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dd123

Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2014
Messages
13
I am in San Diego, CA.
Thinking about replacing my 2013 Civic with Leaf..
Not sure, if I should buy a used one 2013 S for ~%7.5K or lease a new one.

I prefer a used one.... usually..

I don't really care for a quick charger as my commute is 20 miles round trip.. .. hence looking for cheapest one possible..

Not in a hurry to buy, so may easily wait till December for the best deal...
Any helpful comments would be appreciated.


Thanks
 
Spend some time reading various threads on the subject. Many people have asked these same things that are rolling around in your head. In general, a 20 mi RT commute is ideal for a used Leaf. A 2013 that was manufactured in the last half of the year is thought to have a more robust, heat tolerant battery that doesn't degrade as quickly as the 2011, 2012, and early 2013 batteries. Good luck.
 
dd123 said:
I am in San Diego, CA.
Thinking about replacing my 2013 Civic with Leaf..
Not sure, if I should buy a used one 2013 S for ~%7.5K or lease a new one.

I prefer a used one.... usually..

I don't really care for a quick charger as my commute is 20 miles round trip.. .. hence looking for cheapest one possible..

Not in a hurry to buy, so may easily wait till December for the best deal...
Any helpful comments would be appreciated.


Thanks
Click to expand...

20 miles round trip is perfect for a used one. That $7.5k price all depends on the health of the battery. I turned in my leaf lease at 46k miles and I was down 1 bar and on my way to losing a 2nd bar. But I commuted 60 miles round trip, so the battery degradation would've required me to buy a new battery (out of warranty) at the 80k mile point. The 2013 was really fun to drive, and relatively energy efficient. It's battery life just didn't hold as well as I'd hope in the Socal heat. My leaf was built in Sep 2013 if you needed a data point.

Don't know how long you plan on keeping the leaf, but with the miles you commute (~5,000/year), you might not be able to save enough in gas (150 gals/year @ $3 per gallon = $450/year) and maintenance ( assuming $100 / year) to recoup the difference before the battery needs to be replaced (probably 6-8 years out at your usage level and assuming that 2013 has already lost 1 or 2 bars of capacity). Just throwing that math out there.

The tradeoff is that the leaf is WAY MORE FUN to drive than a civic.
 
Oils4AsphaultOnly said:
dd123 said:
Don't know how long you plan on keeping the leaf, but with the miles you commute (~5,000/year), you might not be able to save enough in gas (150 gals/year @ $3 per gallon = $450/year) and maintenance ( assuming $100 / year) to recoup the difference before the battery needs to be replaced (probably 6-8 years out at your usage level and assuming that 2013 has already lost 1 or 2 bars of capacity). Just throwing that math out there.

The tradeoff is that the leaf is WAY MORE FUN to drive than a civic.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Not sure what you are saying there. Are you saying that the savings versus a gas car won't buy the replacement battery in 6-8 years? I think the more relevant analysis would be that savings as a plus/minus vs the cost of buying a 3 year old comparable gas car. At eleven years, both the gas car and the Leaf would be pretty neglible trade in value. So I can see an analysis comparing the cost of the used Leaf vs the cost of a used ICEV. The part where your analysis comes into play is if the person is determined to keep the Leaf beyond the next 8 years. An ICEV could do that. But the Leaf would likely need a battery replacement to do that.

I suspect when the OP compares the 13 Leaf price and costs to a comparable 13 ICEV, the Leaf will be more economical unless the OP is committed to keeping it in service beyond about 11 years total age.
 
DarthPuppy said:
Not sure what you are saying there. Are you saying that the savings versus a gas car won't buy the replacement battery in 6-8 years? I think the more relevant analysis would be that savings as a plus/minus vs the cost of buying a 3 year old comparable gas car. At eleven years, both the gas car and the Leaf would be pretty neglible trade in value. So I can see an analysis comparing the cost of the used Leaf vs the cost of a used ICEV. The part where your analysis comes into play is if the person is determined to keep the Leaf beyond the next 8 years. An ICEV could do that. But the Leaf would likely need a battery replacement to do that.

I suspect when the OP compares the 13 Leaf price and costs to a comparable 13 ICEV, the Leaf will be more economical unless the OP is committed to keeping it in service beyond about 11 years total age.
Click to expand...

I read OP's post to mean that he has a '13 civic now and is looking to replace it with a used '13 leaf for $7.5k. OP was asking if that was a good deal.

Your thought about whether or not to keep the leaf beyond the next 8 years were along the lines of my thought, that's why I prefaced it with "don't know how long you plan on keeping the leaf" - IF he/she buys it.

So to paraphrase, my answer is that dollars-and-cents-wise, the leaf was NOT a good deal versus simply keeping the civic, but the enjoyment of driving it and other ancillary benefits (like NOT poisoning yourself just to keep the AC on) would more than make up for the value difference.
 
Oops, just noticed the last part of OP's 2nd sentence. Changes my answer.

Buy used. The new leaf's are essentially the same, but with new batteries. So unless you can buy a new one for $12k ($7.5k + $5k new battery - higher sales tax from higher price of new), buy used.
 
I'm in your position too, but maybe a week or two ahead of you on research and also looking in SoCal. The way I figure it, I could spend about $8,000 over 3 years to lease a 2016 S with a good battery then give back, or spend about the same to own a 2013 SV with over 90% battery life. At the end of 3 years I hope the battery still has enough left to come out ahead vs a lease.

I'm over 200 miles away from San Diego, but there is a 2013 SV in San Juan Capistrano for $9,000 with 12 battery bars, Quick Charge and 20k on the ODO that was built after 4/2013. If this was down the street from me, I'd go over and run Leaf Spy on it and if checked out, I would be buying it.

Another data point, I've been talking to a dealer about one listed for $7,950 for a few days ago, and today it sold, so that might be the floor.
 
Having said all of that, my local Nissan dealer just texted me saying it's the last day of the month, they want to deal on a lease for the 2016 SV they have in stock...
 
Oils4AsphaultOnly said:
I read OP's post to mean that he has a '13 civic now and is looking to replace it with a used '13 leaf for $7.5k. OP was asking if that was a good deal.

Your thought about whether or not to keep the leaf beyond the next 8 years were along the lines of my thought, that's why I prefaced it with "don't know how long you plan on keeping the leaf" - IF he/she buys it.

So to paraphrase, my answer is that dollars-and-cents-wise, the leaf was NOT a good deal versus simply keeping the civic, but the enjoyment of driving it and other ancillary benefits (like NOT poisoning yourself just to keep the AC on) would more than make up for the value difference.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I seemed to have missed the part of the OP currently having a 13 Civic. :lol:

So OP already has a very economical car and is considering replacing it with a same year Leaf or getting a new one. A quick look at 2013 Civics on Autotrader suggests those retail in the $15k +/- range. So I'm guessing the OP would be able to sell theirs for well over amount that the 13 Leaf would cost and then you have the annual operating cost savings. So the OP would come away from the deal with cash in hand plus savings over time. Unless of course the Civic is presently leased and coming up on needing to buy it out or renew.

Either way, it seems to me a 13 Leaf would be an awesome deal for the OP given their short commute should be supportable for a good while. The additional life expectancy of the new one doesn't in my opinion justify the additional cost if going low total cost is the primary concern. However, the new ones with the 30kwh batteries will provide the OP with considerably more flexibility for longer drives outside of their normal commute.
 

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