newer.

adric22 said:

knightmb said:

I feel your pain, had the same issue getting my second Leaf. The easiest way is to look for the "engine" pictures and check for two orange cables in the shot. Those go to the DC quick charge port, makes it easy to figure out if the car has the charge upgrade or not.

Click to expand...

That is brilliant. I feel bad for not thinking of that myself. Almost all dealers will show a picture of the engine bay. So that's what I'll look for from now on! I'll have to investigate what a 2011-2012 looks like with quick charge under the hood. The pictures you showed were of a 2013 or newer.

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Same thing to look for on the 2011-2012, just a little tougher to see sometimes.
http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/626560911/overview/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Link to image with engine shot for listing above, http://images.cars.com/supersized/DMI/2160372/6051A/10.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not everyone gives a good picture of the engine, but you can also go by trim type. At least if it is a SL model, they should all have the DC quick charge package no matter the model year.

knightmb said:

Not everyone gives a good picture of the engine, but you can also go by trim type. At least if it is a SL model, they should all have the DC quick charge package no matter the model year.

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Not true. I used to have a 2011 SL model and it did not have quick charge.

adric22 said:

knightmb said:

Not everyone gives a good picture of the engine, but you can also go by trim type. At least if it is a SL model, they should all have the DC quick charge package no matter the model year.

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Not true. I used to have a 2011 SL model and it did not have quick charge.

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I have a 2011 and the ChADEMO port was an extra cost that was paid for by the Ecotality project.

LeftieBiker said:

Look down where you see the orange cables, look close enough, you'll see those side-by-side two smaller orange cables. Those are for the DC quick charge. If you see those, you know it has the QC port (and the 6.6kW upgrade also if it is a 2013 or later model).

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I'm guessing you mean the two red cables that are visible at the bottom front of the motor compartment, and are also visible running through the nose?

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No, they mean the Orange. All the high voltage (higher than 12 volt) wiring in the car is orange.

adric22 said:

knightmb said:

Not everyone gives a good picture of the engine, but you can also go by trim type. At least if it is a SL model, they should all have the DC quick charge package no matter the model year.

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Not true. I used to have a 2011 SL model and it did not have quick charge.

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What year did it become standard? I thought the SL was suppose to be the "everything" trim package?

knightmb said:

adric22 said:

knightmb said:

Not everyone gives a good picture of the engine, but you can also go by trim type. At least if it is a SL model, they should all have the DC quick charge package no matter the model year.

Click to expand...

Not true. I used to have a 2011 SL model and it did not have quick charge.

Click to expand...

What year did it become standard? I thought the SL was suppose to be the "everything" trim package?

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2011 (and, IIRC, 2012) The DC port was available only on the SL, as an additional option.

So if it's not an SL, no DC port.

If it is an SL, you need to check.

2012 Leaf SL's should all have QC. When I got my Leaf (albeit at the very end of the model year) Nissan's website was showing QC as being standard on the SL.

2012 SL was standard. I still have the window sticker and it is listed under the standard features.. Only thing listed under additional options is my floor mats for $170. Even my Nissan dealer still sends me coupons for free oil changes for my Leaf and stuff, so is not just used car dealers... I constantly joke with the service department about it afterwards cause they are always trying to hock me service specials that are of no use on the Leaf. Oh well.