Humbly wanting some feedback here. My wife and I drove our new (used) 2012 Nissan Leaf SL home from the dealership last night. The car had 1 previous owner in California per carfax report, has the full 12 bars, and 16K miles. While we signed for the car, the dealer charged it to 55 miles on the display. Our ride home was 36 miles on the freeway.
Before I even drove out of the dealership, I lost 5 miles on the display, from 55 to 50. (I noticed this had happened earlier on our test drive: started the car at 42, shifted into gear and suddenly got 37). I drove the car home at speeds between 53-62 mph. No heat, no A/C. I did charge my phone using the charge port under the display screen. As I drove home on the highway, I noticed I was actually dropping/expending miles on my display faster than I was accumulating actual miles. Needless to say, anxiety gripped me as I dropped down to one bar with considerable distance still left. We did arrive home, thankfully. However, my 55-then-50 mile range from the dealership dropped down to 4 'blinking' miles on the display, making my total trip 50-4 = 46 miles. Keep in mind that the total distance from dealership to home was 36 miles.
So, as my wife and I argue whether or not to return this car, the crucial question is: is this normal? Should I expect to drop miles at a predictable rate? In this case, we lost 10 miles to our starting amount of 50, which is 20%. Can I expect to lose 20% on a full charge of around 80 to get an actual range of 60?
Thanks for your responses. My leaf hangs in the balance here! :roll:
Before I even drove out of the dealership, I lost 5 miles on the display, from 55 to 50. (I noticed this had happened earlier on our test drive: started the car at 42, shifted into gear and suddenly got 37). I drove the car home at speeds between 53-62 mph. No heat, no A/C. I did charge my phone using the charge port under the display screen. As I drove home on the highway, I noticed I was actually dropping/expending miles on my display faster than I was accumulating actual miles. Needless to say, anxiety gripped me as I dropped down to one bar with considerable distance still left. We did arrive home, thankfully. However, my 55-then-50 mile range from the dealership dropped down to 4 'blinking' miles on the display, making my total trip 50-4 = 46 miles. Keep in mind that the total distance from dealership to home was 36 miles.
So, as my wife and I argue whether or not to return this car, the crucial question is: is this normal? Should I expect to drop miles at a predictable rate? In this case, we lost 10 miles to our starting amount of 50, which is 20%. Can I expect to lose 20% on a full charge of around 80 to get an actual range of 60?
Thanks for your responses. My leaf hangs in the balance here! :roll: