Help! Early 2015 SV vs. late 2015 SV

HI all. I'm currently in the process of leasing a 2015 SV with both the Quick Charge and Premium Package and am running into some issues. It seems that this is a rare combination. One of my local dealerships found this combination at another in-state dealer and had the car transported. I was told quite explicitly that the car would be exactly the same as an SV they had (with the 17 inch wheels) but with my preferred options.

However, it turns out it was an early 2015 SV (manufactured prior to July 2014) and with the 16 inch wheels and the older tire set. I balked at this and told them that I was not going to take this particular car under the terms of our initial deal.

This is my first Leaf, but this quite concerned me. First of all, the 16 inch wheels look quite lame compared to the more sporty 17 inch rims. Second of all, I've read very bad things about the tires on the 16 inch rims (one of the managers of the dealership also told me that the tires on the 16 where pretty awful and he was happy they upgraded them). Finally, I can only assume that this particular car has been sitting around somewhere for over a year, which really begs the question of whether or not it can be considered "new." I would imagine that in addition to the elements taking a toll on it, it can't be good for the batteries to be just sitting around for so long.

Anyway, any advice for me moving forward? Should I genuinely be worried about this new old car that has been sitting around somewhere for over a year? If I sign a lease for 3 years at the end of it I'll have a 4 year old car. If they upgrade the wheels to the 17 inch wheels is it going to throw the milage off? We have plenty of Nissan dealers in my area so I'm quite happy to try and drive a hard bargain or walk away.

Many thanks in advance.

Cheers,
John

Walk away. Get a later 15 with the wheels you want and a newer battery.

Do not least that early model. Don't know what had happened to that LEAF. Maybe you should wait for 2016 model which is going to have a bigger battery.

johnnyrotten said:

HI all. I'm currently in the process of leasing a 2015 SV with both the Quick Charge and Premium Package and am running into some issues. It seems that this is a rare combination.

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I'm surprised that's even possible. It seemed like per the build page (http://www.nissanusa.com/buildyournissan/variant/index?next=model.overview.st_bar.build.button&lang=en&globalModelLineName=leaf&modelLineCode=LEF), it seemed like they made the 2 packages mutually exclusive on the '15 SV. It seemed like Nissan started that on '14. (My '13 SV had both packages.)

johnnyrotten said:

However, it turns out it was an early 2015 SV (manufactured prior to July 2014) and with the 16 inch wheels and the older tire set. I balked at this and told them that I was not going to take this particular car under the terms of our initial deal.
...
Should I genuinely be worried about this new old car that has been sitting around somewhere for over a year?

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I personally don't care about the wheels part (and don't like the 17-inch wheel design anyway) and didn't read the rest of your post, but if battery capacity matters to you, walk away from a car that has accumulated that much in calendar losses. Get one that was built more recently.

If you're leasing, on the capacity part, you may/may not care, if you don't intend to buy your car at the end. If you intend to buy for some reason at lease end, then definitely walk away.

Thanks for the advice. I can only assume that they made both packages available on pre-July 2014 manufactured 2015 Leafs. Here is the actual info from the dealer's website inventory list:

2015 LEAF®
SV
Exterior Color
Brilliant Silver Brilliant Silver
Interior Color
Partially Recycled Light Gray Cloth Partially Recycled Light Gray Cloth
Transmission
Single Speed Reduction Gear
Drivetrain
Front-wheel Drive
Packages Included (2)
Premium Package
LED Headlights and Quick Charge Port Package
Accessories Included (2)
Splash Guards (4-piece set)
Cargo Net/quote]

As many of you have suggested, I'm pretty much minded to walk away from this particular car.

How confident are we that the 2016 Leaf is going to be an upgrade? For what its worth, the dealer guys say that the upgrade is coming in 2017 (of course they are trying to shift as many 2015s as possible so its in their interest to take this line).

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I say walk away (even if they offer a wheel upgrade) and wait a few months for the 2016 unless you can score a really good deal on a 2015½.

The very early 2015s were in fact available with both option packages but had the 16" rims. I test drove two of them equipped just this way.

Making the option packages mutually exclusive on the SV was one element that pushed me away from a Leaf, ironically.

I echo the other sentiments here; get the car you really want with a fresh battery. Better yet, wait 120 days for the revised '16 with the 30 kWh battery (or a killer deal on a leftover '15 after the '16 is announced).

mtndrew1 said:

The very early 2015s were in fact available with both option packages but had the 16" rims. I test drove two of them equipped just this way.

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+1. I leased at the end of Oct 2014. The SV I picked had just been delivered to the lot, and had the 17" wheels, which was confusing my salesman to no end. :lol: So, must have been a very recent change at the time.

1. I'm going to be the contrarian here. If you get an OBDII adapter and a smartphone app like LeafSpy or LeafStat, and examine the car beforehand to see what the degradation actually is, there's nothing wrong with getting the "older" car, especially if it's a combination that you cannot get anymore. The 2015 batteries are supposed to be more heat tolerant as well, so calendar aging should not be as much of an issue.

2. In regards to upgrading the rims, as long as you stick to the factory size on the SL/newer SV models, there's no reason for it to throw the speedometer/odometer off. That is going to have a built-in error anyway even with the 16 inch setup. Personally I think the 17 inch wheels of the SL look ugly and I would be looking for something else if I were to upgrade. The 17 inch Juke wheels that a few Leafers have fitted onto their cars looks really good IMHO.

3. Because the car is not exactly as you would want (and were promised) I would personally use this as a bargaining chip.

Again, many thanks for the useful advice. I am very grateful for your knowledge of these things.

Just wanted to post a quick update. I've now got two pretty solid options from this dealer. Both options take into account the $7500 Fed money and $2500 TN money plus a trade in value of $4250 for my 2002 CR-V EX (120K miles)

1) pre-July 2014 2015 SV with QC and Bose with bad wheels (dealer says he'll change them to the regular 2015s at no charge) for a lease of $259 per month (normal 36 month lease), nothing down.
2) post July 2014 2015 SV with ONLY QC for a lease of $217 per month (normal 36 month lease), nothing down.

I've also been in touch with another local dealer to see if he can beat any of these deals with his stock.

Any opinions?

Many thanks again!
jm

I'd pick what's behind door #2. Newer car and lower payments. QC and LED headlights were what mattered to me. I had no burning desire for the stereo upgrade. The around-view is nice but I can live without it. Your preferences may differ.

Hi all. Thanks again for the advice. Just to close this thread out, I went with the 2nd option and got the SV with the QC/LED. Managed to squeeze them down to $207 per month. Love the car - peppy, smooth and comfortable. Now if I could only figure out where the gas tank is....