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Cpinelli1980

Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2024
Messages
12
Hello all,

I am very happy to be here- I have never owned an electric car before but I have rented 2 of them so I have a good idea what to except overall.

My question is that I am looking at a 2015 Leaf- dealership website says it’s a S but it has leather, nav, fog lights and heated front and rear seats. Comes with both charging ports, battery is 9/12 and mileage is 71k.

They have it priced at $5,995 but I am getting $1,800 off due to the EV Rebate- so all in all I’m paying about $4,200.

Is it a good buy- I know the range will be approx 60mi. I read that the 4 digit in the VIN tells the battery size. A being 24 and B being 30, mine says A.
 
Welcome. Depending on your climate, it may or may not work well for you. The 2015 is one of the best model years. The previous owner(s) must have really left it fully charged in hot weather a lot, or overheated the battery, to get 9 bars. Adjust the real world range to 50 miles, less in weather requiring the heater, and think about it.
 
Hello all,

I am very happy to be here- I have never owned an electric car before but I have rented 2 of them so I have a good idea what to except overall.

My question is that I am looking at a 2015 Leaf- dealership website says it’s a S but it has leather, nav, fog lights and heated front and rear seats. Comes with both charging ports, battery is 9/12 and mileage is 71k.

They have it priced at $5,995 but I am getting $1,800 off due to the EV Rebate- so all in all I’m paying about $4,200.

Is it a good buy- I know the range will be approx 60mi. I read that the 4 digit in the VIN tells the battery size. A being 24 and B being 30, mine says A.
As far as I remember, only the SL came with Leather seats but that doesn't mean the previous owner didn't pay to have someone else install leather seats for them. Do you have a link to the dealership website, they usually have a ton of exterior and interior pictures, might help the trim level at least, especially a picture of the back, lower right-hand corner of the door.

You'll hear this echoed here a lot, but LeafSpy will give you the best internal view of the battery. The 2015 year had the best 24 kWh battery compared to earlier years, but it's not invincible to owner abuse. :unsure:
 
The 2015 year had the best 24 kWh battery compared to earlier years,
But you still need to drive the battery down to the first low battery warning--at about 22%_ and look at the Leaf Spy data for the cells. Many batteries will have some weak cells--and this DOES NOT show up in the battery bars displayed on the dash. You can only learn about this by discharging the battery most of the way.

Otherwise, go for it.
 
Thank you for the replies so far. I have t physically seen the cat yet, I’m going there tomorrow. I was going to bring a OBD reader to use LeafSpy
 
Do you think it’s worth the price? If it’s only going to get 50 miles on average, I will most likely pass. I can’t do much with it on that little of range.
 
Sounds like a SL, you have to look for the body sticker on the drivers door post. Not the VIN but the model I don't remember which digit and what letter code (G???) is the SL.
It sounds like the twin to mine, and I am very happy with mine. Yeah, I only have 9 bars as well, but it does what I bought to do very well.
 
Sounds like a SL, you have to look for the body sticker on the drivers door post. Not the VIN but the model I don't remember which digit and what letter code (G???) is the SL.
It sounds like the twin to mine, and I am very happy with mine. Yeah, I only have 9 bars as well, but it does what I bought to do very well.
What’s your average mileage per full charge?
 
Miles per charge can vary wildly from person to person, due to speeds traveled, climate control usage from heat, etc. A good way to estimate them is to take an average energy efficiency rating like 3.5 M/KWH, divide the energy remaining in the pack at 9 bars, and consider the result a typical number...my brain isn't up to it tonight, though, I'm afraid.
 
What’s your average mileage per full charge?
I don't run out then recharge, I charge for 2hr every night at 16 amp/240 volt input. That gives me about 7 Kwh of charge on my battery.
I use mine to run to town, 12-13 miles one way. so around 25 miles round trip. I have made 2 trips to town without recharging.
So whoever said about 50 miles is about right. Less in the dead of winter.
So, I am often with my battery between around 90% and 35-48% depending on where and how much AC or heat is needed.
My trip to town is about 10 miles of 55-60 MPH and the rest in town. Same for return. SO if all your mileage is at slower in town speeds you may see more miles per charge.
All this means I can't make it to a fast charger and go to my brothers house 89 miles away, the fast chargers aren't spaced for that kind of trip.
The Leaf handles better than 99% of trip we do, the fewer long trips are done in an ICE car. Some times I go months without buying gas.
 
Also is it ever worth doing a battery swap? I have watched many videos and it seems doable but I wasn’t sure if it’s worth it at 9 bars.
That is something only you can answer for yourself.
My advice is get some ownership time in before you think about it.
There are places that can help you and it is not technical except for a CAN Bridge install, the rest is nuts as bolts. That said working with High Voltage DC is not something to take lightly, it requires special equipment to do it safely.
For me, right now, it does what I bought it to do, so I don't need to swap batteries. If it COULD go further, like to my brothers, I WOULD drive it further. I knew about the limited range when I bought so am not disappointed.
Any battery swap would likely be an upgrade to a higher capacity battery. I don't see the point of swapping "like for like" to gain 15 or at most 25-30 miles for the work involved. A 40 Kwh battery would up that to 130-150 miles and a 64 even further
 
My biggest piece of advice is load LeafSpy light on your smart phone and fork out for an OBD2 dongle that has wifi or bluetooth. Theyre something like 20-30$USA. Allows you to tell what shape the battery is in. The battery is pretty much everything with a used leaf. It works on nearly every car but classics so no matter what you get it will be handy. Every brand is gonna have a different piece of software though. LeafSpy only works on leafs, but the dongle fits newe cars so there will be different software. If I’d known this it would have made a huge difference and it would have paid for itself then and there.
 
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I have a 2015 SL with the same # of bars. Average 4.1 miles per kWh. Mostly in town. I charge with 110 V about 10%per hour using the charging timer. Starting at 12:10 and end at however many hours @ 10% per hour.
BUT…the guessometer figures mileage left on past use. It can be showing 30 miles, and if I floor the throttle for a couple of hundred yards, the car yells “low battery “ and the estimate drops to say 12 miles. Still shows the same battery level, but it thinks I’m going to keep the pedal floored.
First drive was mostly 70% @55mph, 30%@40, and started with a full battery. No AC or heat. Got a low battery warning at 49 miles and arrived home with 51 miles, and no turtle mode. I did not check the charge level.
My daily use is about 5-20 miles and I’m pretty happy. Only paid $2,800. But it has 115,000 miles. Looks new in and out.
Good luck with yours.
 
Also is it ever worth doing a battery swap? I have watched many videos and it seems doable but I wasn’t sure if it’s worth it at 9 bars.
I have done battery swaps in my garage at home twice (Minneapolis) and happy to help. I get my information from Dala's EV Repair (https://dalasevrepair.fi/).
As for whether or not it's worth doing... the price for this car is a bit on the high side and battery upgrades are quite expensive unless you can watch the insurance salvage auctions for a good deal on a wrecked leaf with a good battery near you and deal with all of that. I recently got a 2020 Leaf with a 90% SoH off auction for $4.3k to upgrade my 2015. Buying that pack alone will run 10k+ most places.
 
I have a 2015 SL with the same # of bars. Average 4.1 miles per kWh. Mostly in town. I charge with 110 V about 10%per hour using the charging timer. Starting at 12:10 and end at however many hours @ 10% per hour.
BUT…the guessometer figures mileage left on past use. It can be showing 30 miles, and if I floor the throttle for a couple of hundred yards, the car yells “low battery “ and the estimate drops to say 12 miles. Still shows the same battery level, but it thinks I’m going to keep the pedal floored.
First drive was mostly 70% @55mph, 30%@40, and started with a full battery. No AC or heat. Got a low battery warning at 49 miles and arrived home with 51 miles, and no turtle mode. I did not check the charge level.
My daily use is about 5-20 miles and I’m pretty happy. Only paid $2,800. But it has 115,000 miles. Looks new in and out.
Good luck with yours.
I got like 3% per hour on phase 1.
 
I have done battery swaps in my garage at home twice (Minneapolis) and happy to help. I get my information from Dala's EV Repair (https://dalasevrepair.fi/).
As for whether or not it's worth doing... the price for this car is a bit on the high side and battery upgrades are quite expensive unless you can watch the insurance salvage auctions for a good deal on a wrecked leaf with a good battery near you and deal with all of that. I recently got a 2020 Leaf with a 90% SoH off auction for $4.3k to upgrade my 2015. Buying that pack alone will run 10k+ most places.
The asking price is $5,995 but then having the EV rebate of 30% takes off $1,799 bringing the total to $4,196 before taxes. At that price do you think it’s worth it or is it better to hold out for another one? I do need a car quickly but I also don’t want to just jump into a money pit either.
 
Me I wouldn’t touch a car I couldn’t check the battery on.
He also posted that he's headed up to look at it in person with an OBDII reader and Leafspy installed on his phone.

Sadly, I think the dealers have basically added 30% to what they are asking for used BEV and pocketing all the federal incentive. That car should be right at $4k before incentive if you ask me.
 
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