powersurge said:
First so many people are obsessed by trim levels, accessories, and heat pumps... Those are not things to confuse a new buyer with. Those things do nothing to getting a good car, and actually raise the price of the car to stupid high prices...
To each his own. I previously leased a '13 SV w/both packages. I own a used '13 SV w/premium that I bought before returning the leased car. Since I enjoy the Bose stereo (n/a on S), use the nav system (n/a on S), use Carwings/NissanConnect (n/a on S), use the cruise control (was NOT on the S trim until model year '15), use B mode (also not in S trim until '15), use Bluetooth A2DP music streaming several days of the week (n/a on S), use the charging timers (it sucks on the S trim to set them besides having less functionality) and LOVE Around View Monitor (n/a on S), I would find the S trim unacceptable.
The hybrid heat pump heater (in the temps where it's effective) is more efficient than the resistive heater.
The 6.6 kW OBC (standard on SV and SL, part of the charge package on S) makes a difference for me almost every single day. It lets me start charging later at work, tying up our infrastructure at work less, pick up juice more quickly if I go somewhere and come back to work, and pick up juice more quickly from free public L2 charging.
I listened to the base SV/SL stereo when I was originally in the market vs. Bose and immediately decided I wanted the Bose. The S was already ruled out due to lack of CC and a worse stereo than the base SV/SL stereo.
If I downgraded from my '13 SV w/both packages to an S, that would be a stupid move and I'd be kicking myself.
It is important that a shopper knows what's available in terms of trims, options/packages and what's standard/optional to decide what they want/value. To ignore it or just buy the cheapest trim could result in making a big expensive mistake and having major regrets.
It was $1K to $1.5K more to get a car w/the quick charge (CHAdeMO inlet) + LED headlights package. I didn't feel the CHAdeMO inlet was worth it given the CHAdeMO charging prices in my area at the time (more expensive than fueling my Prius), so I decided against it. And, I'd used the CHAdeMO inlet only 16 times in 2 years on my leased car on 3 free DC FCs that were no longer free.
powersurge said:
Also, speaking of price, I WILL NOT PAY almost $17,000 on a 4-5 year old Leaf... That is dumb stupid.... You can buy a NEW Leaf with all of the benefits (at the right time of the year of course) for $20-22K. SO where is the benefit of buying these used, over priced depreciated assets...
Those are in Canadian dollars. $17K CAD is about $13K USD, which is still on the high side. https://nissannews.com/en-CA/nissan/canada/releases/2018-nissan-leaf-canadian-pricing?page=2&query are new '18 Leaf prices. I don't know their tax incentive situation up there.
Sure, when there are incentives on S trims and you can take the $7500 Federal tax credit, that'll bring the price after US Federal tax credit but before sales tax to somewhere around $20K to $22K but that might be impossible for someone in Canada.
In the US, Nissan dealers have high markups on used cars.
OP can get an idea of US used prices at https://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/cta?sort=priceasc&auto_make_model=nissan%20leaf&max_auto_year=2015&min_auto_year=2013. http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=430825#p430825 is what I paid for my '13 SV w/premium back in July 2015.
Unfortunately, I don't know the process but found https://driving.ca/auto-news/news/how-to-import-a-car-from-the-u-s-into-canada. I'd imagine one would need to pay import duties (and that would be built into the price of Leafs imported from the US) + make some modifications that Canada requires. Then, there's the issue of odometer being in miles and any warranty hassles since US cars have a US warranty...
