What is this worth? 2012 Leaf SL w/ 16,000

I will be looking at a 2012 Leaf SL w/ 16000 for sale from a private seller tonight. When I check KBB, listing the value at a range between $7,700 in excellent condition and $7,500 in very good condition.

My daily commute is 36 miles round trip and I live in Minnesota so I don't think the range should be an issue.

Is Kelly Blue Book in the right ballpark for this car?
Any major red flags?
This would be my first electric so I have been reading up as much as I can.

I know the <2013's had the heat susceptible battery but I think the mild to cold climate here should not be an issue.

Jim

MNelectric said:

My daily commute is 36 miles round trip and I live in Minnesota so I don't think the range should be an issue.

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I'm a pessimist, and I fear you might have problems on the coldest days. A lot depends on details other than just distance.

Speed for example. 36 miles of mostly freeway will need more energy than 36 miles of 40 mph suburban roads. What is the highest speed you will be driving, and for how much of the commute?

Will you have L2 charging and a predictable departure time so you can preheat the car?

Is there potential destination charging? Even 120V 12 A "L1" at work will make this no worries on even the coldest of days.

WetEV said:

MNelectric said:

My daily commute is 36 miles round trip and I live in Minnesota so I don't think the range should be an issue.

Click to expand...

I'm a pessimist, and I fear you might have problems on the coldest days. A lot depends on details other than just distance.

Speed for example. 36 miles of mostly freeway will need more energy than 36 miles of 40 mph suburban roads. What is the highest speed you will be driving, and for how much of the commute?

Will you have L2 charging and a predictable departure time so you can preheat the car?

Is there potential destination charging? Even 120V 12 A "L1" at work will make this no worries on even the coldest of days.

Click to expand...

The drive will be 18 miles at about 65-70 mph, the other 18 miles is 30 mph.

I definitely plan on putting in a L2 charger at home and always leave at more or less the same time so pre-heating will be a good option.

Right now there is no option of destination charging.

Does the price look reasonable according to KBB? Assuming it is in good condition.

MNelectric said:

...
My daily commute is 36 miles round trip and I live in Minnesota so I don't think the range should be an issue.

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Incorrect.
Might work for a short while.
But my 2011 with three capacity bar loss was a 30 to 35 mile range vehicle in cold weather because I like heat.

The 2012 does have heated seats and steering wheel.
So in MN if you like driving without heat and can manage to keep the windshield to where you can see out might work a while for you.

See the threads from northeast from nerys.
Will let you know what a bad idea it is.

TimLee said:

MNelectric said:

...
My daily commute is 36 miles round trip and I live in Minnesota so I don't think the range should be an issue.

Click to expand...

Incorrect.
Might work for a short while.
But my 2011 with three capacity bar loss was a 30 to 35 mile range vehicle in cold weather because I like heat.

The 2012 does have heated seats and steering wheel.
So in MN if you like driving without heat and can manage to keep the windshield to where you can see out might work a while for you.

See the threads from northeast from nerys.
Will let you know what a bad idea it is.

Click to expand...

I agree with Tim. On a cold day (sub-zero F), with heat running, and driving 70MPH, my 2012 will get less than 2miles/kWh. Brand new the battery supplied 21kWh of usable energy. I could get about 40 miles. Now I'm at 11 capacity bars, about 80%, and get 30-32 miles.

On the coldest days in Minnesota, you will absolutely have to be willing to travel with little to no heat and/or slow down below the rate of traffic on the highway. Alternatively, push to get access to a 120V outlet at work.

I wish the story was better, but that's the fact of life for these first-generation Leafs.

Range can be an issue since you may need the defroster. If you can charge at work then you should be fine. Even Level 1 for 8 hours should help you enough to get home safely then you have your Level 2 to make sure you start the day full. The heated steering wheel and seat should help a lot. You probably need to make sure you get as much snow off your shoes as possible, since the snow melting can cause frosting problems needing more defrosting.

Not sure about pricing in that region, I paid close to that for my 2011 with more mileage and a bad battery that I got replaced under warrenty.

IF you're prepared to add the heater On/Off switch mentioned elsewhere in this forum, and as long as you realize that you might have to slow down in bad weather, and/or freeze your face a bit, the car should be ok and the price is also ok if in excellent shape. Preheating the car on L-2 at home should help.

With my '13 I'd say no problem, it has a fair amount better heater than my '12 and has full bars. Now my '12 is missing 2 bars and has a 60 mile range on a good day, less than 40 if using the heater much. As suggested you should absolutely get the heater switch, without it you have no control when the heat runs or not. It was easy to install and cheap(I believe ~$25), I mounted mine to the left of the center column drilling a ~1/2" hole to mount the switch. You also are absolutely going to need either something like a LeafDD(digital display for SOC or GIDs) or a OBDII bluetooth or WiFi adapter and LeafSpy for your phone. The GOM is really useless IMO, almost everybody seems to use LeafSpy, LeafDDs are getting old and no longer sold or really supported.
L2 and preheat will be your friend, I hardly have to use the heat to work because I get my car toasty warm before leaving for work. If you don't have an option for plugging in at work you'll use much more juice coming home and won't be as comfortable.
I think your price seems very good, about what I paid last winter for my '12 from Wayzata Nissan, it seems they've went up several thousands of dollars since then, glad they may be coming down again. Are you missing any bars? if not you have a better chance of making your trip, like I said missing 2 bars makes about 60 miles in ideal conditions and less than 40 in teens or below. My vehicle came from LA which probably explains the degraded battery, do you know where the vehicle your looking at came from? Most I saw were LA, a few from TX and a few from AZ, of those areas I'd probably thing LA might be the best.
I think you'll find the Leaf is a pretty decent car in the snow, even with LRR AS tires it handles better than my Scion Xb or Toyota Prius in snow and ice, probably due to the extra weight of the Leaf. I really like mine, hence purchasing the second one, the '12 because I thought the price was so good but I really prefer the features of the '13 although in this area they seem to be several thousand dollars more than a '12.
What type of L2 EVSE were you looking at? since the '12 only has the 16a or 3800kw charger you don't need to spend big bucks on one. They start at ~$300 on Amazon for pretty decent units, wall mount or larger amp models start ~$400 and up.

If you can preheat at home but not at work, it might be worth looking at my "Heater in a Box" cabin heater topic. A setup like that could get you home unfrozen, albeit not actually cozy warm, without using the car's heat for more than defrosting, and you could recharge it when you got home, so it wouldn't sit all day partially charged.