Buying Leaf from Carylpso

Hi, I am looking to purchase my first Leaf (never owned/leased) through Carlypso. They have sent me a few and I wondered if any of you would let me know what you think in terms of price. Does anyone have any experience with Carlypso? Thanks in advance.

#1 2013 Leaf SV 33k 12bars with premium package and quick charge package. 1 leased owner. 11,700

#2 2013 Leaf SV 18k 12 bars no quick charge but does have premium package. 1 leased owner. 13,200

#3 2013 Leaf SV 18k 12 bars no quick, no premium package. 1 leased owner. 11,800

I am thinking either #1 or #3. Worried about the milage on #1...should I be?

Can you use Quick Charge, or not? As for Premium Package, don't buy a car without it unless you are sure that you don't want it. It's not just less convenient to not have All Around View, it also reduces the car's resale value. The Base SV should be considered more as a Leaf S with heat pump and cruise control, rather than just about like a well-equipped SV.

Depends what you want, Leftie always slams any SV that doesn't have "premium package" as worthless, plenty of us feel otherwise. For me, the QC with LED headlights was more important, functionally, for my uses. Also, the "value" of premium when you go to resell your car to a third owner, is questionable, so don't base your purchase decision on that alone. As far as miles... bought mine with 37k last summer and am happy with it. Still has 12 bars, I expect to maybe lose the first bar next summer. It seems time and heat are more of a detriment to the battery than miles, so the miles would not worry me as much as the current battery condition and the climate it comes from.

Depends what you want, Leftie always slams any SV that doesn't have "premium package" as worthless, plenty of us feel otherwise.

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Nope, that isn't what I think or write. My point is that the Base SV isn't worth as much or valued as much as an SV with premium, but it is a very good alternative to the Leaf S, especially in cold climates. And for people who don't want the features premium adds, it's a very good buy - as long as you aren't counting on a good resale value or easy resale. Of course, that holds true for all Leafs, unfortunately, but the Base can be hard to sell even at a good price. Check Ebay and dealer stock, and you'll see what I mean. There was a red base SV for sale in NH (and listed here) for quite a long time; the price was good but it lacked premium...

I can jump into this premium/non-premium debate
I had a 2013 SV with premium and and am now on a 2016 SV base. Had to cut back due to trying to fit the bigger battery in the same lease price as the 2013.

I definitely miss the round view cameras. It is stupid of Nissan to bundle Bose audio with round view cameras. One is a safety/driver assistantance feature - the other is an upgraded audio feature. Totally unrelated.

I can live without Bose audio in my 2016 but I sorely miss the 360 view cameras.
Fortunately they at least made the backup camera standard on all 2016 Leafs now (S, SV & SL).

Whether you need QC port package or not on a 2013 depends entirely on your use case. I never missed not having the QC port on my 2013 since there were no QC chargers on my route back then, but in 2016, I wouldn't get a Leaf without it since there are now enough CHAdeMO chargers around.

A lot of Tesla 2012/2013 owners are also repenting now for not opting in for the super charger charging option, now that their super charger network is beyond all expectations.

Fortunately, Tesla is offering adding the super charger port on older Teslas for $2500 which is really nice of them. Wish Nissan could offer a QC port install for non QC port Leafs.

For the OP: FWIW, I've written my diatribe many times on why (for me) the CHAdeMO port isn't worth the extra $ on a used 2+ year old Leaf (esp. since it's not eligible for Nissan NCTC: https://www.ez-charge.com/faq/). http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=451274#p451274 and http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=445110#p445110 are examples of them.

mihird said:

A lot of Tesla 2012/2013 owners are also repenting now for not opting in for the super charger charging option, now that their super charger network is beyond all expectations.

Fortunately, Tesla is offering adding the super charger port on older Teslas for $2500 which is really nice of them. Wish Nissan could offer a QC port install for non QC port Leafs.

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No, Tesla is NOT offering a "super charger port on older Teslas". Teslas use the same inlet for level 1 and 2 AC charging + Supercharging. There's no port being added. The hardware is actually included on 60 kWh Model S, regardless of whether or not Supercharging was enabled at purchase time or later (http://shop.teslamotors.com/products/enable-supercharging).

Per http://web.archive.org/web/20130401060255/http://www.teslamotors.com/about/press/releases/tesla-model-s-sales-exceed-target:

Tesla is also revealing a small Easter egg today: all 60 kWh cars have been and will be built with Supercharger hardware included. Tesla is taking a slight cost risk that ultimately all customers will want to buy the Supercharger upgrade and receive unlimited, free long distance travel for life. Even for those that never drive long distances, this will improve the resale value of their car to people that do.

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FYI: "Tesla charge port for the USA / Canada:" at http://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5012#p5012 is the same for whether the car has Supercharging enabled or not. That's Tesla's proprietary inlet for North America. The Model S includes a free J1772 adapter (http://shop.teslamotors.com/products/sae-j1772).

I LOVE the Around View Monitor. I enjoy the Bose stereo.

And I'll wade into the water again... I think the stock stereo in my two 2011 SL Leafs are very good. It could be that Bose is better but I am very satisfied with what I have. I believe the surround mirror would be better and others swear by them.

I wouldn't want to be without QC and in some parts of the country dealers allow free charging for any year Leaf. As your battery depletes in the future you may need to rely on QC to get your distance and you may be glad (as I am) to have it from day 1. It is also something that may make your car more attractive to a larger number of potential buyers should you decide to sell it.

I would Leafspy each car, if you can, to have certain facts on the battery condition of each. There could be a approximate 15% SOH (state of health) difference between batteries even though they are showing 12 bars. Any one of them could be about to drop to 11 bars or the BMS could have been reset on any one of them showing an erroneous reading.

OP, can you update your location info via your user name in the upper right > User Control Panel > Profile tab? That way, we don't need to ask in future posts/threads or do sleuthing to deduce it.

I'd seen Carlypso ads on SF Bay Area Craigslist before...

What are your daily driving needs in terms of miles? How much city vs. highway? Will you have the ability to charge at your work/destinations?

Evoforce said:

And I'll wade into the water again... I think the stock stereo in my two 2011 SL Leafs are very good. It could be that Bose is better but I am very satisfied with what I have.

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I'd listened to both the stock '13 SV stereo and the '13 w/Bose stereo before leasing my 1st Leaf and it was very apparent the Bose was much better even though I'm definitely no fan of ("no highs. no lows, its must be") Bose. On the flip side, I've heard people complain here that the Bose stereo is terrible, w/weak bass, etc. (e.g. http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=20225, post I replied to at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=445966#p445966). If the Bose stereo "sucks" or is "terrible" then the SV stock stereo is considerably worse than sucks or terrible.

Evoforce said:

wouldn't want to be without QC and in some parts of the country dealers allow free charging for any year Leaf.

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I know of none in my area that do anymore. All of them have transitioned to be paid (in many cases, would be covered by Nissan NCTC), including one I used to use sometimes w/my 1st Leaf.

Evoforce said:

As your battery depletes in the future you may need to rely on QC to get your distance and you may be glad (as I am) to have it from day 1.

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I wouldn't take the Leaf then. I have not missed not having it much and certainly not missed it for the amount of $ needed for a used one w/the inlet and the exorbitant DC FC pricing here.

Evoforce said:

It is also something that may make your car more attractive to a larger number of potential buyers should you decide to sell it.

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True. Unfortunately (?), there's this weird perceived need/want for it.

You probably don't have Leafspy, but you might give a holler to see if some other leafer in your area will lend a hand.

ambera7 said:

Hi, I am looking to purchase my first Leaf (never owned/leased) through Carlypso. They have sent me a few and I wondered if any of you would let me know what you think in terms of price. Does anyone have any experience with Carlypso?

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I signed up for their service. I didn't buy from them.
As for their offerings, I didn't think they had the lowest prices. Wasn't impressed with their lack of knowledge of LEAF and minimal photos from the auction line.
You are correct to be concerned with over 33K miles.
The good news is that all these cars have low prices.
Have you compared to what may be available from cars.com?

Have you compared to what may be available from cars.com?

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I hadn't looked on cars.com but am now. I am very new to car buying in general so buying online from an out of state dealer is a little intimidating. I found a couple in Georgia which seem to be better priced. I will call them and see if they are still available. Thank you for the suggestion.

You probably don't have Leafspy, but you might give a holler to see if some other leafer in your area will lend a hand.

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Unfortunately leafspy isn't an option with the Carlypso buying process. You bid, you win, its yours...

ambera7 said:

You probably don't have Leafspy, but you might give a holler to see if some other leafer in your area will lend a hand.

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Unfortunately leafspy isn't an option with the Carlypso buying process. You bid, you win, its yours...

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In that case, you should assume that any Leaf you see there has one less capacity bar than is showing. Thus a 12 bar car should be considered an 11 bar, an 11 a 10 bar, etc. This isn't because of dirty tricks (although some "12 bar" cars are) but because the highest bar showing could be on the verge of vanishing. If you get a 12 bar car that actually will have 12 bars for the next year, consider that a bonus. If you can get info on the car's history, avoid those that were driven in hot climates.

I am in Chandler, Az and I updated it in my profile.

What are your daily driving needs in terms of miles? How much city vs. highway? Will you have the ability to charge at your work/destinations?

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This will be a second vehicle used almost exclusively for work commute. The commute will be 32 miles all freeway and there is FREE charger spots at my work that I will utilize. Maybe occasionally it will be used to run errands but most driving is done in our other car.

In that case, you should assume that any Leaf you see there has one less capacity bar than is showing. Thus a 12 bar car should be considered an 11 bar, an 11 a 10 bar, etc. This isn't because of dirty tricks (although some "12 bar" cars are) but because the highest bar showing could be on the verge of vanishing. If you get a 12 bar car that actually will have 12 bars for the next year, consider that a bonus. If you can get info on the car's history, avoid those that were driven in hot climates.

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Great advice, thank you. I have been only looking at cars with carfax and are from cooler climates. It seems almost all of the were previously leased vehicles in either Cali or Georgia. Compared to hot AZ i consider those cool.

Thanks everyone for weighing in on the options debate. I would love to get the quick charge and the premium package it just seems like the used price is significantly higher for those Leafs. I test drove an SV with premium but no quick charge yesterday and was very impressed. It was SO much quicker and smoother than my old corolla I've been driving for years.