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evas2012leaf

Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2016
Messages
13
almost 4 years ago I bought my wife a 2012 leaf SV. It had 63,000 miles on it and it had just had a battery swap under warranty. It had also been in a traffic accident which caused the insurance co. to total it out. It was only sheet metal damage and it was repaired. I took a chance and bought it for $7000. My wife loved it and in a little less than four years she drove it almost 50000 miles with no problems. I started talking to her about replacing her leaf with a newer 40 kw model and she wouldn't hear of it. She loved her old leaf and was perfectly ok with the 24kw pack and the range it offered. Even after nearly 50,000 she still had 12 bars on her battery and couldn't see any reason to spend a lot of money and buy a new leaf. I still wanted to get her into a vehicle with a lot lower miles so I kept a eye out for a 2011 or 2012 leaf with low miles and a depleted battery pack. I found one 300 miles away in Little Rock Ar. It had 29,000 miles and looked new. The only problem was they wanted nearly 7000 for the car. I called up and talked to a salesman whose name was Race. He was great! He spent a lot of time getting answers to all my questions and then when I told him the dealership was asking too much for the car asked me how much I was willing to pay for it. I had already found another 2012 down in Texas, but the shipping was going to be 800$ and it had a small amount of body damage. I told him about that that car and said I would be willing to pay the 3600$ that I could get that car for. He told me he would check and call me back. An hour later he called and said we had a deal. I had already made arrangements with a Nissan dealership to do a battery swap so I had the car shipped there. It took a couple of weeks, but it was worth the wait. My wife still has the car she loves and no car payment! In all we got the new 2012 leaf with 29,000 miles for a total of 4800$ which includes the shipping and service charge for swapping the batteries. Now she has a 2012 leaf with 29,000miles and a 12 bar battery and we sold the old leaf with 8 bar battery in it for 3400 so actually we have the new leaf for about 1400$ out of pocket expense. There are ways to get into a good low mileage for little money if you can use your imagination.
 
The above appears to have depended on finding a Leaf that qualified for a new battery under the capacity warranty. That and actually getting the warranty replacement are the hard parts.

EDIT: Ok, now I understand. I do find it amazing that the battery in the 2012 still has 12 bars, even though it has the inferior battery chemistry found through 3/2013...
 
How much did the dealer charge for swapping the batteries between the two cars? It looks like you made a good choice--the 2011 and 2012 models from Japan have some features that were eliminated in 2013. I would have kept my 2011 for a long time if it had not been totaled.
 
First to leftiebiker-the battery in the original leaf had been replaced just prior to my buying it with the new chemistry pack. I called the nissan dealer who did the swap to make sure. As far as still having 12 bars I taught my wife the proper care and charging of her pack and she has been very good as to not stressing her pack. She drives between 30 and 50 miles a day in town and on country roads were she doesn't go over 45mph during her commute. We on occasion take the leaf out of town but even then she is careful to watch her energy screen to keep her over all amps down to less than 1c.

to GerryAZ- The actual cost to have the batteries swapped between the two cars was 700$ Of course good ol' Nissan tacks on another 70$ for "disposal" fees. Hmm, I wonder just what there is to dispose of when you swap out battery packs?
 
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