Recent content by kwong7

I thought i would give an update on our used 2013 Fiat 500e experience. We bought ours 3 years ago from a used car dealer for $7,300 out the door and have added 48K miles to the car. It's great as a local errand car and can do up to a 55 mile commute at freeway speeds. My wife would drive up...

I wouldn't buy a Leaf expecting to get a free replacement battery; if it works out for you, great, but you might be better served preparing for the worst case scenario and hoping for the best. At any rate, I would be looking at off-lease 2013/2014 Leafs at this point. There should be plenty...

A few things: 1) It's difficult to compare tires because we are often comparing a set of worn out tires (the ones being replaced) to a set of brand new ones with fresh compound and thicker thread. 2) I previously had a set of Pirelli Scorpion Verde on my wife's Lexus Rx400h. They are very...

Having had the Fiat for about 3 weeks, it's definitely not for everyone; it's practically a 2-seater with limited headroom. It sounds like your driving pattern is very similar to my wife; she's driving about 45 miles to work and does a lot of local errands around our home. She'd spend close to...

It really depends on your travel needs. You can easily get by with a level 1 under the following conditions: 1) You have access to another car in case you don't have the range. 2) You have access to a level 2 station at your destination 3) You daily driving is less than 40 miles We've had our...

Congrats on your purchase. As for me, I bought an off-lease 2013 Fiat 500e for $7,300 out the door. My wife just didn't love the interior of the Leaf and wanted something a little more "euro" feel…and a sunroof. I was initially shopping for an EV for myself, since I really hate driving my old...

My wife did not care much for the Leaf's interior but she liked the 500e. We considered an amazing lease deal at effectively $55 per month ($114 when you factor fees, plus downpayment, less CA rebate). However, the insurance requirements for leasing would be another $104 per month. We decided...

I stumbled across this article about Quick Charge degradation: http://insideevs.com/idaho-national-laboratory-dc-quick-charging-nissan-leaf-doesnt-kill-battery/ Essentially the degradation is negligible, ~2.5% more degradation after 40K miles when solely using the Quick Charge compared to...

The dealership has many different 2013 Leafs for sale, all of which were picked up at auction. Here are 5 that interested me. 1) 2013 SL w/ backup camera & Bose 33K miles showing 9 bars leased from Arizona was rear-ended and repaired asking $7,995 2) 2013 SL w/ backup camera & Bose...

Thanks for your input. The price is just under $8K, which is about $1,000-$2,500 below the regional price in my area. I was planning on making an arrangement with the dealer to borrow the car and have a Nissan tech look things over before I commit to purchase. It sounds like I might have more...

I have an opportunity to buy a fully loaded 2013 Leaf SL that has lived its life in Arizona for a great price. It has less than 35K miles and shows 9 bars of capacity left on the battery. The only negative is that the Carfax shows that it was rear-ended about 5 months into the lease, but was...

I just came from a visit at our friends' house in San Diego. They have a 2015 Golf TDI and a leased 2016 Fiat 500e (which they are only paying $150/month because he brother got bored of the car). She's a former MINI owner and absolutely loves the car for it's zippiness, ease of parking, and...

Different EV/PHEV serve different people with different goals. I'm in metro southern California where there's traffic congestion on the freeways throughout about 8 out of 24 hours. Most of my driving is done within a 20mi range, about once a week we will drive 50mi one-way, and we take about 4...

I'm borrowing my friend's C-MAX Energi while he's across the country. The 20mi range goes fast when you're driving to a destination without a plug, but the overall driving range is amazing. My friend has 23K miles and probably on his 10th tank of gasoline. My only gripe is that I wish the...

Has anyone tried swapping headrests from other makes and models? I'm quite content with the adjustable headrests on my 01 VW Golf and I'm tolerant of the headrests in our 07 Lexus Rx400h. Perhaps an easy solution is to find the headrest you like and see if the adjustment notches fit the Leaf...