How long 'til 4th bar drops?

[baustin]

Hi all, I am new here and would appreciate input from this experienced crowd. I am considering purchasing a 2013 SL w/ Bose currently at 32,300 miles and 9 bars. I don't know the exact month the warranty expires. The owner, who works for a Nissan dealer, said a little less than a year (I can get more detail). I live in Phoenix, though it's now "winter" (i.e. in the 80's and 70's vs. the 100's). Is it worth the risk to spend about $9k and hope it drops to 8 bars?

You really need LeafSpy readings to be able to answer this properly. The Phoenix heat and regular driving will get the bar dropped, but time is getting low. Get the manufacture date from the label inside the drivers door. If it was manufactured before 4/13, the bar should drop easily, but time is very short to get it done. The battery replacement warranty is 60 months or 60,000 miles from the original in-service date, which any Nissan dealer can lookup using the VIN number.

 

[sandeen]

Get the LeafSpy app and OBDII interface, and get the numbers out of the car - and also the official Nissan in-service date - and we can help more. It would also be good to know where it spent most of its 4 years prior to showing up at your dealer. I would not buy it (unless it's dirt cheap) without that extra information.

 

[cwerdna]

Get the LeafSpy app and OBDII interface, and get the numbers out of the car - and also the official Nissan in-service date - and we can help more. It would also be good to know where it spent most of its 4 years prior to showing up at your dealer. I would not buy it (unless it's dirt cheap) without that extra information.

Agreed 100%.

 

[boonjum33]

Thank you for the responses! I will try to get that information and post asap. One part I can answer now: the current owner works for a Nissan dealer (he selling private party) and I'm pretty sure the Leaf has been in Phoenix since purchase. I'll ask him the manufacture and purchase dates. He has dropped the price to $9k which, if 8 bars is reasonably achievable, sweetens the deal.

 

[Evoforce]

You can lose that bar with ANY Nissan Leaf 24 kWh battery that is used for 6-7 months April-November in Phoenix. As others have stated, more info please.

 

[nela]

Hi all!

2013 SV, bought via Carvana in early 2017. One previous owner, seems to have been a fleet car/lease in Northern California. Manufacture date 3/2013, in service date 6/2013. It arrived to me with 10 bars left, having JUST dropped it's 11th judging by my first LeaftSpy readings. I was quite worried the first few months that I wouldn't make it in time. Happy to report it lost it's 4th bar approximately 3 days ago! That is 2 bars, at least, in less than a year, and within one summer in Austin. Hasn't even felt like it has been that hot here this summer. Mileage when bought was 29300, current mileage is 33663.

Unfortunately, my LeafSpy module died on me 4 or so months ago and I hadn't bothered to replace it as I was simply far too busy with work, so I don't have any current readings. Last known history, approximately end of July: AHr: 46.90, SOH: 71%, Hx: 64.99%. 30294 miles.

For the first 5 months or so, I didn't have any charging options other than public charging - DC and Level 2. (It wasn't too bad for me as I'd become accustomed to either public transit wait times, or the fact that a lot of my work requires me to spend an enormous amount of time in my car anyway.) Since then, it has been mostly trickle charge at home, overnight. No cap to charge applied as I am down to about 58-60 miles of range on a 100% battery and need all I can get.

Nissan EV line confirmed I'm good to go to slap a new battery in this puppy. Very glad my gamble paid off.

Sidenote: anyone in Austin and have experience and an opinion on dealership to go to? My only experience with either Nissan dealership here is that Clay Cooley consistently blocks their EV chargers with lot cars. All. The. Time. And the couple of times I've called ahead of time to ask if they can confirm the Quick Charge is up and running, I simply got bounced around about 10 times to various people who thought I was asking about a Dodge Charger. :roll:

 

[timgross]

I wanted to add my results for my 2013 Leaf. It dropped the 10th bar in August 2017, and I have been hoping ever since that it would drop the 9th bar before the end of warranty period (Feb 2018). Yesterday, it dropped the 9th bar! Here are the numbers from LSP.
AHr=42.56 SOH=65% Hx=58.40% odo=49,179 336 QCs 1773 L1/L2.

I plan on waiting until mid-February to take it in to the Nissan dealer.

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
So, it sounds like the car was built 1/2013 or 2/2013.

Can you update your location info via your user name in the upper right > User Control Panel > Profile tab? That way, we don't need to ask in future posts/threads or do sleuthing to deduce it.

Are you the original owner?

 

[baustin]

I wanted to add my results for my 2013 Leaf. It dropped the 10th bar in August 2017, and I have been hoping ever since that it would drop the 9th bar before the end of warranty period (Feb 2018). Yesterday, it dropped the 9th bar! Here are the numbers from LSP.
AHr=42.56 SOH=65% Hx=58.40% odo=49,179 336 QCs 1773 L1/L2.

I plan on waiting until mid-February to take it in to the Nissan dealer.

Congratulations on the drop. I had my new battery installed about a month ago. Since it is colder weather now, there is no reason to wait and get the battery replacement done. Take it in to the dealer, right away, and get the status verified and the warranty claim started. The battery takes anywhere from two days to eight weeks to arrive. My Service Advisor told me to bring it in ASAP when the 9th bar dropped. Nissan offers absolutely no leeway on the battery warranty. If you go one day or one mile over, they will deny the claim.

 

[timgross]

A bit more detail... I think I am the 3rd owner. I believe it was a lease return. The second owner bought it but soon decided they needed more range. It is perfect for my daily commute though. I bought it in March 2016. It had 12 bars then, 24,000 miles. The first summer (in Sacramento, CA), it dropped 2 bars. It dropped the 10th bar in August 2017, 9th bar in November. Before August, I was being very careful with the battery (L2 charging only, parking it in the shade, etc.) BTW, my Leaf is BLACK, so I think that makes it worse. I am baffled why Nissan would produce a black Leaf.

I updated my profile (thanks for the suggestion). I called Elk Grove Nissan already, but I am not in a big hurry because I still have plenty of range for my commute. I still have 3 months left on my warranty and 49,000 miles. Does anybody have any experience with the Nissan dealers in the Sacramento area?

 

[Stanton]

A bit more detail... I think I am the 3rd owner. I believe it was a lease return. The second owner bought it but soon decided they needed more range. It is perfect for my daily commute though. I bought it in March 2016. It had 12 bars then, 24,000 miles. The first summer (in Sacramento, CA), it dropped 2 bars. It dropped the 10th bar in August 2017, 9th bar in November. Before August, I was being very careful with the battery (L2 charging only, parking it in the shade, etc.) BTW, my Leaf is BLACK, so I think that makes it worse. I am baffled why Nissan would produce a black Leaf.

I updated my profile (thanks for the suggestion). I called Elk Grove Nissan already, but I am not in a big hurry because I still have plenty of range for my commute. I still have 3 months left on my warranty and 49,000 miles. Does anybody have any experience with the Nissan dealers in the Sacramento area?

That BMS was definitely reset when you bought it...but no matter because you made it in under the warranty. The color of the car has nothing to do with the degradation (speed) of the battery.
I second the comment that when you're that close on miles (and time), I would get the battery done now; I remember I did mine in December (a couple years ago).

 

[timgross]

Although it is a moot point, I am curious why you concluded that the BMS was reset. Is that something anybody can do, or just the dealer? When I first bought it, I could go a little more than 80 miles on a charge.

 

[baustin]

Although it is a moot point, I am curious why you concluded that the BMS was reset. Is that something anybody can do, or just the dealer? When I first bought it, I could go a little more than 80 miles on a charge.

If you were able to get 80 miles on a charge, then your BMS was not likely reset. The early 2013 models have a battery that degrades at the same rate as the 2011/12 batteries, especially in hotter climates. Mine was manufactured in January 2013, spent it first two years in Georgia, was auctioned after lease return and brought to Las Vegas. I got it in March 2015. It dropped the first bar in October 2015, the second bar in June 2016, the third bar in November 2016, and the fourth bar in October 2017. It probably would have dropped the fourth bar sooner, but I didn't drive it very much during the summer of 2017 due to the limited range.

 

[SageBrush]

If you were able to get 80 miles on a charge, then your BMS was not likely reset.

Driving habits can easily lead to a 20% difference is fuel economy, so 2 bars of capacity.

The reset e.g. could have been from around 10-11 bars.

 

[baustin]

If you were able to get 80 miles on a charge, then your BMS was not likely reset.

Driving habits can easily lead to a 20% difference is fuel economy, so 2 bars of capacity.

The reset e.g. could have been from around 10-11 bars.

It is possible that it was 2 bars down and reset, but I'm skeptical. The range and timeline for bar drops were similar to my car, so I included the history for comparison. The early 2013 batteries were the same chemistry as the 2012, and degrade fast in the heat. i don't know where the car came from, but he bought it in the spring and took it to Sacramento (fairly hot summers).

If I knew then, everything I know now, I probably would have passed on the Leaf I bought. I was able to get a new battery under warranty, and so what anxiety I had over the decision is now gone.

 

[Leafy76]

Just purchased a 2013 Leaf and took delivery today. Took Leaf Spy Readings today as well as it only has 9 bars. AHr reading seems extremely low for still having 9 bars.

AHr 38.59
SOH 59
Hx 52.34
ODO 47243

Still under warranty until 07/18

 

[sandeen]

It is a bit low - of the 2013s I've seen one dropped at 36.81, but the other dozen or so dropped above 40Ahr.

 

[Leafy76]

It is a bit low - of the 2013s I've seen one dropped at 36.81, but the other dozen or so dropped above 40Ahr.

Should I chance it dropping by July next year?

 

[sandeen]

No guarantees but it certainly seems likely.

 

[timgross]

How are you charging? I just dropped my 4th bar, as soon as I did an L2 charge. Prior to that I was doing QC and an occasional L1 charge. I did just one full L2 charge and it dropped, but I have heard that others dropped a bar after switching to L2 for a couple of weeks. It seems to make the battery reset somehow. My Leaf is a 2013 also and dropped at 42.56 AHr, but I have the bad battery from early 2013. You might have the improved Lizzard battery, which might explain the big difference. I agree with sandeen. I would be very surprised if you didn't drop the 4th bar before July. My suggestion is to just drive it and not look at LSP frequently if you can help it. It will really get inside your head.