The official "I got my Leaf" thread

Welcome and enjoy. Please post your experiences and journeys.

2020 Leaf SV, 149 mile range version.
Cheap with all the Nissan rebates & Federal & State tax credits. Blue. Love it so far. Traded in a '16 Ford Focus Electric which is a great-handling car but low range and probably about to get repair costs in the years ahead.

Hoping Nissan doesn't go under so the long warranty stays intact.

voltamps said:

2020 Leaf SV, 149 mile range version.
Cheap with all the Nissan rebates & Federal & State tax credits. Blue. Love it so far. Traded in a '16 Ford Focus Electric which is a great-handling car but low range and probably about to get repair costs in the years ahead.

Hoping Nissan doesn't go under so the long warranty stays intact.

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I bought the same car with both packages, big fan so far!

Just got my first EV... 2020 SV with Tech and Weather packages.

Got a very good deal just before year end and am so excited.

This is my first EV and after 30 years of car buying, easily the most nicely equipped car I've ever had.

I'm having a blast checking out all of the tech and safety features and learning about the car and it is such a smooth drive.

Enjoy and congratulations. Please post your adventures with the car.

Howdy all.

I've been stalking the forums for a while but I finally have a Leaf. Just leased a 2020 SV+ w/Tech and All weather packages. I also have a 2015 Chevy Volt.

I was planning to get the standard SV w/Tech and All Weather but their weren't any available in my local area. I reached out to some dealers that were further away and received some decent quotes, but in the end, I was able to work out a pretty good deal at a local dealership on the +.

Cool car!

dudemize said:

Howdy all.

I've been stalking the forums for a while but I finally have a Leaf. Just leased a 2020 SV+ w/Tech and All weather packages. I also have a 2015 Chevy Volt.

I was planning to get the standard SV w/Tech and All Weather but their weren't any available in my local area. I reached out to some dealers that were further away and received some decent quotes, but in the end, I was able to work out a pretty good deal at a local dealership on the +.

Cool car!

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In 5-10 years, you will be glad you got the extra range... assuming that doesn't happen this Summer

DaveinOlyWA said:

dudemize said:

Howdy all.

I've been stalking the forums for a while but I finally have a Leaf. Just leased a 2020 SV+ w/Tech and All weather packages. I also have a 2015 Chevy Volt.

I was planning to get the standard SV w/Tech and All Weather but their weren't any available in my local area. I reached out to some dealers that were further away and received some decent quotes, but in the end, I was able to work out a pretty good deal at a local dealership on the +.

Cool car!

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In 5-10 years, you will be glad you got the extra range... assuming that doesn't happen this Summer

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Dude leased the car. :lol:

Leasing is the best way to buy an EV if you don't qualify for the Federal tax credit.

LeftieBiker said:

Leasing is the best way to buy an EV if you don't qualify for the Federal tax credit.

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Yup. I toyed with the idea of doing some 401k-Roth conversion to increase my tax liability to make the EV credit work, but I'm hoping the Ariya in 2 years, or similar sized EV is our next 10+ year-owned car. So I leased the leaf for 2 years. Hope my wife's 10 year old car lasts that long, or she might just fall in love with the Leaf like I have, and will sell it sooner so that we are back to the 2 cars we need. Have 2015 Pathfinder for long trips and family outings and hoping commuting 8 miles each way with the leaf instead of the pathfinder will slow the latter's aging process, which has accelerated lately (only 62k miles but feels older to be honest).

First time ever doing a lease, I am nervous, bought a hatchback sized car cover and ordered the clear protection film for the charger door.

Anyway, Dark Blue SV with Weather and Tech packages, took delivery 12/28/2020.

You get used to leasing, especially if you take care of your cars anyway. It isn't that different a feeling from having a large bank loan on a car...

I hope I don't though

It was nice not having car payments since I paid off the Pathfinder a couple years early.

gillmj24 said:

I hope I don't though

It was nice not having car payments since I paid off the Pathfinder a couple years early.

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Kinda interesting. I did the roth option in 2010 to boost my tax liability and ended up leasing anyway. Didn't take delivery until Jan 18th so wouldn't have mattered. I am glad I leased. Still leasing 5 LEAFs later (pining to be a tree I guess )

As far as payments? That is a gasser thing. Its easy to see why you don't want payments AND a gas bill. For EVs? The lease rates are frequently low enough that it "feels" more like a gas bill than a car payment :lol: and we know in the gasser world; the gas bill NEVER goes away and we are (I actually never was) ok with that?

I think your "no car payment" feel is simply rationalizing your situation into something you are more comfortable with.

DaveinOlyWA said:

In 5-10 years, you will be glad you got the extra range... assuming that doesn't happen this Summer

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Dave, I've been perusing your blog trying to get smarter on the Leaf. Just got Leaf Spy fired up. SOH 98.36%. odo 99 mi. Seems a bit low for a brand new car but I think it had been sitting at the dealership at a low charge for a while. The sales guy (who was great) had to charge it up for my wife and I to take it on a test drive.

dudemize said:

DaveinOlyWA said:

In 5-10 years, you will be glad you got the extra range... assuming that doesn't happen this Summer

Click to expand...

Dave, I've been perusing your blog trying to get smarter on the Leaf. Just got Leaf Spy fired up. SOH 98.36%. odo 99 mi. Seems a bit low for a brand new car but I think it had been sitting at the dealership at a low charge for a while. The sales guy (who was great) had to charge it up for my wife and I to take it on a test drive.

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Mine started at 99.79% but was only a few weeks old with 4 miles on it. I dropped below 98.36% on my first adjustment so guessing your build date was at least a few months before your pick up date?

Mine was mfg in January 2020, bought it at the end of November and it was 96.89%. Currently at 96.82% but I think I will get an adjustment soon.

DaveinOlyWA said:

Mine started at 99.79% but was only a few weeks old with 4 miles on it. I dropped below 98.36% on my first adjustment so guessing your build date was at least a few months before your pick up date?

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Yep, build date 02/20. So about 10-11 months.

gillmj24 said:

Have 2015 Pathfinder for long trips and family outings .

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That's what people will want to do a lot for the next 20 years, I think. I've read where folks are saying an EV is all they need, or they live in an apartment complex where charging is prohibited & they have to own a gas vehicle, different situations.

For those in apartments, or who want to own only 1 car, there are great hybrids out there now that can give you the best of both worlds (Accord & CRV hybrids, Ford hyb., Toyota of course, etc., except GM dropped ALL their hybrids & appear to be going gang-busters on EVs-only though! See https://www.gmexhibitzero.com/inflection-talks.html )

gillmj24 said:

First time ever doing a lease, I am nervous, bought a hatchback sized car cover and ordered the clear protection film for the charger door.

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I just turned in car on a GM Chevy lease. I almost forced a dealership-inspection on the day I turned it back in to the dealership. When I found out they did NOT want to inspect it at all, but would do it only if I insisted, I just dropped the inspection.

I took pictures & videos with my phone out in their parking lot to show I returned the thing in great shape, etc. Maybe it would be best to get them to do an inspection, dealership service dept. people that is, to document the condition & any small flaws before the late, lazy "GM Financial Lease Owner" did an inspection a week later, after something could have gotten dented or broken & me blamed !

Actually they are pretty tolerant on what "Normal Wear & Tear" is. Check your specific rules, but GM (chevy) Financial lease company allows dents, just not too big or too many, per panel, etc. So don't worry, your Lease Company is likely similar; some small flaws allowed with no charge. .... Now I see Nissan lease return conditions are almost identical to what GM Financial does: https://owners.nissanusa.com/content/techpub/EndOfLease/Wear_and_Use_Guide.pdf

Love those marketing names for colors. If we have the chemistry technology, can we please get a Leaf that is green in the Spring, and fades to "Sunset Drift Chroma-Flair" in the Fall, as leaves are supposed to do. THAT would sell a lot of Leafs.

Hi, I got a second hand Leaf on 23rd December, 2017, with an upgraded charger, 6.6, and 38,000 miles on the clock.
I drove it home on a very cold day (I live in Fife) and the only day when it's been happy and used a lot less charge was this Monday when the temp went up to 9C. last night I went on a 17 mile round trip and was taken aback how much battery that used, at minus 2C, got down to 19 miles. I haven't got a home charger yet, so I took it to the charger at the railway station this morning, which is walking distance, left it for 6 hours - it only went up to 59 miles! I am shocked at how difficult this is.
sadly my garage is not available for trickle charging as I'm turning it into a studio, and the electrics are not usable at the moment.
is it common for charging to be that slow in cold weather? (about 0C today) - but another public charger took it up from 30 something to 114 miles last week in similar temps. or is just that it was low to start with.
I didn't want to hook it up again and try overnight as the charger being in the railway station it felt a bit vulnerable.

Does your Leaf have the heat pump? You can tell us the model, although we aren't as familiar with the Euro designations here. It sounds to me like it does, and you are seeing the difference between power consumption with primarily the heat pump providing heat, and primarily the resistance heater. As for charging speed, it should not charge very slowly at those relatively mild temps. Look at the % of charge display rather than the range estimate.