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Banger

Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2024
Messages
23
Hi all,

I'm a Leaf newbie currently shopping for what may become my first Leaf. Looking at a 2020 SL+ with less than 10k on it. CPO with the seven-year/100k mile warranty coverage any CPO Nissan would get. Dealer is asking $19k and says they will participate with the government point-of-purchase rebate of $4k, so effectively a $15k car.

It's tax time and the dealer is cognizant of that, of course, so they're not moving much on price. Not that it's a bad deal, but I'm a shrewd bargain-hunter if nothing else.

Anyway I'm here to read and learn about Leafs. Already have a LELink BLE dongle cornered and plan to check out any Leaf with LeafSpy.
 
My 2020 SL+ has been trouble free for the last 4 years, I already have +84K miles on it. Never had to get any work done that wasn't part of some recall (software updates for safety and what not), so it's basically been maintenance free all that time minus the expense of tires and windshield washer fluid.

But that good will only carries you so far, having LeafSpy as a tool will help you determine if the Leaf you are looking at was taken care of or driven into the ground as a drive share / taxi for example. ;)

Feel free to post some LeafSpy screenshots here to get some feedback about how the general health appears. Screenshots of the 1st and 4th screen can be more useful as the 2nd and 3rd are geared more towards real-time monitoring and chart plotting. Even better, go into service mode (5th screen after you enable it ) and read the the DTC stuff, screen shot that too just in case.
 
My 2020 SL+ has been trouble free for the last 4 years, I already have +84K miles on it. Never had to get any work done that wasn't part of some recall (software updates for safety and what not), so it's basically been maintenance free all that time minus the expense of tires and windshield washer fluid.

But that good will only carries you so far, having LeafSpy as a tool will help you determine if the Leaf you are looking at was taken care of or driven into the ground as a drive share / taxi for example.
Not a lot of risk in this Leaf having seen that kind of use, barely doing 2,000 miles a year since new.

But as a former president said, "Trust, but verify."

;)

Feel free to post some LeafSpy screenshots here to get some feedback about how the general health appears. Screenshots of the 1st and 4th screen can be more useful as the 2nd and 3rd are geared more towards real-time monitoring and chart plotting. Even better, go into service mode (5th screen after you enable it ) and read the the DTC stuff, screen shot that too just in case.
If I have time, I may do that. However, the dealer in question is two hours from home and it's not gonna be easy to make the trip twice. I work night shift, so it's already hard to get there during business hours without throwing my schedule into disarray over a weekend.

Also I'll have to hope my LELink gets here in a timely manner. Shipping basically all the way across the country.

We're multi-time Nissan owners, so goodwill is already pretty high in our household for Nissan. Our current Nissans -- two cubes -- have been wonderful little cars, though mine is starting to get tired and has required a fair bit of maintenance in the last 18 months. If you tally up the expenses it has accrued in that time, it's nearly enough to pay the loan that we'd need to purchase this Leaf we're looking at. Admittedly most of that was the $4,500 CVT that just went into it last autumn and the $900 cooling system (radiator, water pump, thermostats, tensioner pulley, accessory belt) that went into it almost a year ago today. If you average out the cost of repairs to the elder cube, my daily driver, over that time, you come to a monthly figure somewhere north of $400 -- which comes near enough buying an Ariya, let alone a Leaf!

Point still stands, between the government rebate and my little tax refund check I'd be able to have over 50% equity in this Leaf from day one, making a three-year used car loan stupid easy. And if I get a similar sized tax refund next year, it could just as easily be paid off a year from now. It feels like a no-brainer to me. My wife will take a bit more convincing.
 
If I have time, I may do that. However, the dealer in question is two hours from home and it's not gonna be easy to make the trip twice. I work night shift, so it's already hard to get there during business hours without throwing my schedule into disarray over a weekend.
It can be a time burn for sure, but you really want to make sure. I'm not trying to make you paranoid as to give up a good deal if the previous owner treated the Leaf like it was their first born, but it would be equally terrible if the low mileage was due to some major issues that just make it un-driveable. 😨
Really that advice could apply to any vehicle, but at least with the Leaf it's easier to "get inside" and see what the vehicle history says about it instead of just what the sales person tells you. ;)
 
Hi all,

I'm a Leaf newbie currently shopping for what may become my first Leaf. Looking at a 2020 SL+ with less than 10k on it. CPO with the seven-year/100k mile warranty coverage any CPO Nissan would get. Dealer is asking $19k and says they will participate with the government point-of-purchase rebate of $4k, so effectively a $15k car.

It's tax time and the dealer is cognizant of that, of course, so they're not moving much on price. Not that it's a bad deal, but I'm a shrewd bargain-hunter if nothing else.

Anyway I'm here to read and learn about Leafs. Already have a LELink BLE dongle cornered and plan to check out any Leaf with LeafSpy.
Hi all,

I'm a Leaf newbie currently shopping for what may become my first Leaf. Looking at a 2020 SL+ with less than 10k on it. CPO with the seven-year/100k mile warranty coverage any CPO Nissan would get. Dealer is asking $19k and says they will participate with the government point-of-purchase rebate of $4k, so effectively a $15k car.

It's tax time and the dealer is cognizant of that, of course, so they're not moving much on price. Not that it's a bad deal, but I'm a shrewd bargain-hunter if nothing else.

Anyway I'm here to read and learn about Leafs. Already have a LELink BLE dongle cornered and plan to check out any Leaf with LeafSpy.
What state you are in could matter. Which one?
 
Oh ok, is the dealership close to the Nashville area?
In the suburbs, yeah.

There's also a brand new Chevy Bolt near Nashville that's tempting to look at. If GM finances it at a promotional rate, with the federal $7,500 off, it's a contender. But also more complex, and my family has never had a good experience with GM in the long run.
 
In the suburbs, yeah.

There's also a brand new Chevy Bolt near Nashville that's tempting to look at. If GM finances it at a promotional rate, with the federal $7,500 off, it's a contender. But also more complex, and my family has never had a good experience with GM in the long run.
Well, you are in luck, that's local for me. Save yourself a 2 hour drive. Let me know which dealership and Leaf, I'll go there pretending to want to buy it and run it through the ringer instead. 🤣
 
Got it and very local, muhaha... :devilish:
I mean yes, I shall be very inquisitive and formal about it when I show up in my 2020 Leaf of the exact same model year and trim level. 🤣
 
knightmb, That is very awesome of you! I wish I'd had someone to look at a Leaf for me a couple of months ago. :)
 
Banger, I just got a 2022 Leaf SV Plus for $19,000. With the $4000 credit, it's $15,000. It has 20,000 miles on it but more importantly, it's a Nissan Certified Pre-owned car. It's still under the bump-to-bumper warranty, so I'd shoot for a 2022 if you could for the same price. They are routinely $19-20k here in PA. The Pro Pilot Assist is really nice to have.
 
Banger, I just got a 2022 Leaf SV Plus for $19,000. With the $4000 credit, it's $15,000. It has 20,000 miles on it but more importantly, it's a Nissan Certified Pre-owned car. It's still under the bump-to-bumper warranty, so I'd shoot for a 2022 if you could for the same price. They are routinely $19-20k here in PA. The Pro Pilot Assist is really nice to have.
Yeah there's a few in that mileage range except they're 2020s here for basically the same asking price.

Importantly, asking price is not sale price, unless you're working with CarMax or Carvana. ;)
 
Ok, I had a chance to enjoy some good weather and terrorize the local streets with a test drive. I got plenty of LeafSpy screenshots, so I'll start with the positives and what few negatives I found. Overall, very positive. :D
I'll put all the pictures at the bottom of this post.

First, visually everything looks fine. I didn't see anything that would have concerned me mechanically, no damage underneath or odd dents or scraps in the front or back side of the battery, vehicle, etc. Inside seats and leather is in perfect condition. All of the "accessories" that should come with the SL trim are there. That includes the emergency pump kit in hidden in the rear boot. It has the dual L1/L2 EVSE that come with those year models (120V/240V) including the adapter that snaps on to covert it from 240V to 120V to plug into a normal home outlet. Even had the cargo net in the back, it also has the privacy cover in the back but it needs to be tighten up a little so you don't bump your head when trying to access the rear trunk door. That's just a nitpick by me. :LOL:

Everything works from heated mirrors to heated seats to heated steering wheel to rear defroster heater. All lights, mirror adjusters, auto-dim rear view mirror, auto-high beam headlights, power windows, front and rear windshield wiper and washer spray. I tested the heat pump for both AC cold air and Heat mode, including the PTC heater for backup heat.

While doing a test drive, parking sonar works, all drive modes, e-pedal, B, D mode, Eco, etc. Adaptive Cruise mode, Steering Assist Mode, emergency braking for front and reverse (had fun testing those with the salesperson :devilish:) Radio, all steering wheel buttons and anything else that was a button.

This Leaf was a Lease model, so that would explain why it had so few miles in some respect. I was told that the previous owner traded in for an Ariya, so it looks like they wanted a bigger EV to drive around. More power to them. :cool:

Technical stuff about the battery, LeafSpy shows an excellent 95.23% SOH and given how few QC and L1/L2 charging sessions it has, that seems about right given the age. While driving around in race mode, I didn't notice any big gaps in cell voltages, so nothing apparent caught my eye about the battery health. Everything seems excellent. Granted, I was driving from 82% SOC, so at least the dealership didn't leave it on the lot in 100% SOC for however long it's been out there. Nothing got my attention while driving, watching LeafSpy or just combing around the vehicle that would make me concerned about it's condition. Certainly a gem in terms of great condition all around.

Now, the negative points. The salesperson had already driven it out of the lot to the front of the dealership before I arrived. When I connected up LeafSpy to get a reading, I had every possible accessory turned off minus the cabin lights as I had some doors open for the great weather experience. I noticed that the 12V battery voltage was showing 11.68V with only a 29 watt load. So I opened the hood to take a look at the 12V battery. It's a Nissan OEM or the original that came with the Leaf. I asked the salesperson to verify. The battery is +4 years now and the low voltage reading with nearly no power load does concern me. If you decide to purchase this Leaf, I suggest getting the battery tested at a shop (or even the dealership can do this) many many many times in a row just to make sure this isn't a near future failure point. I just created an entire topic about this very same issue with other person I was helping with Leaf issues this week, so I'm seeing Déjà vu. If you want to play it safe, just buy a new 12V battery for peace of mind.

Next negative some left over DTC codes in the computer memory. The codes were only for the rear Sonar, so that could easily be something like it was dirty or covered in snow recently and the code just sticks around, but when I was testing the rear Sonar for parking mode, everything was working fine. It may be nothing, but at least be aware of it.

Finally, the tires. I got nothing against GeoDrive. They are a sub-division of Sumitomo. What little info I could find on them suggest these won't last very long. Even though they are brand new, the Leaf is gong to chew through these soft tires quickly. About the best you can do to try to maximize range is to inflate the tires to 40 PSI (cold pressure) for normal driving. I could tell while doing a test drive (which they were at 36 PSI cold pressure), they have excellent grip and even hinder the Leaf acceleraton a little due to that. So running at the default 36 PSI will cost you a little in range and faster wear, so keep that in mind.

Overall though, this Leaf is a gem given it's very low mileage. The things that concern me can be easily corrected if they become an issue, but the overall health of the EV appears to be excellent. I am jealous of that rear seat center cup holder too, why didn't mine come with? :cautious:

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Excellent stuff, knightmb! I can't tell you how much I appreciate you doing this.

I was reading your other thread about the 12v battery issues. Certainly something to keep an eye on. Nissan has always stood behind its 12v batteries in my experience, and they carry a better warranty than average (7 years prorated) so I've always gone back to our dealer for batteries in the past. However, they probably won't warranty a battery if it passes a standard CCA test. So that's a probable expense soon after purchase.

I do wonder if maybe the low 12v charge might be from the car sitting on the lot, though.

Cheap, too-soft tires are to be expected. Both our cubes had very quiet, very grippy Toyo A20 tires when new, and both required replacement in about 30,000 miles because they just could not stand up to the weight of the cube -- itself not exactly a heavy machine -- any longer. We now run another Sumitomo brand, Falken Sincera SN250 A/S, with pretty good results. My last set lasted about 45,000 miles at a cost of less than $500 mounted and balanced. So I dunno, maybe these will surprise with longevity, but I'm guessing they'll be short-lived. I do note they're Z-rated, pretty racy for a Leaf. Typically Z-rated tires aren't designed for long life.

The battery state of health is very encouraging. How is your own 2020, to compare what I might expect as I put on commuter miles?
 
With that info, I could own this Leaf for a long, long time. Certainly well after both kids are of driving age. The youngest is turning 9 this year, so it's not so far away.
 
I was reading your other thread about the 12v battery issues. Certainly something to keep an eye on. Nissan has always stood behind its 12v batteries in my experience, and they carry a better warranty than average (7 years prorated) so I've always gone back to our dealer for batteries in the past. However, they probably won't warranty a battery if it passes a standard CCA test. So that's a probable expense soon after purchase.

I do wonder if maybe the low 12v charge might be from the car sitting on the lot, though.
It is suppose to charge the 12V battery itself on a 24 hour cycle to top it off. It should have been charging when the Salesperson was driving it around the lot, maybe not a long time, but after that is what got me concerned when I saw the voltage reading.
 
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