Best Way to "Unload" my 2011 Leaf SL

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WAM

Active member
Joined
Jun 23, 2011
Messages
26
Location
San Jose
I usually sell my cars "private party" but I think the Leaf is going to be a "tough sell". Although my Leaf has only 32k miles and has been "pampered" (i.e. - always garaged, hand washed, no kids, pets, eating, drinking or smoking) I don't think it will have much effect on the selling price. I posted my car on "NextDoor" for $7k and the next day, someone else posted their Leaf - same year and model - for $4200. Now I'm thinking I should just go to CarMax and see how much they would offer for it and call it done. There are dozens of Leafs for sale on Craigslist so I don't think I'd have much success there either. BTW - my car has 8 bars and has a range of 40-60 miles depending on how it's driven. Any others who have sold their OLD (8 year old) Leaf care to offer advice? THANKS!
 
There is NO way you will get $7K for it unless you find a sucker. If I'm able to sell my 64K mile 11 bar '13 SV w/premium (built 5/2013) for $6500, it's sold!

If yours has CHAdeMO inlet (it was optional on the '11 SL), that will help.

Hope this search link work for you: http://mynissanleaf.com/search.php?keywords=carmax&terms=all&author=cwerdna&sc=1&sf=all&sr=posts&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search, looking only at my posts from this year. Carmax awhile back was willing to offer me $5K.

Honestly, an '11 w/8 bars is worth maybe $4K or less.

(I bought my Leaf w/under 24K miles and all 12 bars (SOH around 91%) for $9,325 + tax and license: http://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=430825#p430825 back in July 2015.)

Side note: There's a guy at my work who's interested in another '13 Leaf at work. I took at look at it today and hooked up my dongle. It was a '13 SV w/BOTH packages and 11 bars, built 4/2013, SOH at 82.51% and 52.7K miles. The two folks know each other and apparently, the Leaf owner has no time to sell it and seems willing to let it go for $5K. I told him that's a good deal. The guy's commute needs are modest. Apparently, we live in the same part of town.
 
mwalsh said:
LeftieBiker said:
What Cwerdna wrote. Does your '11 have heated seats and steering wheel? Where are you located?


2011s never had heated seats or wheel. Those came with the 2012 model.

I thought that some late build 2011 Leafs either got them standard or had them as an option...?
 
^^^
’11 Leafs didn’t come with the heated seats and steering wheel standard. They were part of a cold weather package but I’m not clear how many actually exist with this. I suspect the vast majority of ’11 Leafs in the US don’t have it.

https://www.autoblog.com/2011/07/19/2012-nissan-leaf-higher-price-tag-standard-equipment/
https://web.archive.org/web/20110807113514/http://green.autoblog.com:80/2011/06/10/2012-nissan-leaf-available-this-fall-cold-weather-package-now-s
 
cwerdna said:
^^^
’11 Leafs didn’t come with the heated seats and steering wheel standard. They were part of a cold weather package but I’m not clear how many actually exist with this. I suspect the vast majority of ’11 Leafs in the US don’t have it.

https://www.autoblog.com/2011/07/19/2012-nissan-leaf-higher-price-tag-standard-equipment/
https://web.archive.org/web/20110807113514/http://green.autoblog.com:80/2011/06/10/2012-nissan-leaf-available-this-fall-cold-weather-package-now-s

That is my understanding. Not many have it because it was, IIRC, introduced later in the year.
 
I find myself in a similar situation, what do you do with a car that can't meet practical needs anymore? The cost to replace the batteries is a joke, so no one will buy it to replace them. Even if it has an OK battery you can't go very far with it. I'm wondering now myself what to do with my '13 50Kmi and 40 mile range. I think the CarMax or cash for clunkers ideas are probably the most suited in this situation, it's a shame to let go of a car with so few miles though.
 
These make good boat anchors. My 2011 with 7 bars and 35000 mi. is basically priceless. We will give it away with the house if we ever sold it. Solar panels makes driving it free. It still allows us to get anywhere here in Hilo so for now it is meeting our needs. Eventually a new set of tires will almost be worth more than a car.
Us original owners have no one to blame but ourselves.
Good luck.
 
KBB said that my 2012 w. 101,800 miles was worth ~$2000.
I took it to get inspected this month. Dealer said it needed $800 worth of suspension work to pass. Yeah, I don't think so.

I picked up the car and took it straight to CarSense (similar to CarMax).
They offered $1500. I took it.
 
You might get $2-3,000 for it tops. So you lost what?? $27,000-$30,000? in 8 years.

That is not bad for a first run new technology. I know someone who lost $65,000 in 6 years on a Tesla. You did well.
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
You might get $2-3,000 for it tops. So you lost what?? $27,000-$30,000? in 8 years.
That is not bad for a first run new technology.
I like your viewpoint and would even share it if the car had performed as marketed for 8 years. But Nissan marketed no more than 30% degradation after 10 years. That has not been anywhere near the case but for rare instances and Nissan gave the early adopters a middle finger instead.
 
SageBrush said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
You might get $2-3,000 for it tops. So you lost what?? $27,000-$30,000? in 8 years.
That is not bad for a first run new technology.
I like your viewpoint and would even share it if the car had performed as marketed for 8 years. But Nissan marketed no more than 30% degradation after 10 years. That has not been anywhere near the case but for rare instances and Nissan gave the early adopters a middle finger instead.

Ok so LEAF does great, still has 12 bars so whats it worth now? Same with the Tesla. Owner states he "might" have lost 8-10% of range but had something over 100,000 miles on it. So the devaluation is because of.... what? Missed expectations or simply the new tech comes at a high price?
 
Dala said:
**** guys you are getting such a loss on these cars!

Here in EU they hold value extremely well. 2011 models in Finland start at 13,400$! :shock:
Yep. Resale value of old Leafs is awful due to various factors (e.g. Federal tax credit, state rebates, incentives, cheap leases on EVs sometimes, other EVs/PHEVs being available, expiring CA HOV stickers (https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/?1dmy&urile=wcm:path:/dmv_content_en/dmv/vr/decal), etc.).

Many EVs/PHEVs are leased and get returned at end of lease, ending up on the used market. Also, for CA (one of the strong EV/PHEV markets), many folks bought or leased an EV/PHEV for the CA HOV stickers. When those expired and couldn't be renewed, some of them just dumped their vehicle (easy when leasing) in favor of another qualifying EV/PHEV so that they can get a new set of stickers.

A few years ago, this guy in a remote part of CA sorta tried to sell his 8 bar '11 for $4500. There were no takers:
http://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=19967&p=454921#p454921
http://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=8802&p=475234#p475234

If he weren't so remote and/or if his car had DC FC inlet, he might've succeeded.

I've put up my 5/2013 built 11 bar '13 SV w/premium package and now about 64.5K miles at work for $6500. I've heard basically crickets. Fortunately, it's not like a paid a ton for it. I bought it for $9,325 + tax and license in July 2015. It had just under 24K miles but 3 very worn tires. I replaced all 4 almost immediately.
 
cwerdna said:
I've put up my 5/2013 built 11 bar '13 SV w/premium package and now about 64.5K miles at work for $6500. I've heard basically crickets. Fortunately, it's not like a paid a ton for it. I bought it for $9,325 + tax and license in July 2015. It had just under 24K miles but 3 very worn tires. I replaced all 4 almost immediately.

I'm confident you'll get at least $5k for it. Assuming you only get $5k, that means you paid just over $1k/yr for the car.
The car probably cost less than your gas would have been for an ICE.

I'd say you've done really well, even if your resale value "sucks".
 
Lothsahn said:
cwerdna said:
I've put up my 5/2013 built 11 bar '13 SV w/premium package and now about 64.5K miles at work for $6500. I've heard basically crickets. Fortunately, it's not like a paid a ton for it. I bought it for $9,325 + tax and license in July 2015. It had just under 24K miles but 3 very worn tires. I replaced all 4 almost immediately.

I'm confident you'll get at least $5k for it. Assuming you only get $5k, that means you paid just over $1k/yr for the car.
...
I'd say you've done really well, even if your resale value "sucks".
FWIW, around late Feb thru mid-March, I tried various methods of at least getting an offer (e.g. Nissan dealers, Carmax, Shift, Autonation online, Vroom, Carvana, etc.) The best I got were offers of $5K from Carmax and Shift. The three Nissan dealers I tried basically didn't want it.

If it ends up being $5K, I'll go with Carmax or Shift, assuming they still give me such an offer. Their offers are only valid for a limited time.

But yeah, I'm not too upset about the depreciation given what I paid for it. If I paid near MSRP minus $7500 Federal tax credit and $2500 CVRP, then yeah, I probably wouldn't be too thrilled.
 
cwerdna said:
But yeah, I'm not too upset about the depreciation given what I paid for it.
Did the drop into 11 capacity bar territory make the car impractical for you, or did you decide you want more range than a LEAF provides ?

My LEAF's battery capacity is not much different than your car but I think it will remain useful for us even at 8 bars. Of course it is our second car so it leads a very cosseted existence. Pretty much just errands and runs to the gym.
 
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