Considering 2012 LEAF- many questions

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stopeject

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Joined
Sep 3, 2014
Messages
8
Location
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Hello,
I'm considering purchasing a 2012 LEAF at an action. I read this forum for few hours, and have even more questions that I started with. I want to buy this car for my retired parents. We live in Baltimore, MD. They only drive local roads, rarely exceeding 20 miles/day. Does it even make any practical sense to get an EV for such driving?
Picking a car to buy seems to be very different from a gas powered. I understand that the battery condition requires most attention. I have an OBD2 dongle and can use LeafSpy app. What numbers should I expect from a good battery? Should I look at voltage differences between the cells or some other parameters? The battery in the will almost certainly be only partially charged. Can I still estimate its condition?
Any other thing in the car to check over?
What chargers or other accessories should I expect with the car?
I'm a bit confused about the battery warranty. Nissan site says 8y/100k miles, I read here about 5y/60k miles.
I also read that in order to preserve the battery frequent shallow recharges not to exceeding 80% of the capacity are the best. Is it possible to set up charging that it would stop at 80%?

Thank you.
 
stopeject said:
Hello,
I'm considering purchasing a 2012 LEAF at an action. I read this forum for few hours, and have even more questions that I started with. I want to buy this car for my retired parents. We live in Baltimore, MD. They only drive local roads, rarely exceeding 20 miles/day. Does it even make any practical sense to get an EV for such driving?
Picking a car to buy seems to be very different from a gas powered. I understand that the battery condition requires most attention. I have an OBD2 dongle and can use LeafSpy app. What numbers should I expect from a good battery? Should I look at voltage differences between the cells or some other parameters? The battery in the will almost certainly be only partially charged. Can I still estimate its condition?
Any other thing in the car to check over?
What chargers or other accessories should I expect with the car?
I'm a bit confused about the battery warranty. Nissan site says 8y/100k miles, I read here about 5y/60k miles.
I also read that in order to preserve the battery frequent shallow recharges not to exceeding 80% of the capacity are the best. Is it possible to set up charging that it would stop at 80%?

Thank you.
Click to expand...

- 20 miles a day makes them a perfect candidate even for an older LEAF.

- You can use LeafSpy to check the battery "health". For a 2-year-old Leaf in the NE, you should see about 88% right about now. I don't think that health number depends on the state of charge or anything else (like if the battery has been balanced recently), so maybe someone else can chime in with that. I'd like to know myself.
The good news is that the battery is about the only part that wears on a Leaf. You don't have the normal trouble spots like engine/transmission/exhaust system to inspect.

- You should get the "trickle", 120v EVSE with the car, in the trunk, in a little zip-up pouch.

- I'm pretty sure the 2012 has an 80% "long life mode". Just set that and it won't charge past 80%.
 
pkulak said:
- I'm pretty sure the 2012 has an 80% "long life mode". Just set that and it won't charge past 80%.
Click to expand...

Yes, it absolutely does. And agree with all of the other responses. This is a perfect long-term car for 20 miles/day.
 
I suggest you equip the car, if you buy it, with a hardwired 12 volt accessory battery maintainer lead. If the car is left for weeks, or left for days while plugged in, a maintainer will keep the accessory battery alive. If they are going to drive it almost daily, you can wait and see if it's needed, checking the 12 volt battery voltage (with the car off) regularly. It shouldn't fall below about 12.6 volts.

You will also want to get either a hardwired (to the house or garage) 240 volt EVSE/charging station, or even just a 120 volt unit, for convenience. The OEM 120 volt EVSE can be semi-installed as well, although it should be at least shielded from direct rain if installed outdoors.
 
This is my ignorance but why was it at auction? Was this a repo or was it wrecked and "repaired"?

To the rest of the community if it is at auction does that mean the warranties persist or are they now voided?

As to the warranty 8/100 is against factory defects in material/workmanship. The 5/60 is against capacity loss. As far as battery attention, charge to 80% and drive it like you would any other car. You just have to change your mindset to "I'm driving a car that only has a 1/4 tank of gas."
 
Thanks to everyone for replies, they clarified a lot. I'm looking for a car at dealer wholesale auction, it will be sold to me through a dealer. From the warranty standpoint it will be just like any other used car. Of course LEAFs are not easy to find, and I'm not really sure that it will be a good investment.
 

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