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paulcarr

New member
Joined
Aug 17, 2017
Messages
4
hi

new here

currently have no car
90% london drives - 6 miles or less 4x per week
twice a month 60 mile
day roundtrip

need some kind of
car by sept 6 for school
run (kid in new school)

on the cusp of buying a 30kw new leaf this week
dealer never mentioned new version

discovered 2018 leaf being announced first week of
september

so now not sure and realise it could take while for deliveries ? 3 months? who
knows

i am uk based so could be well after us release

so

1. go ahead and buy new leaf now (would
be pcp so would be locked for a while and envious of new version)

2. find a cheaper 2 year old £9k leaf and buy cash then trade in for 2018 leaf next year

3. some kind of temp leaf hire til new
leaf available? is there a way?

4. buy an old
diesel banger for 2k then dump it


any ideas? thanks

paul
 
First off, you'll get more U.K. specific information from www.leaftalk.co.uk
No idea what pcp is.

With your usage needs, I'd get a cheap used Leaf and trade later. Probably less expensive than long term hire, if even available. New model won't start deliveries until next year. Diesel would incur fees to drive in London, yes? Avoided by EVs?
 
thanks for tip

pcp is personal contract purchase
basically you pay deposit then monthly and hand back after say 3 years or pay off as lump sum or put in another deposit and start new loan over

re london

i hardly ever go in congestion zone
so not a factor in this case

p
 
I have no idea what the prices are in the UK for Leafs, but what I did was get a used Leaf.

Pros: These are cheap used, since Leafs depreciate quickly. My 2013 SL had a new car MSRP of $39,000 and I got it three years later used for $9,000 or about 1/4 of the original price.

Cons: The older Leafs have smaller batteries. Also add to that that the battery is older and therefore has lost some of it's capacity, meaning I can't go very far in it.

If you go used I suggest avoiding the 2011 through early 2013 Leafs because the 2013 models are much better and the battery was improved substantially after April of 2013. The 2015 and "24kWh" 2016 Leafs supposedly have the best batteries for longevity. But newer used Leafs may have existing warranties that may be better than older models.

I don't think I'd recommend a 2017 Leaf at this point. The 2017 Leaf does have 25% more range than the older Leafs. But it will likely depreciate very quickly and not have as much range as the 2018. If you want or need a longer range electric car I'd suggest waiting for the 2018 Leaf. My guess is that it will cost about the same, be able to go farther and not depreciate as much as a 2017 Leaf. Plus the battery degradation is actually a bit worse in the 2017 Leafs than the 2013-2015 and 2016 "24kWh" Leafs.
 
I live in Canada, but my understanding is that in the UK these EVs are also available: Renault Zoe, Kia Soul EV, and VM e-Golf. You might want to check those out too...
 
Can you charge anywhere along the "twice a month 60 mile trip"? If so, get the cheapest used Leaf that you can, drive it until it won't work anymore (probably a couple of years), then get a used 2018 in 2020.
 
yes i can charge

good tip - get a low cost older leaf to
see how i like it and actually have a car to use
(right now i hire at weekends or uber) and then go for
a new one later
 
As long as you don't care about resale value, it should be a great deal for you. In some regions, the 2011-2012 Leafs are $4000-$5000 retail. There isn't much more they can fall in price. I only wish I could have purchased a 5 yr old Leaf back in 2011.
 
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