Buying advice

I don't believe leather was a factory option until 2013.

Firetruck41 said:

I don't believe leather was a factory option until 2013.

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Correct.

Evoforce said:

And than... an opinion that a 3.3 charge rate doesn't matter as much if you have a (QC) port and quick chargers available in your area because charging at home still only takes a few hours at 220V (usually while sleeping).

If you find yourself out and about and need a quick 440V charge its 15-30 minutes whether you have 6.6 or 3.3 onboard charger. The question is if you have the availability of quick chargers in your area, and if you don't need to worry about ever traveling farther than your slowly decreasing range over time.

Whether you have a 3.3 or a 6.6 is still too long of a wait (most times) at a L2 when you are an active person pressing the range of your vehicle. If you think you would almost never press your range or have plenty of time then a 6.6 may have a slight edge to a 3.3 especially if you don't have quick charge capability or the infrastructure where you live to support it.

You have to determine what is going to fit your scenario best for now and in the future for both you and your car. This includes how these things may effect the future sale of your car to someone while having a diminished battery that will require more charging to go the same miles that it once did.

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Yep. It all depends. For me, CHAdeMO isn't a substitute at all for a faster OBC because there are no CHAdeMO DC FCs at work and there are no free ones remaining around that areas I go to/pass by even semi-regularly (not that there were many to begin with).

I have free L2 @ work and on weekends/days off, sometimes use free public L2 that's open 24 x 7. I also sometimes have used other free public L2s (e.g. stations at malls owned by Volta, free Chargepoint stations at a Target in Fremont).

The only CHAdeMO DC FC that was sort of near there was at at dealer (is a detour for me vs. the free public L2 that I usually pass by 2x each weekday and often on weekends) but that's now on NRG eVgo at ripoff prices. When it was free, there was sometimes a line or inconsiderate Leafers who'd leave their car plugged in (w/no contact info) and blocking the spot when their car was already down to L2 speeds or lower. And, it was only open during dealer hours. Oh, and it was broken not that infrequently (since it was unreliable Nissan-branded DC FC), sometimes for weeks at a time.

I've talked about the advantages of a faster OBC numerous times, such as at the below posts.
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=19697&p=432509&hilit=free+public+l2#p432509
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=20452&p=435947&hilit=free+public+l2#p435947
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=19697&p=432753&hilit=free+public+l2#p432753
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=19697&p=432680&hilit=free+public+l2#p432680

Now it's all moot for me anyway since I no longer have a car w/CHAdeMO inlet, as it wasn't worth the price premium, to me.

Evoforce said:

I don't know if you have to pay sales tax when buying from a private party in your state. But if not, between that and dealer fees you can save some pretty good bucks by buying from a private party.

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Be careful on this. Some people in my state (California) were confused by the private party sales tax part. In a private party case, the seller doesn't collect sales tax, but the state's DMV collects use tax (https://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/faqtrans.htm) when the new owner goes to register.

cwerdna said:

Be careful on this. Some people in my state (California) were confused by the private party sales tax part. In a private party case, the seller doesn't collect sales tax, but the state's DMV collects use tax (https://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/faqtrans.htm) when the new owner goes to register.

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Yeah. Same here in NC. I just didn't mention it. But I do think the other advantages stand. No dealer doc fees and an account (not always truthful) for the car's history.

Jefe said:

cwerdna said:

Be careful on this. Some people in my state (California) were confused by the private party sales tax part. In a private party case, the seller doesn't collect sales tax, but the state's DMV collects use tax (https://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/faqtrans.htm) when the new owner goes to register.

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Yeah. Same here in NC. I just didn't mention it. But I do think the other advantages stand. No dealer doc fees and an account (not always truthful) for the car's history.

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We enjoy the savings here!

Thanks for all of your advice and opinions. I have a new (to me) '13 SV in my garage this morning!

I think you made the right decision with the '13! Congrats on the new Leaf!

Cool! I hope you made a good deal.

Evoforce said:

Cool! I hope you made a good deal.

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I feel like it was a really good deal. My '13 SV + premium pkg had 14,800 miles on it and it was very well kept. Honestly I couldn't tell the difference between it and the brand new one I test drove a few days before.

The small dealer selling had picked up 40 off-lease Leafs and was down to 4 and I think he was ready to be done with keeping them charged. He had dropped the price from $12999 to $10577. I hammered him a little bit (and even dramatically walked away from the deal once) but he would not budge from that price. All in all though, I think it was a good deal.

I haven't gotten LeafSpy up and running yet to see my SOH, but I have hopes that with low mileage in Illinois that it will be in good shape.

Hi Leaf owners, this is my first post. I'm considering a 2015 leaf as my first all electric car but want to know what you think of this offer if its good or not. A dealer yesterday offered me a 2015 Leaf SV w/ Premium package. Information of the offer below.

2015 Leaf SV w/ Premium package: (Purchase)
Vehicle Price: $34,710.00
AutoNation Savings: - $3,210.00
Customer Rebate: - $5,000.00
AutoNation Price: $26,500.00

Sales Tax (estimate): + $2,591.96
Title Fee: + $29.25
Documentation Fee: + $499.50
Balance Due (estimate): $29,620.71

Lease offer is $384.00 / month for 36 months with $10,760.10 residual
Money factor is 0.00033

Another dealer told me they have incoming 2016 SV (with the 30kwh battery) arriving Dec. 18 of this month. Info below.

2016 SV Leaf (Purchase)
MSRP: $35,495.00
Invoice Price: $33,591.00
Costco Price: $33,541.00
Factory Rebate: $3500
Net Sales Price: $30,041.00
plus tax and fees
Lease offer is $458.00 /month for 36 months

Our state offers no incentive so only federal $7500. What do you think? Wait til next year when the 2016's SV getting better incentives or go with the 2015 SV offer? Any advice helps. Thanks.

The '15 lease offer is only good if you plan to buy the car off-lease. As it is the residual is too low, and the payment too high. They don't mention the residual on the '16, but it is probably also low, so if you plan to buy the car after the lease ends, that might be the better deal. If not, I'd wait for incentives to increase on the '16. In short, if you just want to lease for now, negotiate to get the residual up and the payment down on the '15. $14k would be a reasonable residual, IMO.

Thank you for the reply. I'm waiting for the dealer to reply back on the 2016 SV residual. I have not leased before so any input would help. Did you buy or lease your '13 SV leaf? Do you think the dealer could do a better offer if I buy the car after the lease ends? I was told it is the best they can offer. I have not negotiated yet though.

gkl888 said:

Thank you for the reply. I'm waiting for the dealer to reply back on the 2016 SV residual. I have not leased before so any input would help. Did you buy or lease your '13 SV leaf? Do you think the dealer could do a better offer if I buy the car after the lease ends? I was told it is the best they can offer. I have not negotiated yet though.

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I leased my 2013 SV (first time leasing) and the dealership, with help from Nissan, gave me a great deal - for leasing. I got mine for $2k down (plus $1k in state tax) with a payment of $149 a month for two years, which I have extended to three. How did they get it that low? The residual was $22k. Since the dealer isn't involved with the car when the lease ends, that (buying when lease ends) isn't a bargaining point. There were some amazing deals like that in 2013, but in 2015 things are different, and they will be much worse (again, for leasing) in 2016, because Nissan has lowered the residual values because of the high depreciation of the Leafs built so far. Still, there are decent leases being offered on the remaining 2015 models. If you aren't committed to the car, wait until the end of the month and tell them you will do the deal using the same math, but with a $14-15k residual. The last two days of the month are usually the best time to buy or lease a car. Oh, and have a calculator with you, and figure out their math in advance...just to double-check. ;-(

Thanks for the tip. I went to carmax and they have a 2013 Leaf S w/ QC but no cruise control ($12,000.00). Dash shows 100% full charge with all 12 battery bars and good for 83 miles. Temperature here is about 50F outside. I have an OBDII adapter and planning to use the leaf spy lite to check the battery condition as suggested from others but don't know as to what values (SOC,AHR,GIDS, etc.) to look for to know if the battery is still good. Is this price too much for a used 2013 leaf S w/ QC and worth the $12k? Any advice please. Thanks

Thanks for the tip. I went to carmax and they have a 2013 Leaf S w/ QC but no cruise control ($12,000.00 & 23k miles odemeter). Dash shows 100% full charge with all 12 battery bars and good for 83 miles. Temperature here is about 50F outside. I have an OBDII adapter and planning to use the Leaf Spy lite to check the battery condition as suggested from others but don't know as to what values (SOC,AHR,GIDS, etc.) to look for to know if the battery is still good. Is this price too much for a used 2013 leaf S w/ QC and worth the $12k? Any advice please. Thanks