New member from Melbourne Australia

Hi Forums,

Just introducing myself to the forums. I haven't purchased a Nissan LEAF yet, but I'm hoping to sometime in the next few months.

I'm wondering if there are any members on here that live in Melbourne, Australia that would allow me to pick their brain about how they're finding owning a LEAF in Melbourne. Maybe even give me a chance to look over the car in a situation that doesn't have a sales person looking over my shoulder.

Now back to exploring this forum.

- - Laith...

Hi Laith, welcome aboard. Don't know about Melbourne, but have seen Aussies post here. Try the search function.

Thanks GoodWay.

I've heard that only two LEAFs have been sold in Melbourne. Kinda sad really.
I did a quick search and think there's only one member on here from Melbourne. I hope they don't mind me sending them a message.

- - Laith...

Welcome! Leafs are far and few between here in my area. Great place you live! My first tim in Oz I visited Melbourne. By far my favorite city! Most people are fairly friendly. I'm pretty sure they will let you take a peek.

G'Day!!! Most Leaf owners and lessees here in North America are very eager to educate people about their cars. And in a place as friendly as Australia, that should especially be the case.

Welcome, Laith! This is a friendly community, and I have yet to come across an owner, who would not respond to a PM. Please be sure to post your questions on the owners section of the Nissan LEAF Facebook page. There are many international contributors there.

Hi Laith,
I'm probably the member you found in Melbourne.
I've had my LEAF for nearly 10 months now (it's getting its 20000 km service tomorrow). I love the car.
I've seen at least 4 other LEAFs in Melbourne, not counting those in the Vic Gov EV Trial so there are definitely more than 2!

You're very welcome to come over and have a look/drive/brain-dump. Weekend afternoons are usually best. Give me a PM and we'll make a time. I live in Montmorency (north-east suburbs).

Regards,
Leigh

p.s. I believe we met at a AEVA event once.

I used to live in Melbourne (Elwood) -- does that count?

I'm in Birmingham AL USA now and I've had my LEAF about 18 months. Still loving it!

Stopped in to visit family in November last year and had a chat with the local Nissan dealer for a bit of fun, but was floored when they told me the LEAF was selling for AUD$55,000!!! I see they've dropped the price quite a bit in later forum posts. Even a replacement EVSE was some high price that I cannot remember now. I had toyed with the idea of buying one in Australia to use on a 220V circuit here in the States, but will probably have Phil modify my existing one.

Here's hoping we'll see more LEAFs in Australia soon.

Cheers, Bert

I'm a new Leaf owner in Melbourne. Great so far, even with the paucity of charging stations in Australia. No "range anxiety" for me yet, but a couple of times it's been handy that I have a charger at work and at home. One thing I initially found surprising was that fewer people than I expected asked me about the car, unlike previous interesting/unusual new cars I have owned. Then it dawned on me: the standard place to ask people about their cars is when walking in to pay at a servo (Aussie for gas station), and of course I don't do that any more.

I was in the city yesterday, (Monday 3rd June), and saw a blue LEAF on Little Collins near Russell around noon. Was so excited but didn't have a chance to follow as I was turning onto Russell.
Was it anyone on here?

paulmayes said:

I'm a new Leaf owner in Melbourne. Great so far, even with the paucity of charging stations in Australia. No "range anxiety" for me yet, but a couple of times it's been handy that I have a charger at work and at home. One thing I initially found surprising was that fewer people than I expected asked me about the car, unlike previous interesting/unusual new cars I have owned. Then it dawned on me: the standard place to ask people about their cars is when walking in to pay at a servo (Aussie for gas station), and of course I don't do that any more.

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Hi,
Great to have another happy LEAF owner in Melbourne. Did you have much trouble organising charging at work?
Leigh

We're currently back in Melbourne for family and boy... the EV scene is pretty quiet. We drove past at least 4 Nissan dealerships and not a single Leaf in sight. I couldn't even see an Advertisement for it. So far, we haven't seen one "on the road" either.

Compared to my last trip back in 2012, I guess I was lucky to see one charging up on the Blink EVSEs at Tullamarine Airport.

Where are y'all Leaf owners hiding??? ;-P

mxp said:

We're currently back in Melbourne for family and boy... the EV scene is pretty quiet. We drove past at least 4 Nissan dealerships and not a single Leaf in sight. I couldn't even see an Advertisement for it. So far, we haven't seen one "on the road" either.

Compared to my last trip back in 2012, I guess I was lucky to see one charging up on the Blink EVSEs at Tullamarine Airport.

Where are y'all Leaf owners hiding??? ;-P

Click to expand...

Hi MXP,

I'm still yet to get my LEAF. Just received the email from Nissan the other day saying that they have me down as someone interested in one from the Victorian Electric Vehicle Trial. Hoping I can pick up the one that work has as it has done very low kilometres.

mxp said:

We're currently back in Melbourne for family and boy... the EV scene is pretty quiet. We drove past at least 4 Nissan dealerships and not a single Leaf in sight. I couldn't even see an Advertisement for it. So far, we haven't seen one "on the road" either.

Compared to my last trip back in 2012, I guess I was lucky to see one charging up on the Blink EVSEs at Tullamarine Airport.

Where are y'all Leaf owners hiding??? ;-P

Click to expand...

Welcome back to beautiful Melbourne.

I don't know that I've been hiding! I've driven my LEAF to work every day for the last 18 months.
I've only seen a few LEAFs in the wild around town. Funny thing is that almost all of them have been red like mine, so perhaps it's the same one or I only notice red ones.
I think Nissan has only sold ~150 this year, so we are still a select, priveliged few. Most Australians seem fairly conservative in their car choices. It took a while for the Prius not to be seen as unusual.

Leigh

htial said:

mxp said:

We're currently back in Melbourne for family and boy... the EV scene is pretty quiet. We drove past at least 4 Nissan dealerships and not a single Leaf in sight. I couldn't even see an Advertisement for it. So far, we haven't seen one "on the road" either.

Compared to my last trip back in 2012, I guess I was lucky to see one charging up on the Blink EVSEs at Tullamarine Airport.

Where are y'all Leaf owners hiding??? ;-P

Click to expand...

Hi MXP,

I'm still yet to get my LEAF. Just received the email from Nissan the other day saying that they have me down as someone interested in one from the Victorian Electric Vehicle Trial. Hoping I can pick up the one that work has as it has done very low kilometres.

Click to expand...

Hi htial and Leigh,

Thanks for coming out of hiding! ;-) Looks like Australia is heavily discounting Leafs! That's a pretty good deal imho:
http://www.carsguide.com.au/news-and-reviews/car-news/nissan_leaf_slashed_to_39990_drive_away" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Anyways, Depending on parts pricing, I might be planning to pickup a couple of rear head-rests (Aussie spec) since they are made smaller than the US spec ones which are taller. The US spec ones somewhat hinder the rear view vision.

Hi MXP,

Yes, that's a good deal. Unfortunately I paid the initial price (~$51000) but it's good for new customers. I hope it stimulates sales.

Regarding the head rests, you might need to pre-order these as due to the limited numberof LEAFs on the road, most dealers won't carry many spares in stock.

Leigh

leighf said:

Hi MXP,

Yes, that's a good deal. Unfortunately I paid the initial price (~$51000) but it's good for new customers. I hope it stimulates sales.

Regarding the head rests, you might need to pre-order these as due to the limited numberof LEAFs on the road, most dealers won't carry many spares in stock.

Leigh

Click to expand...

Hi Leigh,

Thanks for the tip. So, I did call up Berwick Nissan and Blackburn Nissan today. They needed a key piece of information in order to lookup the part number and give me a price. This means the vehicle VIN. I will send you a PM to see if you are able to help me...

UPDATE: Someone from Berwick Nissan called me back (he managed to somehow get a VIN), and the price quoted was a whopping AUD$290 per headrest. Way too expensive to justify...

Wow, can't believe it's been over a year since I last visited this forum.

GOOD NEWS!!!...

My wife and I finally signed the papers for a new silver LEAF today. I'm so excited I can't wait for it to arrive.

- - Laith...

Congratulations, Laith!

I'm sure you and your wife will enjoy the car for many years to come. I'm up to three years of ownership this month, still have all 12 capacity bars, and have driven 22,600 miles so far with no trouble.

Cheers, Bert

htial said:

...
My wife and I finally signed the papers for a new silver LEAF today. I'm so excited I can't wait for it to arrive.

- - Laith...

Click to expand...

Congratulations
Have you got it yet :?:
Probably too busy driving it with that big smile on your face

Really envy that factory installed spare tire.
Almost asked my brother-in-law who lives in Melbourne to bring me the bracket when he was in US this summer.
But they are really expensive and having one in your baggage might raise some eyebrows :shock:
Plus wasn't sure it would fit a 2011.

The Australian LEAF is manufactured in Japan, right?
Still uses aluminum doors?