Looking at a 2013 Nissan LEAF SL - 9 bars, 41k miles

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VinceGlorioso

Active member
Joined
Feb 19, 2012
Messages
26
Location
Fort Myers, Florida
Hello, everyone,

I am looking for our third Nissan LEAF to replace our last ICE car, this would be for my wife who has pretty modest range requirements, she drives less than 4000 miles a year and doesn't leave town.

The next town south of us is Naples, Florida, and their Nissan dealership has a 2013 LEAF SL with 9 bars and 41k miles on it.

My primary questions are:

Does Nissan re-lease dealership turn-ins?

Iif anyone has any idea of the residual percentage of a 3 year lease on a used 2013, I'd love to hear it.

Is there the usual 5 year / 60k mile battery warranty on a vehicle like this?
If the car loses the 9th bar during her lease is she eligible for a replacement battery under warranty?

My wife knows that you should usually lease electric vehicles due to their quick depreciation. She drives my car now (2015 S) a few weeks a year and loves it ... but this would be her first electric car, and I'd rather her lease until she knows she can live with an electric car.

Any other thoughts would be welcomed.

http://www.getauto.com/2013/nissan/leaf/hatchback/florida/naples/2013-nissan-leaf-details_140607103
 
Not sure about re-leasing... You should be able to drive a hard bargain on that car (price is not good) or move onto a 2012-2013 in the $8-9k range... Personally the depreciation on these has gotten the prices low enough that buying used seems like a better deal than re-leasing.

Is there the usual 5 year / 60k mile battery warranty on a vehicle like this?
If the car loses the 9th bar during her lease is she eligible for a replacement battery under warranty?

Yes, Yes.
The nice thing about the OP car is that it's a 9-bar car. May take more than 4k miles/yr to drop that bar for battery replacement under warranty though...
 
What is the build date? That is located on a sticker on the driver's side door jamb. I'm guessing that the car was built before 4/2013, as those built after that rarely lose more than one bar by this point. If it was built later, the car was in a very hot climate. This may matter, because an early 2013 with the 'Canary pack' may lose that fourth bar more quickly than a later build that is no longer being baked in high temps. (Although it looks like its' pretty hot where you live...) If your wife's range requirements are tiny, it doesn't matter that much, I guess.

As for residuals, they are all over the map for 2013 Leafs. Dealers were allowed to adjust them higher or lower, unlike now, and it could be as little as $10K or as much as $20k. (Mine is $19k.)
 
Well, we've found a more desirable baby blue LEAF and my wife will be looking at this tomorrow.

I don't have a BlueTooth adapter to check the GIDs with my iPhone / iPad ... the display shows 11 bars, which seems high for 36k+ miles

http://www.abbysautos.com/vehicle_pages/jn1az0cp7ct022618-2012-nissan-leaf-sl-used-sedan-n-fort-myers-fl.shtml

Maybe the battery was already replaced, once?

Can anyone provide us with anything to look for on the car that might be a gotcha?

Vince
 
VinceGlorioso said:
I don't have a BlueTooth adapter to check the GIDs with my iPhone / iPad ... the display shows 11 bars, which seems high for 36k+ miles

http://www.abbysautos.com/vehicle_pages/jn1az0cp7ct022618-2012-nissan-leaf-sl-used-sedan-n-fort-myers-fl.shtml

Maybe the battery was already replaced, once?
Re: the bolded part, why? I recall mentions/reports in https://www.facebook.com/groups/seattlenissanleaf/ of Seattle-area (mild climate) '13 Leafs being past 70K miles before losing their first CB.

http://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=461393#p461393 has a pointer to a UK taxi w/150K miles that only recently (as of May 2016) lost its first CB.

My used '13 Leaf w/34.5K miles built 5/2013 still has all 12 bars, but I expect to lose a capacity bar before the end of this summer.

You really need get Leaf Spy and a compatible dongle.
 
Maybe the battery was already replaced, once?

Can anyone provide us with anything to look for on the car that might be a gotcha?

It's likely the original battery. The most obvious things to avoid are:

* BMS reset - car shows 12 bars but has low range estimate and lower than expected range. The bars start to drop over the next few weeks. With 11 bars showing here this isn't likely, but also isn't impossible.

* Missing Nav SD card. Since the Nav screen works, this car seems to have one.


Some of the same things that apply to used ICE cars, like hidden flood damage and hidden unibody damage (from a crash) also apply.
 
Thank you for your replies, guys.

I just think as LEAF's not being likely to be moved many hundreds of miles from their original delivery location. Being so deep into Florida, I would assume 99% of the cars in Fort Myers were delivered to Orlando or points further south, where we don't have a mild climate for these batteries.

I am looking now at iPhone Bluetooth adapters, now.
 
VinceGlorioso said:
I just think as LEAF's not being likely to be moved many hundreds of miles from their original delivery location. Being so deep into Florida, I would assume 99% of the cars in Fort Myers were delivered to Orlando or points further south, where we don't have a mild climate for these batteries.

I am looking now at iPhone Bluetooth adapters, now.
The above is not necessarily a good assumption. You should run Autocheck and/or Carfax against it to see where it resided before. See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=463337#p463337 for an example of movement.

As for OBD2 adapters for iOS, please see https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/leafspy-pro/id967376861?mt=8 and posts in threads like http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=19147 to see which ones work. I don't use the iOS version so I can't help you.
 
Hello, everyone,

I did buy the Sky Blue 2012 LEAF SL from the dealership. I checked the car and watched the SOH reading go from 81% to 77% right before my very eyes. The dealer was evidently fully charging the car every time someone was going to come take a test drive, and it was left in the sun outside every day.
I looked at the CarFax when buying it and the vehicle was evidently leased for it's first 39 months in North Carolina, which explains to me why it had 11 bars when I was looking at it. It was then brought to Florida, auctioned, and re-auctioned, again before making it's way to this small individual used car lot.
The used car lot put a brand new set of crappy tires on the car and this caused the first buyer to get poor 2.4 mi/kWh range out of the car, so the first buyer actually returned the car back to the dealer.
After I test drove it and saw the crappy tires, I informed the dealer "there's your problem" and the dealer changed out the tires for a set of proper ECOpia 422's as a condition of the sale. The car then got 5 miles / kWh at 50 mph with no climate control running.

A lot of driving for my wife is 24 miles a day, so, this car will suit her needs just fine.

So, this is our third LEAF at the house.

I doubt very much it will lose another two bars between now and it's 5th birthday in August 2017 (when it was first placed into service) but that is possible. If it does, or if it doesn't, we win!
 
VinceGlorioso said:
I did buy the Sky Blue 2012 LEAF SL from the dealership. I checked the car and watched the SOH reading go from 81% to 77% right before my very eyes.
...
I doubt very much it will lose another two bars between now and it's 5th birthday in August 2017 (when it was first placed into service) but that is possible. If it does, or if it doesn't, we win!
I think it might, if you're at 10 bars already. Not clear on how hot your part of Florida is though...
 
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