What kind of car do you have?!

[eHelmholtz]

Since I got the LEAF in August, I've had a quite a few people ask me what kind of car is it and one person called it "striking" which I thought was amusing. I've also had people take photos of the car while parked even though San Diego seems to me to be LEAF haven. Of course, one person rolled down his windows and said, "that's a really nice car - how do you like it?! it's a cube right?" arrgh! I wonder what other people's experiences are.

On a side note, I admit that since I made my LEAF into a TARDIS with a spider emblem instead of the Nissan logo, I've had even notice. In fact, there have been over half a dozen people, while I'm stopped at a light, who have pulled up behind me and then put on a big smile and find their smart phone to take a photo; one person, was doing it as we started moving which was a bit scary!

So, have you had people come up and ask you what car it is cos it's so different than anything they've seen?

 

[garsh]

I'm in Pittsburgh, and I've been surprised that I've not caught anybody taking a second look at my Leaf while I'm driving. Sure, many people at work and home comment on it. But I haven't even had people on the sidewalks take a look as I slowly drive by with the VSP playing.

Oh well.

 

[nogajim]

I rarely feel like I am getting noticed, but that could be my fault. The other night I met my wife at a restaurant for dinner and we convoyed home. She said a woman took a nice long rubberneck look at the Leaf as we pulled off from the light !

 

[Cheezmo]

I like the over the shoulder double take from pedestrians as they realize something sounded different when that car just drove by. Seen a few times driving around residential areas while people are out walking their dogs.

 

[TomT]

Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on your point of view, Leafs are now common enough around here that few give me a second look anymore. Certainly not like when I first got mine 14 months ago!

I like the over the shoulder double take from pedestrians as they realize something sounded different when that car just drove by. Seen a few times driving around residential areas while people are out walking their dogs.

 

[dgpcolorado]

I've had two strangers, both women, call my car "cute". It was clear that neither had any idea what it was. Other than that nobody seems to notice it, including pedestrians. I think that part of it is that I have the only LEAF within 90 miles (and three mountain passes) so EVs are completely unknown where I live.

But I have to say that being ignored by pedestrians is disappointing since I get annoyed by loud cars and trucks drowning out my audiobooks when I am out for my long walks. But others seem to be oblivious to whether or not a car makes much noise when driving by.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

even in Puget Sound which has embraced green tech for years, it can be long stretches between anyone noticing me and my large Zero Emission sticker but at the same time, i probably get at least 1-2 people a week ask me about it and i am not out and about much as i used to be since my job change.

 

[TRONZ]

I live in a VERY conservative area and over 15 months of ownership, peoples attitudes have shifted around. At first, the general reaction by (knowledgable) people was a bit of shock, excitement and alot of curiosity. Later (as gas prices rose) it transitioned into envy and crusty looks of denial or resentment that an EV was happily zipping around. I have watched some people, apparently so flustered and so intent on ignoring "the electric car" that they have almost gotten themselves into traffic accidents looking the wrong direction for too long. :shock: Now it has transitioned into acceptance and very discreet curiosity. People know what a LEAF is and seem to want to look at it only if they think no one is watching them. Probably afraid some shave head guy in a floral "I'm on vacation till he's gone!" shirt is gonna come and yell at them. :lol:

 

[adric22]

I've had two strangers, both women, call my car "cute". It was clear that neither had any idea what it was.

I have also had at least 3 women in parking lots comment on how cute my car was. None of them had any idea it was an electric car. This is actually important considering how many comments we see from the anti-ev crowd saying the car is butt ugly. So if a woman will walk up to a strange man and tell him his car is cute, that is saying something. Especially being that I have never had people say that about any of the previous cars I've had, most of which were a hybrid of some sort.

 

[Cheezmo]

At lunch today with a fellow DFW Leaf owner, with both parked next to each other charging at the Blink stations, and us sitting on the porch eating lunch, I would have to day that 95% of the people that walked by them stopped and looked and made a comment to whoever they were with about it. We could have hung out there all day explaining and evangelizing. It was pretty cool.

 

[jmillington]

After I first got my Leaf in April 2011, as I was walking to my parked Leaf, I noticed a woman staring at the Leaf, and as I unlocked the car, the woman says to me "excuse me, but I just have to tell you that your car is the most beautiful blue I've ever seen!"

I thought she was going to say something about it being all-electric, but she just thought the blue was beautiful!

 

[IBELEAF]

I've had two strangers, both women, call my car "cute". It was clear that neither had any idea what it was.

I have also had at least 3 women in parking lots comment on how cute my car was. None of them had any idea it was an electric car. This is actually important considering how many comments we see from the anti-ev crowd saying the car is butt ugly. So if a woman will walk up to a strange man and tell him his car is cute, that is saying something. Especially being that I have never had people say that about any of the previous cars I've had, most of which were a hybrid of some sort.

Every female I talked to about Leaf has commented that it looked "cute" and at the same time every guy has stated in one form or another how unattractive it looks. I tend to agree that Leaf lacks "manly" looks, but, gas economy makes up for that.

Also, most unexpected comment about Leaf from a friend was "how is your electric vacuum doing?" :lol:

 

[keydiver]

I had one girl at the LEAF drive event in Miami tell me that the LEAF looked like a Gremlin.

 

[dgpcolorado]

I had one girl at the LEAF drive event in Miami tell me that the LEAF looked like a Gremlin.

Ouch! That would hurt.

 

[eHelmholtz]

Looks really awesome though! Did you do this by yourself? I mean how did you took the logo out of your leaf without ruining the paint-job? It should have looked better in red-it's a spiderman car.

Darren, taking the badges off most cars is really easy. There are several ways to do it but the simplest is to apply some glue remover like GooGone and then use fishing gut or dental floss, running it between the emblem and car paint. Some people find that heating the emblem up with a blow dryer helps. Here's a whole thread on debadging.