Why is 2012 Nissan Leaf so cheap?

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misterno

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Nov 4, 2014
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Currently I can find a 2012 Nissan Leaf for $9K. I am not sure about the battery condition but assume it needs to be replaced for $5,500 with a 100K miles warranty

My electricity cost is 1 cent/kwh ( I am on a plan 1000-1500kwh for 1 cent per kwh) and battery cost is 5.5 cents per kwh

Total cost is say 7 cents/kwh. Assuming 5 miles per kwh, my current car goes 300 miles with 10 gallons so the cost is 300/5 X 0.07=$4.20 for full tank equivelant.

Operationally it makes financial sense but how is the maintenance of the car? other problems I wonder

So I pay 9K+tax for a car and filling up is 4 dollars?

Why is this so cheap? What am I missing here?
 
The 100K warranty is for total battery failure, and will not likely help as it's rare for a total battery failure. If you get a 2012 you should check out the battery, if you can find a 8 bar leaf you will get a new battery for free if it did not opt out of the class action. Look up the details. Because of the deprecation a second hand leaf can be very economical. Your electrical rate makes it really cheap for you to drive electric. I'm at $.11 per kWh alone. I was able to find a 8 bar leaf, and waiting for the new battery to get here. With the battery in it's current condition highway driving is a challenge since the GOM and bars remaining are almost un-usable. Leaf spy or something similar will really help if driving a 11-12 until battery is replaced. Driving on smaller roads at low speeds have been great with my current battery. I'm looking forward to the new battery and miles and miles of cheap driving. Well cheap in my area....

Good luck!
 
I wish i can find a usedeaf with free battery replacement

Just to correct my math

Operational cost would be,; 100k miles for $5,500 = 5.5 cents per mile

3 miles per kwh driving means 1/3 cent per mile

One tank takes me 300 miles with 10 gallon gas which is $20

300x (0.055+0.0033)=~$16
 
Your math looks correct--the Leaf operating cost is reasonable even with battery replacement factored in. 3 miles per kWh from the wall is a good estimate for average driving (not driving slow and impeding traffic).
 
misterno said:
Why is this so cheap? What am I missing here?

You pretty much have it. The LEAF battery sucks and you'll be dumping $6000 into a new battery shortly after your purchase, but the cost to own is next to nothing.

The 2012 lacks many of the 2013+ features (no heat pump, no lock option on the pistol grip, no light near the charge port, no remote open of charge port, no B mode, less regen, a hump behind the back seat where the charger is) but you get a few nice features that the newer cars don't have in any trim (slightly better motor performance, electric parking brake, electric tilting headlights, slightly better build quality and reliability).

They are a great deal if you know what you are getting into.
 
misterno said:
Currently I can find a 2012 Nissan Leaf for $9K. I am not sure about the battery condition but assume it needs to be replaced for $5,500 with a 100K miles warranty

My electricity cost is 1 cent/kwh ( I am on a plan 1000-1500kwh for 1 cent per kwh) and battery cost is 5.5 cents per kwh

Total cost is say 7 cents/kwh. Assuming 5 miles per kwh, my current car goes 300 miles with 10 gallons so the cost is 300/5 X 0.07=$4.20 for full tank equivelant.

Operationally it makes financial sense but how is the maintenance of the car? other problems I wonder

So I pay 9K+tax for a car and filling up is 4 dollars?

Why is this so cheap? What am I missing here?

The average person will never buy a replacement battery pack.

I can buy a 2011-2012 Leaf in some parts of the US right now for $6000. It's a better value to just buy another car than to replace the pack in one. Especially if I can sell my old leaf for a couple of thousand dollars, with that in mind it can be cheaper to buy a Leaf and sell one than it is to keep one and upgrade it.

Most people have to pay 10 cents per kWh. If you really can get electricity at 1 cent per you should be driving an EV ASAP and as much as you can or need to.

If you buy a Leaf for $6K to $9K now you'll be able to buy one for half that cost in a year or so. Tesla and Chevrolet will put a lot of downwards price pressure on used Leafs when they are selling higher range EVs in the near $30,000 range (some will pay less than that after federal and state rebates/credits, some will pay more).
 
As you found, the depreciation on Leafs (and just about any non-Tesla EV) is absolutely horrible. The MSRP on my 2012 SV was around $35k. A month or so after I turned in the car, I looked up the VIN and found the car for sale at a CarMax in Oxnard, CA for $10k. They later dropped the price to $9600 before the listing completely disappeared; I don't know if it was sold at that price (CarMax doesn't haggle) or if it was sent off to auction again.

My car officially lost its first bar only a month before I turned it in, but essentially was an 11-bar car for a few months prior to that. It had less than 27k miles on it at turn-in.
 
misterno said:
Currently I can find a 2012 Nissan Leaf for $9K. I am not sure about the battery condition but assume it needs to be replaced for $5,500?
$9K for a 2012 is not a good price. Spending $5.5K + tax and labor on a car w/such little value doesn't seem to make sense.

I posted a bunch of reasons why an '11 with a battery replaced for free under the capacity warranty wasn't worth $8,990 starting at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=435921#p435921. Look at the rest of my responses there.
dhanson865 said:
Most people have to pay 10 cents per kWh. If you really can get electricity at 1 cent per you should be driving an EV ASAP and as much as you can or need to.
I only wish Pacific Gouge and Extort were as cheap as what "most people" pay. See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=461406#p461406, http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=424999#p424999 and (w/very old rates) http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=155519#p155519.

Current non-TOU plan rates are on page 1 of http://www.pge.com/tariffs/tm2/pdf/ELEC_SCHEDS_E-1.pdf.

What utility has residential electricity at 1 cent per kWh?
 
One big risk would be getting in a bad accident where the car is totaled. The new battery cost only increases the payout of a car by very little, even with full coverage. Keep that in mind if you are considering paying $5500 for a battery.
 
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