Looking at certified pre-owned 2015 Leaf

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Charviolon

Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2018
Messages
15
I am looking at the above 2015 Leaf, S trim, with DCFC and around 21k on the odometer. It is priced currently just under $15k, which seems rather high. What price should this be going for roughly? Also, with range of 84 miles, this appears to be an excellent car for local driving but not for highway trips. I am also looking at a 2014 Tessa S85 74k miles, in the mid $40k range. It is out of warranty, but it would be excellent for extended trips. Would you anticipate post-warranty problems in either car? Thanks.
 
The Tesla is more likely to have post warranty problems, and the 2015 leaf has the best battery Nissan ever made. However, if range is an issue, you might want to consider a new Bolt or Volt.
 
Charviolon said:
I am also looking at a 2014 Tessa S85 74k miles, in the mid $40k range. It is out of warranty, but it would be excellent for extended trips. Would you anticipate post-warranty problems in either car? Thanks.
You should budget for stuff like
- MCU: https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/2700-to-fix-mcu-might-diy-but-how-much-to-reprogram-new-unit.94391/
- half-shafts: https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/clunking-sound-is-costing-me-a-bundle-to-fix-out-of-warranty.93857/
- door handles: IIRC, they're at least $800 a piece to replace, unless you can perform the repairs yourself.

I would consider dumping it after its 8 year/unlimited mileage drive unit and battery pack warranty are over. I question Tesla's long-term durability and reliability testing (or it could be their manufacturing or validation of running changes). Oddly, https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/automotive-reliability-and-durability-testing.56176/ is crickets. Some folks w/Model S are on their 7th or 8th drive unit (see https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/drive-unit-replacement-poll.29834/page-27#post-1603011, https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/6th-drive-unit-replacement-and-more.72974/page-2#post-1619754, and https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/drive-unit-replacement-poll.29834/page-27#post-1653580). Drive unit is the assembly that includes the motor, inverter and gearbox.

Be careful to look at people's prior posts if they claim their Model S (that has been several years) is very reliable or even "100% reliable" and "Model S is as good as it gets IMHO". You'll note that at https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/how-reliable-is-your-model-s.117032/page-2#post-2788639, I pointed out the above 8th drive unit guy made those statements! :roll:

Although https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/acceleration-shudder.74184/ is on the X, w/folks getting their half-shafts being replaced multiple times under warranty already + the number of folks who had trouble both the front doors and/or falcon wing doors (FWD) on the X, I think you can see why I raise the above questions.

Can you update your location info via your user name in the upper right > User Control Panel > Profile tab? That way, we don't need to ask in future posts/threads or do sleuthing to deduce it.

What are your daily driving needs in terms of miles? How much city vs. highway? Will you have the ability to charge at your work/destinations?
 
Thanks both of you for your input. Round trip home/work/home is 10 miles, but with other errands and other commitments in my city, I would say that my average daily driving distance is 30-40 miles tops. Regardless of the EV choice, I intend to arrange for Level 2 charging at home. There are several Level 2 chargers around town, including the Nissan dealerships.
 
City vs highway? It all depends, but I do not have huge distances to drive in any case. I can end up doing a lot of city driving, where regen would help tremendously. On many days it could be 50-75% local interstate miles.
 
I just took my 6th (?) test drive of the 2015 Leaf in question, and it was delightful once again. Even the battery gauge did not indicate extreme heat during this scorcher of a Southern summer day! There is a good chance I will make an offer in the next couple of days. The dealership price is just under $15k, but lots of pricing elsewhere lies in the $11-13k range. The car is in beautiful shape, incidentally. :) A Tesla as a go-anywhere car with great range is seductive, but I am skittish about expensive things that can go wrong in the post-warranty world. I value your feedback! Thanks.
 
Charviolon said:
Even the battery gauge did not indicate extreme heat during this scorcher of a Southern summer day!
The "gauge" has huge overlapping ranges: http://www.electricvehiclewiki.com/Battery#Battery_Temperature_Gauge. If you want to see battery temps, use Leaf Spy.

The battery temp gauge can get real high if you do multiple DC FCs in a day: https://web.archive.org/web/20170717073322/http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=22134.
 
Get a Leaf. I have the 15 and it works great. That does seem high $, I would look around. This one at Carvana is $13000 with 12k miles. According to the window sticker it has the quick charge package. https://www.carvana.com/search/2000125055/2015-nissan-s-hatchback-4d-
 
I tried to purchase the Leaf yesterday, but to no avail. The dealership wanted over 17 grand for the car, and when I showed them a June printout for $13,756, they countered that the current printed price of $14,981 was my price, period, end of story - basically refusing to do the "dance." That price is still too high for this car, and I walked. It is a great car, but not for me under these circumstances. Maybe someday!
 
That's steep for an S model. Maybe even steep for an SV, IMHO. If they have your number, I would be surprised if you don't get a call in the near future.
 
Yeah, it is steep. For reference, https://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/cta?sort=priceasc&auto_make_model=nissan%20leaf&max_auto_year=2016&min_auto_year=2015 is what prices look like in my area.

Nissan dealers tend to have higher markups than used car lots and the CPO part is adding to the price. Per http://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/usa/releases/nissan-plugs-electric-leaf-into-certified-pre-owned-vehicles-program, the only thing that gets extended is the EV system/powertrain warranty from the standard 5 years/60K miles.
 
Yes, I was not a happy camper when the attempt to negotiate a purchase went south. A call from the dealership in the near future would be amusing, but if they are ready to deal, I will be happy to talk further. We shall see!
 
After reading this whole thread, I recommend that you continue to look for a nice 2015 LEAF. Like the others, I am concerned about long-term reliability of a Tesla out of warranty. Your daily range needs are moderate so a 2015 Leaf would serve you well even after significant battery deterioration. I recommend an SV or SL to get the heat pump HVAC system. Pick whichever model has the features you want. If you get a 2015 SV or SL, there is no cost to have Nissan replace the original cellular modem with a 3G unit so that you can use remote access.
 
Thanks for your replies. The 2015 Leaf S that I was interested in is a lovely car and in great cosmetic shape as well. Assuming this latest effort remains a dead end, and knowing that any kind of Leaf rarely shows up around here, how can one securely find other used Leaf models like the 2015 that are out of town? Is Carvana reputable and knowledgeable about EV's? What about Leafs in faraway dealerships? Can they deliver, and if so, can it be done economically?
 
Carvana tends to ship Leafs from hot climates to cooler climates to sell. They tend to have more heat-related battery degradation. The problem with almost all long-distance sales is that you don't know the actual condition of the battery.
 
I found my Leaf by extending my search on autotrader.com to something like 200 miles. At that range, I had several options including my 2015 SV with 428 miles and just over a month on all warranties for $13K. I borrowed a Leafspy setup from a guy at work, a truck from a friend, a car carrier from UHaul and went to check out the car. Leafspy did not show any issues so I bought it and brought it home on the car carrier. If you plan ahead by figuring out a route on plugshare.com, you can drive your new Leaf home with some stops along the way for charging.
 
I can imagine that buying from a distance makes it difficult to know the state of the battery. Does Leafspy assess current battery capacity and other functions? With a few good buys coming out related to the 2018 Leaf, would that be a reasonable consideration new or used, or are most folks just holding out for the 2019 model if they are looking for a new car? What is the latest information about the '19's range? 200 or better? With the Bolt range at 238 miles now, you would think that Nissan would go for at least that, if not more, with their 60kwh battery pack.
 
2019 will probably have a range > 200 miles. It's hard to say since it's not official yet but there are plenty of rumors and leaks.

LeafSpy will show the battery condition but you need to be able to physically plug in the OBDII dongle to use it. There is also the possibility that the car has been 'reset' which will fool LeafSpy until the car electronics re-adapt to the true battery condition. That is fairly unlikely but it's something to be aware of when buying a used Leaf regardless whether it is a remote transaction or not.
 
@Charviolon If you are considering new, then, in your shoes, I would wait until a couple of months after the 2019 comes out. That way, you'll have the option of buying a discounted 40 kWh 2018 or a 60 kWh 2019.
 
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