Looking for a used Leaf in the northeast, need some advice

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schleppy

Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2016
Messages
24
Location
Beverly, MA
Hello all!

After driving my Volt for almost three years, I want to go pure EV. The prices of a used Leaf are so low in this area, and it is at the top of my shortlist. On my "must have" list are:

- 2013+, likely a 2015
- SV or SL for heat pump
- 6.6kw onboard charger
- Fast Charging

Based on reading the wealth of information on here and the rest of the web, it seems like that should be all I need to have a useful and reliable Leaf here in the northeast. It also seems like it is worth spending the extra money to get a 2015+ model if possible, since it's guaranteed to have the latest battery chemistry.

Is there anything else I should be looking for in particular? Is there anything in particular I can check when looking at used Leaf that could help me buy a good one? It seems like I should buy LeafSpy and a bluetooth module, but I'm not sure what I should look for exactly.

Thanks so much!
 
You have to use the Bluetooth OBDII port reader and LeafSpy to "read" the pack's capacity information - there is no other way to get it. The "State of Health" (SOH) and amp-hour (AH) readings are the two most important.
 
There are several topics on this that you should read. Someone will post a link shortly. Basically, you need to look for a SOH of over 90% for a 2013 and over 95% for a 2015, and check that against the AH reading (about 66 when new, IIRC) to make sure the car hasn't been tampered with to make it seem to have more capacity than it does.
 
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.

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?
 
cwerdna said:
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.

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?

I have a 50 mile (total) commute, the bulk of it being on 65 mph highway. Very little traffic. I am also able to level 2 charge at work, so I should be fine even in the dead of winter. I have never run out of battery in my Volt, and that has far less EV range than the Leaf does.
 
LeftieBiker said:
There are several topics on this that you should read. Someone will post a link shortly. Basically, you need to look for a SOH of over 90% for a 2013 and over 95% for a 2015, and check that against the AH reading (about 66 when new, IIRC) to make sure the car hasn't been tampered with to make it seem to have more capacity than it does.

Thank you for that! I actually ended up finding those topics last night.
 
schleppy said:
On my "must have" list are:

- 2013+, likely a 2015
- SV or SL for heat pump
- 6.6kw onboard charger
- Fast Charging
Sounds like a good list. If/when I'm ready to trade up, it will definitely include all of those. I really like my back up camera, thus required. I prefer cloth seat covers and cruise control, although not absolute. I've been disappointed with the longevity of the 2011 battery and serious reduction in REGEN (who isn't?), but at least it should work for my local driving needs at least another 5 years (was hoping for 20+ years). I'm planning to wait until there is a significant improvement in battery longevity (the 2013+ years are definitely better than 2011/12, but not significant enough for me to trade up yet).
 
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