From truck to leaf?

[powersurge]

All I can say is that for a long trip as the original poster wants to take, AND buying a used Leaf, AND taking out a loan (with interest) on it.... Is not a financially sound idea....

First, A Leaf, any Leaf would need Level 2 charging (at work) (and only driving 55mph). Leafs are not for long distance and winter commutes.

Second, Taking out a loan on a car that has an already deteriorated battery is... Not smart. That battery will deteriorate very significantly BEFORE you even finish the payments, and the car will be worth ... Not much...

My advice... Get a $2-$3000 Honda civic as a beater car, and the car will be worth the same as you paid for a good number of years.

[Titanium48]

I wouldn't say "any Leaf" would need L2 charging at work. Assuming a 50% range reduction in severe cold, any Leaf within the OP's price range would need L2 charging at work to make a 66 mile round trip drive in cold winter conditions, but a 40 kWh car could make it without charging, and a 12 bar 30 kWh car could get by with L1 charging at work (and would only need that on the coldest days).

As for financing, all cars lose value and the more you pay the faster you lose. Anyone who finances a new vehicle will be underwater for a while. For cars like the Leaf that depreciate rapidly and non-linearly, buying used is a better value even if the car is nearly worthless by the time you are done paying for it.

The problem with the Leaf is that loss of range can cause an abrupt loss of value to the owner when the vehicle can no longer go where the owner needs to go. That is a serious concern for an older Leaf making a 33 mile one way drive in a place where winter weather can be very cold - a car with a degraded 24 kWh battery might not make it that far, and charging at work doesn't help if you can't make it to work. On the other hand, a 30 kWh car could make the one way trip at 9 bars, and is warrantied to have at least that for another 5-6 years. That might be the better value despite the higher cost (assuming L1 is available at work and L2 will happen before the car starts dropping bars).

[DustanT]

Well this is turning into a small war....

[goldbrick]

Wecome to the world of EV's. If you think this is bad you should check out some Tesla-related threads.

[DustanT]

Wecome to the world of EV's. If you think this is bad you should check out some Tesla-related threads.

Not sure what they have to bitch about getting 250+ miles on a charge..... I just want an electric car to drive me to work that's it, not taking it across the dang country or anything. I've wanted an electric car for 10 years now and still stuck on the same dilemma and sometimes it just is frustrating when people start going on about things that have nothing to do with A to B driving. The idea behind the car was to preserve my nice truck and save some money while enjoying the electric go cart. I don't understand how the leaf could not make a trip 34 miles traveling 75% at 55 mph or less. If I have to drive 65 on the freeway for 11.5 miles instead of 70 or 75 then so be it, not like it's going to make a huge impact on my travel time. If the car wont make it in the supper cold month of January or February that's what my truck is for. That's also my slow months sometimes only going to work 2 or 3 days a week. I have owned a few Prius and could always get more than rated, most of the time I got over 10 mpg over the sticker. I've even got 92 mpg on a 25 mile trip so I know how to make a car get a few extra miles if necessary.

16 miles at 55 mph or less
12 miles at 70 mph or less and
4 miles under 30 mph for the side roads in between.

We don't need air conditioning even in the summer, and heat from November through April. although heat on the morning trip would be low due to the heated garage and the car preheated. I might be able to park the car in the heated garage at work if it is skinny enough too.

[Dooglas]

16 miles at 55 mph or less
12 miles at 70 mph or less and
4 miles under 30 mph for the side roads in between.

I do this easily with my S30 Leaf, both summer and winter.
(this is a strange owners site in the sense that it includes some very sharp Leaf critics as well as the rest of us who mostly like our Leafs. I suppose the breadth of viewpoints is a good thing sometimes. At other times, it is just annoying )

[Titanium48]

I like my Leaf, but I am also aware of its limitations, especially in cold weather. In my experience, 50% range reduction going from +5°C to -25°C is not an exaggeration. There are many factors that combine to make that happen - reduced battery capacity, reduced regeneration, rough snow-covered roads, denser air, increased need for heat while the heat pump becomes ineffective, and probably a few more.

..... I just want an electric car to drive me to work that's it, not taking it across the dang country or anything. I've wanted an electric car for 10 years now and still stuck on the same dilemma and sometimes it just is frustrating when people start going on about things that have nothing to do with A to B driving. The idea behind the car was to preserve my nice truck and save some money while enjoying the electric go cart. I don't understand how the leaf could not make a trip 34 miles traveling 75% at 55 mph or less. If I have to drive 65 on the freeway for 11.5 miles instead of 70 or 75 then so be it, not like it's going to make a huge impact on my travel time. If the car wont make it in the supper cold month of January or February that's what my truck is for. That's also my slow months sometimes only going to work 2 or 3 days a week. I have owned a few Prius and could always get more than rated, most of the time I got over 10 mpg over the sticker. I've even got 92 mpg on a 25 mile trip so I know how to make a car get a few extra miles if necessary.

16 miles at 55 mph or less
12 miles at 70 mph or less and
4 miles under 30 mph for the side roads in between.

We don't need air conditioning even in the summer, and heat from November through April. although heat on the morning trip would be low due to the heated garage and the car preheated. I might be able to park the car in the heated garage at work if it is skinny enough too.

Your first post from 2017 said something about selling your truck, so I assumed that was still going to happen and that the Leaf would need to reliably get you to work in any weather. If you have a backup vehicle you can use in the coldest weather, the minimum requirements for a car that will get you to work 90% of the time are considerably lower and the probability of finding one in your price range much higher. Now you just need to wait until one comes up for sale not too far away - or do what I did and look at cars while on vacation in a place where they are more common.

[DustanT]

I found one that looks in good shape but missing 1 bar, it's a 13' with 32k miles fully loaded SV, dealer is asking $8,988. I think that's just a bit high still? really the closest car I've seen is 175 miles away so that's not an unreasonable drive. My OBDII reader is on the truck today so I'll have that with me. I have this one, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PJ ... UTF8&psc=1. So I hope it works.

http://www.bettenbakermuskegon.com/Vehi ... 3395379573

[estomax]

Dustan, find out if the manufacturing date is the second half of 2013, it will likely have a better battery then, rather than the ones manufactured in early 2013 (before 4/2013 is the cutoff date is what has been going around).

The fact that it is down a bar is about right for a car at this age, my 2013 is teetering on the edge of losing the first bar too.

Marko

[DustanT]

Dustan, find out if the manufacturing date is the second half of 2013, it will likely have a better battery then, rather than the ones manufactured in early 2013 (before 4/2013 is the cutoff date is what has been going around).

The fact that it is down a bar is about right for a car at this age, my 2013 is teetering on the edge of losing the first bar too.

Marko

According to the VIN the DC is the 10,11 number and the decoder says December of 2013. I also sent a text to the sales guy asking for the door sticker as well.

https://www.team-bhp.com/advice/find-yo ... acture-vin

VIN# 1N4AZ0CP8DC413393

UPDATE: Dealer just sent me a picture and it says 7/13.