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KayfromLA

Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2012
Messages
17
I am looking at getting a used Leaf - there are plenty of them in my area, and the cost savings are significant. I have checked Carfax on several, and they all seem to be lease vehicles returned at the end of the lease, with as little as 5 to 10 thousand miles.

Anyone else done this?
Any thoughts or concerns from experienced owners?
Anything I should check for?

Thanks much. Looking forward to joining the club :D
 
KayfromLA said:
I am looking at getting a used Leaf - there are plenty of them in my area, and the cost savings are significant. I have checked Carfax on several, and they all seem to be lease vehicles returned at the end of the lease, with as little as 5 to 10 thousand miles.

Anyone else done this?
Any thoughts or concerns from experienced owners?
Anything I should check for?

Thanks much. Looking forward to joining the club :D
Click to expand...
Re: the bolded part, compared to what? What type of prices are we talking about? Model year? Mileage? Trim level (SV or SL)? With or without quick charge port? Are you in the Los Angeles area? You are aware of lease deals like those at http://www.choosenissan.com/los-angeles-area/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, right? You are aware of the $7500 Federal tax credit and $2500 CVRP on new Leafs, right?

Returns on leases so soon? Why?

As for what to check for, find out where they were registered and operated. If it's a hot climate (e.g. Phoenix, TX, Palm Springs, etc.) it might've lost a lot of capacity. Look to see if any battery capacity bars have been lost (the thin bars on the right most part of http://www.mynissanleaf.com/wiki/index.php?title=Battery_Capacity_Loss" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).

Since you're asking questions, how many miles/day do you plan to drive. How much highway vs. city? Do you have charging at your destination?
 
Perhaps, but if so, it should be pretty obvious (unless Nissan played a game and reset the capacity bars)...
cwerdna said:
TomT said:
My thoughts exactly. There shouldn't yet be any lease returns...
cwerdna said:
Returns on leases so soon? Why?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
I kinda wonder if they were lease returns/buybacks from those in Phoenix/others in hot climate areas who lost substantial battery capacity.
Click to expand...
 
cwerdna said:
KayfromLA said:
I am looking at getting a used Leaf - there are plenty of them in my area, and the cost savings are significant. I have checked Carfax on several, and they all seem to be lease vehicles returned at the end of the lease, with as little as 5 to 10 thousand miles.

Anyone else done this?
Any thoughts or concerns from experienced owners?
Anything I should check for?

Thanks much. Looking forward to joining the club :D
Click to expand...
Re: the bolded part, compared to what? What type of prices are we talking about? Model year? Mileage? Trim level (SV or SL)? With or without quick charge port? Are you in the Los Angeles area? You are aware of lease deals like those at http://www.choosenissan.com/los-angeles-area/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, right? You are aware of the $7500 Federal tax credit and $2500 CVRP on new Leafs, right?

Returns on leases so soon? Why?

As for what to check for, find out where they were registered and operated. If it's a hot climate (e.g. Phoenix, TX, Palm Springs, etc.) it might've lost a lot of capacity. Look to see if any battery capacity bars have been lost (the thin bars on the right most part of http://www.mynissanleaf.com/wiki/index.php?title=Battery_Capacity_Loss" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).

Since you're asking questions, how many miles/day do you plan to drive. How much highway vs. city? Do you have charging at your destination?
Click to expand...

Cost new is 37k minus 10k tax credits equals around 27 k once you get your taxes back
Lease is 2 k plus $200 times 36 months equals 9.2 k for the three years plus another 16k if you want to buy the car is 25 k give or take
Cost to buy a 2011 used SL is anywhere from 19 to 25 k, most common price I have seen is 21 k for a car with around 15000 miles on it.
No quick charge port
San Fernando valley, so looking at nissan dealerships in a 50 mile radius
Many used leafs have their Carfax reports available online for free. Most have been leased by one person, all services of record in the LA area. That being said, I have seen two from Arizona and one from Hawaii.
Don't know why they are coming back so soon. Advantage for me is that they are still under warranty.
Work commute is 15 miles surface street round trip. There is little I do regularly that is over 25 miles away, rarely on highway. Also,we have the range extender called "the other car". If I get 12 k miles a year, that is stretching it.
Planning on extending a home charger, haven't decided which one.
 
KayfromLA said:
That being said, I have seen two from Arizona and one from Hawaii. Don't know why they are coming back so soon. Advantage for me is that they are still under warranty.
...
Planning on extending a home charger, haven't decided which one.
Click to expand...
I'd scratch the ones from Arizona. I bet the reason is that they've lost a bunch of battery capacity.

The warranty does NOT cover "gradual" battery capacity loss. (Who knows if Nissan will announce some "magic bullet" warranty in January 2013?)

As for "charger", the charger's in the car. The cord w/the brick or one that you permanently install is called an EVSE. Since your charging needs sound light, you might be better off sticking w/120 volt charging or upgrading via http://evseupgrade.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (if you have the right outlets available).
 
KayfromLA said:
...Work commute is 15 miles surface street round trip. There is little I do regularly that is over 25 miles away, rarely on highway. Also,we have the range extender called "the other car". If I get 12 k miles a year, that is stretching it. Planning on extending a home charger, haven't decided which one.
Click to expand...
Well, I have a similar commute, and yes, you don't need the entire battery. I put about 7500 miles on the car last year. If I were in your situation, I would wait a bit longer because there may be hundreds of these "2 or 3-bar losers" coming on the market soon, especially from AZ. Who knows, you may be able to buy a 3-bar loser next year for $10-15k. How does that sound? With surface streets in your area, such a car might still have a 50-60 mile range. That will wet your appetite for the EV thing. Unfortunately, once wet, you'll want to drive more and further so plan on buying another in a couple of years.
Reddy
 
I have been looking at the upgrade, but I would still need to install a 240 outlet, so I have electrician bills no matter what. Have mixed feeling about just using the 120 trickle - doesnt seem practical long term.
We need the car fairly soon for reasons I wont go into, so waiting more than a few months is not an option
We walk or bike as much as possible, so driving more is not a desired goal.
 
Make sure the used Leafs actually have the 120V EVSE. The lease does not require that you return it, so some of these cars may not have them.
 
if the dealers got smart and reset the bar loss indicator it may take a few weeks of driving for the bars to disappear again.. you really dont want those cars because even with your short commute battery degradation will accelerate. Even if someone loaned you a GID meter it would not detect these tampered cars. Also be wary of Hurricane Sandy flood damage cars..
 
KayfromLA said:
Cost to buy a 2011 used SL is anywhere from 19 to 25 k, most common price I have seen is 21 k for a car with around 15000 miles on it.
No quick charge port
San Fernando valley, so looking at nissan dealerships in a 50 mile radius
Many used leafs have their Carfax reports available online for free. Most have been leased by one person, all services of record in the LA area. That being said, I have seen two from Arizona and one from Hawaii.
Don't know why they are coming back so soon. Advantage for me is that they are still under warranty.
Work commute is 15 miles surface street round trip. There is little I do regularly that is over 25 miles away, rarely on highway. Also,we have the range extender called "the other car". If I get 12 k miles a year, that is stretching it.
Planning on extending a home charger, haven't decided which one.
Click to expand...
25K for a used one would be WAY too high. See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10846" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for some pricing advice.
KayfromLA said:
I have been looking at the upgrade, but I would still need to install a 240 outlet, so I have electrician bills no matter what. Have mixed feeling about just using the 120 trickle - doesnt seem practical long term.
Click to expand...
I can't see why 120 volt charging is an issue w/your short commutes. Daveinolywa used to only have 120 volt charging for months and I think he had a much longer commute. http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=251340#p251340" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; gives you an idea of charge rate. I would try that first before wasting your $ on a 240 volt EVSE and electrical work.

Whenever I finally get a Leaf, I plan to stick w/120 volt charging.
 
KayfromLA said:
OK, dumb question. Can you just plug it into any wall socket?
Click to expand...
Leaf will about max out a standard 15a outlet and most home outlets are shared with others so if the garage fridge kicks on you can still pop the breaker.
 
cwerdna said:
I can't see why 120 volt charging is an issue w/your short commutes. Daveinolywa used to only have 120 volt charging for months and I think he had a much longer commute. http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=251340#p251340" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; gives you an idea of charge rate. I would try that first before wasting your $ on a 240 volt EVSE and electrical work.

Whenever I finally get a Leaf, I plan to stick w/120 volt charging.
Click to expand...
Keep in mind, many people will want to drive their Leafs for other purposes besides commuting. Having the faster charging available greatly enhances the utility of the Leaf. Even at 3.3kW, there was still plenty of times I couldn't take my Leaf somewhere. Now with 6.7kW, I have much enhanced utility, especially on busy bay-area weekends. I can stop in for lunch and easily have 25 more miles before I'm ready to go!

I can understand avoiding thousands of dollars in extra cost, but for only $239 and maybe only the cost of an adapter for a dryer outlet you can now go from under 4 miles in an hour to over 8! Add in another $48 and now your getting almost 12 miles per hour. Silly to not have this capability for such a low price.

-Phil
 
Add in another $48 and now your getting almost 12 miles per hour. Silly to not have this capability for such a low price.
Click to expand...

Phil: What is this extra $48 that gets me faster charging and how ?

thanks
Jay
 
mkjayakumar said:
Phil: What is this extra $48 that gets me faster charging and how ?

thanks
Jay
Click to expand...
Our basic upgrade costs $239. That gets you the ability to level 2 charge at 12A on 240v as well as the original 120v level 1. For an extra $48 (at time of upgrade), you get the full 16A capability. This means you're charging at the maximum rate the Leaf is capable of when on 240v. This works out to 3.84kW.

-Phil
 
Actually, I have been looking at the prices for new 2012 Leafs, and I just got a quote for 33K, which post rebate brings it down to 23 K. I may go for a new one.
 

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