Worth it for a 2013 SV from Nissan Dealer?

Strongly considering a 2013 SV LEAF with the Quick Charge/LED package from a Nissan Dealer in FL. Car has 30k miles (a little high) but is CPO. Read on the forums that CPO does -not- cover battery degradation, which is my biggest concern here in FL. Dealer wants $10,900 for the car, which also according to the Carfax was sold at auction about 4 months ago (sitting without being driven that long?) before being CPO'd and the following service done as part of that process:

Pre-delivery inspection completed
Front wheel bearing(s)/hub(s) replaced
Shock absorber(s) replaced

A good deal? I can't wait the 2+ years for the Model 3 or afford the Model S and want to go electric sooner. Thanks in advance from a newbie.

I dont' know what cpo means
but I just checked craigslist atalnta and owner 2013 Nissan leafs are going for around $9900. so not that great of a deal if you ask me.

CPO = Certified Pre Owned. Usually means the car has gone through some sort of inspection process, and has a factory extended warranty. How much of an inspection and how much extra coverage you get will vary by manufacturer.

As already mentioned the CPO warranty does not cover battery degradation, which is 5 years/60k miles from original sale, and only if the car drops below 9 bars during that time.

I wonder what could have caused so much damage to wheels and suspension in only 30k miles.
Please read up on the forum what to look for in a used LEAF. I have seen photos of battery loss at 30k in 2013s. You didn't say how many miles a day to you plan on driving. On the face of it, a soso deal since values are dropping. See OrientExpress thread.

I agree on both fronts. Price should be closer to $10k even and the suspension/bearing replacement does make me nervous. Both could be deal-breakers. I will read up on the what to look for. Round trip to work daily is 44 miles. One brief question - how do you tell 'missing bars' if the dealer has not charged the battery to full capacity? In other words, SOC is the percentage and capacity is the number of bars on the right?

surfboard19 said:

One brief question - how do you tell 'missing bars' if the dealer has not charged the battery to full capacity? In other words, SOC is the percentage and capacity is the number of bars on the right?

Click to expand...

The battery capacity indication is the outer or right side set of bars. The adjacent left bars (SOC) always rise to 12 (2 red + 10 white) on 100% charge. The right side (Capacity) drops the first bar at 15% capacity loss and 6.25% for each following bar. This capacity indication does not go up unless the battery is changed, or a Nissan dealer just resets the indicator, something which is very rarely required. A dealer reset on an original battery can take 6-8 weeks of use to get back to normal. The only sure test is a non-Nissan OBDS tester such as a GID Meter, LeafDD, or a bluetooth transmitter with compatible Android or Apple phone and free software.

HighDesertDriver said:

surfboard19 said:

One brief question - how do you tell 'missing bars' if the dealer has not charged the battery to full capacity? In other words, SOC is the percentage and capacity is the number of bars on the right?

Click to expand...

The battery capacity indication is the outer or right side set of bars. The adjacent left bars (SOC) always rise to 12 (2 red + 10 white) on 100% charge. The right side (Capacity) drops the first bar at 15% capacity loss and 6.25% for each following bar. This capacity indication does not go up unless the battery is changed, or a Nissan dealer just resets the indicator, something which is very rarely required. A dealer reset on an original battery can take 6-8 weeks of use to get back to normal. The only sure test is a non-Nissan OBDS tester such as a GID Meter, LeafDD, or a bluetooth transmitter with compatible Android or Apple phone and free software.

Click to expand...

Here is the dashboard photo from the Dealer. I count 11 capacity bars on this car. Does that help?

Yes, that car has 11 bars. It could be nice solid 11, or it could be about to drop to 10. Only a LeafSpy reading will tell you actual capacity.

Thanks! I've found the instructions to install Leafspy (now for iOS) and have a wifi OBDII on the way. Will dealers/used car lots let you hook it up and can you point me to a thread on what the preferable GID and other numbers are to look for? I couldn't find a good 'what to look for in a used LEAF' thread using the search function.

There are several threads on this, but since I don't have leafSpy and I also lease, I don't really follow them. Hopefully someone else will post links. As for hooking up the link, I suggest you do just it casually, and say you are "checking for trouble codes." If they don't want that, ask to have their Techs do it for you. If they are still adamant, say that since some dealers reset the computer to falsely indicate 12 capacity bars, you will have to look elsewhere.

surfboard19 said:

HighDesertDriver said:

surfboard19 said:

One brief question - how do you tell 'missing bars' if the dealer has not charged the battery to full capacity? In other words, SOC is the percentage and capacity is the number of bars on the right?

Click to expand...

The battery capacity indication is the outer or right side set of bars. The adjacent left bars (SOC) always rise to 12 (2 red + 10 white) on 100% charge. The right side (Capacity) drops the first bar at 15% capacity loss and 6.25% for each following bar. This capacity indication does not go up unless the battery is changed, or a Nissan dealer just resets the indicator, something which is very rarely required. A dealer reset on an original battery can take 6-8 weeks of use to get back to normal. The only sure test is a non-Nissan OBDS tester such as a GID Meter, LeafDD, or a bluetooth transmitter with compatible Android or Apple phone and free software.

Click to expand...

Here is the dashboard photo from the Dealer. I count 11 capacity bars on this car. Does that help?

Click to expand...

The estimated miles, in this case 47 can change for the lower if you turn off eco and turn on the air conditioner or heater.
If I wanted to sell a car and make it look good, I would leave it in eco and turn off the climate control.

As said estimated range is garbage as depends on your driving habbits as well as environmental factors.

My 2013 has 36,000Kms on it and is at 65.5Ah still and doing great.

Yes, but I doubt this Leaf came from the frozen tundra, as it is already 1 Bar down, meaning it has far worse than the average 10% loss we are seeing on most other 2013 Leafs. It either came from a VERY hot state, the owner QC'd daily, they drove at high speeds daily, or all of the above. Where did the Carfax say the car originated? I would definitely run LeafSpy on this car. How fast do you need to drive for that 44 mile roundtrip commute? Can you deal with the diminishing range as the degradation gets worse? I'm now at 69% capacity, and with the A/C here in south Florida I am lucky to get 50 miles some days.

keydiver said:

Yes, but I doubt this Leaf came from the frozen tundra, as it is already 1 Bar down, meaning it has far worse than the average 10% loss we are seeing on most other 2013 Leafs. It either came from a VERY hot state, the owner QC'd daily, they drove at high speeds daily, or all of the above. Where did the Carfax say the car originated? I would definitely run LeafSpy on this car. How fast do you need to drive for that 44 mile roundtrip commute? Can you deal with the diminishing range as the degradation gets worse? I'm now at 69% capacity, and with the A/C here in south Florida I am lucky to get 50 miles some days.

Click to expand...

I agree on the one bar down being more degradation that normal. Car was bought in Tallahassee, FL and serviced there as well, auctioned in Orlando and then made it's way to South FL. My work commute is highway miles approx. 65-70 mph. I would likely use A/C a majority of the time. I do have charging at work but I am charged for it (Blink Network).

Can you tell me an acceptable GID rating on Leafspy for a 2013?

I'm wondering the same question as you. I have a 2013 SV with 20,000 that I just purchased and it also has one bar missing. However the car has 238 GIBs. What does this number mean for the health of the battery?


"I agree on the one bar down being more degradation that normal. Car was bought in Tallahassee, FL and serviced there as well, auctioned in Orlando and then made it's way to South FL. My work commute is highway miles approx. 65-70 mph. I would likely use A/C a majority of the time. I do have charging at work but I am charged for it (Blink Network).

Can you tell me an acceptable GID rating on Leafspy for a 2013?"