Okay, so here’s my goodbye post. I no longer own a Leaf. I got a check from Morely about a month ago and figure the statute of limitations has passed. Here’s my story and two cents for anyone it helps:
Bought a used 2017 in February for $11,200 at 8 bars from a Non-Nissan dealer who didn’t know what they had (golden ticket).
Took it to a Nissan dealer to get in line for a battery repair or replacement. Waited 3 months and kept driving the car.
Asked the dealer for the number for Nissan Corporate in late June and called to ask when I could expect the repair to be completed. Vehicle had dropped to 7 bars in the meanwhile.
They referred my case to consumer relations. I got a buyback offer of ~10,000 after about two weeks. I negotiated them up to 14,500 over the course of a day or two and accepted the buyback.
It took about 2 more weeks to get cleared to meet with Morely. Then that meeting was scheduled 1 week out from when the deal was cleared and I was given the number for Morely.
I turned over the car in late August and deposited the check the same day.
I appreciate Nissan paying me a few thousand dollars to drive an EV for a few months. All told, I probably spent 10 hours of my time buying/moving/calling/negotiating the car and buyback, so that’s a pretty good payout.
It was a fun car, but I learned that I prefer PHEVs. I got turtled for the first and last time on the way to the meeting with Morley because I was accelerating hard on the freeway, no longer concerned about battery life or having enough juice to make my commute. I noticed that the battery had been rapidly degrading (and acting weird) over the last few weeks I owned it.
This is my opinion: Look up your state’s lemon laws to know what to expect from a buyback offer. Nissan will likely offer you the minimum required by law. If you bought used, you probably saved them a bundle. Keep in mind that if you insist on holding out for a battery, that means they will have to pay out for a more expensive car which takes the buyback. I don’t know if you can negotiate as well in states with weak lemon laws, but I would assume so. I expect most of the battery replacements are going to states like California.
From their language, I suspect--with no proof--that they have batteries coming out, but they want to put them in the vehicles that will cost more to buyback. If I had bought mine new, they would have had to pay ~16,000 per the lemon laws in my state, so I figure it was a good deal for all involved. I also got some local incentives for buying a used EV. I didn’t wait to get the federal used EV tax credit, because that can only be taken once every 3 years, and I intend to buy a different qualifying used PHEV before the end of this year.
Anyway, that’s my story. Use it for a data point if you like. Good luck to all those waiting for batteries or negotiating with Nissan!
