Should i Take the Plunge?

Hi everyone, i Just joined the forum. So i have a 2003 Hyundai Tiburon V6 and it will soon be time to sell it. I have done some research on electric cars and the leaf. I see that the used leafs are very cheap, specially the 2011's around $6-7K here in california. I work 5 miles away and i have a 220 outlet in my garage so i would have no problem charging it at home. What worries me is buying a used leaf and losing my capacity bars within a year or so and not being able to drive more than 50 miles on a full charge. If i would buy the leaf it would be my only car, but i should note that my GF has a ICE car if we ever need to drive far. Would you guys recommend buying a used leaf? Specially a 2011 since i dont have a lot of money. I know that the 2013's have the improved Lizard battery but i saw one online that had less than 20k miles and it had already lost a bar. So should i or should i not get a leaf? :? :?

If you are concerned with losing multiple capacity bars, try looking for a later 2013 Leaf S without QC, or a later 2013 Base SV with no QC or Premium Package. The 2013 Leafs built after 3/13 (check the sticker on the door jamb) commonly lose one bar in warm climates, but seem slower to lose multiple bars. Leafs built Jan-March of 2013 might just as well be 2012 models, as far as bar loss appears to go. If you can control how much heat the car is exposed to with a cool garage and overnight charging, and your local climate isn't too hot, a 2012 Leaf with 12 bars now may also work fine, although it will probably lose a couple of bars over time no matter what you do.

Thank you for that info. The thing that really worries me is that having the car for a year or two still paying for it and being stuck with a car I can only drive 50 or 60 Miles....at that point there is really nothing I can do correct ? Except spend $2000 on replacing the battery which at that point would be half of the value of the car.

EspoDude said:

Thank you for that info. The thing that really worries me is that having the car for a year or two still paying for it and being stuck with a car I can only drive 50 or 60 Miles....at that point there is really nothing I can do correct ? Except spend $2000 on replacing the battery which at that point would be half of the value of the car.

Click to expand...

Battery replacement is around $5500 currently. :shock:

if you need 50 or 60 Miles for the life of the car and it is on the freeway, this is not the car for you.