Buying Nissan Leaf as my first EV

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ipuzunov

Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2018
Messages
8
Hello! I'm writing to you from Bulgaria, Europe. I have a friend in the USA who specializes in exporting cars to Europe and decided to use his services for buying and a used Nissan Leaf 2015+ model.
I'm aware of just the basic info on this particular model - trim levels, battery capacities( 4th letter of the VIN corresponds to the battery size) and improvements throughout the years.
I'm looking to spend somewhere near 13-14k $ for a 2016 SV ( ideally SL) with the 30kwh battery and the DC charging, below 30k miles.
That's why I'm reaching to you for help in order to maximize my chances in buying a decent Nissan Leaf with a healthy battery. How can I improve my odds, what should I look for?
 
talk to your friend that makes his business shipping cars... The process of importing a car is much more important than trim level... Any trim level is good. The important part is a good battery.
 
Do a search for used Nissan Leaf in the US. I assume your friend will have to buy it for you and then export it.
Edit:
Something like this
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-Nissan-Leaf-d2077
 
Thanks for your replies, but I've already imported a car so I know all the procedures.
I just wanted some information how to spot a good Nissan Leaf, what to look for, etc.
 
You may want to get a good 2015 Leaf, as there is a battery issue with the 30kwh packs that hasn't been definitely resolved just yet, although there is a software update from Nissan that is supposed to fix it...
 
I think the cheapest markets for Leafs may be Seattle Washington and Portland Oregon. Also, Leafs in the Pacific Northwest of USA tend to have the best batteries, because summer is cool. When I look at Craigslist in Portland, I see one shop which appears to have 16 2015 Nissan Leafs in inventory.

https://portland.craigslist.org/search/cta?query=&excats=&userid=&search_distance=&postal=&min_price=&max_price=&auto_make_model=nissan+leaf&min_auto_year=2015&max_auto_year=2015&min_auto_miles=&max_auto_miles=

If you really want an idea of the battery condition, ask them to hook-up LeafSpy and send you screenshots. LeafSpy is an Android phone app, which talks to the car, and shows how worn-out the battery is.
 
Your friend in the USA needs to pick up a compatible OBDII dongle (which one depends on which type of smartphone he uses) and purchase a software program such as LeafSpy. This is critical whenever buying a used Leaf, because unscrupulous dealers can (and have) reset the computer to make it look like the car has "all 12 bars." This eventually corrects itself, but often not until after you've had the car for a short time.

As mentioned earlier, the 2015 models are the "sweet spot" as they seem to have batteries that are the most resistant to premature degradation. Supposedly 2014 and later-built (after March 2013) 2013 models have decent batteries too. 2011/2012, and 2013 models built before April 2013, are only recommended if you know for a fact that the battery has been replaced, as Nissan uses the batteries included with the 2015's. Pre-2013 models lack significant upgrades of the later versions such as a more aggressive regen profile and a heater that uses less energy. 2011's I believe also lack seat and steering wheel heaters, or maybe only a few had them included; this became standard equipment starting in 2012.

I presume your friend also has a subscription to CarFax, but if not he needs to. One of the more useful aspects of CarFax is finding out where the car was purchased, and often where it has resided (based upon DMV and servicing history). As mentioned above, the Pacific Northwest (the area along the west coast of the US from the Canadian border south to far northern California; major cities are Seattle and Portland) has a very mild overall climate, not too cold in the winter and more importantly not too warm in summer. Leafs from this region tend to have the least battery degradation.

Note that all 2011 and 2012 models, and some 2013 and later models, use a slower (3.8 kW from the wall) on board charger; ones with the faster charger pull 6.6 kW from the wall. CHAdeMO fast charging was included in some trims, optional on others, and for pre-2013 cars was only included on the top trim SL (and not available at all on the lower trim SV).
 
Thanks a million for your thorough replies, guys.
To be honest, I'm a bit restricted regarding the perimeter in which I have to look for Nissan Leafs.
I've heard something about the 30KWh batteries, but thought Nissan has already fixed it through software. Do you advise me against buying it?
I've spotted a 2016 Nissan Leaf SV in LA. It has 2000 miles on the odometer, clean carfax, just one manufacturer recall for the airbag.
What is your take on that one?
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/746548687/overview/
 
They carefully avoided showing photos of the battery display, so I'd guess that like many 2016 Leafs it has already lost one or more capacity bars. As I said, there is a software update to "fix" this issue, but it has still not been proven that the update is all these cars need to correct what Nissan claims is a software error that shows more capacity loss than actually occurs. Some cars seem to regain capacity as measured by a dyno, while others seem to get a purely temporary increase that behaves more like a BMS reset and doesn't help anything in the long or even mid term...
 
I actually stopped and looked at that one on one Sunday when the dealership was closed. It is in nice shape; not sure about SOH or anything like that because the dealership was closed.
 
sbuhler said:
I actually stopped and looked at that one on one Sunday when the dealership was closed. It is in nice shape; not sure about SOH or anything like that because the dealership was closed.

Used Leafs tend to look very nice as a general rule, because they are usually driven fewer miles by people who don't view them as just transportation. You really need to see, at the very least, the capacity gauge that consists of 12 short bars just past the ends of the larger charge bars. A Leaf can always charge to 12 bars, but as capacity falls the little bars vanish and don't return unless the battery management system is reset - in which case they return for a few weeks or so. I would suggest you assume that a car showing 12 capacity bars is really closer to 11, unless you can use LeafSpy. Sadly, though, even LeafSpy can be tricked by a recent BMS reset...
 
Just looking at the mileage, I thought this particular car hasn't even started showing signs of battery degradation. The bad thing is that Nissan dealership in my country won't honor the battery warranty for Leafs prior to 2018, because it has started selling this model from the second generation.
 
Just looking at the mileage, I thought this particular car hasn't even started showing signs of battery degradation.

That is definitely NOT how it works. You can have a Leaf with 50,000 miles on it and 95% remaining capacity, and you can have one with 10,000 miles and 80% remaining capacity - or less. It depends on what generation battery it has, how hot that battery has gotten and how often, what state of charge it is typically stored at, and in the case of the first generation packs especially, how old the pack is.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Just looking at the mileage, I thought this particular car hasn't even started showing signs of battery degradation.

That is definitely NOT how it works. You can have a Leaf with 50,000 miles on it and 95% remaining capacity, and you can have one with 10,000 miles and 80% remaining capacity - or less. It depends on what generation battery it has, how hot that battery has gotten and how often, what state of charge it is typically stored at, and in the case of the first generation packs especially, how old the pack is.
Yep.

When Leaf had been out only about 21 months, we'd already known of a car w/29K miles in blazing hot Phoenix that was down 4 capacity bars: https://web.archive.org/web/20160113132627/http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=228326. http://www.electricvehiclewiki.com/Battery#Battery_Capacity_Behavior was a table from the '11 service manual that disappeared from later ones.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=496269#p496269 shows a contrast between a '13 of an unknown build month in the mild Pacific NW vs. one of a better chemistry (built 5/2013) in Phoenix. My '13 Leaf is also built 5/2013 and I posted my 1st bar loss at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=511915#p511915. I'm in a hotter part of the SF Bay Area. I still have 11 bars at nearly 60K miles and Leaf Spy SOH is now hovering around 82.xx% to 84.xx% or so. The Phoenician guy lost his 4th bar on 8/23/16 at 31.4K miles.

I just posted at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=537955#p537955 about a guy in the UK w/a '14 Leaf that just passed 100K miles with all 12 capacity bars remaining.
 
LeftieBiker said:
They carefully avoided showing photos of the battery display, so I'd guess that like many 2016 Leafs it has already lost one or more capacity bars. As I said, there is a software update to "fix" this issue, but it has still not been proven

Other than by independent third party testing.

https://flipthefleet.org/2018/30-kwh-nissan-leaf-firmware-update-to-correct-capacity-reporting/

Why must you run down Nissan without pointing to test results?

Yes, battery life is still somewhat unknown for any EV battery that hasn't been out of years. True for Nissan, true for Tesla, true for any manufacturer. The first battery didn't do so well, but the 24kWh 2015 and later have done well. Yes, Nissan did suggest better life than was achieved for the first battery. A mistake, for sure.
 
You're very helpful on this forum.
Do you suggest that I should be looking to buy a 24KWh 2015+ rather than the 30KWh battery?
 
RonDawg said:
Your friend in the USA needs to pick up a compatible OBDII dongle (which one depends on which type of smartphone he uses) and purchase a software program such as LeafSpy. This is critical whenever buying a used Leaf, because unscrupulous dealers can (and have) reset the computer to make it look like the car has "all 12 bars." This eventually corrects itself, but often not until after you've had the car for a short time.
The reset also fools LeafSpy
 
ipuzunov said:
You're very helpful on this forum.
Do you suggest that I should be looking to buy a 24KWh 2015+ rather than the 30KWh battery?

Probably slightly lower risk, looking just at the battery. Price, features and needs might change that answer.
 
WetEV said:
LeftieBiker said:
They carefully avoided showing photos of the battery display, so I'd guess that like many 2016 Leafs it has already lost one or more capacity bars. As I said, there is a software update to "fix" this issue, but it has still not been proven

Other than by independent third party testing.

https://flipthefleet.org/2018/30-kwh-nissan-leaf-firmware-update-to-correct-capacity-reporting/

Why must you run down Nissan without pointing to test results?

Yes, battery life is still somewhat unknown for any EV battery that hasn't been out of years. True for Nissan, true for Tesla, true for any manufacturer. The first battery didn't do so well, but the 24kWh 2015 and later have done well. Yes, Nissan did suggest better life than was achieved for the first battery. A mistake, for sure.

We have at least two people posting here who got the "update" and didn't regain range or any permanent capacity. As I've written, the update may help some cars with defective BMS firmware but not others. Why do you keep trying to get people to buy cars that may have terrible batteries, because of one published dyno test on a small number of cars? Are you going to refund their money if they get stuck with 10 bar cars?
 
LeftieBiker said:
Why do you keep trying to get people to buy cars that may have terrible batteries, because of one published dyno test on a small number of cars? Are you going to refund their money if they get stuck with 10 bar cars?

Are you going to refund their money if they buy a Tesla and it turns out to have lousy batteries and Tesla goes bankrupt? Nissan is on the hook for 8 years/100k miles.

What I'm suggesting is you try a little harder for balance. Don't forget to mention test results and warranty.
 
Back
Top