Bought a 2013 Leaf With Low Capacity

[cwerdna]

What's the build month on the driver's side door sticker?

Do we really even need to ask? Other than to see if it was built in 2012, maybe. If it wasn't built before April of 2013 I'll eat my thickest balaclava.

Whoops. Sorry. Earlier, I didn't see his post where he said the car's original in-service date was 4/6/13. So, unless the car was bought/leased right near Smyrna, TN, it's unlikely its build month is 4/2013.

[danix]

03/13 build
Has cloth seats
Bose
heated seats and wheel
navigation

Will drive it a bit and figure out what bars you're talking about.
Man, the kids didn't like this car, now I don't either

[cwerdna]

03/13 build
Has cloth seats
Bose
heated seats and wheel
navigation

Will drive it a bit and figure out what bars you're talking about.
Man, the kids didn't like this car, now I don't either

Thanks. Just as we suspected. Unfortunately, it seems that '13 Leafs built before 4/2013 have chemistries as bad '11 and '12 Leafs. Seems like 4/2013 thru model year '14 Leafs have better batteries while model year '15 (lizard pack) is the best we know of, so far.

We are asking about the capacity bars all the way on the right, including the red ones. See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.p ... 55#p436255.

If it has cloth seats w/Bose stereo, then it's a '13 SV w/at least the premium package. This is what I have. ('13 SL ONLY came with in black leather and included LED auto on/off headlights, fog lights and CHAdeMO inlet.)

Does it have the CHAdeMO inlet (larger inlet to the left of the J1772 inlet)? If yes, then it it's a '13 SV w/premium and LED + quick chart port package. I leased one of those before.

No CHAdeMO inlet visual aid at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.p ... 13#p433513.
With CHAdeMO visual aid at http://sfbayleafs.org/commentary/2013/0 ... s-changed/ under "Charging port hatch with remote keyfob release and light, option to lock the plug in place".

The specs tab at https://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/usa ... -press-kit outlines the trim levels and available packages.

[LeftieBiker]

03/13 build
Has cloth seats
Bose
heated seats and wheel
navigation

Will drive it a bit and figure out what bars you're talking about.
Man, the kids didn't like this car, now I don't either

This doesn't have to be terrible news. You have a well-equipped car (try out the Around View cameras by pressing the "Camera" button on the infotainment console when stopped or moving slowly) that drives very well, so if the range meets or exceeds your needs, just enjoy it despite our Doom & Gloom. I would rather have a loaded SV than an SL, too.

[Lothsahn]

Agreed that it's still a very fun car to drive and a good gas saver.

I also think you did fine. I paid $5500 for my 2011 a year ago, and yours has more features, a nearly full warranty, and is a year newer. Assuming you do a lot of local driving, it could save you a lot of money, and it's a cheap and safe car if your kids have an accident while driving.

Where in the country are you located?

[Evoforce]

If you live in a hot State, best to resell or trade in for a brand with liquid battery cooling (not Nissan). It will continue to degrade between 1-2% per month. A new battery will cost about $8,500 installed. Wishing you better luck...

[cwerdna]

Yes, OP, can you update your location info via your user name in the upper right > User Control Panel > Profile tab? That way, we don't need to ask in future posts/threads or do sleuthing to deduce it.

Agree with Evoforce.

[Lothsahn]

While the OP should sell the car if it doesn't meet his needs, my 2011 went 5k miles last year and lost 2% battery capacity (57->55% SOH). If you don't live in a hot climate and you charge to 80%, the battery loss is manageable and nowhere near 1-2% a month.

Accident rates for teenage drivers are also high. A 2011 Leaf is massively safer in an accident than a 2000s car. For a cheap safe local driver, the Leaf really can't be beat.

If in a hot climate (Phoenix, etc), agree with evoforce.

[danix]

I'm in the SF Bay Area.

Last night I charged fully using my home L2 charger.
Today, drove out to visit my sister in Oakland. I covered 41 miles.
I still don't understand the bars, will have to read up on it (I get the concept, it's just not intuitive. What I thought were the bars including the red shows 8 bars, but it's the same now as when I left).

Arrived home at 12% (found a switch on the left that gives this more useful metric).

Yes, I have a DC fast charging port along with the other options. Does sound like the premium package.

According to what I read, capacity was guaranteed to 60 months and 60 miles. From April 2013 to April 2019 is 72 months, so I'm over.
I'm hoping Nissan will do something for me but who knows, I doubt it.

Yeah, I regret this purchase. On paper it's safe, spacious, not as fast as my I3 (a good thing as the 17 year old has a heavy foot).
But with this limited range, the car is almost unusable. My 500e had a range of 80 miles and my I3 will go 120.
There are plenty of 500e out there for $6-7k and their battery doesn't degrade like this thing.

[cwerdna]

Today, drove out to visit my sister in Oakland. I covered 41 miles.
I still don't understand the bars, will have to read up on it (I get the concept, it's just not intuitive. What I thought were the bars including the red shows 8 bars, but it's the same now as when I left).

The capacity bars represent sort of how large your "fuel tank" is. I wouldn't expect them to have changed during a drive. The used '13 Leaf I have now had all 12 capacity bars from the day it was manufactured in late 5/2013 until Nov 2017. In Nov 2017, it went to 11 bars (http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.p ... 15#p511915) and still has 11 bars today.

The 12 bars to its left labeled "state of charge" at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.p ... 55#p436255 are the "fuel bars" that go up as you charge and down as you discharge. The silly number that reads 86 miles in that pic is what we call the guess-o-meter (GOM).

Arrived home at 12% (found a switch on the left that gives this more useful metric).

Yes it is. '11 and '12 Leafs didn't have that. It first appeared on '13 Leafs after pleas w/the Chief Vehicle Engineer (Kadota-san), Mark Perry, a Nissan quality guy and a whole bunch of Nissan engineers in the room in Dec 2011 at Google. I was there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS3vL0fLVpc may help.

Yes, I have a DC fast charging port along with the other options. Does sound like the premium package.

Premium adds Bose stereo and the 4 camera Around View Monitor w/the camera button on the bezel. QC + LED package adds quick charge (CHAdeMO) inlet, fog lights and auto on/off LED headlights instead of the crap halogens (w/o auto).

According to what I read, capacity was guaranteed to 60 months and 60 miles. From April 2013 to April 2019 is 72 months, so I'm over.
I'm hoping Nissan will do something for me but who knows, I doubt it.

No. The capacity warranty is for 60 months/60K miles, whichever comes first. If the battery falls below 9 bars before expiration, you'll receive a replacement. And yes, you're past it by time.

You are correct in your doubts. Nissan was doing an unannounced YMMV goodwill program where they'd sometimes pay for part to most of the replacement battery cost for those past capacity warranty and pleaded their case. They cut that off long ago, also w/o warning.

Yeah, I regret this purchase. On paper it's safe, spacious, not as fast as my I3 (a good thing as the 17 year old has a heavy foot).
But with this limited range, the car is almost unusable. My 500e had a range of 80 miles and my I3 will go 120.
There are plenty of 500e out there for $6-7k and their battery doesn't degrade like this thing.

I'd have sold you my 11 bar '13 SV w/premium (no CHAdeMO and no LED lights) but 64K miles for $6500. Leaf Spy SOH is at 82.xx%.

I don't know if the 17 year old you mention is male or female but if the former, there's the side benefit below...
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.p ... 80#p531280