12/12 bars, borderline SOH, buy or pass?

Lurker... first post.

Need advice regarding a 2017 Leaf S 30kw. 26k mi. PERFECT condition (not a single scratch, ding, interior awesome, looks and drives like new). Purchased it at Carmax for $8900. This is my first EV.

Drove 20 miles on freeway (65 mph), headlights on, fan and radio on. GoM read 93 and ended at 73(!) So it accurately estimated the mileage. Thought I was good to go......purchased it.

After I got home I checked it out with leafspy.

SOH 87%
AHr 69
Hx 67%
12mV difference between cells.
10 QCs
538 L1/L2s

First full charge (99.7) showed 106 on the GOM after sitting for the night on the L1.

Called Nissan, BMS service/reset was already done, probably last year guessing from the service hx on Autocheck.

I can return the car, but need to figure it out soon! I absolutely LOVE the condition and $8900 seems like a good price, would be great to keep it.

If I practice some good battery habits, can I keep this battery where it's at? Or, is this battery a dud?

Btw, I live in coastal norCal so extremes of temperature aren't a huge issue.

Your thoughts?

It comes down to when the BMS was reset. If it was last year, then you have a good pack, showing just over 4% capacity loss per year. If the reset was more recent - say less than 6 months - then it may still drop at least a little more in the near future. If it was reset in the last month, all bets are off. Look at it this way: if the 87% SOH is accurate, then you have more capacity than a perfect Lizard pack "fresh" off the shelf would have.

Battery capacity is measured in kWh, not "kw".

2017 Leaf has a motor with 80 kW output. See https://usa.nissannews.com/en-US/releases/release-f6fcf40f78a54118a8a01526272638f0-us-2017-nissan-leaf-press-kit.

$8900 for a 2017 S in that condition sounds like a good deal to me. If the car meets your current needs I would keep it. Try doing a larger range test to get a better idea of the actual capacity. A SOH of 87% is probably a little on the low side or about average for a car of that age and mileage but if you live in a cooler climate any future degradation will probably slow down.

i would keep it, your battery is not a dud. the condition of the car is rare to come by

My vote, keep it , price,condition & battery seem spot on. Enjoy.

For a 30 kWh LEAF, the correlation between miles driven and percent charge used is pretty much 1:1 for a healthy pack.

So, if you can drive 50 miles and use up 50% charge, then your LEAF has a decent pack. Obviously, try not to do the test in hilly terrain, nor on the highway at 70mph. Relatively flat highway driving at 55 mph with little to no wind and in dry conditions is ideal.

Ignore the GOM, reset your trip counter before you start, and then just drive. Minimal math skills needed - just use up 50% of the charge, then multiply the trip counter by 2 to estimate your full range.

Brand new, the EPA range on a 2017 LEAF was 107 miles. Your full range is likely between 90 and 95 miles.

Sounds like a great deal ... bordering on too good to be true.
Have prices on Nissan cars fallen due to corporate problems ?

As for you, OP
The main question is the car in the context of your driving needs between charges

SageBrush said:

Sounds like a great deal ... bordering on too good to be true.
Have prices on Nissan cars fallen due to corporate problems ?

As for you, OP
The main question is the car in the context of your driving needs between charges

Click to expand...

I thought it was a GREAT price too. Easily the least expensive and nicest of 2016+ Leafs I've looked at. I guess after I got home and started reading this (amazing) form, I was thinking I shouldn't have signed
on the dotted line satisfied only with good cosmetics and 12 bars. I should have known more! Seems like an SOH of 87 is ok for a Leaf w/ this mileage and age. I really appreciate the feedback!

If you read my used Leaf buying guide and it was useful even after the fact, make any EV-inclined friends read it before Leaf shopping.

https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=26662&p=538030

LeftieBiker said:

If you read my used Leaf buying guide and it was useful even after the fact, make any EV-inclined friends read it before Leaf shopping.

https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=26662&p=538030

Click to expand...

I've read it NOW at least twice, maybe three times.... Great write up, thanks!

That sounds like a great buy!

Freeway driving really eats up the charge. You can try using ECO mode and see if you like it. Using the climate control sparingly also increases how far you can go. Much of the year, I often just have the climate control on a low fan setting with no heat or A/C.

I've never used LEAFspy--not sure I want to!

Enjoy!

No brainer, keep it and enjoy! From my experience, batteries lose charge (SOC) faster than I like, no matter what the SOH is. If this is your first EV then you just need to live with the car for a while before you get comfy with using it and overcoming range anxiety, and figuring out where, when & how often to charge. No matter what the SOH is. In the extremes, even a 9-bar car is useful to someone for around town.

It sounds like you may lose a bar soon. Feels bad when it happens but it's inevitable. Just make those miles count and enjoy the ride!

That's a pretty good deal. I just bought a 2017 S with ~30K miles 12/12 bars for $12K ($15K after all was said and done at the Nissan dealer). Also very good shape inside and out. Leaf Spy has put the SOH around 90.3-89.9 and AHr at 71.33.
Interestingly the previous leasee almost exclusively rapid charged the car (475 QCs and only 41 L1/L2s).

Sounds like yours is in a similar boat, and you got a pretty good deal!

Cjb said:

SageBrush said:

Sounds like a great deal ... bordering on too good to be true.
Have prices on Nissan cars fallen due to corporate problems ?

As for you, OP
The main question is the car in the context of your driving needs between charges

Click to expand...

I thought it was a GREAT price too. Easily the least expensive and nicest of 2016+ Leafs I've looked at. I guess after I got home and started reading this (amazing) form, I was thinking I shouldn't have signed
on the dotted line satisfied only with good cosmetics and 12 bars. I should have known more! Seems like an SOH of 87 is ok for a Leaf w/ this mileage and age. I really appreciate the feedback!

Click to expand...

Hope you are still enjoying new like Leaf. If I could find a deal like that I would just part out our 2016 SL with the new 2020 40 kWA battery pack. I was bidding on a side impact 2016 SL for a parts car with no battery info willing to pay $5K and got bet out because it went for $7.5K.

It seems most Leafs die due to a hard blow to the nose. I need front airbags, seat belts, windshield and the full front cap that got sheared off by a Toyota van running a red light that came to rest sliding upside down on its roof. Our Leaf was taking off from a dead stop after the light turned green. Leafs can be pushy from a dead stop. Thankfully our 2016 SL drives and handles like it did before it got totaled.

https://www.tractorbynet.com/foru...-barn-s-retirement-farm-2016-leaf-strip-jpg