Buy a 2013-14 Leaf or 2012 with 9 bars?

I am looking for a used Leaf to buy. I was planning on looking for a 2013 or 14 with a good battery. But I've now found two 2012 Leafs with 9 bars that are $2000 cheaper. I called Nissan about one of them, and the in-service date is 11/12. Living in LA, the chances are very good that it'll lose it's 9th bar in the next 16 months, right? Then I'd get a brand new battery.

The main drawback I see is that I'd have a Leaf with a 3.3kw charger. They do both have Quick Charge ports. Other than the charger and the other features that it wouldn't have (B-mode, heat pump, etc), it seems like a better deal as long as the battery ends up qualifying for a warranty replacement. Am I overestimating the chances of that happening or missing something?

I would go with the 2012 and try to win the battery lottery. Yes, in LA you should have NO problem dropping that 4th bar. Just drive it like you stole it, keep it charged to 100%, and QC as much as possible through the summer. Again, to drive it more than 50 mi, especially at high speed and acceleration/deceleration, you will probably need to use the QC. Unless you plan to charge on public L2 stations routinely, the 6.6 KW charger is not necessary. The 3.8 KW charger is more than sufficient to fill the battery overnight or while at work for 8 hours.

Reddy said:

I would go with the 2012 and try to win the battery lottery. Yes, in LA you should have NO problem dropping that 4th bar. Just drive it like you stole it, keep it charged to 100%, and QC as much as possible through the summer. Again, to drive it more than 50 mi, especially at high speed and acceleration/deceleration, you will probably need to use the QC. Unless you plan to charge on public L2 stations routinely, the 6.6 KW charger is not necessary. The 3.8 KW charger is more than sufficient to fill the battery overnight or while at work for 8 hours.

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I very much agree!

Reddy said:

Unless you plan to charge on public L2 stations routinely, the 6.6 KW charger is not necessary. The 3.8 KW charger is more than sufficient to fill the battery overnight or while at work for 8 hours.

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No, I'd hope to mainly use QC when I'm out and charge at home the rest of the time. I'd suppose it'd only be an issue if I took it somewhere and then wanted to use it again that night. I don't know how often it'd come up, but that probably won't happen that often.

Evoforce said:

Reddy said:

I would go with the 2012 and try to win the battery lottery. Yes, in LA you should have NO problem dropping that 4th bar. Just drive it like you stole it, keep it charged to 100%, and QC as much as possible through the summer. Again, to drive it more than 50 mi, especially at high speed and acceleration/deceleration, you will probably need to use the QC. Unless you plan to charge on public L2 stations routinely, the 6.6 KW charger is not necessary. The 3.8 KW charger is more than sufficient to fill the battery overnight or while at work for 8 hours.

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I very much agree!

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Thanks for the input. I thought it seemed like a good idea, but you guys have a lot more experience with Leafs than I do.