Wholesale value of the 2011 Leaf @Auction March 2018

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OrientExpress

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 8, 2010
Messages
1,652
Location
San Jose, Ca
Given the various discussions of what a 2011 Leaf is worth at trade and on the wholesale markets, I wanted to provide some information that might not be generally available to the average Leaf Owner.

All dealers buy and sell cars on the wholesale market through auction houses, and the largest of those auction houses is the Manheim Group. I have access to the auction prices that dealers are paying for Leafs at Manheim, and I will be posting them on this thread for the next couple of months to provide a benchmark for those that are considering trading in their Leaf for another Leaf or other car.

The bottom line right now is that Dealers are paying close to 100% of the Leafs original Tax-Credit adjusted retail price at wholesale for used 2011 Leafs, and they are reselling those Leafs at close to 100% of their original full MSRP. This is a good indication of solid demand and tight supply in today's market.

From February 2012:

Leaf-wholesale-Manhiem-2-12.jpg


From late March 2012:

Leaf-wholesale-Manhiem-3-26.jpg
 
Hmmm...wonder what the NY Times would write if Iran decides to attempt closure of the Strait of Hormuz?
lpickup said:
What? I thought the NY Times said:
NY Times said:
Nissan’s all-electric Leaf is struggling in the market.
NY Times said:
the state of the electric car is dismal

See: NYTimes does its bit on EVs

Another case of lazy reporting and exaggeration...

Thanks for sharing!
 
Guys, one thing we need to stay cognizant of is that we use petroleum for SO many things that has nothing to do with fueling vehicles. Even if every car in this country was electric tomorrow, the closing of the straight would still have major implications in this country and we would see the prices of almost everything sky rocket and/or become supply limited if it were to continue for any length of time.

coqui said:
Hmmm...wonder what the NY Times would write if Iran decides to attempt closure of the Strait of Hormuz?
 
"OrientExpress"]Given the various discussions of what a 2011 Leaf is worth at trade and on the wholesale markets, I wanted to provide some information that might not be generally available to the average Leaf Owner...

Thanks for this, earlier, and future reports.

The high currant resale value of LEAFs, was a factor, leading me to conclude, that maintaining the last 26 months of my LEAF's lease was, a very expensive "insurance policy" for being underwater on residual value, in May 2013.

So I bought it, a few weeks ago.
 
we received 25K in trade in for our 2011 after some rangling, it had 12,000 miles on it. We received the full tax credit and EV's are exempt from sales tax in WA. we intend to continue trading up early as long as it makes $$ sense and there continue to be big jumps in what is offered (the CWP was worth it for us and depending on the value drop over the 2013, the 6.6 and new heater may be as well). after deducting the savings in gas over the miles driven, this really turns into doable approach. Seems we faired better than leasing. One thing I can say about the tax incentives is that it very much helps buffer the risk of buying such new technology. We also feel good about opening up the used market for EV's, particularly for those who do not qualify for the tax credit.
 
Thanks for posting this. I'm thinking about either trading my LEAF in or letting my wife use it for her commute and leasing a Volt now that the 2012 qualifies for the car pool lane in California and I have a ChargePoint at work, so I should be able to drive 100% without gas. This is good information to have.
 
interesting that these cars all have under 5000 miles. And there is literally just a handful of cars (5) each month. I guess that makes sense. People who purchased and discovered the car did not work for them are trading them back in. Still the numbers are less meaningful for those of us with 10k plus mileage.
 
Here is June's wholesale auction figures on 2011 LEAF SLs:

Wholesale prices continue to show great resiliency month to month and show a slight bounce from May's numbers. Pay close attention to the June 2013 vs. the May 2013 forecast wholesale. It shows a significant bounce moving forward with the wholesale value continuing to climb. This is very unusual for a 1st year production vehicle.

Leaf-wholesale-Manhiem-6-1.jpg


Leaf-wholesale-Manhiem-5-2.jpg


Prices seem to be holding steady from previous months.


Leaf-wholesale-Manhiem-3-26.jpg



Leaf-wholesale-Manhiem-2-12.jpg
 
"OrientExpress" Here is June's wholesale auction figures on 2011 LEAF SLs:

Wholesale prices continue to show great resiliency month to month and show a slight bounce from May's numbers. Pay close attention to the June 2013 vs. the May 2013 forecast wholesale. It shows a significant bounce moving forward with the wholesale value continuing to climb. This is very unusual for a 1st year production vehicle...

Thanks again, for posting.

Do you have access to the same info for other vehicles, the Volt and Prius, for instance?

I believe the very high current used LEAF prices reflect the scarcity of new LEAFs available for sale.
We should probably not expect these very high residual values to hold, once US LEAF production begins.

Nevertheless, I do expect all BEVs, as a class, to hold their value better than ICEVs, hybrids, and PHEVs.

The lower operating costs, most significantly in fuel, but also in lower maintenance and repair, as compared to vehicles equipped with money-pit ICEs, will probably result in a permanently higher level of retained value, for BEVs.
 
Here is July wholesale auction figures on 2011 LEAF SLs:

Wholesale prices for 2011 cars continue to show great resiliency month to month but are starting to show a more normal depreciation decline for this time of the year, given that the majority of used 2011's on the market are a full year old and that 2013 cars will be starting to hit the market in a few months.

Leaf-wholesale-Manhiem-7-1.jpg


June 2012
Leaf-wholesale-Manhiem-6-1.jpg


May 2012
Leaf-wholesale-Manhiem-5-2.jpg


All in all, 2011 LEAFs on the market continue to show an above normal resale value.
 
kolmstead said:
I decided to test the waters today and see what the Toyota dealer would give me for trade-in on my 2011 SL. They couldn't find a Blue Book price, so they called the Bakersfield, CA. Nissan dealer. Bakersfield Nissan said trade-in value is $17,000. Thanks, Nissan.

That is how dealers make money. Buy for 17 and sell for 25. Why would you want to trade DOWN for a Toyota anyhow ?

If you really do want to sell the car you might get a better price on Ebay than trading it in.

http://motors.shop.ebay.com/Cars-Trucks-/6001/i.html?_dmpt=US_Cars_Trucks&_mqf=0&_qfkw=1&_trksid=p4506.c0.m273&Make=Nissan&Model=Leaf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
In the past, selling to Carmax has given me more $ then trading in to a dealer. (Still nowhere near what a private sale would bring.)
 
Clean 5K Mile 2011 SL just sold for $25,925.00

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110911470427&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Though there is no chance I'll be selling soon, it's nice to know I could still probably get more than I paid (after incentives)
for mine.
 
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