My Leaf inspired my wife to trade her car for a Nissan

This one is for the Nissan sales & Marketing team. We love our 2013 Leaf. My wife wanted/needed a new car. She leased a 2014 Pathfinder SL. She didnt consider any other brand.

So - keep the nerdy EV husbands happy (give us what we want, like bigger batteries, etc) and wives like mine will be addicted to Pathfinders. If you dont keep me happy and I go with a competing EV... she may jump ship with me.

Only reason I own a Nissan is the Leaf. No Leaf, no Nissan. If Toyota came out with a 80mi PHEV Plug-In Prius, I would sell the Leaf and buy it. We have considered another Leaf, but haven't even glanced at the other Nissan's. I drive Altimas when I rent cars sometimes and they are nice, but not for us.

Right now if it doesn't have a high voltage battery, we don't even look at it for consideration. Short list for next purchase for my GF is a regular Prius, Plug-In Prius, Leaf, BMW i3-REX, CT-200h, and GS450h.

2k1Toaster said:

Only reason I own a Nissan is the Leaf. No Leaf, no Nissan.

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Me too. Almost bought a Ford Focus Electric instead. If that wasn't available, might have bought an iMiev.

2k1Toaster said:

Only reason I own a Nissan is the Leaf. No Leaf, no Nissan. If Toyota came out with a 80mi PHEV Plug-In Prius, I would sell the Leaf and buy it. We have considered another Leaf, but haven't even glanced at the other Nissan's. I drive Altimas when I rent cars sometimes and they are nice, but not for us.

Right now if it doesn't have a high voltage battery, we don't even look at it for consideration. Short list for next purchase for my GF is a regular Prius, Plug-In Prius, Leaf, BMW i3-REX, CT-200h, and GS450h.

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To each his own. I won't consider a Toyota or Honda now given their anti-EV, pro-hypothetical FCV stance. The Plug-in Prius is aimed straight at the market for California drivers who want a Prius that gets the HOV sticker and may never actually plug in - and just in case you don't get the point their ads emphasis the no-plug-in option for the plug-in Prius. Toyota won't reimburse warranty work done outside of CA for RAV4 EVs and Lexus is running anti-EV ads with flat-out lies. Honda leased their extremely limited production Fit EV for a very low price to make the others look bad, crushes each one after the lease just like an EV1, and insists on insuring the car themselves so that they can declare the Fit EV totaled (thus not needing to stock spare EV parts) after minor accidents.

cgaydos said:

2k1Toaster said:

Only reason I own a Nissan is the Leaf. No Leaf, no Nissan. If Toyota came out with a 80mi PHEV Plug-In Prius, I would sell the Leaf and buy it. We have considered another Leaf, but haven't even glanced at the other Nissan's. I drive Altimas when I rent cars sometimes and they are nice, but not for us.

Right now if it doesn't have a high voltage battery, we don't even look at it for consideration. Short list for next purchase for my GF is a regular Prius, Plug-In Prius, Leaf, BMW i3-REX, CT-200h, and GS450h.

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To each his own. I won't consider a Toyota or Honda now given their anti-EV, pro-hypothetical FCV stance. The Plug-in Prius is aimed straight at the market for California drivers who want a Prius that gets the HOV sticker and may never actually plug in - and just in case you don't get the point their ads emphasis the no-plug-in option for the plug-in Prius. Toyota won't reimburse warranty work done outside of CA for RAV4 EVs and Lexus is running anti-EV ads with flat-out lies. Honda leased their extremely limited production Fit EV for a very low price to make the others look bad, crushes each one after the lease just like an EV1, and insists on insuring the car themselves so that they can declare the Fit EV totaled (thus not needing to stock spare EV parts) after minor accidents.

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The current PiP is perfect for many commutes, not just for CA HOV access. We are not in CA and will be importing one. The 12miles of EV is perfect for getting just about anywhere in town. The gas is perfect for people not used to having a plug or if they need to go further. My Leaf goes 5miles between work and home. I get to plug in at work. The PiP would do the same thing using no gas. When I drive to the airport it is 87.5miles direct at 80mph+. The Leaf might make it if I take the back roads and drive slow. The Prius just gets there at gets 50mpg whilst doing it.

I don't really care if they run anti-EV ads or whatever else. If it is the best product, I will buy it. Marketing doesn't persuade me either direction. I don't buy anything because of commercials or marketing just like I don't shop places because of commercials/marketing.

Agreed on the PIP. It's a gem that Toyota never wanted to make, but their engineers obviously cared about the project. And hell, even 25 miles EV range would be great. And guess what? That's the purported range of the next PIP...

I doubt I'd buy a Nissan, if only because of the awful dealerships here. I'm also not impressed with the quality of the materials they use, or the thinness of the paint. But I did take a closer look at the Sentra, and was impressed enough that I might buy one for a relative, should I win the lottery. Of course, I get a Tesla. ;-)

I will not have another Nissan until the battery proves out over ten years and more range is given.
And with any luck I will only buy one more car in my life. Good luck Nissan.

3rd Nissan for us (1 Maxima & 2 Leafs). I'm open to another Leaf & Rogue PHEV if that comes.

But will get something else (just for variety) after my Leafs. Model 3 if they have a decent lease - or infiniti LE.

Other than the Leaf, there is nothing that Nissan makes that is of any interest to us. We've never owned a Nissan before and probably never will again unless it is another Leaf...

Owning a LEAF has made me, at the very least, more aware of Nissan's product line. If I was in the market for an ICE, I would consider what Nissan has to offer- but I honestly don't have any brand loyalty to Nissan. The only reason I'm a Nissan owner is because they made a reasonable, affordable electric car with their LEAF.

In my experience with the company as an owner, there's nothing I see to give me reason to embrace the Nissan brand. If they stopped making the LEAF, I really would have no reason to stick around.

Tesla, on the other hand, has given me reason to embrace their brand- how they treat customers, how they take feedback, the way they sell their vehicles, they way they service their vehicles, etc... all project a brand that I want. Unfortunately, they don't make a product that I can afford.

Yet.

I'm going to have to choose between the Tesla 3, a eNV200, and whatever else looks good in 2017.

Same boat here, wife and I wouldn't consider a car that wasn't at least partially electric. In fact, I'm not even sure we would consider something with an ICE engine at all.

To suit our needs, a plug in hybrid would need at least 25 miles of electric range. The 11 miles offered by the PiP just isn't enough, not to mention the fact that you can't drive in the carpool lane in EV mode without pissing off every driver behind you due to the 61 MPH speedlimit in EV mode (by GPS).

evnow said:

3rd Nissan for us (1 Maxima & 2 Leafs).

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Except for a Toyota 4x4 and an Audi, I have bought/leased nothing but Nissans since I got a full-time job. The folks at NMAC love me

I am NOT impressed with recent-model Toyotas. Except for the Prius (which I didn't care for when I test-drove one), and the Lexus LFA, Toyota is the poster boy for "let's rest on our laurels and not be innovative at all." Toyota is the #1 seller of what many automotive bloggers call "beigemobiles."

Honda is mostly like that, though I have heard pretty good reviews about the latest Accord (non-plug-in) hybrid.

But will get something else (just for variety) after my Leafs. Model 3 if they have a decent lease - or infiniti LE.

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Depending on features, price, and availability, in addition to another Leaf, possible candidates for my next EV are the Soul EV and the eGolf. Maybe an A3 eTron if I can stretch the budget that far.

I am NOT impressed with recent-model Toyotas. Except for the Prius (which I didn't care for when I test-drove one), and the Lexus LFA, Toyota is the poster boy for "let's rest on our laurels and not be innovative at all." Toyota is the #1 seller of what many automotive bloggers call "beigemobiles."

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I have driven nothing but Toyotas for the past 20 years, but as avid of a Toyota fan as I am, I wouldn't buy any of their new vehicles. Their pickups and SUVs were indestructable, up until 2009-ish, and in the 98-02 era they made a ton of fun-to-drive cars like the MR2 turbo, Supra turbo, Celica All-Trac turbo, even the Corolla GTS, while today they make almost nothing exciting or fun to drive. As Ron said, they stopped caring about making innovative and fun cars. I think they are becoming what GM used to be, a company that wants to be the biggest and most profitable. I hope they snap out of it because I miss the Toyota of yesteryear.

asimba2 said:

[I have driven nothing but Toyotas for the past 20 years, but as avid of a Toyota fan as I am, I wouldn't buy any of their new vehicles. Their pickups and SUVs were indestructable, up until 2009-ish, and in the 98-02 era they made a ton of fun-to-drive cars like the MR2 turbo, Supra turbo, Celica All-Trac turbo, even the Corolla GTS, while today they make almost nothing exciting or fun to drive. As Ron said, they stopped caring about making innovative and fun cars. I think they are becoming what GM used to be, a company that wants to be the biggest and most profitable. I hope they snap out of it because I miss the Toyota of yesteryear.

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I would say Toyota's "inspired" period goes way back before 1998. The models you speak of go back to the mid 1980's, and the RWD Corolla coupes like the AE86 model of '84-88 have become highly sought-after by enthusiasts. Toyota even tries to cash in on the legend of the AE86 with the Scion FR-S (which is called the Toyota GT 86 outside of North America) but that car is more Subaru than Toyota.

Put my $1000 deposit down on a Smart Fortwo Electric Drive in Spring 2013 and my wife bought a Mercedes GLK 350 the same month. Her rule is, something for her, and something for me. Unfortunately, I needed to wait 8 months for my ED to arrive, but once it did, she slowly came over to the EV side and now prefers the ED over her lux SUV.

Was a Ford man for 20 years. With the pathetic sales job being done here in Canada on Focus EV, they lost my business, likely forever.

Next car will be a Tesla. Will not buy a gas car again.

I'm going to chime in with the rest. I have always owned GM vehicles. If Nissan didn't make the Leaf I would NEVER own a Nissan. The *ONLY* reason I'm driving the Leaf is because I got an insane deal on one used. You couldn't buy a used clunker for the price I got a used Leaf with 4,900 miles on it. I love my Leaf its an amazing car.

Now I have no brand loyalty. I'll pick the best deal for the buck. I really want a Tesla next.

I got a loaner when I took my Leaf in for service. It was a BRAND NEW (less than 100 miles on the odometer) Altima. What a royal piece of crap. I feel sorry for anyone who has one. It was like an entire different group of engineers made the Altima. The transmission felt horrible. The engine wasn't smooth. It was an AWFUL car. To top it all off it got horrible gas mileage.

Travis said:

I'm going to chime in with the rest. I have always owned GM vehicles. If Nissan didn't make the Leaf I would NEVER own a Nissan. The *ONLY* reason I'm driving the Leaf is because I got an insane deal on one used. You couldn't buy a used clunker for the price I got a used Leaf with 4,900 miles on it. I love my Leaf its an amazing car.

Now I have no brand loyalty. I'll pick the best deal for the buck. I really want a Tesla next.

I got a loaner when I took my Leaf in for service. It was a BRAND NEW (less than 100 miles on the odometer) Altima. What a royal piece of crap. I feel sorry for anyone who has one. It was like an entire different group of engineers made the Altima. The transmission felt horrible. The engine wasn't smooth. It was an AWFUL car. To top it all off it got horrible gas mileage.

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But wouldn't you say that about any (modestly priced) gas car after driving electric?
You cant beat an electric for smoothness and a noise levels

Just to pipe in.

I have driven nothing but American car all my life with my father being an auto worker (now pasted)

I just got tired of driving junk. Always having it in the shop. This leaf was way out in left field for me. Now 16 months later and 22,000+ miles. No capacity bars missing, I will never buy a gas car for my commuter.
Heck. I was so impressed with the Leaf and the Nissan dealer (sales, not service :roll: ) That when we finally gave up on my wife's lemon (2011 Dodge Journey) we got her a Frontier Pickup Loaded CrewCab. I am extremely impressed with the build quality, power and smoothness. And the paint is not thin. I know what someone earlier is talking about and wonder if that is on the cheaper cars, but her SL was done well.

I will definitely be thinking about another LEAF next April when my lease is up. Just wondering if the 2016 (next summer) will have a bigger range...

WetEV said:

2k1Toaster said:

Only reason I own a Nissan is the Leaf. No Leaf, no Nissan.

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Me too. Almost bought a Ford Focus Electric instead. If that wasn't available, might have bought an iMiev.

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Yes . . . . if it weren't for the being the best low cost EV - there'd be no draw for us. I give Nissan credit for going out on a limb and making the Leaf mass market. Just wish they could've gotten their $h1p together when it came to our original heater - upholstery - carpet - clock not keeping time - seat comfort - slow charging rate - battery degradation - range issues. Yes, that's a lot. Yet - 3+ years ago ... what else was there? nothing. Great marketing! . . . better than nothing.
:lol:
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