Buying a 2019 SL Plus

[RogerRDalTx]

Hi, I'm Roger from Dallas and I'm in the process of buying a 2019 Leaf SL Plus from carvana. I'm supposed to take delivery of it next week. It has 27,000 mi and from the photo the battery health looks like it's 100%. I'm planning on taking it to the local dealer to have them do a bumper-to-bumper go through. What do I need to be concerned about and have checked on the car? Resources for new owners would be appreciated. What are your thoughts on an extended warranty? The battery and motor should have another 2 and 1/2 to years factory warranty, carvana wants $2,500 for an extended warranty and I just don't think I can justify that.

 

[marshallinwash]

If you want an extended warranty, contact some Nissan dealers to see if they will sell you an extended Nissan warranty. The Nissan warranty should be a lot cheaper then what carvana is selling.

You'll have to decide if it's worth the money.

 

[Jerther]

How many years is the extended warranty? Does it cover the battery? If so, consider that at this point for a 2019, a battery pack replacement is probably worth more than 3/4 the value of the car.

 

[Steve52]

Have the dealer do a High Voltage Battery check, it will get you a simple baseline report of the state of the battery's health. If you want to go further, you can purchase the Leaf Spy Pro App and an OBDII adapter to look at lots of internal battery statistics from your smartphone. Some people swear by this app and others just drive their Leafs until the battery health bars on the dash begin to drop, you should have 12 bars to start with. If at all possible, get a Level 2 charger at home and never use the DC Quick Charging with the CHAdeMO port. Leafs do not have active battery cooling so QCing the vehicle in a hot climate like Dallas may lead to faster degradation of the HV battery. You'll find lots of other topics in this forum. Have fun driving your Leaf, we love ours!

 

[pjacobsma]

You may not need a Level 2 charger depending on how many miles you tend to drive in a day. You can charge from a 110-volt outlet and you will get about 5 miles of range for every hour you charge. If you charge for 12 hours overnight you add 60 miles of range. Trickle-charging like this is supposed to be better for the battery pack.

 

[Dooglas]

You may not need a Level 2 charger depending on how many miles you tend to drive in a day. You can charge from a 110-volt outlet and you will get about 5 miles of range for every hour you charge. If you charge for 12 hours overnight you add 60 miles of range. Trickle-charging like this is supposed to be better for the battery pack.

I also own a '19 SL Plus. Seems like unnecessarily reducing the capabilities of the LEAF Plus for little to no gain. Level 1 trickle charging really doesn't allow you to use the full capabilities of the 62 kwh pack. Might as well go with a smaller pack if that is your intention. Level 2 charging is a nice match up with the Plus in my experience. I have seen nothing which demonstrates that avoiding level 2 charging extends pack life in any meaningful way. I would agree that level 3 quick charging, especially longer trips with multiple charges per day, is a completely different discussion.

 

[cornbinder89]

I see nothing wrong with either approach as long as it works for you. Having a plus and restricting yourself to what can be added over night, seams like a waste, but no harm will come from it.
I have a 50 amp circuit and an adjustable rate charger. Mostly I charge at 16 amps, the reason is: at 16 amps and ten minute increments on the charge timer, I can adjust to how much charge I want easier. If I need to charge mid-day for a second trip, I flip the charger to 32 amps and fill the pack at (27.5 amps) its full 6kw potential.
Mostly I charge at 2hr in the middle of the night at 16 amps and that gives me the power I need for the next day without charging to 100% each and every night.
I should say I don't own a Plus, so I have less reserve than a Plus owner might. Occasionally I knock the current down to 10 amps and turn off the timer and allow it to charge and equalize and a low rate.
In short having options is good, restricting yourself may work fine also, but doesn't allow for the "what if" one off need to charge faster.

 

[LeftieBiker]

If you want both a low charge rate and plenty of range, then I suggest you charge like the poster above, at 240 volts, 16 amps. You can get either an old stock 16A L-2 charging station for little money, or get an adjustable unit for more flexibility. A 16A charge would add roughly 8 miles of range per hour for a Plus, or about 14 miles for a 40kwh EV.

 

[duncan-s]

Congratulations on the purchase @RogerRDalTx and welcome to the forum. In your place I'd skip the extended warranty too.

I'm sure you will love the Leaf. If you don't, be sure to take advantage of Carvana's 7-day return/exchange window; don't be shy about it. I recently bought my Leaf through them and had to send the first one back. I'm very happy with the one I exchanged for. Also if my experience is anything to go on, you might have to be patient about getting your ownership papers in the mail. They aren't the most efficient with the paperwork end of things.

 

[LeafyLeaf]

The extended warranty does not seem worth it unless it covers the battery beyond factory warranty.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Hi, I'm Roger from Dallas and I'm in the process of buying a 2019 Leaf SL Plus from carvana. I'm supposed to take delivery of it next week. It has 27,000 mi and from the photo the battery health looks like it's 100%. I'm planning on taking it to the local dealer to have them do a bumper-to-bumper go through. What do I need to be concerned about and have checked on the car? Resources for new owners would be appreciated. What are your thoughts on an extended warranty? The battery and motor should have another 2 and 1/2 to years factory warranty, carvana wants $2,500 for an extended warranty and I just don't think I can justify that.

Only LEAF Spy can tell you what the battery health is. The LEAF only provides a 12 segment bar graph on health and 12 bars represents SOC ranging from 83ish to 100%

Yours is likely around 90%. The rate of degradation is NOT linear so you have several years of service which can be longer with proper battery management avoiding very low or high SOC ranges.

FYI; over ¾ of the extended warranty cost is paid out in commissions.

 

[RogerRDalTx]

Thank you everyone for your time and replies. The paperwork is going a little slow between my credit union and carvana, but I'm hoping to pick the car up Wednesday. I purchased Leafspy Pro and an OBD2 reader and will check the SOH at the dealership. Leafspy is a complicated program with a steep learning curve for an EV newbie, but I have a few days to figure out what to look for.

Is the general opinion battery soc should be around 90% or higher? Again, it's a 2019 SL plus with 28,000 mi. And I'd there anything other than SOH I should pay a particular attention to on a partially charged battery being checked for the first time at the dealership?

 

[RogerRDalTx]

Thank you. In my case, I have a couple of level 2 chargers in my complex. I actually don't have a convenient 110 outlet to plug the car in. So my charging plan is a 6.6kh level 2 charger to keep the battery topped up a couple of times a week

 

[dcdisc]

Will you get the 4k Fed. point of sale rebate?if under 25k..

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

Ideally the SoH should be at 89% or above for a 2019 Plus.

 

[RogerRDalTx]

Ideally the SoH should be at 89% or above for a 2019 Plus.

Doug, Thank you! That is the most understandable advice I've had regarding leafspy.

 

[RogerRDalTx]

Will you get the 4k Fed. point of sale rebate?if under 25k..

Yes, both I and the car qualify for the $4k federal tax credit. Some dealers let you apply that at time of purchase, Carvana does not. I will deduct it off my income taxes next year. Considering recent EV depreciation after Tesla's price cuts, plus used EV tax credit, it's an excellent deal, for a lot of tech. I'm very excited about the car, especially the Pro pilot and driver safety features, which is why I chose the Leaf over other cars.

 

[orca]

Congratulations on the purchase. I bought a 2019 SL+ new and the only repair has been to replace the 12-volt battery last year.

 

[ibeckerman]

Hi, I'm Roger from Dallas and I'm in the process of buying a 2019 Leaf SL Plus from carvana. I'm supposed to take delivery of it next week. It has 27,000 mi and from the photo the battery health looks like it's 100%. I'm planning on taking it to the local dealer to have them do a bumper-to-bumper go through. What do I need to be concerned about and have checked on the car? Resources for new owners would be appreciated. What are your thoughts on an extended warranty? The battery and motor should have another 2 and 1/2 to years factory warranty, carvana wants $2,500 for an extended warranty and I just don't think I can justify that.

We bought our 2019 SV plus new (wanted the safety features) and have 40k miles on it. It has been largely trouble free. There is an issue with tires - Tires on a new Nissan last only last 25-30K. Are they willing to put new tires on it? Our only maintenance issue has been alignment. Needed it once. I would stay away from the extended warranty. Take the $2,500 and sock it away for a rainy day or unanticipated repairs.
Your main issue may be fast charging availability. The CHADEMO standard is becoming rare and is the beta max of standards. If you aren't planning on using the LEAF for much long distance travel, it shouldn't be an issue.
Range is better in summer than winter circa 240 miles versus 170. Bottom line, we like ours and don't understand why Nissan didn't promote it more.

 

[TronJockey]

Hi, I'm Roger from Dallas and I'm in the process of buying a 2019 Leaf SL Plus from carvana. I'm supposed to take delivery of it next week. It has 27,000 mi and from the photo the battery health looks like it's 100%. I'm planning on taking it to the local dealer to have them do a bumper-to-bumper go through. What do I need to be concerned about and have checked on the car? Resources for new owners would be appreciated. What are your thoughts on an extended warranty? The battery and motor should have another 2 and 1/2 to years factory warranty, carvana wants $2,500 for an extended warranty and I just don't think I can justify that.

Some 2019 Leafs had issues with their entertainment "head" units. Mine has an intermittent rear-view camera that goes all blue or all pink occasionally. Other than that, my Leaf has been absolutely stellar for nearly 50k miles. I'm still showing better than 90% SOH.