Msquared
Well-known member
Hi all,
This is pretty much a rant/rambling to get out some thoughts and feelings on my current situation (read at your own risk.)
I've been a member of this forum since August 2012 (got my 2012 Leaf SL in late July 2012). But, I only stop in occasionally. This forum, however, has been a lifesaver at certain intervals. Once, when I had a crash against a curb in a snowstorm, and destroyed my rims and bearings on the passenger side of my car, a very nice member of this forum stepped in to sell me 2 rims on the cheap.
My 39-month lease will be up in late November of 2015. I have already started to consider my next vehicle options. I will NOT be keeping my Leaf, as I had rolled negative equity into my lease from my prior lease (2011 Hyundai Elantra Limited), and after my Leaf lease is up, I will owe roughly $7000 more on the car than what it's worth.
In February of this year, I started working for CarMax. If I wanted to stay in a Leaf, it would actually be smarter for me to give back my current one to the Nissan dealer after my lease is up, then buy a used one from CarMax! The ones on our lot are much less expensive than what I'd owe on mine after the lease.
Before I turn my lease back in, I will have to buy a new bumper for my car, as a handful of months ago, I was backing around a corner, and someone else came around, and I hit their license plate. I wasn't looking at my rear-view monitor, as I'd been looking in my side-view mirror to avoid a curb. My bumper now has a hole in it, which I'm currently covering with a sticker. I'm just waiting until closer to the time I turn it in, just in case something else happens to my bumper in the meantime.
I LOVE how my Leaf drives and handles. I love the torque (I'm not always easy on the pedal), and how it corners. I also love how much space it has, believe it or not. I just helped my sister move a bunch of furniture in it. And, the obvious, I love not having to buy gas.
BUT, there are also a few complaints. I've lost one bar of capacity a while back (my car currently has 28k). Also, the obvious: I can't take long trips out of town to see my parents, who live 4 hours away, or my best friend, who is 5 hours away.
The worst, however, is the annoying charging station situation in my area. Luckily, I live just outside of Portland, OR, in an area with quite a few stations. However, there also seem to be a certain breed of person around here, who sees a charging station, and either blocks it or vandalizes it. Not to mention, the Blink chargers just go down quite often. When I politely ask people if they can move their cars, or let them know they're blocking a charging station, they're often extremely combative and rude. I even let them know if they're blocking one while I'm using another. They say, "But you have a charging station!" Well, I'm saying it so that another Leaf can park there if need be. I'm looking out for all Leaf drivers, not just myself.
I've gotten so tired of all these idiots, that I've given up on saying much at all. Except today...I was in a rare mood. :evil:
I was very hungry and tired after work, and about to embark on a long shopping trip at my local Fred Meyer. There are 2 stations on the side of the store. One was ICE'd, and the other spot was not, but the car in the adjacent spot parked horribly, and their tail was in the EV space. I had to pull in very close to them. I was still in my car when the owners came out, and if I hadn't been in my car, they would have door dinged my car. Well, I wasn't too nice to them. I said, "Thank goodness I'm skinny, otherwise I wouldn't be able to get out with that parking job!"
Then, as I was walking toward the store, the ICErs of the other charger came out, and I said something to them, too (not rude, though.) Then the other people who were parked badly said the classic line, "But you have a spot!" I don't think they get that (again), I am not looking out for myself so much as I am upholding the principle of reading the darn sign and allowing other Leaf drivers to charge.
After coming out of the store and loading my car, another car drove in and blocked the other charging station, even though there was a free non-EV space right next to it. I was very nice to this person, but she was just a total b-word. Understandable, to a point, since most people don't expect to be confronted, but I thought it was ironic that her stupid Yaris had all kinds of "liberal" stickers all over it, yet here she was being rude to an EV driver. Well, I left one of those "WTF" notes you fill out on her car, which was rather funny because she came right back as I was putting it on her windshield. I just gave her a casual look and walked away at a normal pace.
Now that I'm working around cars all the time, I am not sure if I want to lease another EV that's cheaper, like a Fiat 500e, just for driving to work and errands, and the get an older, cheaper car to take on longer trips and put dogs in. OR, I'm considering something like a hybrid or diesel. My mom has a VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI and I love driving it, and with the MT, she gets 43 all the time.
Anyway, just my musings. Thanks for reading.
This is pretty much a rant/rambling to get out some thoughts and feelings on my current situation (read at your own risk.)
I've been a member of this forum since August 2012 (got my 2012 Leaf SL in late July 2012). But, I only stop in occasionally. This forum, however, has been a lifesaver at certain intervals. Once, when I had a crash against a curb in a snowstorm, and destroyed my rims and bearings on the passenger side of my car, a very nice member of this forum stepped in to sell me 2 rims on the cheap.
My 39-month lease will be up in late November of 2015. I have already started to consider my next vehicle options. I will NOT be keeping my Leaf, as I had rolled negative equity into my lease from my prior lease (2011 Hyundai Elantra Limited), and after my Leaf lease is up, I will owe roughly $7000 more on the car than what it's worth.
In February of this year, I started working for CarMax. If I wanted to stay in a Leaf, it would actually be smarter for me to give back my current one to the Nissan dealer after my lease is up, then buy a used one from CarMax! The ones on our lot are much less expensive than what I'd owe on mine after the lease.
Before I turn my lease back in, I will have to buy a new bumper for my car, as a handful of months ago, I was backing around a corner, and someone else came around, and I hit their license plate. I wasn't looking at my rear-view monitor, as I'd been looking in my side-view mirror to avoid a curb. My bumper now has a hole in it, which I'm currently covering with a sticker. I'm just waiting until closer to the time I turn it in, just in case something else happens to my bumper in the meantime.
I LOVE how my Leaf drives and handles. I love the torque (I'm not always easy on the pedal), and how it corners. I also love how much space it has, believe it or not. I just helped my sister move a bunch of furniture in it. And, the obvious, I love not having to buy gas.
BUT, there are also a few complaints. I've lost one bar of capacity a while back (my car currently has 28k). Also, the obvious: I can't take long trips out of town to see my parents, who live 4 hours away, or my best friend, who is 5 hours away.
The worst, however, is the annoying charging station situation in my area. Luckily, I live just outside of Portland, OR, in an area with quite a few stations. However, there also seem to be a certain breed of person around here, who sees a charging station, and either blocks it or vandalizes it. Not to mention, the Blink chargers just go down quite often. When I politely ask people if they can move their cars, or let them know they're blocking a charging station, they're often extremely combative and rude. I even let them know if they're blocking one while I'm using another. They say, "But you have a charging station!" Well, I'm saying it so that another Leaf can park there if need be. I'm looking out for all Leaf drivers, not just myself.
I've gotten so tired of all these idiots, that I've given up on saying much at all. Except today...I was in a rare mood. :evil:
I was very hungry and tired after work, and about to embark on a long shopping trip at my local Fred Meyer. There are 2 stations on the side of the store. One was ICE'd, and the other spot was not, but the car in the adjacent spot parked horribly, and their tail was in the EV space. I had to pull in very close to them. I was still in my car when the owners came out, and if I hadn't been in my car, they would have door dinged my car. Well, I wasn't too nice to them. I said, "Thank goodness I'm skinny, otherwise I wouldn't be able to get out with that parking job!"
Then, as I was walking toward the store, the ICErs of the other charger came out, and I said something to them, too (not rude, though.) Then the other people who were parked badly said the classic line, "But you have a spot!" I don't think they get that (again), I am not looking out for myself so much as I am upholding the principle of reading the darn sign and allowing other Leaf drivers to charge.
After coming out of the store and loading my car, another car drove in and blocked the other charging station, even though there was a free non-EV space right next to it. I was very nice to this person, but she was just a total b-word. Understandable, to a point, since most people don't expect to be confronted, but I thought it was ironic that her stupid Yaris had all kinds of "liberal" stickers all over it, yet here she was being rude to an EV driver. Well, I left one of those "WTF" notes you fill out on her car, which was rather funny because she came right back as I was putting it on her windshield. I just gave her a casual look and walked away at a normal pace.
Now that I'm working around cars all the time, I am not sure if I want to lease another EV that's cheaper, like a Fiat 500e, just for driving to work and errands, and the get an older, cheaper car to take on longer trips and put dogs in. OR, I'm considering something like a hybrid or diesel. My mom has a VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI and I love driving it, and with the MT, she gets 43 all the time.
Anyway, just my musings. Thanks for reading.
Last I heard, Jetta's handle it really well. And when I made a trip through Oregon in 2008 (with my 300SD Benz ;-)), I was really impressed with how accessible biodiesel was up and down I-5. 
