Ok, I had a chance to enjoy some good weather and terrorize the local streets with a test drive. I got plenty of LeafSpy screenshots, so I'll start with the positives and what few negatives I found. Overall, very positive.
I'll put all the pictures at the bottom of this post.
First, visually everything looks fine. I didn't see anything that would have concerned me mechanically, no damage underneath or odd dents or scraps in the front or back side of the battery, vehicle, etc. Inside seats and leather is in perfect condition. All of the "accessories" that should come with the SL trim are there. That includes the emergency pump kit in hidden in the rear boot. It has the dual L1/L2 EVSE that come with those year models (120V/240V) including the adapter that snaps on to covert it from 240V to 120V to plug into a normal home outlet. Even had the cargo net in the back, it also has the privacy cover in the back but it needs to be tighten up a little so you don't bump your head when trying to access the rear trunk door. That's just a nitpick by me.
Everything works from heated mirrors to heated seats to heated steering wheel to rear defroster heater. All lights, mirror adjusters, auto-dim rear view mirror, auto-high beam headlights, power windows, front and rear windshield wiper and washer spray. I tested the heat pump for both AC cold air and Heat mode, including the PTC heater for backup heat.
While doing a test drive, parking sonar works, all drive modes, e-pedal, B, D mode, Eco, etc. Adaptive Cruise mode, Steering Assist Mode, emergency braking for front and reverse (had fun testing those with the salesperson
) Radio, all steering wheel buttons and anything else that was a button.
This Leaf was a Lease model, so that would explain why it had so few miles in some respect. I was told that the previous owner traded in for an Ariya, so it looks like they wanted a bigger EV to drive around. More power to them.
Technical stuff about the battery, LeafSpy shows an excellent 95.23% SOH and given how few QC and L1/L2 charging sessions it has, that seems about right given the age. While driving around in race mode, I didn't notice any big gaps in cell voltages, so nothing apparent caught my eye about the battery health. Everything seems excellent. Granted, I was driving from 82% SOC, so at least the dealership didn't leave it on the lot in 100% SOC for however long it's been out there. Nothing got my attention while driving, watching LeafSpy or just combing around the vehicle that would make me concerned about it's condition. Certainly a gem in terms of great condition all around.
Now, the negative points. The salesperson had already driven it out of the lot to the front of the dealership before I arrived. When I connected up LeafSpy to get a reading, I had every possible accessory turned off minus the cabin lights as I had some doors open for the great weather experience. I noticed that the 12V battery voltage was showing
11.68V with only a 29 watt load. So I opened the hood to take a look at the 12V battery. It's a Nissan OEM or the original that came with the Leaf. I asked the salesperson to verify. The battery is +4 years now and the low voltage reading with nearly no power load does concern me. If you decide to purchase this Leaf, I suggest getting the battery tested at a shop (or even the dealership can do this) many many many times in a row just to make sure this isn't a near future failure point. I just created an entire topic about this very same issue with other person I was helping with Leaf issues this week, so I'm seeing Déjà vu. If you want to play it safe, just buy a new 12V battery for peace of mind.
Next negative some left over DTC codes in the computer memory. The codes were only for the rear Sonar, so that could easily be something like it was dirty or covered in snow recently and the code just sticks around, but when I was testing the rear Sonar for parking mode, everything was working fine. It may be nothing, but at least be aware of it.
Finally, the tires. I got nothing against GeoDrive. They are a sub-division of Sumitomo. What little info I could find on them suggest these won't last very long. Even though they are brand new, the Leaf is gong to chew through these soft tires quickly. About the best you can do to try to maximize range is to inflate the tires to 40 PSI (cold pressure) for normal driving. I could tell while doing a test drive (which they were at 36 PSI cold pressure), they have excellent grip and even hinder the Leaf acceleraton a little due to that. So running at the default 36 PSI will cost you a little in range and faster wear, so keep that in mind.
Overall though, this Leaf is a gem given it's very low mileage. The things that concern me can be easily corrected if they become an issue, but the overall health of the EV appears to be excellent. I am jealous of that rear seat center cup holder too, why didn't mine come with?
