2011 LEAF Adventure Ended, What Now Until Tesla 3?

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GoingGreener

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 10, 2011
Messages
171
Location
SF Bay Area
So sad that our 2011 LEAF was in an accident and was salvaged :( We miss it and EV driving. :(

Had hoped to keep it for at least another 5 yrs., so was thinking our Tesla 3 would arrive before we'd need another EV. Guessing we're in the middle of the reservation line so I don't have any idea when it'd be our turn to get one. A 2nd Gen LEAF wasn't out of the running either.

Since our 2011 LEAF was pretty much trouble-free, I haven't followed the EV forums closely like in the beginning years. Read a few things when considering a used LEAF, used RAV4 EV, Volt and Bolt.

Not sure which way to go...

We used the 2011 LEAF as our daily workhorse: city driving for commuting, shopping, errands, family/friends carpooling, but only had a tad under 40,000 miles in 5 1/2yrs, w/11 bars remaining. Would have loved to drive it more on trips if the range & charging in the wild was more reliable. Our Blink EVSE has been trouble-free and is still functioning.

Should we use the salvaged $ to get a used LEAF? If so, which model & year worthwhile? Should we get another brand EV? Should we get another Prius/hybrid/wagon? (We transport a wheelchair regularly and also adopted a large dog.)

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!
 
Sorry to hear about your car. Well a brand new leaf is pretty cheap these days and probably 10 grand cheaper than a Bolt. You seemed to manage on the range you had on your old leaf. A new one would probably have 40 percent more range. You might be able to score a 2017 for pretty cheap if it will work for you. Or you can wait until the fall or early next year and get one with double the range of the 17's. We chose the former when we found out we needed to go to a 4 passenger vehicle from our smart car. We are happy with the 180 to 200 KM of range in the new leafs with 30 KWH pack but I know many need more range than that. You might want to check out what you can get one for though. We got a left over 2016 SV for at least 10,000 plus tax cheaper than we could have bought a bolt so it was a no brainer. Plus we thought the leaf was just simply a nicer more refined quieter car...but really that is just a personal taste thing.

Good luck and happy shopping.

John and Angela
 
First, sorry about your Leaf! It sounds like everybody is okay and that is the important part.

Second, if your Blink is still functioning, I would not replace it.

Third, replacing the Leaf depends on the salvage dough - if it was 8K or more, you can probably shop around and find a low mileage '14 with the features you want and not have any payments. If the dough was less, than consider a 36 month lease on a new SV. You can probably get a fantastic deal, as well as get the 30kWh battery and the heat pump (if you need a heater in the bay area.) The 36 months will probably get you close to your Model 3 date and should qualify you for the CA $2500 rebate.

Good luck!!
 
I hope you and your loved ones weren't hurt too badly.

Maybe a used LEAF wouldn't be a bad idea. Then you could choose to keep the LEAF after acquiring your Tesla.

We've found that driving a (used) Tesla as our longer-distance family car and the 2011 LEAF as our second car works pretty well. With the LEAF, we don't worry about eating in the car, driving on local dirt roads, putting on snow chains, throwing our backcountry skis in the back, etc., while the Tesla gets kinder treatment. (That said, we did take the Tesla on a camping trip to Death Valley recently and got it pretty dirty!) So I imagine we'll be keeping the LEAF for quite a while. Who knows, maybe we'll eventually be able to upgrade its battery pack for a lot less than the cost of acquiring a newer, longer-range EV.
 
What is your other car ?
And how did you handle the WC in the LEAF ?
Third, what is your budget over and above your Insurance payout ?
 
Sorry for your loss.

I just paid off our two Leafs and put minimum coverage on them both. I don't figure that the insurance company would give me much on a total, and the dang insurance keeps jumping up the premium. I am curious what little they give on a total loss.

I take it the Leaf wasn't going to be worth fixing it yourself for whatever reason. I am the kind of guy that buys them back out of salvage for refurbishing or repurposing. If the car was completely trashed, I would use the battery in this case for my solar backup.

Anyway, If you liked the 2011, I'll bet you can find them cheap right now and it will patch you through to your model 3. A new Bolt would set you back a bit but 200 miles is a great bonus if you want it. Personally, I am hoping and waiting for people to buy a Bolt and sell it to me used in a couple of years because maybe (for example) their Model 3 arrived.

I think it may be hard for us to guess what is best for you, but you put out some good ideas and some others have as well.
 
Thanks webeleafowners, jhm614, abasile, Reddy & Sagebrush for your help; Really appreciate it!

Only drivers were in the vehicles at the time of the accident & very thankful that we both were fine. The cars collided from opposite directions at a fairly low speed at both front drivers' side wheels. The value of both cars were determined to be lower than the estimated repairs. The LEAF was valued at $7,582.

Will consider a used LEAF or a lease.

Though a used LEAF is kinda scary as don't know the history. Where's the best source for a used LEAF?

Never leased before, but the CA $2,500 rebate (and the $7,500 FED up front? and PG&E $500 Clean Fuel Rebate) could bring down a lease price. I'm guessing they'll ping your credit for leases? Trying to keep credit activity low as might be getting a mortgage loan.

Sagebrush - Our other vehicle is 2010 Prius II. That has been taking care of our longer trips. But we do have multiple drivers, so having 2 vehicles around is much more convenient. We've mostly charged w/the Blink at home since 2011. In the early days, we'd joyfully experiment & use the few, mostly free, public chargers as we were out & about :)

Not sure what keeping the cost to about $10-11k could bring and would make financial sense until the T3/2nd Gen LEAF arrives. We can go higher if it makes a better investment/less risky. Just worried that any models before T3 & 2nd Gen LEAF arrives will sink heavily in value.

Which is a good Nissan dealership in the Bay Area?
 
GoingGreener said:
Though a used LEAF is kinda scary as don't know the history. Where's the best source for a used LEAF?
...
Which is a good Nissan dealership in the Bay Area?
In the past, Nissan franchise dealers were the worst choice for price, due to their high markup. Leaf resale value is terrible so you can get lease returns for cheap.

You can get some idea of past history by running both Carfax and Autocheck against it.

I have pointers to my saga at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=432095#p432095 when I bought a used Leaf which was a 2 year lease return. It was to replace what I was turning back in at end of 2 year lease.

Back then, there were Manheim (http://press.manheim.com/2010-07-27-Manheim-partners-with-nissan-motor-acceptance-corp-And-infiniti-financial-services-to-create-a-better-faster-way-to-turn-off-lease-inventory-into-sales) auctions every 2 weeks, IIRC. Used car dealer I found would go bid on a few each time.

I specifically avoid Premier Nissan for buying/leasing. See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=395515#p395515 and my posts that I've linked to as to why.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=487951#p487951 has a lease price example. I'm not following prices now so I'm not in the market.
 
Thanks Evoforce. I relate to all your thoughts. Wow, you have 2 LEAFs.

I noticed that the LEAF premium keeps rising too, instead of going down. I always have the LEAF tagged as the commute car, but in the past, as our autos got older, the premiums went down not up :/

Thought about buying back salvaged & repairing our LEAF. The rest of the car was in pretty good shape. Our tires was just 2 mths old :( , updated our TCU and put in a new 12 volt battery; all refreshed. But the auto shop guy was worried what addt'l damages could be found. Addt'l concern as it was hit & run parked outside our home last year on the same wheel. Our cars are so vulnerable parked on the streets.

Getting something w/200 miles range is tempting... But haven't bought GM before... but also hadn't bought Nissan before LEAF either, nor Tesla as well, lol... Hang on to the good idea on used Bolt. Not soon enough for us now.
 
It is good to hear that everyone is OK--cars can be replaced. You are in California so you have many more new and used EVs to choose from than I had two years ago in Arizona. Since the Leaf was working for you and you have the L2 EVSE, it makes sense to replace it with another EV, especially because availability of the Model 3 will likely be delayed. If you can take full advantage of the tax credits, purchasing or leasing a new Leaf might be better for you than trying to find a good used one (warranty would ease your mind and protect you from high repair bills). If you lease, try to put little or nothing down to minimize your loss if something happens to the leased vehicle. If you decide to buy used, any Leaf with a good traction battery should meet you daily range needs. The newer Leafs have slightly more room in the back than 2011 or 2012 models because the onboard charger was moved to the front of the car.
 
GoingGreener said:
Thanks webeleafowners, jhm614, abasile, Reddy & Sagebrush for your help; Really appreciate it!

Only drivers were in the vehicles at the time of the accident & very thankful that we both were fine. The cars collided from opposite directions at a fairly low speed at both front drivers' side wheels. The value of both cars were determined to be lower than the estimated repairs. The LEAF was valued at $7,582.

Not sure what keeping the cost to about $10-11k could bring and would make financial sense until the T3/2nd Gen LEAF arrives. We can go higher if it makes a better investment/less risky.

I was in a bit different dilemma with fewer options on EV's out here (CA has all those compliance EV's available we'll never see in the Midwest) -- also, glad to hear no one was hurt! -- I considered a new LEAF (this was in early December last year) but felt I had about a 2 year timeline until the Model 3 is available but wanted something that could last longer if needed (we put a deposit for one on the first day). The budget I set aside was between $13 and $15K plus whatever my early '12 LEAF SL with 46K miles would bring, so $18 to $20K max (wholesale LEAF was worth $5K) so I'm thinking that I'm probably close to what you want to spend?

I didn't want to lease because I didn't think I needed 3 years (but of course the M3 could be delayed) and the deals out here were just OK; not like the $69/mo on a Fiat 500e for instance, also wanted a bit of equity/trade-in value left so we opted for a nearly new '15 VW e-Golf for $18K with only 1,234 miles on it. To be honest, the e-Golf (to me anyway) is what the LEAF should have been in the first place -- its fun to drive, very understated as an EV and has never over estimated its range in cold or moderate temps (showed a 111 mile range when we had temps in the high 50's recently and came quite close to to it with 'spirited' driving); love the regen settings and its quite comfortable. I do hear that VW has some lease deals on these for new ones (these also aren't available out my way; only e-Golf's would have to be used) as they have a higher range model coming out soon.

Again -- sorry you need to replace your LEAF but maybe its time to try something different?
 
Maybe I'm the odd duck here but might I suggest something a little unorthodox

Consider the fact that a PIP, Gen1 Volt, MIEV and obviously a Leaf are all basically the same price.

Next what is your normal commute distance, at work charging availability?

Since your likely "upgrading" to a long range EV soon anyway, why not get yourself ready to "trade in" your one remaining ICE instead?

Sure you will have a small amount of gas pain for maybe a year
(depending on your commute distance and PHEV choice)

But if played correctly you might be positioned to be basically all electric in 2 years or less and potentially end up with a better newer road trip car to boot.

The Volts at least have aged very well with no capacity loss and a 30-50 mile EV range (climate and technique YYMV), PIPs loose capacity a little slower than the leaf but blow away standard Gen III on gas MPG and obviously get HOV lane access.

And personally I would not buy a new leaf at this point unless your tax creds make it on par price wise with the PIP or Volt.

If you must have a Leaf now and the 2011 worked for you just get another used Leaf but just make sure you get one with the best condition battery and options you want. A 2013+ with a fair battery should be easy to find on your budget.

Good Luck
 
With your insurance settlement, I'd very highly suggest looking for a 13-14' with 20K miles or so. Use Leafspy to check out the battery's SOH before you buy. You'll then have a car that can make it through till the Model 3 release with no problem at all.

Used, off lease, Leaf's are well kept and abundant right now. They must be the best deal going in used cars.

-Jim
 
Just an idea, but perhaps you could takeover someone's lease:

https://m.leasetrader.com/search-by-Nissan

There are a few Leafs on there, some with short remaining terms. If nothing else, it would buy you some time until the gen2 Leaf details are announced
 
Sorry, just noticed you are in SF area. You can likely find a local Leaf for which you can takeover lease payments though. Nissan dealers can likely help you out with that too.

http://www.swapalease.com/lease/search.aspx?category=Green/Electric/Hybrid&zip=94123&distance=100

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/6042875365.html
 
Thanks all for your tips!
cwerdna: re used LEAFs & link to warnings re dealerships
GerryAZ: appreciate the tips on various options & will check out the latest EV models.
redLEAF: will revisit the e-Golf; haven't checked another one out since it's debut
kingjamez: '13/'14 will give us some of the improvements/additions that we didn't have in the '11
alozzy: thanks for suggestion & link to peek into take-over leases
 
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