Very close to getting a Leaf SL

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
C

CincyLeaf

Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2016
Messages
15
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio
Hello

I have found a 2013 Leaf SL with about 20,000 miles. It is a also certified pre-owned by Nissan and priced well so I am sure it won't last long. I was thinking of getting it this weekend possibly. I have one major hurdle (or maybe not), that's why I come to you guys for your experience. I live in a condo but have a garage and my own driveway. I cannot fit the car in the garage because of motorcycles in there. I was thinking of simply running the trickle charger and close the garage door on the cord. Two things worry me, first is to pinch the cable with my garage door. Second I have two outlets in my garage, the only wall outlets are pretty much at the furthest point from the driveway, and the second is on the ceiling where the garage door is plugged in. To get the cable close enough I could use an extension cord or use the garage door outlet. What about closing the garage door on the cable? Any worries?

I hope to be able to get the leaf and join you guys on the electric journey.

Thank you very much
 
I have closed my cord under the garage door many times, and it has held up just fine. Certainly, though, some doors can be heavier and close harder than others. You may want to test your door first, maybe with a garden hose?

Good luck with the decision!
 
What part of the country do you live? What price are you getting? Have you evaluated the used Leaf versus other options or this a passionate buy?
 
Fun! I wouldn't worry about the cord under the garage door, my L2 EVSE cable goes under... Garage door closing can be adjusted on the opener. Use a good (12ga or 10ga) extension cord at the minimum length needed to work. Got any price info on this deal? I see prices of $12k on 2013 SL's, too rich for my blood considering you can drop to an SV for mid-$9k's and S's for mid-$8k's. Remember this a buyers market for these and the prices will come to you with patience. (Not that I heeded my own advice...) Anyway, good luck!
 
CincyLeaf said:
I have found a 2013 Leaf SL with about 20,000 miles. It is a also certified pre-owned by Nissan and priced well so I am sure it won't last long.
Click to expand...
Re: price, as others alluded to, I suspect it'll be overpriced. Nissan-franchise dealers have a big markup on used Leaf (vs. auction price) and CPO adds even more.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=462637#p462637 can give you an idea of average wholesale auction prices. Each market is different though.

The used car dealer I bought from has a $1K markup. And, he had to pay auction fees which was $325 on my '13 SV w/premium that I bought last year for $9,325 + tax and license.

What is its build month? How many capacity bars remain? Where did the car previously reside (e.g. hot climate, mild, somewhere in between)? I wouldn't buy any used Leaf w/knowing any of this and without getting these numbers via Leaf Spy: AHr, SOH and Hx. The Leaf Spy numbers gives you a general idea of how much the battery has degraded and whether or not some unscrupulous dealer reset the BMS. http://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2014/11/buyers-beware-this-is-must-read.html isn't the the only instance we've heard of.

Can you update your location info via your user name in the upper right > User Control Panel > Profile tab? That way, we don't need to ask in future posts/threads or do sleuthing to deduce it.

What are your daily driving needs in terms of miles? How much city vs. highway? Will you have the ability to charge at your work/destinations?
 
rosier9 said:
Fun! I wouldn't worry about the cord under the garage door, my L2 EVSE cable goes under... Garage door closing can be adjusted on the opener. Use a good (12ga or 10ga) extension cord at the minimum length needed to work. Got any price info on this deal? I see prices of $12k on 2013 SL's, too rich for my blood considering you can drop to an SV for mid-$9k's and S's for mid-$8k's. Remember this a buyers market for these and the prices will come to you with patience. (Not that I heeded my own advice...) Anyway, good luck!
Click to expand...
I've fed the cable under the garage door lots of times. I have always used a block of wood just to make sure the door wasn't crushing the cable, and adjusted the limit screw on the opener a bit (half turn?)
 
DanCar said:
What part of the country do you live? What price are you getting? Have you evaluated the used Leaf versus other options or this a passionate buy?
Click to expand...

I live in Cincinnati Ohio. This deal seems to be the best one for an SV within at least 200 miles and definitely the best within 100 miles. Unfortunaletly there seems to be a lack of inventory in my area at least if you are looking for 2013 and above and i have been looking at SL and SV as a preference.
 
rosier9 said:
Fun! I wouldn't worry about the cord under the garage door, my L2 EVSE cable goes under... Garage door closing can be adjusted on the opener. Use a good (12ga or 10ga) extension cord at the minimum length needed to work. Got any price info on this deal? I see prices of $12k on 2013 SL's, too rich for my blood considering you can drop to an SV for mid-$9k's and S's for mid-$8k's. Remember this a buyers market for these and the prices will come to you with patience. (Not that I heeded my own advice...) Anyway, good luck!
Click to expand...

This is a 2013 SL is $12900 with 22k miles, has everything but the back up camera and the bose audio. It's also Nissan certified if that makes a difference. I am definitely looking at 2013s and up at least since there seem to have been an improvement on the battery from the 2011 and 2012 models.
 
cwerdna said:
CincyLeaf said:
I have found a 2013 Leaf SL with about 20,000 miles. It is a also certified pre-owned by Nissan and priced well so I am sure it won't last long.
Click to expand...
Re: price, as others alluded to, I suspect it'll be overpriced. Nissan-franchise dealers have a big markup on used Leaf (vs. auction price) and CPO adds even more.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=462637#p462637 can give you an idea of average wholesale auction prices. Each market is different though.

The used car dealer I bought from has a $1K markup. And, he had to pay auction fees which was $325 on my '13 SV w/premium that I bought last year for $9,325 + tax and license.

What is its build month? How many capacity bars remain? Where did the car previously reside (e.g. hot climate, mild, somewhere in between)? I wouldn't buy any used Leaf w/knowing any of this and without getting these numbers via Leaf Spy: AHr, SOH and Hx. The Leaf Spy numbers gives you a general idea of how much the battery has degraded and whether or not some unscrupulous dealer reset the BMS. http://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2014/11/buyers-beware-this-is-must-read.html isn't the the only instance we've heard of.

Can you update your location info via your user name in the upper right > User Control Panel > Profile tab? That way, we don't need to ask in future posts/threads or do sleuthing to deduce it.

What are your daily driving needs in terms of miles? How much city vs. highway? Will you have the ability to charge at your work/destinations?
Click to expand...

I am not sure what month the build and don't really know how to find out. Thank you for those average auction price link you gave me. Looks like the average is $11000 so since they are selling theirs for $12900, so a $1900 mark up, is that a lot? It looks like the car is from Georgia from the carfax. I drive just under 30 miles a day commuting to work. I don't think I will be able to charge at work but I will look into it.

Thank you so much for all that info.
 
Another hot climate Leaf is being sold in the north. This is starting to sound like a broken record. I would negotiate that price down and be prepared to wait it out. Remember, there will be 200 mi EVs soon, maybe as early as this fall. An informed buyer is a better buyer. Spend some time here and read as many old threads as you can. You will learn more than you can imagine. That said, I always advocate that low mileage drivers (like myself) will benefit by buying a USED Leaf over a new (or leased) Leaf. Just make sure that you can still make your "normal" routine with about 50% of the current range, and you'll be good for another 10 years. I'm approaching 5 yrs and, with my 10 mi RT commute, should be good for another decade or two.
 
I assume that what Cwerdna is going to write later is what I usually write: that it appears, from available secondary evidence, that 2013 Leafs built before April of 2013 either use the old battery chemistry, or are for some other reason closer to the 2011-2112 Leafs in battery longevity. Most of the 2013 Leafs we see written about here with more than one capacity bar lost were built before April 2013. There was a list of auctioned cars posted here last year: it gave build dates as well as remaining bars, and the difference between Jan-March build dates and those built from April 2013 on (like mine) in capacity loss was remarkable. So some of us tell people looking to buy a 2013 Leaf to look at that manufacture date on the driver's side doorjamb!
 
Thank you guys for this information, that is very helpful and important. Could I ask the dealer to check on that information for me? Will they know what I am talking about?

Also the car being from Georgia, do you think that qualifies as potentially hot climate car?

Thanks
 
You shouldn't trust what a dealer says. Many will say what ever it takes to make a sale and earn the commission, then it is up to the others later to deal with any ill effects.
 
The seller wants to make as much money possible with the least amount of effort...

It is your responsibility to make sure of what you are buying.

I would buy the wireless plug-in for the car's obdII connection and buy the LEAFSPY app on your phone BEFORE you are ready to buy. Then practice using leafspy on some leafs for sale so that you know what you are doing when you go inspect your car.

Otherwise you don't really know what you are getting in a used car...
 
Agreed with powersurge and DanCar said.

Re: practicing, doesn't need to be on many cars. One is good enough. Just make sure you OBD2 dongle is actually compatible w/Leaf Spy (it can be hit or miss, even if you buy what's supposed to the exact right model) and make sure you can get valid (non-zero) values for Ahr, SOH and Hx. And, as a bonus, make sure that you know where to find the VIN and odometer reading, so that you can compare to the vehicle's VIN and odo.

The odo reading in Leaf Spy might be off by 1 mile from the dash display. I wouldn't worry about that.

I received my dongle and verified Leaf Spy worked with it on my the leased Leaf that I had. I only checked out 1 or 2 used Leafs w/Leaf Spy. One of them is the used one I have now.
CincyLeaf said:
Also the car being from Georgia, do you think that qualifies as potentially hot climate car?
Click to expand...
Yep. Probably. Off the top of my head, probably nowhere near as bad Phoenix but MUCH worse than say the Seattle area. For Phoenix, https://www.google.com/search?q=phoenix+weather&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 currently has a forecast there of 100 F and over 110 F Sun thru Thurs w/119 F on Sun and Mon.
 
I'll tell you what, now that I am looking seriously, the inventory around me is disappointing. I am trying to stay within a 100 mile radius so that I could possibly drive it back and go inspect it. I am also looking at 2013 and above. Most of them are from georgia and there aren't that many to look at period. I wonder if they are becoming more popular once again. The dealership called me today for the one I have been looking at, he was acting like he was crazy busy because they have 10 leaf in inventory and he is getting all kinds of calls appointments. Maybe it's true but who knows with these guys sometimes.
 
CincyLeaf said:
I am trying to stay within a 100 mile radius so that I could possibly drive it back and go inspect it.
Click to expand...
Keep in mind that you if choose a dealer that's 100 miles away, you almost certainly need to stop to charge it on the way home and on the way back.

You could use this range chart https://www.dropbox.com/s/wczgxhs5e91i7og/LEAFrangeChartVersion7G93.pdf?dl=0 (Use this 93% chart for a one year old or more battery that still has all 12 capacity bar segments.) from http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=101293 for a 12 bar car.

To make it on a single charge on each leg, assuming it still has 12 bars and it's totally level ground w/no HVAC usage between the starting and ending point, you'd need to average at least 5.2 miles/kWh (probably achievable driving 45 mph or less) to barely make it (predicted range is 103 miles at that efficiency). Better to go even slower to be sure.

If you arrive home w/a dead battery, charging at 120 volts could take 20 hours.
 

Similar threads

N
Restart from turtle
2
Replies
31
Views
2K
timgross
T
A
How long can 2023 Leaf SV Plus idle with the AC on?
Replies
8
Views
3K
collinlovas
C
G
Repair or replace my 2017 Leaf LE?
Replies
2
Views
3K
adavidw
A
R
Intermittent no power-Help
Replies
2
Views
792
robbo9001
R
X
Total Newbie Intro & Questions
2 3
Replies
52
Views
8K
XLH
X

Latest posts

Back
Top