Transferring steering wheel from right to left

Hey there,

I'm thinking of buying a Nissan Leaf.
I live in a left hand driving country but most Leafs are imported from Japan, thus they're right hand drive.

Here's the quesion: Can a steering wheel on a Leaf be transferred from the right to the left?

Thanks.
Petre

I wouldn't use that as my buying strategy.... get the correct car...

It costs way more, you see..
And, generally, Japanese vehicles have much lower mileage than, say vehicles imported from the US

I don't think the LEAF is any different from any other car with regards to switching from left-hand to right-hand drive.

I've always wanted a car with both right and left steering and pedals.

I'm weird I guess.

As far as the answer goes, how cheap can you get a wrecked (preferably hit in the rear) Leaf? I've seen a few going for less than $1,000.

Then you'd have to change over the entire dash, steering and everything. Not the kind of job for an average DIY'er. This would be the kind of job for a dedicated enthusiast.

petre said:

And, generally, Japanese vehicles have much lower mileage than, say vehicles imported from the US

Click to expand...

That may be the case with most cars, but for a car with less than 100 miles' range per charge, mileages tend to be very low. My Leaf accumulated less than 27k miles in the 3 years I leased it, and that was using the car as much as I possibly could rather than my ICEV.

Another issue with importing an ex-JDM Leaf: the menus are all in Japanese. There is no setting to make it display in another language including English.

petre said:

Can a steering wheel on a Leaf be transferred from the right to the left?

Click to expand...

Could it be? Sure. I admire your courage. Even with 35 years of auto mechanics experience would I attempt such a thing? Likely no. But if you had a whole 2nd LHD leaf you could do it, but then you'd already have the right car anyway. Here's the list of things I know of you'd need to swap, it's not trivial:

Pedal cluster and mounts (cutting / welding)
dash w/ wiring harness
steering column, wheel, linkage
shifter
steering rack
lower A-arms / strut mounts
tie rods & steering gear
brake lines
ABS controller

NB - There will be places where the RHD unibody has a blank space for LHD components but no threads or welded in fasteners to mount whatever bit is in your hand. This eventuality will make you weep openly, and likely walk off and buy a Renault and be done with it.

Save your marriage / mind and start with a LHD car, however you obtain one.