Deciding between two used Leafs (first EV)

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Talock2018

Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2018
Messages
21
Hi all! I am new to the forum and new to EVs - I have gained a lot of knowledge in reading this forum and am currently trying to decide between two used Leafs. This would be our families first EV, and would be our “second/commuter vehicle. We live in Maine, have good access to charging at both work and the possibility of fairly easily installing an L2 charger at our home. The commute this car would do daily is 13 miles each way, about 45-60 mph average speed, hilly, but not steep.

We are deciding between a 5/2013 SL model with 52k miles on it and a 12 bar reading and a 2014 SV with 32k miles and a 12 bar reading. After reading the forums I understand that I probably need to get an SOH reading when I test drive these cars. I realize that given the age of the vehicles I likely will not meet the conditions for the replacement battery warranty, but given our daily use pattern I doubt that matters, but maybe I am wrong? Both vehicles were owned and operated in New England exclusively. The 2014 SV model is Nissan certified, the other is being sold from a Toyota dealership.

I have been amazed at the knowledge base on this forum and would appreciate any advice on this choice!

Thanks!
 
HELLO, With that short commute, you cant go wrong with either. Since the cars have 12 bars, then the state of health is at lease 85%. With either car, you can use the car for many years as it slowly loses range. It will still have value to you even if the range drops to 30-40 miles...

The important part is the price. DO NOT pay more than $10K for these cars, because I know that they will try to jack up the price for being "Certified"..... Which means nothing.

If the prices are close, buy the 2014 (if the production date is 1 year younger than the 2013). I personally would go for a younger car than an older car with leather..

good luck,.
 
Thanks powersurge,

The 2013 SL is actually cheaper (listed at about $9500) - its a May 2013 build. The Certified 2013 is $10500, but as i have never owned a Nissan, was unaware of whether the Certification was actually effective (is good to know that it's not). We own a Certified PO VW as our other car and the Certification has actually come in handy twice and saved us $, which was why we were initially tempted...
 
I don't really know what kind of extra "protection" "certified" gives you on a used car.

I have always thought that "certified" was a car that had all service records for maintenance. The Leaf has no service to do, so I am not sure what valued a certified car has other than a higher price...

Try to get the leafspy and OBDII plug to work before you buy it, however. It may show some more information to chose. Either way both cars seem nice. good luck
 
Certification just allows certain repairs to be covered under an extended warrantee - i am realizing now that since these are virtually non-existent in an BEV anyway, there would be no point in paying extra. Where it has financially benefitted me in the past is on an exhaust issue and a fuel pressure issue - between them they easily made up for the difference in upfront car cost (both of which we wouldn't have anyway :D )
 
I'm guessing the SL has a CHADEMO port for DCQC, does the SV?

If the 2014 SV has the LED + charge package, that would be ideal and much closer to an SL with respect to important features. If it also has the premium package, with the Around View cameras and Bose speaker system, then that would be a nice bonus. My wife wishes that our SV included the backup camera, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me given the price we paid.

If instead the SV has no extra options (i.e. no CHADEMO, no backup camera, no Around View), then I would personally buy the 2013 SL at $9000.

Having said all that, the health of the traction battery is paramount so if the 2014 SV has a significantly better pack then buy that one.
 
alozzy,

Both offer the full range of options for charging... CHADEMO included. I am having the dealer (Nissan) with the 14 SV run battery diagnostics so i can compare readouts - i will bring LeafSpy with me to test the 13 SL at the Toyota dealer and compare - let that govern in the end i guess.

Does anyone know if either of these options have the heat pump? i would imagine that would help (a bit) in reducing energy loss due to heating in winter? or am i off base on that?
 
Both have the heat pump. The usefulness of the heat pump is dependent on how cold your winters are. During milder winter conditions, the heat pump helps a lot. During extreme cold snaps, the resistive heater takes over. Even if you have very cold winters, the heat pump will still save energy during Spring and Fall.

The dealer's traction battery report is basically useless. You need to use Leaf Spy on both cars, if you want an accurate assessment of the state of the battery.
 
Great advice from everyone else. Both should have the heat pump. Only the 2011-12, and later "S" models have the energy sucking heater. I would go with the cheaper 2013 SL, which should have the better battery (builds before Apr/May 2013 had the 2011-12 battery and have shown more degradation than the later 2013s). I have a friend with nearly 60,000 mi on his 2013 and still showing 12 bars! He loves it and the battery is MUCH MUCH better than my 2011. He gets close to full regen in the winter, nearly 80-90 mi range in summer (if driven conservatively), warms up way more quickly than mine.
 
If the 2014 SV does not have LED headlights, I would go with the 2013 SL. The 12-volt battery is float charged at 13 volts so the halogen lights are a bit dimmer than they would be with higher voltage. There are some convenience features on SL that are missing from SV so that could be a consideration.
 
The 2013 will have the 80% charge limit option and the 2014 won't. If this matters, consider it. OTOH the 2013 would be more likely to have 12 volt battery issues. If both cars are loaded and you don't mind limiting the charge manually (or having the charge finish shortly before you use the car), the '14 should have an extra year at 12 bars.
 
Everyone, thank you so much for all the good advice! Leaning toward the '13 mainly since it's cheaper, but really want to check the batteries...

Decision time fast approaching - anyone know somewhere i could get a OBD 2 wifi (brick and mortar, not shipped as it takes too long to Maine even with amazon prime...)?
 
I think you'll have to wait for an Amazon order for the OBD2, finding a retail outlet that sells those is highly unlikely. Alternatively, perhaps someone on these forums, that lives close to you, could lend you his/hers.
 
Assuming I CANT get a OBD2 before we need to make this decision (don’t want to lose the chance at these vehicles)...is there any other clandestine ways of distilling real battery info while at a dealer?
 
The only other way is to do a range test. You'll find more details in these forums, but here's the basics:

  • Plan out a route near the dealership that you can drive during non rush hour at constant highway speed using cruise control
  • Try to pick a day that's not too hot, but without wet or windy conditions
  • Reset the trip counter and efficiency counters before you leave the dealership
  • Note the starting SOC (on an S, you'll need Leaf Spy)
  • Hit the highway and set the cruise control
  • Drive until the SOC drops by 25% from the charge you left the dealership with
  • Stop as soon as possible and note the trip counter miles as well as the miles/kWh efficiency

Multiply the trip counter miles by 4 to get an estimate of total range at the efficiency you noted earlier. Then, divide that number by the miles/kWh efficiency to estimate the total pack capacity (in kWh). At 60 mph, you would cover a mile per minute so you'll need almost half an hour to complete the 25% range driving test.

An example:

  • Starting SOC = 75%
  • Trip counter miles = 19
  • Efficiency = 3.9 miles/kWh
  • Ending SOC = 50%

In that case, the estimated range at highway speed would be 19 * 4 = 76 miles and the estimated pack capacity would be 76/3.9 = 19.5 kWh
 
alozzy,

For clarification, by “highway “ speeds, do you mean interstate-level speeds? Just trying to plan a route that fits the bill...
 
Talock2018 said:
alozzy,

For clarification, by “highway “ speeds, do you mean interstate-level speeds? Just trying to plan a route that fits the bill...


At 60 mph, you would cover a mile per minute so you'll need almost half an hour to complete the 25% range driving test.

This the speed he meant. Leaf drivers tend to not go above 60MPH. ;-)
 
Talock2018 said:
What happens above 60mph? ;)

Range drops as speed increases, but car is relatively quiet. I always drive with traffic flow on the freeways around Phoenix.

The maximum speed is limited to 94 mi/hr indicated on speedometer (93 mi/hr measured by GPS with OEM tires inflated to 44 psi on both of my cars) which translates to the maximum safe RPM for the electric motor. Power draw is about 30 kW on the level with no wind at that speed so it can easily go up hills without slowing down.
 
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