powersurge said:
I have trouble with those who say that when the battery goes, its time to scrap the car.
A Leaf is well made, and has a lot of value as an electric car, which are still rare and sought after. I would have no problem spending $5-6K on a Leaf that has been sitting around while the battery deteriorated....
Where else could you get a good quality car at that price that could potentially go another 100K miles and use NO gasoline... AND save thousands in fuel vs. gasoline... That alone is worth the price of admission.
I hear what your saying, but from an economic sense, well it makes very little sense
Lets say you spend $6K on a battery replacement on a very good condition '13?? Leaf. Well the day after you do the upgrade it will still only be worth $8-9K??. Now I know what you're saying, it may be worth more than that to you, but if another inattentive driver totals your Leaf, $8-9K is probably all your going to get. If you figure before the upgrade you may have been able to get $5-6K for the Leaf and it's degraded battery, well that means you've lost $3k for your battery replacement
Spending big money on certain things you'll never really get your money back. Sure if you really want it, it may be worth it to you, but from a financial point, it won't, this happens frequently with a house. The thing with a house is there is it has a far less chance of it getting totaled(house fire??) your Leaf can be like new one minute and totaled the next, with very little you yourself could have done to change the outcome
To me instead of spending the $5-6K on a replacement battery what makes more sense is to sell your degraded Leaf cheap on the second hand market and look for a like new, with a good battery, replacement. Of course if your really attached to your current car the $5-6K may be worth it
to you, but it probably won't be to anyone else
I wonder just how many people(original owners mostly) pony up for a new battery once say it's degraded to 50 miles or less? It's really a shame aftermarket companies and batteries haven't brought down the cost to say $3-4K.....at that cost I might think of replacing the 8 bar battery in my '12SL which otherwise is in excellent condition. As it is now I'm lucky to get 40 miles nowadays and even 20 miles isn't unheard of in extreme cold. Oh and basically 0! regen, just when I need it the most