LTLFTcomposite said:
I don't think one can lease one yet... and he'll be waiting awhile for it.
kubel said:
I would say go with the Ford C-MAX Energi over the Plug in Prius.
I recommend the LEAF for anyone who drives less than 40 miles per day.
From 40 to 60 miles, I wouldn't recommend it unless level 1 charging is definitely available at work, just in case it's needed (definitely needed in cold weather states).
From 60 to 80 miles, I wouldn't recommend it unless level 2 charging is definitely available at work.
80+ and I recommend you look for a different car.
There are people that own the LEAF and drive 100+ miles per day (charge at work), but with range degradation with age and temporary range limitations based on factors such as speed and cold, you probably don't want to push the limits.
Agree w/the above, but I wouldn't want a Ford at this point given how badly they've done in recent Consumer Reports reliability ratings. To quote from a post I made elsewhere:
They didn't do well at
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/10/most-reliable-new-cars/index.htm. Unfortunately, you need an online subscription to see most of the article and table at the bottom which shows Ford dropped to position 27 out of 28 (Jaguar was the only one worse), as mentioned in the part you can see.
The columns in the table of interest were average brand score, worst brand score and best brand score in terms of % better or worse than average (which is 0), worst model, best model, and rank change from last year.
Ford's average brand score was -59%, worst was -226%, best was 19%, worst model was Explorer V6 4WD, best was F-150 V6, change in rank was down 7 spots.
In comparison, the top 7 brands were Scion, Toyota, Lexus, Mazda, Subaru, Honda and Acura. They got
average brand scores of 72, 47, 47, 40, 37, 36 and 26, respectively.
http://pressroom.consumerreports.or...all-while-seven-japanese-brands-top-list.html has more text everyone can see.
And at
http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2012/10/the-10-least-reliable-cars.html, 6 of them are from Ford Motor Co.
Also, even though I'm no fan of JDPA and don't find their IQS that meaningful and feel that VDS is too short (only looks at 3 year old cars), Ford didn't do well in their '12 IQS:
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/06/20/j-d-power-initial-quality-study-highlights-infotainment-woes-p/.
Ford, which was hit hard in 2011 due to problems with its MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch systems, came in at a lowly 28 out of 35. Bennie Fowler, Ford's group vice president of global quality, had said the automaker expected to "be about the same or slightly better" than last year's 23rd. Not quite... but it could be worse: Last place is shared by Fiat and Smart.
One note about the PiP. If the OP wishes to lease, Toyota (unlike Nissan and GM) will NOT pass on the entire value of the Federal tax credit to the person leasing.
See http://priuschat.com/threads/pip-lease-terms-will-toyota-give-us-a-fair-deal.102950/#post-1479464" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://priuschat.com/threads/pip-lease-terms-will-toyota-give-us-a-fair-deal.102950/#post-1494905" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
Judging by some recent Priuschat threads (including by someone who didn't properly do research before leasing PiP), the situation hasn't changed.
(And yes, Erica does work for Toyota. I've met her before at an official Toyota event. And, I've been invited to official Toyota events via the "Prius Team" user.)
OP, MUST you lease? If not, perhaps consider purchasing a Rav4 EV. Its range should work for you. Tony got 130 miles out of the he rented (http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=240769#p240769" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false
, before he finally bought one. He seems MUCH happier about its range compared to the Leafs he's had.
The same caveat about the lease and tax credit applies (http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=240964#p240964" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false
. You don't want to lease a Rav4 EV unless you want to lose a substantial amount of Fed tax credit.
