Advice for buying a Nissan Leaf?

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aaad1

New member
Joined
Oct 28, 2024
Messages
4
Location
United Kingdom
Hi all,

New to all of this.
I am thinking of buying a Nissan Leaf and would like some advice/info.

I saw two cars online:
1) 24kwh 2013 - 47,000 miles [9 bars battery heath]
2) 30kwh 2017 - 97,000 miles [9 bars battery health]

The price of both are around £2000 in the UK.
The car will mainly be used for commuting and the odd long drive (rare as have a diesel for really long drives).
It will mostly be charged at home using the slow charger.

I'm not sure which one would be better?
How risky is it to go for option 2 considering it has very high mileage? Planning on keeping for a couple of years then sell it.

Thanks
 
Hey, so the 2017 Leaf’s 30kWh battery offers more range, but the high mileage could mean quicker future degradation. Both should handle commuting well, but option 2 might be worth it for the extra capacity..
 
I would avoid a 30kWh pack at all costs.
I would guess the 2013 has one of the "upgraded" (if you could call it that) 24kWh packs...or it would probably have lost more bars than it has after ~10 years.
There are two versions of the 24kwh? Guessing the number of bars would be around 7 if it's the non upgraded version?

Why avoid the 30kwh version? After 97,000 miles, doesn't it show to be more reliable?
 
Welcome!

You can find some good tips on buying used Leafs from this thread, including info on the 30 kWh batteries:
https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/things-you-really-need-to-know-when-shopping-for-a-used-leaf.26662/
After reading through that, it seems the 24kwh might be using the original battery pack. It was first registered in March 2013.

What's the typical lifespan of these batteries? Is 97,000 miles close towards it's life on the 30kwh version?
I have no idea if this one had the software update or not but will try ask.
 
Some of the 2013 Leaf batteries are on track for 2000 full cycle equivalents, or about 150,000 miles. Here is one that went that far already https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/1-...ite-2013-leaf-sv-3500-w-instant-rebate.36559/

My sense is that Nissan was aiming for about 1500 full cycle equivalents.

I have two Leafs built in Summer 2013. The white one was bought new, and has about 1100 full cycle equivalents at 77,000 miles. Degradation has all but halted the past several years, with three bars gone. I expect to get at least another 1000 cycles--if the rest of the vehicle holds up. Cell balance is good. The blue one lived in Florida the first 6 years, and I have had problems with bad cells, but otherwise the remaining cells are OK; also a three bar loser. Only 22,000 miles on that one--super clean.

The real issues for me in terms of long term viability is corrosion and failure of either the PDM or brake master cylinder.

The 30 kWh packs have a bad reputation.
 
Looks like the 24kwh is maybe the safer option. Although first registered in March 2013, probably was built late 2012/early 2013 depending how long it takes them to manufacture.

Just don't get heated seats with the 2013 version 😂
 
Looks like the 24kwh is maybe the safer option. Although first registered in March 2013, probably was built late 2012/early 2013 depending how long it takes them to manufacture.

Just don't get heated seats with the 2013 version 😂
I would first check around on UK boards to see if the 30 kWh packs produced there are having the same longevity issues as the US ones. IIRC, there were/are three cell manufacturing plants for Leafs, with one in UK. Might be some differences.

Is the 2013 equipped with a 3 kW or 6 kW L2? My impression from reading posts here is that the MY 2013 to 2015 6 kW without fast charge PDMs have failed more often than the other flavors. Just an impression--no data here. Fixing the PDM is usually not an option, and replacements are 3 to 5k based on flavor.
 
Looks like the 24kwh is maybe the safer option. Although first registered in March 2013, probably was built late 2012/early 2013 depending how long it takes them to manufacture.

Just don't get heated seats with the 2013 version 😂
An early 2013? Does it have the electric parking brake? I would personally avoid these as the "facelifted" version that came later in 2013 (for the European market) had a few upgrades.
 
There are no Japanese-built 2013 Leafs. Instead, they used the electrolyte "recipe" from the 2011-2012 Leafs in the 2013 batteries (with the new cases though, I assume) through March of 2013. There are no visible physical differences in the early 'Canary' battery Leafs.
 
Europe had the Japanese-built Leafs with electric parking brake and the "hump" in the boot with OBC well into 2013. As such, a 2013 Leaf in Europe can be either the Japanese-built older version or the UK-built upgraded version. These Japanese-built cars may well been built in 2012, but both are regarded as 2013-models and it can therefor be tricky to navigate for a used 2013-model in Europe.

US got the upgraded 2013-model earlier than Europe as production in Smyrna started a few months before Sunderland in the UK.
 
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