Help me choose! Leaf vs Cmax Energi vs Volt and others...

[DaveinOlyWA]

if you hear "I don't know how to do that" your first response is "your choice is to find someone who can, or I will"

for them to do this properly, it will be an inquiry on your credit but that is how the car game is played. if you are the type of person that freaks out over this, then you have to trust the guy.

[tangfj]

I do trust the guy. He'll be printing a real quote for me today to compare buy/lease. I expect to drive away today.

I connected obdii just now and used leafstat on my iphone and showed a soh of 98.01, capacity of 96.43, and 63.89 ahr. Avg battery temp has been 67.2. I assume that's normal for a new car?

[DaveinOlyWA]

I do trust the guy. He'll be printing a real quote for me today to compare buy/lease. I expect to drive away today.

I connected obdii just now and used leafstat on my iphone and showed a soh of 98.01, capacity of 96.43, and 63.89 ahr. Avg battery temp has been 67.2. I assume that's normal for a new car?

ok, as far as your question; ya, its very possible to have monthly payments be relatively close but keep in mind; there is a HUGE difference in a 3 year term verses a 6-7 year term.

I say lease (but I always do) because the car is not purchase-ready. But another thing to think about is timing. Your lease would not end until 2017 and I am afraid that sales will blow up when LEAF 2 and its longer range is introduced meaning this very well could be your last chance at the Fed tax credit

[tangfj]

I do trust the guy. He'll be printing a real quote for me today to compare buy/lease. I expect to drive away today.

I connected obdii just now and used leafstat on my iphone and showed a soh of 98.01, capacity of 96.43, and 63.89 ahr. Avg battery temp has been 67.2. I assume that's normal for a new car?

ok, as far as your question; ya, its very possible to have monthly payments be relatively close but keep in mind; there is a HUGE difference in a 3 year term verses a 6-7 year term.

I say lease (but I always do) because the car is not purchase-ready. But another thing to think about is timing. Your lease would not end until 2017 and I am afraid that sales will blow up when LEAF 2 and its longer range is introduced meaning this very well could be your last chance at the Fed tax credit

Great point! I didn't even think of that. Decisions decisions. I'm leaning more towards buy right now since I don't think battery degradation will affect me for my or my so's driving patterns. Plus we plan on keeping the car for as long as possible.

EDIT: lease option just came back $70 cheaper at $299 a month. Now I'm back on the lease bandwagon... The residual is 15,600 but I'm not too worried about that right now.

[tangfj]

Thank you all for your input over the past few days! It has really helped me a lot!

I ended up today leasing a gray 2014 SL with premium package (my first car lease ever!). I was a little scared of a lease at first but once I found out it was cheaper by a decent margin, I decided to pull the trigger. $299 a month for 36 months with a trade in of my old car. I figure at the end of my lease term there will most likely be something on the market much better than anything on the market today and I can simply give the car back and not have to deal with any hassle of trade-ins/etc.

Thanks again! (Happy new Leaf owner)

[DaveinOlyWA]

Thank you all for your input over the past few days! It has really helped me a lot!

I ended up today leasing a gray 2014 SL with premium package (my first car lease ever!). I was a little scared of a lease at first but once I found out it was cheaper by a decent margin, I decided to pull the trigger. $299 a month for 36 months with a trade in of my old car. I figure at the end of my lease term there will most likely be something on the market much better than anything on the market today and I can simply give the car back and not have to deal with any hassle of trade-ins/etc.

Thanks again! (Happy new Leaf owner)

WTG! and keep in mind; your fuel savings lowers that monthly price even more

[LeftieBiker]

I figure at the end of my lease term there will most likely be something on the market much better than anything on the market today and I can simply give the car back and not have to deal with any hassle of trade-ins/etc.

The one thing you have to worry about is end of lease costs, assuming you don't want to buy the car, or re-lease another Nissan. The standards they use to determine excess wear and tear and damage are much more strict than, say, Toyota's. So take care of the paint and the interior!

[TimLee]

Thank you all for your input over the past few days! It has really helped me a lot!

I ended up today leasing a gray 2014 SL with premium package (my first car lease ever!). I was a little scared of a lease at first but once I found out it was cheaper by a decent margin, I decided to pull the trigger. $299 a month for 36 months with a trade in of my old car. I figure at the end of my lease term there will most likely be something on the market much better than anything on the market today and I can simply give the car back and not have to deal with any hassle of trade-ins/etc.

Thanks again! (Happy new Leaf owner)

Hope you enjoy the LEAF and I'm certain you will
Nissan did a very good job listening to the wonderful group of those with 2011 LEAFs at the meeting at Google. The SL with premium package is improved a lot over the 2011. I test drove a 2013 and was very tempted to hand over my 2011 for a three year no cost lease, but didn't want to eat the $7,000 loss at that point, wasn't enthusiastic about black interior, and would have really missed the electric center of the vehicle parking brake that my wife considers one of the best things about the LEAF. But the 2013 SL has many wonderful things I miss.
Only time will tell whether I made the right choice to not trade. As of now it is looking like the wrong choice.
I definitely think leasing is the right choice at this point for the non heat resistant battery LEAF.