Repair or replace my 2017 Leaf LE?

[cwerdna]

Wow, have you never ever heard of the supercharger at most Nissan dealers its called the CHAdeMO connector it's referred to as a supercharger! In spite of Tesla nerds disagreeing with it being a supercharger! I suppose if your LEAF did not come with one then you wouldn't

No it is NOT called a Supercharger. The only things that are for the purposes of charging EVs are https://www.tesla.com/supercharger. Leafs cannot use Tesla Superchargers. For the US, the only exception might be a Magic Dock location with a CCS1 to CHAdeMO adapter.

They are simply DC chargers or DC usually fast chargers. Nissan in their manuals refers to it as "quick charging".

You can see the charging standards at https://www.evgo.com/ev-drivers/charging-basics/ under 4 Types of Connectors.

I suppose if your LEAF did not come with one then you wouldn't know about it, I believe most LEAFS came stock with one (my old 2011 even had one) it's the huge port next to the smaller port in your charge compartment

I leased a '13 Leaf SV for 2 years with with both packages and thus had a CHAdeMO inlet. I used the CHAdeMO inlet about a dozen times over a 2 year span.

Source that it will hurt your warranty?

The used '13 Leaf SV w/premium that I bought in 2015 to replace it intentionally didn't have it as I didn't want to pay the extra $ for a car with it.

If you read the class action I seem to recall it stated the battery must fall below 8 bars

No! It's 9.

and it also states that if you use the super chargers all the time that shortens and can void the warranty as battery health

and its not recommended as it does your battery more harm than good and too much use can hurt your warranty as well!

Again, Leafs can't use "super chargers". Source that it hurts your wararnty or voids your warranty?

Please post quotes from US or Canadian Nissan's manuals or official US or Canadian literature referring to CHAdeMO chargers or Leaf charging as "Supercharger", "super charger", "supercharging", etc. Attached page CH-5 of the '11 Leaf manual.

Notice https://www.nissanusa.com/vehicles/electric-cars/leaf/features.html has no mention of super anywhere?

'11 Leaf came out in Dec 2010. Tesla's Superchargers weren't even announced until Sept 2012: https://ir.tesla.com/press-release/tesla-motors-launches-revolutionary-supercharger-enabling and Leafs can't use them.

Here are the press kits for '11 and '12 Leafs:
https://usa.nissannews.com/en-US/re...abId=release-63ff63e5c0f44e4fb8af4fa2c8f42867
https://usa.nissannews.com/en-US/releases/release-3b65d33e214f4458ba230be9c0977e43

US Ariya and future US-market Nissan EVs will be able to use Tesla's Supercharger network due to https://usa.nissannews.com/en-US/re...-standard-nacs-for-ariya-and-future-ev-models.

BTW, I pointed to the 3 standards for DC FCing consumer BEVs in the US at https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/chademo-to-ccs.33988/#post-629860. Unless it is https://www.tesla.com/supercharger, it isn't "Supercharger". Also, w/the exception of the few Magic Dock sites, until recently, no non-Teslas could DC FC on US Tesla Superchargers. Now the list of supported ones are at https://www.tesla.com/NACS, but all the non-Tesla currently need adapters.
"Throughout 2024 and 2025, our North American Supercharging network is opening to more automakers. As automakers transition vehicles to NACS, EV drivers will gradually be able to access Superchargers using adapters provided by their automakers. Soon, all new EVs will come with NACS charge ports built in and adapters will no longer be needed.

If you do not yet have access, your automaker may be joining our network soon. For more information, review our FAQs page or check with your automaker.

Supported
Ford
Rivian
General Motors
Volvo
Polestar

Coming Soon
Nissan
Mercedes-Benz"

For Nissan coming soon, that would be Ariya. https://media.ford.com/content/ford...harge-on-tesla-superchargers-in-u-s---ca.html was first followed by Rivian, IIRC.

I've had a BEV with CCS1 inlet since end of Jan 2019. I've DC FCed a bunch. Not a single one was a (Tesla) Supercharger.

 

[cwerdna]

latest news of Carvana The company recently reported a quarterly loss of more than $500 million, and has laid off 4,000 employees. In the last 12 months, Carvana piled up debt. Its stock price has fallen more than 95 percent in the last 12 months,

"recently reported a quarterly loss of more than $500 million," - NO!

From https://investors.carvana.com/financial-reports/quarterly-results/2024,
Q3 2024, net income of $148 million
Q2 2024, net income of $48 million
Q1 2024, net income of $49 million
Q4 2023, net income of $150 million
Q3 2023, net income of $741 million
Q3 2024, net loss of $439 million
and so on

So, you've decided to ignore the 5 most recent quarters of profits.

"Its stock price has fallen more than 95 percent in the last 12 months" - NO! It went from $34.17 on Nov 7, 2023 to about ~$241 now. So, it's up by over 600%.

Their layoff of 4,000 employees happened in 2022: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/carvana-lay-off-more-workers-142721944.html.

I am not giving stock advice or telling people it's a good or bad investment. I'm simply stating that you've given out a lot of bad info over a series of posts in this thread.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Hello everyone!

We are in Atlanta and have had our Leaf since July 2017; it's my husband's main commuting car. (In 2014 we leased a Leaf, and when it came time to give it back, I asked him what he wanted to drive next, and he thought about it and said, another Leaf.) It now has about 51K miles. We are very fond of it, but I will be the first to say we have not taken good care of it:

• There's a 1-inch or so tear in the front bumper that cannot be repaired, I got an estimate of about $1K to fix (replace) that.
• I accidentally backed into our garage door before it had fully opened, destroying the cover of the light at the top of the rear door and leaving nasty scratches in the roof. That estimate was about $1200 or so to replace. (Those two estimates were last fall; the prices have probably gone up by now.)
• There are other dents here and there; the body shop at the dealership I took it to said it would be about (IIRC) $8K to get it looking absolutely brand new.
• And then we had a rat problem over the winter. I'm not sure how much total damage they did, but what we can see is pretty significant. They chewed through the windshield wiper fluid hose. There's visible damage to the stuffing and cover of the rear seat and chew marks on the plastic in the trunk. That happened after I got the estimates above so I'm not sure how much the total cost of repairs would be now.

On top of all this, we lost the ninth bar last fall, so we should qualify for a new battery under warranty. So it's possible that the car is actually worth a fair bit more than it looks because it could be getting a shiny new 40 kWh battery. Or there could be not enough shiny new 40 kWh batteries going around and we get something of smaller capacity. I'm not sure; that's part of why I came here.

It's still drivable! (We figured that if the rats had chewed through something crucial, we'd have noticed by now.) It claims to get about 70 miles at 100% charge, though it did turtle unexpectedly on my husband once, and I get worried if I'm on the highway and I'm down to about 20. My husband's commute has changed so it works fine for him as a daily car so long as he doesn't have to run too many errands. So we haven't demanded a new battery yet while we've been figuring out our options.

Which, as I see it, are:

1. Pay for the major repairs (the front and rear damage, the interior damage, replace the chewed hose), get the battery replaced, and plan to drive it for the immediate future.
2. Get the battery replaced, repair only damage that could long-term affect driving, and keep the car in less-than-perfect shape because within 18 months we'll have a 15-year-old who needs to start learning how to drive.
3. Trade in or sell the car (presumably to someone who would immediately replace the battery) and get something else, maybe a newer Leaf in better shape.

I went on KBB and they gave me a trade-in value of about $8K, but I wasn't sure if that took the battery swap into account. I know from reading around that if I were serious about trading in I should talk to Carvana and get cash offers. My husband is neither emotionally attached* enough to insist on repairs nor chomping at the bit to get a new car. I tried searching this forum and found some threads on repairing or trading in but it sounded like our car was in worse shape, so I thought I'd lay it all out for y'all. I'm happy to give any more information. Thank you so much for your help!

* you are free to laugh, but last year my car (a 2018 Kia Sedona) got sideswiped on the highway and I was almost in tears thinking she'd be totaled. She was not; it took ten weeks and $20K (which my insurance paid for; the other driver ran despite having lost a fair chunk of his car) but she returned to me safe and sound.

Your only real options are
cut your losses, get rid of the car
Fix the car well enough to drive it, replace the battery and get as much use out of it as you can.
FYI; replacing the battery first then trying to sell it won't get you much money. Many have tried exactly what you did and most got very little extra.

The reality is your car has nearly no value to nearly everyone and that is what they will offer you.

 

[Zero Emissions]

Yes, I'm well aware of https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/update-on-battery-warranty-enhancement-for-2011-2012-leaf.13192/ that apparently came about due to the Klee vs. Nissan class action settlement. You can search by posts by me with the keyword klee. I've posted about it for years. And yes, '11 and '12 Leaf came w/no capacity warranty so that added to those vehicles and Leafs got capacity warranties moving forward.

I loaned equipment to surfingslovak to help run a range test (https://web.archive.org/web/20160113132627/http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=228326) before the settlement.

"In addition to the existing lithium-ion battery coverage provided under the Nissan Electric Vehicle Limited Warranty for defects in materials or workmanship, the lithium-ion battery for your 2011 or 2012 Nissan LEAF is now also warranted against capacity loss below nine (9) bars (or approximately below 70 percent) as shown on the vehicle’s battery capacity level gauge for a period of 60 months or 60,000 miles, whichever comes first.

This warranty covers any repairs needed to return battery capacity to a level of nine remaining bars on the vehicle’s battery capacity level gauge. If possible, the lithium-ion battery components will be repaired or replaced, and the original battery pack will be returned to the vehicle. If necessary, the lithium-ion battery will be replaced with either a new or remanufactured battery. Any repair or replacement made under this Lithium-Ion Battery Capacity Coverage may not return the battery to an “as new” condition with all 12 battery capacity bars, but it will provide the vehicle with a capacity level of nine bars or more on the battery capacity level gauge. "

There were only 24 kWh Leafs thru model year '15. That has NOTHING to do with "it will be upgraded from a 30 KW to a 40 KW due to a class action suit they have to replace 19,000 batteries".

ALL Leafs model year '13+ received a capacity warranty. There is no automatic free upgrade from 30 to 40 kWh packs. Need to lose enough capacity before expiration. Those with enough capacity loss on 30 kWh Leafs eventually got 30 kWh replacement packs. Eventually, the 30 kWh packs were discontinued, they were for awhile putting in 40 kWh packs to replace them. See https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10171230-0001.pdf.

For awhile, it seemed like they stopped doing that and offered buybacks instead: https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/the-battery-replacement-buyback-thread.34237/.

No idea where you get "due to a class action suit they have to replace 19,000 batteries". The Klee vs. Nissan suit was settled well before 30 kWh Leafs even existed. Is there some other class action suit and settlement about what you're talking about? If yes, point us to it.

I don't know of the % with and without but on '11, CHAdeMO inlet was optional. You had to get the SL trim then pay extra for the port. On '12, it came with SL trim only.

On '13+ to '17, it was optional (e.g. standard with SL and an option on S and SV trims). IIRC, it was optional for several more model years after that.

OK so I can't find it on my CPU at the moment even though it should be stored in the printer queue in windows I will keep hunting but in the meantime I can assure you I did print it and I gave it to my Nissan dealer and even they were surprised to see it was 19.000 units as well... I certainly would not pull that number out of my arse! When I go back to my Nissan dealer I will have him make me a copy of the class action and I will post the 20 something pages on this forum so you can sleep easier knowing some random guy didn't just make up and spew information out on a specific forum for no logical reason whatsoever. Once you read the class action you should also note that you are also WRONG on two other statements you have made as well...no worries though I will educate and enlighten you so you can sleep easier. Education is king!

 

[cwerdna]

OK so I can't find it on my CPU at the moment even though it should be stored in the printer queue in windows I will keep hunting but in the meantime I can assure you I did print it and I gave it to my Nissan dealer and even they were surprised to see it was 19.000 units as well... I certainly would not pull that number out of my arse!

Maybe you are talking about PC630 / NTB18-039?

PC630: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2018/MC-10143139-9999.pdf has 19,514 units affected.
NTB18-039 https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2018/MC-10143483-9999.pdf is 27 pages long.

It is about capacity under-reporting on 30 kWh Leafs and that caused apparently a whole bunch of unnecessary replacements (see https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/2016-2017-model-year-30-kwh-bar-losers-and-capacity-losses.23606/) of 30 kWh packs. Firmware update via NTB18-039 resolves that.

And, if someone goes to a Nissan dealer with a 30 kWh Leaf that has is down to 8 capacity bars or less and has NOT had NTB18-039 applied, they will be required to apply it anyway since it will likely restore some bars. If it remains at 8 or less or falls back to 8, then they (dealer service dept) can submit a warranty claim to Nissan.

I was tracking reports of people who got 30 kWh packs replaced due to capacity warranty at https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/20...nd-capacity-losses.23606/page-115#post-627992. My earlier list at https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/20...and-capacity-losses.23606/page-54#post-525968 became invalid since likely most/all of those folks got unnecessary replacements (fix didn't exist yet).

I'm unaware of any class action suit related to PC630 / NTB18-039.

Again, you can search for posts by me with the keyword klee which covers the Klee vs. Nissan class action suit that I mentioned which resulted in https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/update-on-battery-warranty-enhancement-for-2011-2012-leaf.13192/.

 

[Zero Emissions]

"recently reported a quarterly loss of more than $500 million," - NO!

From https://investors.carvana.com/financial-reports/quarterly-results/2024,
Q3 2024, net income of $148 million
Q2 2024, net income of $48 million
Q1 2024, net income of $49 million
Q4 2023, net income of $150 million
Q3 2023, net income of $741 million
Q3 2024, net loss of $439 million
and so on

So, you've decided to ignore the 5 most recent quarters of profits.

"Its stock price has fallen more than 95 percent in the last 12 months" - NO! It went from $34.17 on Nov 7, 2023 to about ~$241 now. So, it's up by over 600%.

Their layoff of 4,000 employees happened in 2022: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/carvana-lay-off-more-workers-142721944.html.

I am not giving stock advice or telling people it's a good or bad investment. I'm simply stating that you've given out a lot of bad info over a series of posts in this thread.

The information I got is from a customer who is "in the know" and he sent me to the links that I posted for you and when I asked again about Caravans health and should one invest in them again he said smoke and mirrors he said while they seem better positioned now...still my advice is "Run Forest Run" He also stated wait until Q1 results unfortunately he wouldn't tell me more so I realize this conversation has nothing to do with LEAFs but I threw it against the wall so come march we will see if it sticks or not.

 

[cwerdna]

The information I got is from a customer who is "in the know" and he sent me to the links that I posted for you and when I asked again about Caravans health and should one invest in them again he said smoke and mirrors he said while they seem better positioned now...still my advice is "Run Forest Run" He also stated wait until Q1 results unfortunately he wouldn't tell me more so I realize this conversation has nothing to do with LEAFs but I threw it against the wall so come march we will see if it sticks or not.

Their quarterly reports and income statements are easy to find. I already pointed you to them. Their stock price is easy to find. You can confirm what I said about what happened to their stock in the past 12 months. As of today, it is up ~618% vs. 1 year ago.

As for 4K layoffs, yes, was in 2022. If you have reports of another 4K+ of their employees laid off "recently" (I guess after 2022), I'm all ears. Again, I'm not saying they're a good or bad investment. I have NO position in that company and don't plan to. I have issue with your incorrect statements.

 

[Zero Emissions]

No it is NOT called a Supercharger. The only things that are for the purposes of charging EVs are https://www.tesla.com/supercharger. Leafs cannot use Tesla Superchargers. For the US, the only exception might be a Magic Dock location with a CCS1 to CHAdeMO adapter.

They are simply DC chargers or DC usually fast chargers. Nissan in their manuals refers to it as "quick charging".

You can see the charging standards at https://www.evgo.com/ev-drivers/charging-basics/ under 4 Types of Connectors.


I leased a '13 Leaf SV for 2 years with with both packages and thus had a CHAdeMO inlet. I used the CHAdeMO inlet about a dozen times over a 2 year span.

Source that it will hurt your warranty?

The used '13 Leaf SV w/premium that I bought in 2015 to replace it intentionally didn't have it as I didn't want to pay the extra $ for a car with it.

No! It's 9.


Again, Leafs can't use "super chargers". Source that it hurts your wararnty or voids your warranty?

Please post quotes from US or Canadian Nissan's manuals or official US or Canadian literature referring to CHAdeMO chargers or Leaf charging as "Supercharger", "super charger", "supercharging", etc. Attached page CH-5 of the '11 Leaf manual.

Notice https://www.nissanusa.com/vehicles/electric-cars/leaf/features.html has no mention of super anywhere?

'11 Leaf came out in Dec 2010. Tesla's Superchargers weren't even announced until Sept 2012: https://ir.tesla.com/press-release/tesla-motors-launches-revolutionary-supercharger-enabling and Leafs can't use them.

Here are the press kits for '11 and '12 Leafs:
https://usa.nissannews.com/en-US/re...abId=release-63ff63e5c0f44e4fb8af4fa2c8f42867
https://usa.nissannews.com/en-US/releases/release-3b65d33e214f4458ba230be9c0977e43

US Ariya and future US-market Nissan EVs will be able to use Tesla's Supercharger network due to https://usa.nissannews.com/en-US/re...-standard-nacs-for-ariya-and-future-ev-models.

BTW, I pointed to the 3 standards for DC FCing consumer BEVs in the US at https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/chademo-to-ccs.33988/#post-629860. Unless it is https://www.tesla.com/supercharger, it isn't "Supercharger". Also, w/the exception of the few Magic Dock sites, until recently, no non-Teslas could DC FC on US Tesla Superchargers. Now the list of supported ones are at https://www.tesla.com/NACS, but all the non-Tesla currently need adapters.
"Throughout 2024 and 2025, our North American Supercharging network is opening to more automakers. As automakers transition vehicles to NACS, EV drivers will gradually be able to access Superchargers using adapters provided by their automakers. Soon, all new EVs will come with NACS charge ports built in and adapters will no longer be needed.

If you do not yet have access, your automaker may be joining our network soon. For more information, review our FAQs page or check with your automaker.

Supported
Ford
Rivian
General Motors
Volvo
Polestar

Coming Soon
Nissan
Mercedes-Benz"

For Nissan coming soon, that would be Ariya. https://media.ford.com/content/ford...harge-on-tesla-superchargers-in-u-s---ca.html was first followed by Rivian, IIRC.

I've had a BEV with CCS1 inlet since end of Jan 2019. I've DC FCed a bunch. Not a single one was a (Tesla) Supercharger.

Hum... It seems in this forum one must always prove oneself worthy, grasshopper....So under duress I reveal my Source for damages done to LEAF batteries It comes from my good buddy a certified Nissan Master Tech and he quotes if you use the supercharger (or for you politically correct types the CHAdeMO charger) to often it damages the battery and voids the warranty! So might I suggest you call your Nissan Dealer and ask to speak to their tech who actually specializes in Nissan's EV Battery propulsion system and they will quote you exactly what I just said. FYI Nissan had the "supercharger a year before Tesla was even invented. We all called them superchargers then so not sure what country your from but the name supercharger for the LEAF charging system was in place until 2014 when Tesla acquired over 200 patent rights to the supercharger including all its technology.

 

[cwerdna]

Hum... It seems in this forum one must always prove oneself worthy, grasshopper....So under duress I reveal my Source for damages done to LEAF batteries It comes from my good buddy a certified Nissan Master Tech and he quotes if you use the supercharger (or for you politically correct types the CHAdeMO charger) to often it damages the battery and voids the warranty! So might I suggest you call your Nissan Dealer and ask to speak to their tech who actually specializes in Nissan's EV proportion system and they will quote you exactly what I just said. FYI Nissan had the "supercharger a year before Tesla was even invented. We all called them superchargers then so not sure what country your from but the name supercharger for the LEAF charging system was in place until 2014 when Tesla acquired over 200 patent rights to the supercharger including all its technology.

Let us know when you can point us to official Nissan documentation of DC fast charging "to often" voiding the warranty.

https://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/10031501-e.html is from 2010:
"TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (Toyota), NISSAN MOTOR COMPANY (Nissan), MITSUBISHI
MOTORS CORPORATION (Mitsubishi Motors), FUJI HEAVY INDUSTRIES Ltd. (Fuji Heavy
Industries), and THE TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY, INC.(TEPCO), have formally
established "CHAdeMO Association" under the resolution of its general assembly
held today. The five companies above have become its executive members.

CHAdeMO Association aims to increase quick-charger installations worldwide
indispensable to further diffusion of electric vehicles and to standardize
how to charge the vehicles. Last August, Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors, Fuji Heavy
Industries, and TEPCO started a preparatory committee. Then, TOYOTA joined the
committee and the Association has been established with the five companies as
its executive members. "

You can look back at old snapshots of https://web.archive.org/web/20110811001710/http://www.chademo.com/. I'm from and in the US. Notice neither URL has no mention of "super"?

You can also look at the brochures like at https://web.archive.org/web/20130131032049/http://www.chademo.com/wp/mission and https://web.archive.org/web/20131229164847/http://www.chademo.com/wp/mission/. I downloaded both and see no mention of super in either.

BTW, we do know that DC FCing a lot in a day can cause eventually cause the rear stack to overheat, swell and get ruined, at least on 30 and 40 kWh packs. Skip to ~2:48 of posted by the world famous Dala. This has nothing to do with voiding warranties though. If it happens within warranty, it's a defect and Nissan would be obligated to fix this. After warranty expiration? Tough.

Leaf went on sale worldwide in Dec 2010: https://www.greencarreports.com/new...n-leaf-delivery-to-northern-californian-buyer.

As for proving oneself or whatever, this forum is (hopefully) intended for the exchange of correct information. If someone spots wrong info and has the time to respond, they might respond. There's no point in distributing wrong info.

 

[Zero Emissions]

Like I said My buddy is a Nissan Master Tech and he said it can void the warranty I will see if he can get me a service bulletin or ? So I googled it and so far only found this here is a screenshot of an article I found on google it wont show the entire article statement for some weird reason if I can get the rest of it I will send it.

 

[cwerdna]

Never seen that document before. Strange that it refers to “CSS”. Are they talking about CCS? Leaf can’t use CCS, at least not without a 3rd-party unsupported adapter. I don't recall any such products existing prior to 2024 or 2023.

https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2017/NISSAN/LEAF%2520BEV/5%2520HB/FWD#manufacturerCommunications under Manufacturer Communications is a place to find many TSBs for ’17 Leafs. I skimmed many pages of it in an attempt to to locate any info about your 30 to 40 kWh claims. I did find PC630, NTB18-039 and NTB20-001 (https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10171230-0001.pdf) in there.

How about something from a Leaf manual or warranty booklet? https://www.nissanusa.com/owners/ownership/manuals-guides.html goes back to model year 2013.

Nissan used to caution people about DC FCing too much (e.g. page EV-23 of https://cdn.dealereprocess.org/cdn/servicemanuals/nissan/2011-leaf.pdf) but then they backed down (can’t find the article or statement right now where they backed down/clarified). https://owners.nissanusa.com/conten...ides/LEAF/2011/2011-LEAF-warranty-booklet.pdf is the ’11 warranty booklet.

https://x.nissanhelp.com/forums/Knowledgebase/links/651/ and https://x.nissanhelp.com/forums/Knowledgebase/links/691/ were good places in the past to get TSBs and service bulletins.

Update: The picture seems to come from https://www.speakev.com/threads/bat...cutive-rapid-charges-or-not-see-update.79369/, which is about VW e-Golf, NOT Nissan Leaf. Non-Japanese market VW e-Golfs can have CCS inlets for DC FCing. (Japanese market ones have a CHAdeMO inlet.)

 

[Bombastinator2]

Hello everyone!

We are in Atlanta and have had our Leaf since July 2017; it's my husband's main commuting car. (In 2014 we leased a Leaf, and when it came time to give it back, I asked him what he wanted to drive next, and he thought about it and said, another Leaf.) It now has about 51K miles. We are very fond of it, but I will be the first to say we have not taken good care of it:

• There's a 1-inch or so tear in the front bumper that cannot be repaired, I got an estimate of about $1K to fix (replace) that.
• I accidentally backed into our garage door before it had fully opened, destroying the cover of the light at the top of the rear door and leaving nasty scratches in the roof. That estimate was about $1200 or so to replace. (Those two estimates were last fall; the prices have probably gone up by now.)
• There are other dents here and there; the body shop at the dealership I took it to said it would be about (IIRC) $8K to get it looking absolutely brand new.
• And then we had a rat problem over the winter. I'm not sure how much total damage they did, but what we can see is pretty significant. They chewed through the windshield wiper fluid hose. There's visible damage to the stuffing and cover of the rear seat and chew marks on the plastic in the trunk. That happened after I got the estimates above so I'm not sure how much the total cost of repairs would be now.

On top of all this, we lost the ninth bar last fall, so we should qualify for a new battery under warranty. So it's possible that the car is actually worth a fair bit more than it looks because it could be getting a shiny new 40 kWh battery. Or there could be not enough shiny new 40 kWh batteries going around and we get something of smaller capacity. I'm not sure; that's part of why I came here.

It's still drivable! (We figured that if the rats had chewed through something crucial, we'd have noticed by now.) It claims to get about 70 miles at 100% charge, though it did turtle unexpectedly on my husband once, and I get worried if I'm on the highway and I'm down to about 20. My husband's commute has changed so it works fine for him as a daily car so long as he doesn't have to run too many errands. So we haven't demanded a new battery yet while we've been figuring out our options.

Which, as I see it, are:

1. Pay for the major repairs (the front and rear damage, the interior damage, replace the chewed hose), get the battery replaced, and plan to drive it for the immediate future.
2. Get the battery replaced, repair only damage that could long-term affect driving, and keep the car in less-than-perfect shape because within 18 months we'll have a 15-year-old who needs to start learning how to drive.
3. Trade in or sell the car (presumably to someone who would immediately replace the battery) and get something else, maybe a newer Leaf in better shape.

I went on KBB and they gave me a trade-in value of about $8K, but I wasn't sure if that took the battery swap into account. I know from reading around that if I were serious about trading in I should talk to Carvana and get cash offers. My husband is neither emotionally attached* enough to insist on repairs nor chomping at the bit to get a new car. I tried searching this forum and found some threads on repairing or trading in but it sounded like our car was in worse shape, so I thought I'd lay it all out for y'all. I'm happy to give any more information. Thank you so much for your help!

* you are free to laugh, but last year my car (a 2018 Kia Sedona) got sideswiped on the highway and I was almost in tears thinking she'd be totaled. She was not; it took ten weeks and $20K (which my insurance paid for; the other driver ran despite having lost a fair chunk of his car) but she returned to me safe and sound.

The big big ticket one is the battery. On an electric car the battery is like 80% of the car, so a bad one hurts you. Also a 70mi range is too low for a lot of people.

An example; The electric mini only had an 80mi range and I didn't even look at it even though I knew I could fit in one and it was comfortable (a big issue for me and generally the first thing I check. I don’t want to buy a car I can’t fit in and therefore can’t drive. This is the majority of sedans at this point)

You may have to get a new battery before you even CAN sell it though you may be able to get almost as much as if it DOES have a new battery if the new owner thinks they can get one. This is why colts and puppies go for big money. Unrealized potential. The sizzle may be more than the steak on this one…or it may not exist. I don’t know. If you want to sell the car before replacing the battery you may want as little official communication between you and Nissan as possible. You want someone other than you to hear “no”.

This sounds like a car I really really don’t want (though if it had a brand new battery things would maybe be different) and a lot of other people may feel the same way. As for the torn bumper hot air plastic welding can do a LOT. This sounds a bit to me like the shop in question didn’t want to bother with it rather than it actually being undoable. Of course I haven’t seen it.

 

[cwerdna]

Hum... It seems in this forum one must always prove oneself worthy, grasshopper....So under duress I reveal my Source for damages done to LEAF batteries It comes from my good buddy a certified Nissan Master Tech and he quotes if you use the supercharger (or for you politically correct types the CHAdeMO charger) to often it damages the battery and voids the warranty! So might I suggest you call your Nissan Dealer and ask to speak to their tech who actually specializes in Nissan's EV Battery propulsion system and they will quote you exactly what I just said. FYI Nissan had the "supercharger a year before Tesla was even invented. We all called them superchargers then so not sure what country your from but the name supercharger for the LEAF charging system was in place until 2014 when Tesla acquired over 200 patent rights to the supercharger including all its technology.

Here's a US '12 Leaf brochure: https://cdn.dealereprocess.org/cdn/brochures/nissan/2012-leaf.pdf. The only mention of "super" is for the color "super black". They talk about quick charge port on the last page, which was standard on '12 SL.

I may still have a printed brochure that looks almost identical for the '11 at home.

I also pointed you to Nissan's press kits in post 21. Here's the US '13 Leaf press kit: https://usa.nissannews.com/en-US/releases/us-2013-nissan-leaf-press-kit.

One can also look at the info for CCS, CHAdeMO and DC fast charging at https://www.electrifyamerica.com/glossary/.

Too bad they left in some outdated info "All Electrify America stations offer both CHAdeMO and CCS chargers." EA has put up some new sites w/0 CHAdeMO handles and just CCS + possibly 1 L2 J1772. EA also has removed CHAdeMO from some locations by replacing the remaining dual handle CCS + CHAdeMO dispenser with a next gen unit that is CCS only. Has happened to at least two sites in my area.

Also see these:
https://www.chargepoint.com/drivers...s-and-chademo-connectors-and-who-can-use-them
https://www.chargepoint.com/drivers...different-charging-types-and-speeds-available
https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/electricity-stations

 

[DunanyDon]

Your only real options are
cut your losses, get rid of the car
Fix the car well enough to drive it, replace the battery and get as much use out of it as you can.
FYI; replacing the battery first then trying to sell it won't get you much money. Many have tried exactly what you did and most got very little extra.

The reality is your car has nearly no value to nearly everyone and that is what they will offer you.

Since all the problems except for the battery and the chewed hose are cosmetic, you don't have to do anything right away except fix the hose, a 5-minute job. See if you can get a battery from Nissan under warranty, bur since the car has enough range to do your husband's commute, this is not urgent. Find a scrapyard and get replacements for the bumper, top light assembly and rear seat. If you are not confident working on cars, find a local independent mechanic who can do the work for you. They might even find the parts for you. It's worth fixing your Leaf because they are very reliable, well designed and well built. I have a 2015 Leaf S with nearly 100,000 miles on it that just lost its 11th bar. In 4 years, besides regular maintenance (tires and brakes), I have replaced only a few light bulbs. In the past 50 years, I have owned 12 cars and my Leaf has easily been the the most trouble-free. If it dies before I do, I wouldn't hesitate to get another Leaf.

 

[Iamabode]

Your only real options are
cut your losses, get rid of the car
Fix the car well enough to drive it, replace the battery and get as much use out of it as you can.
FYI; replacing the battery first then trying to sell it won't get you much money. Many have tried exactly what you did and most got very little extra.

The reality is your car has nearly no value to nearly everyone and that is what they will offer you.

No way you would get 8k! I have 2019 plus with 12 bars and 50k miles in perfect condition. KB is south of 11k. I will drive wheels off it at that price. Realize though with promised tariffs on imported cars values of used cars might increase.