Starting the Buyback process on 2016 SV

[Psyclonus]

We took our 2016 LEAF SV in last October to start the battery warranty process, the car had about 55,000 miles on it at the time. Now we're into May and still no ETA on a new battery, and Nissan arbitration has called me to start the process to buy back the car.

We leased it new for $0 down/$252 a month, then later bought out the lease at the end for $12,972. I'm guessing they're going to offer us the buyout price back in cash. My wife really wanted a new battery and to drive her car to the bitter end, but I guess it's hard to feel too bad about having driven it the last 3.5 years for "free" (minus cost of inflation/time value of money/interest on the auto loan).

Anyone already gone through this and can you shed any light on how it works?

Trying to track down a new Chevy Bolt/Bolt EUV to take for a test drive as that seems like the most economical replacement for a LEAF at this point.

 

[LeftieBiker]

Welcome. You may want to include, for your wife's sake, a new Leaf S in your test drives. It seems to me that not many people who are happy driving a Leaf are also happy driving a Bolt. There seem to be several people posting here who are in the same position as you, so I expect that you'll hear from them.

 

[Psyclonus]

I'll bring the LEAF up to her and see if she wants to look at it, though with no tax credit and CHAdeMO, it's not a terribly attractive car at the moment. She's also somewhat bitter about losing the ability to turn on her heater remotely in the winter when the 3G network went offline, as that was literally her favorite feature of the two LEAFs she has owned, so not sure how she is feeling about getting another Nissan at moment between the battery debacle and that experience.

Honestly, here in the midwest, actually finding an EV in stock that you can test drive and buy is a real challenge, so far most of the dealers that list them their web sites don't actually have the car available for test drive or sale, we may wind up in a Tesla just for the simplicity of actually buying it and being able to pick it up the same day.

 

[sgtnoah1]

I just purchased a new Leaf and looked on the government site, it does qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit.

-- Pete

 

[LeftieBiker]

If a Tesla is the only real choice, then Leaf drivers are much more likely to like the Model Y than the Model 3.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I just purchased a new Leaf and looked on the government site, it does qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit.

-- Pete

That's great news.

 

[knightmb]

I just purchased a new Leaf and looked on the government site, it does qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit.

-- Pete

Do you have a link? The general news about this was that it stopped this year because of the battery sourcing material but some exceptions were being worked on for Japan but no one was aware of when those would qualify the Leaf again?

 

[Psyclonus]

As far as I can tell the LEAF no longer qualifies for any tax credit after April 18, 2023:

https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/tax2023.shtml

 

[LeftieBiker]

Dang. The Internet strikes again.

 

[sgtnoah1]

Shoot, you are right. April 18th was the deadline as far as I can tell.

 

[Flyct]

I'll bring the LEAF up to her and see if she wants to look at it, though with no tax credit and CHAdeMO, it's not a terribly attractive car at the moment. She's also somewhat bitter about losing the ability to turn on her heater remotely in the winter when the 3G network went offline, as that was literally her favorite feature of the two LEAFs she has owned, so not sure how she is feeling about getting another Nissan at moment between the battery debacle and that experience.

Honestly, here in the midwest, actually finding an EV in stock that you can test drive and buy is a real challenge, so far most of the dealers that list them their web sites don't actually have the car available for test drive or sale, we may wind up in a Tesla just for the simplicity of actually buying it and being able to pick it up the same day.

After owning 5 Leafs that we loved, we went with Tesla Model Ys and were very happy with the decision. The recent price drops, the $7,500 tax credit and the Super Charger network convinced us.

Don’t get me wrong we still loved the Leaf. After buying the first Tesla I was looking for a used Leaf Plus that would qualify for the $4,000 used EV credit below $25,000 and use it for local grocery and doctor runs for the wife. I couldn’t find one. So I bought the wife another Tesla long range Model Y for $42,000 after tax credit

We still use the Hard wired EVSE in the garage. Tessa supplies a J1772 to Tesla adaptor with the Y. We have a n extra Nissan EVSE at our cabin and use it to charge the Tesla. I bought another Adaptor for $50.

 

[mn4az]

We took our 2016 LEAF SV in last October to start the battery warranty process, the car had about 55,000 miles on it at the time. Now we're into May and still no ETA on a new battery, and Nissan arbitration has called me to start the process to buy back the car.

We leased it new for $0 down/$252 a month, then later bought out the lease at the end for $12,972. I'm guessing they're going to offer us the buyout price back in cash. My wife really wanted a new battery and to drive her car to the bitter end, but I guess it's hard to feel too bad about having driven it the last 3.5 years for "free" (minus cost of inflation/time value of money/interest on the auto loan).

Anyone already gone through this and can you shed any light on how it works?

Trying to track down a new Chevy Bolt/Bolt EUV to take for a test drive as that seems like the most economical replacement for a LEAF at this point.

What this story end or is it still ongoing? Super interested in your buyback offer.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

We took our 2016 LEAF SV in last October to start the battery warranty process, the car had about 55,000 miles on it at the time. Now we're into May and still no ETA on a new battery, and Nissan arbitration has called me to start the process to buy back the car.

We leased it new for $0 down/$252 a month, then later bought out the lease at the end for $12,972. I'm guessing they're going to offer us the buyout price back in cash. My wife really wanted a new battery and to drive her car to the bitter end, but I guess it's hard to feel too bad about having driven it the last 3.5 years for "free" (minus cost of inflation/time value of money/interest on the auto loan).

Anyone already gone through this and can you shed any light on how it works?

Trying to track down a new Chevy Bolt/Bolt EUV to take for a test drive as that seems like the most economical replacement for a LEAF at this point.

Well, this is a rather shocking development. Looks like they are more than willing to buy it back "in hopes" you will splurge for another LEAF but w/o the tax incentives, I find that to be cracked logic. Combine this with their refusal to sell leased cars and we have a car that had its future unplugged.

As far as the Bolt; everyone's personal preferences are different and I can parade several on both sides of this issue. But one thing is clear; ALL of them would have stayed with the LEAF had it been on equal financial footing. More than a few hated the change including two I know of who took a bath selling in less than a year. Both went to the Model Y.

So its up to you but beware; the Bolt is a smaller car, shorter wheelbase which means a more "bouncier" ride which can be scary on some lesser maintained roads (not my words)

It does have more passenger space but there is not the same feeling of security as some felt it would not provide the same protection especially in frontal collisions. There is also a loss of charging speed (Not applicable if your experience with LEAFs doesn't include a Plus) in my area but only because we have a lot of faster DCs that many areas do not.

Finally; although I really couldn't get anyone to flat out admit it but one. I think the main reason the Bolt supporters exist was price.

 

[SageBrush]

But one thing is clear; ALL of them would have stayed with the LEAF had it been on equal financial footing.

*Ahem*
Not even close. I closed the book on LEAF to gain thermal pack control and to ditch CHAdeMO. I ditched Nissan because Corporate is worse than GM and that is saying something. Dealerships vary but the moment a Nissan dealership has to deal with Corporate -- expect the worse.

 

[Psyclonus]

What this story end or is it still ongoing? Super interested in your buyback offer.

Still ongoing! I paid off the loan several years ago, but Nissan Arbitration wants the loan statements so they can calculate how much interest to refund to us, and my bank has been taking forever to find my loan information. Stopped by the branch in person today and spoke with the branch manager, so hoping she is able to get the information to me.

We leased the LEAF new for 3 years, then bought it out at the end of the lease, and I assumed we'd only have a shot at that buyout amount, but Nissan indicated that our lease payments may be refunded as well, which surprised me! I'll update with the full amount whenever it's settled, they indicated it'd be 3-5 days from me giving them the bank document.

 

[Psyclonus]

After a lot of test drives in the last week, I think we're going to land on a Bolt EUV to replace the LEAF. My wife liked the Ariya too, but it's just stupidly expensive, I could buy a Model Y Long Range for the same price after tax credit, have faster charging and like 130 more miles of range, but the Bolt EUV was her second choice.

She actually said it rides better than her LEAF, and she liked that the cup holder fits her ginormous Yeti, whereas the LEAF does not.

Well, this is a rather shocking development. Looks like they are more than willing to buy it back "in hopes" you will splurge for another LEAF but w/o the tax incentives, I find that to be cracked logic. Combine this with their refusal to sell leased cars and we have a car that had its future unplugged.

As far as the Bolt; everyone's personal preferences are different and I can parade several on both sides of this issue. But one thing is clear; ALL of them would have stayed with the LEAF had it been on equal financial footing. More than a few hated the change including two I know of who took a bath selling in less than a year. Both went to the Model Y.

So its up to you but beware; the Bolt is a smaller car, shorter wheelbase which means a more "bouncier" ride which can be scary on some lesser maintained roads (not my words)

It does have more passenger space but there is not the same feeling of security as some felt it would not provide the same protection especially in frontal collisions. There is also a loss of charging speed (Not applicable if your experience with LEAFs doesn't include a Plus) in my area but only because we have a lot of faster DCs that many areas do not.

Finally; although I really couldn't get anyone to flat out admit it but one. I think the main reason the Bolt supporters exist was price.

 

[mn4az]

What this story end or is it still ongoing? Super interested in your buyback offer.

Still ongoing! I paid off the loan several years ago, but Nissan Arbitration wants the loan statements so they can calculate how much interest to refund to us, and my bank has been taking forever to find my loan information. Stopped by the branch in person today and spoke with the branch manager, so hoping she is able to get the information to me.

We leased the LEAF new for 3 years, then bought it out at the end of the lease, and I assumed we'd only have a shot at that buyout amount, but Nissan indicated that our lease payments may be refunded as well, which surprised me! I'll update with the full amount whenever it's settled, they indicated it'd be 3-5 days from me giving them the bank document.

The saga continues.... I look forward to hearing about the final chapter!

 

[mitrals]

What this story end or is it still ongoing? Super interested in your buyback offer.

Still ongoing! I paid off the loan several years ago, but Nissan Arbitration wants the loan statements so they can calculate how much interest to refund to us, and my bank has been taking forever to find my loan information. Stopped by the branch in person today and spoke with the branch manager, so hoping she is able to get the information to me.

We leased the LEAF new for 3 years, then bought it out at the end of the lease, and I assumed we'd only have a shot at that buyout amount, but Nissan indicated that our lease payments may be refunded as well, which surprised me! I'll update with the full amount whenever it's settled, they indicated it'd be 3-5 days from me giving them the bank document.

I started a thread for people like us. Can you please post info here when you have updates. https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=34237

 

[Psyclonus]

Still going back and forth with Nissan Arbitration over paperwork. They keep asking for documentation from my lienholder, I keep pointing out that the car has been paid off for a number of years and I have a clear title, which I have scanned for them. Going to try to convince my bank to dig some records out of their archives to satisfy them, this shouldn't be this hard...

 

[mn4az]

Still going back and forth with Nissan Arbitration over paperwork. They keep asking for documentation from my lienholder, I keep pointing out that the car has been paid off for a number of years and I have a clear title, which I have scanned for them. Going to try to convince my bank to dig some records out of their archives to satisfy them, this shouldn't be this hard...

Appreciate the response(s) and look forward to how things are working out for you in this thread or the buyback thread linked above (which I'm officially a part of now as well - dropped 4th bar this past week).