Let me start by saying that I am 79+ yrs old. I LOVE this car. My wife LOVES this car. Maintenance during the past 6 yrs? 1-12V battery, and a new set of Ecopias. Also a new battery for the key fobs. The Annual Traction Battery checks were performed as required, with no problems. I always rotate my tires myself. I've never had a flat tire. No one has ever driven the car except my wife and I (and the Nissan folks).
So, I lost my 4th bar today on my 2011 SL, with 37,475 miles. I made payment in full, in cash when I took delivery of the car new from Kearney Mesa Nissan here in San Diego on 6/16/2011. The VIN is: JN1XXXXXX XXXX4248, which is the 4248th Leaf off the line in Japan. In my opinion, It is probably the most pampered 2011 SL on the planet, due to the following:
1. I've never seen 7 temp bars--I do see 6 bars about once a week for a short period, in July-Aug here in SAN. Most of the time, I'm @ 5 temp bars all year.
2. I have quick charged exactly once for about 5 minutes about 4 yrs ago @ KM Nissan, just to make sure the CHADEMO worked. It worked just fine.
3. Over 95% of my charging has been level 2, at home in the garage, at night and almost always to only 80%, using the onboard timer. I've used public Level 2 charging about a half dozen times in the past 6+ yrs.
4. During the past 6 months, I've needed to charge to 100% about once a month, on occasions where I needed to drive more than 40 miles round trip from home. Now, it looks like we'll need to charge to 100% every Saturday night, in order to make it to church and back without stopping somewhere to charge.
5. My car is always garaged at night, in a cool garage about 7 miles from the beach here in SAN. It has been rained on a couple times.
6. I've never driven over 70mph, except for an occasional brief period to pass another car or going downhill and not watching my speed. My lifetime dashboard power consumption is 4.6 miles per KWh. We like to drive in the right lane, when on the freeway, usually @ 55-60 mph. We've never had a problem with that, and never caused traffic issues with other drivers who like to go 70-80 mph. Each to his own.
I installed the Leaf Dash Display several yrs ago, and use it to monitor my traction battery very closely.
Here's my problem: Since my traction battery is out of warranty, the cost of a new battery apparently exceeds the value of my car. What are my options?
1. I don't believe in leasing. We really can't afford to buy a new car at this time. We've been saving money for a new battery, knowing that the time would eventually come when we'd have to do something. I'm inclined to talk with Nissan HQ, to see if I can get some financial relief in the cost of a new battery. I'd really like to do this, because my wife doesn't want to get a different car.
2. We could sell (practically give away) the Leaf, and also sell our hi-mileage 2006 Prius. Go down to one car, which would probably be a used Volt, newer low mileage Prius or some other hybrid, or an electric with at least 50-60 mi range.
What say ye?