2011 leaf for sale with 8 bars?

Hi all - have been researching EVs for a few weeks now and while I want a 2013 leaf, I found what appears to be a great deal on a 2011 SL.... but there is a little risk too.

The image of the vehicle from the dealer website (Nissan dealer no less) shows dash with 1 bar of charge, and only 8 bars of capacity. The car has 56K miles and I called Nissan with the VIN and they said battery warranty good through 31OCT. I mentioned that it looked like it was already at 8 bars and he said that it would need to be fully charged to verify that, and that sometime the capacity bars will go up when it is fully charged???? didn't make sense to me, so thought I would ask folks here for input.

Could a Nissan dealer really be selling a Leaf that already meets conditions for warranty replacement of the battery, which would basically mean I buy at the super discounted price and then immediately get battery replaced? Wouldn't it make a hell of a lot more sense to them to do the battery replacement before they put vehicle up for sale?

So bottom line, does this look like a deal or should I pass?

Dealers often know so little about the Leaf that it is easy to believe that this one has 8 bars. As long as the battery capacity warranty is good through October, it sounds like a good buy. If it goes back to 9 bars when fully charged, that's a very "weak" 9 bars...

Thanks - Yeah same dealer had a 2013 SL that they were offering lifetime oil changes on.... so the idea they are clueless makes sense. This particular vehicle is about $3K below comparable vehicles in price, and they all show lower miles, but higher battery health. I'd love to pick up a Leaf for essentially the cost of a new battery pack, and then get a new battery under warranty.

jacktar said:

Thanks - Yeah same dealer had a 2013 SL that they were offering lifetime oil changes on.... so the idea they are clueless makes sense. This particular vehicle is about $3K below comparable vehicles in price, and they all show lower miles, but higher battery health. I'd love to pick up a Leaf for essentially the cost of a new battery pack, and then get a new battery under warranty.

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Just make sure that it really does qualify for a new pack until October, and that you will be able to drive it enough to drop any possible remaining 'zombie bar' that may be there. What is your local climate like?

jacktar said:

Thanks - Yeah same dealer had a 2013 SL that they were offering lifetime oil changes on.... so the idea they are clueless makes sense. This particular vehicle is about $3K below comparable vehicles in price, and they all show lower miles, but higher battery health. I'd love to pick up a Leaf for essentially the cost of a new battery pack, and then get a new battery under warranty.

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Have the dealer charge it up so you can take it for a test drive. After you have done the test drive, and checked the battery with Leaf Spy (if possible), take the VIN number back to the Service Department and ask them to confirm the in-service date, and then ask what the process is to get the battery replaced under warranty. If you're satisfied with what they tell you, make an appointment to bring the car in, and then go make a deal to purchase it.

Are there any other Nissan dealers in the area? If the Service Department seems clueless, take the car for a test drive to another dealer and talk to their Service Department about getting the battery replaced.

I am in Florida and have a 30 mile commute each way so will most likely be able to drive the remaining 5000 miles on warranty in the next 3 months..... and that's the risk. if there are phantom capacity bars, will that be enough?

As far as I have been able to determine, I'd have to get Nissan Dealer service department to pull the battery health check to have 100% confidence, and I don't think they work Sunday, and maybe not even tomorrow on the 4th. I think I also need to check if the P3227 reprogram has been done, which may also require dealer unless there is another way to tell??? The Nissan Corporate individual I talked to that said Warranty good through 31OCT also said all maintenance was up to date, so I will try tocall them back to see if I can verify that and also get warranty and service details e-mailed to me, but the are likely on holiday as well.

I did download leafspy and was able to get it to connect to my ODBII puck and I also have a scangageII but not sure if those will tell me if the reprogram was done, but at least I should be able to get some info about the battery health.

I should ask the dealer to do full charge on the vehicle as well.... would have to anyway to do test drive and drive it the 50 miles home I would need.

Jacktar

-2005 Prius w/120K miles and consistent 50mpg
-1996 Dodge Ram 3500 dually, 4x4 turbo-diesel with consistent 18mpg
-1997 Jeep Wrangler with consistent 16mpg and the reason I want a leaf :mrgreen:

baustin - didn't see your reply before I posted. I was thinking to do the same steps you suggested. Will have to figure out how to lock-in my option on the vehicle until I can get to service department on Tuesday. I suppose I could do deposit until my bank opens Tuesday, or ask for extended test drive.... doubt they are going to be very flexible for a used car that is under $6000.

I see other posts that put the threshold numbers for battery replacement at I think 4.2 Ahr from LeafSpy.... but I will need a full charge to get an accurate reading wont I?

The SOH and AHr are usually consistent regardless of the SOC. At 8 bars, the SOH should be around 60-65%, and the AHr around 41.

Yes, the P3227 update needs to have been done. If not, they will need to do it, and it can temporarily raise it back to 9 bars or higher.

The only thing that matters to Nissan is less than 9 bars on the GOM, less than 60K miles on the odometer, and less than 60 months from the in-service date. If those conditions are met, and the original owner did not opt out of the class-action settlement, then the vehicle qualifies for a battery replacement under warranty. I have not read anywhere that Nissan does any additional health checks, or pulls battery stats, to confirm warranty eligibility.

It's a deal!

OK, so took it for a test drive.... initial charge showed 45 miles range and 8 bars. by end of 5 mile test it was 35... then two other folks took it for same test and it showed 25 range left. Salesman kept talking up 90 mile range, so I had to keep reminding him, that was when brand new. I am totally understanding range concerns now because with that range I couldn't even drive it home.

I used leafspy lite and it showed SOH of 60% and AHr of 40.... so at 55K miles and in-use date of 31OCT it should qualify.... as long as this vehicle wasn't excluded from class action.

Now the bad, is the dealer first started with a "fine print" of $1850 additional charge for Nissan Certified which increases warranty on the battery to 7 years 100K miles.... that and other BS took $6K price to $10K. They also added a $425, must finance through NISSAN fee, Just really sad and sleazy all around how they treat people who's money they want. Bottom line - I hit my limit at their office and told the finance guy "enough BS" and walked.

Got a call back 2 hours later from salesman wanting to try to work on it, but am even more undecided now... here are my options

2011 SL QC (backup, NAV, but no heated seats) w/ 55K and 90 days left on warranty showing 8 bars for $7500
2013 SV QC (no nav) w/ 31K from private party that should allow me to make deal at $10,000

That "battery warranty" increase is just for defects, and I suspect the car already has that coverage for defects, so the extra charge is BS. As for the '13, make sure it was built 4/13 or later, as earlier builds have degraded faster, as reported here. The build date is on the drivers side door sticker.

If the 2013 does not have navigation system, it is an S (not SV) so I think the price is a little high. I would take the 2011 and decline all the extras that they want to tack on.

Edited to add: If your commute is 30 miles each way, you will need to charge at work (at least a few hours at 120 volts) because an 8-bar car will not make 60 miles on a charge. Original factory warranties on 2011 were 3 years/36,000 miles bumper-to-bumper; 5 years/60,000 miles on power train and EV systems; and 8 years/100,000 miles on traction battery (defects, but not capacity loss).

Gerry

Thanks all for the input.

Just went to dealer and had battery tested. Took about an hour and they confirmed the battery capacity loss to 8 bars means I qualify with less than 4000 miles and 90 days before warranty period expires! I can expect to get replacement battery in 4-6 weeks. Until then I charge to 100% at work and home 2x a day.

When I get the new battery I will have to learn how to program the system to charge to only 80% at home and do a 100% top off just before I leave for work.