2018 Leaf - Goodbye?

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danrjones

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 17, 2019
Messages
1,443
Location
Ridgecrest, CA
I'm getting ready to finally sell my 2018. The original plan had been to keep it for 2-3 years and trade it in for something better. Thanks to the pandemic and shortages and crazy prices we are now over 3 years. But this weekend I cleaned it up and did a bunch of photos and started gauging what the price might be from online buyers. The range of prices is crazy. KBB "Good" to "Excellent" is $23,000 to $23,775.

Carmax (online) offered me exactly 23k, though to be "verified" through an appointment at my closest location. KBB gave me some "instant" offer of $22,675, though you still have to goto a listed dealer, so I'm not sure how that is instant. Vroom offered my a piddly $19,500, way below KBB - and I noticed they don't even have a Leaf in inventory. Carvana was the crazy one - the offered me $26462, good until September 5th. Bad news is they won't pick up from where I live, so I don't know where I'd have to drive to yet.

The funny thing is, nobody asked for any of the numerous photos I took! I feel like I wasted my time over the weekend. I might look around and see if there are any more online places to try, but Carvana's price is almost too good to be true.

I thought about offering it for private sale, but that can take a lot of work, and last time I sold my old truck, I had to weed out so many freaking spam messages. I used Autotrader and Facebook for that one.

It has been a great car. I'll miss the heated steering wheel (If indeed I get a base ID4), but it seems a good time to sell. I suppose if anyone here REALLY wants it, send me a private message, but otherwise, I'm going forward with Caravana. Or any other suggestions? I was really hoping someone would come to me to pick up, but that doesn't seem to be the case. TBD.
 
My highest bid for our 2013 LEAF 'S' was $9k from Driveway. The others went all the way down to $5k.
Car was picked up from home, and they were pretty easy to deal with. I say 'pretty' easy because all the internet only retailers have electronic systems that are not really up to the task, and sellers often have to spend time on the phone to smooth out little glitches that turn bots (or semi-automated human bots) into pretzels.

So far, only Vroom was so bad I would not sell to them at any price.

The used EV market is crazed, and these dealers are clueless about realistic values or how to evaluate an EV.
'A kilo-what ?'

Grab the money and run.
 
Thanks!

Driveway offered me just over $25k, still a great price. Caravana is still the highest but I'll have to drive 2 hrs to drop it off. I'm waiting to hear from Driveway to see if they REALLY can pick up where I live.

One thing, if I drive it somewhere, the miles will be higher. Not sure if they have flexibility on the mileage. They must?
 
My experience was that each company has its own quirks when it comes to mileage. I suggest you be up front with the company you are dealing with -- they will have an easy solution.

Courtesy of Google tracking ...


uc
 
Carvana gave me the best offer, followed by Driveway, then Carmax. I'm going with Carvana - I thought I would have to drive two hours to drop it off, because they said at the start the didn't pick up in my location. But when I got the the scheduling portion, they pick up at my Walmart a few miles away. So I have an appointment this Saturday. I'll see how it goes. It still amazes nobody wanted to see photos. one thing about a short range EV, I don't think I have a single rock chip on the hood.

Carvana's offer is $26,540. Interesting to see how that's above some of those examples - but it could be those are in different areas or have different packages. I have the Tech and All Weather Packages. I suspect they will clean it up a tad and stick it in one of their vending machines down in Ontario (or wherever) down in greater LA area.

It has been a great car. I'll miss the heating steering wheel, but the range of the iD4 is going to be so much better, and I wanted to sell why the selling is good. I literally paid $15,400 for it over three years back - after credits and rebates. Crazy car market. Now the long wait begins for the ID4. I just wish Nissan would put a properly cooled battery in, CCS, and maybe a tad more range in the plus. Or a plus plus with ~300 miles of range, 150 kW charging. Because I like the design and the hatchback.

Maybe I'm a European at heart... lol
 
Carvana just offered me $5700 for a very good condition 42k mile '13S with quick charge/backup camera package, never smoked in, etc. :(
Currently, the cheapest same listed on Carvana is $13k for one with over 66k miles and doesn't even say if it has the upgraded charger package :x
I mean I can see them making some money on mine but more than doubling what they pay, come on!
Either Leafs are worth far more in your market or probably being 5 years older makes all the difference....glad you came out well though, I'm going to lose my shirt on my Leaf :(
 
jjeff said:
Carvana just offered me $5700 for a very good condition 42k mile '13S with quick charge/backup camera package, never smoked in, etc. :(
Currently, the cheapest same listed on Carvana is $13k for one with over 66k miles and doesn't even say if it has the upgraded charger package :x
I mean I can see them making some money on mine but more than doubling what they pay, come on!
Either Leafs are worth far more in your market or probably being 5 years older makes all the difference....glad you came out well though, I'm going to lose my shirt on my Leaf :(
Yeah, these companies don't seem to like older cars. You'll probably do much better selling privately. Take some good pics and list them on Autotrader.com and cars.com.
 
We are looking at upgrading for our 2018 SV Tech LEAF - Carvana quoted us the best price as well...

However, we want to lock in whatever newer car we want first - looking at a 2023 SV+ LEAF - but can't find one in Nor Cal near to MSRP...so we are playing the waiting game at this point...
 
By the way, I have three plus years of LeafSpy data. I have occasionally posted some of it in the 40 kWh battery topic, but if anyone wants a full copy of the data, let me know.
 
evtifosi said:
We are looking at upgrading for our 2018 SV Tech LEAF - Carvana quoted us the best price as well...

However, we want to lock in whatever newer car we want first - looking at a 2023 SV+ LEAF - but can't find one in Nor Cal near to MSRP...so we are playing the waiting game at this point...
For $37k, the Leaf is not a good value. When I bought my 20 SV+ with Tech package for $30k - $10k in tax credit and rebate, it was a good value. I would rather get a 23 Bolt EUV Premier for $31k or US built VW ID.4 for $38k in 2023. They will have better resale value when the market goes back to normal compared to the Leaf.
 
Triggerhappy007 said:
evtifosi said:
We are looking at upgrading for our 2018 SV Tech LEAF - Carvana quoted us the best price as well...

However, we want to lock in whatever newer car we want first - looking at a 2023 SV+ LEAF - but can't find one in Nor Cal near to MSRP...so we are playing the waiting game at this point...
For $37k, the Leaf is not a good value. When I bought my 20 SV+ with Tech package for $30k - $10k in tax credit and rebate, it was a good value. I would rather get a 23 Bolt EUV Premier for $31k or US built VW ID.4 for $38k in 2023. They will have better resale value when the market goes back to normal compared to the Leaf.

Doesn't the entry level Bolt EV now start around 26k? That's the odd thing, and why I'm taking Carvana's offer ASAP - how can my used Leaf be worth the same as a new Bolt? I don't have a Bolt, haven't driven one, but a Bolt has to be superior to a Leaf? It has CCS, much longer range than my 2018 Leaf, and a Cooled Battery!

As far as a 2023 Bolt - I'm not sure it will qualify for the tax credit. Unwrapping the new tax credit is practically impossible - starting right NOW the old credit system still applies, but with the N American assembly. So no Bolt. Originally, I was under the impression that then Jan 2023, things switched over (so yes to Bolt!), and then 2024 the Battery component Req kicked in. But reading more articles, now I think that starting 2023 the battery Reqs for 40% Free trade sourced kicks in, then 2024 the exclusion of battery sources like China kicks in. So to know if the Bolt come Jan 2023 qualifies, you need to know if 40% of the battery materials are free trade sourced? Good luck with that!

And I could have that all wrong. But until an actual approved list comes out - from who ??? - how would you know?
 
Certainly agree that if you oike the cars equally, the Bolt is now the value king. Between price drop and battery safety improvements, it is hard to beat.

If you never driver over 400 miles and live in a mild/cool climate, and can get a heavily discounted Plus, and qualify for the Fed tax credit, the Leaf is still a quality car.
 
danrjones said:
Doesn't the entry level Bolt EV now start around 26k? That's the odd thing, and why I'm taking Carvana's offer ASAP - how can my used Leaf be worth the same as a new Bolt? I don't have a Bolt, haven't driven one, but a Bolt has to be superior to a Leaf? It has CCS, much longer range than my 2018 Leaf, and a Cooled Battery!

I paid $26.4k for the Bolt LT in early July, $17.4k after I consider what I received for our 2013 LEAF S.
I think I got a wonderful deal, and my wife and I are extremely pleased with the Bolt for our use case.

But it is not for everyone.
For one, it is a small-ish car by American standards. The size suits us perfectly, but we have European inclinations.
Second, it has anemic fast charging
Third, my model/trim does not have heated seats or heated steering wheel, and it does not have dynamic cruise control.

I would have happily paid for the package that includes the heating features but it was not available.

----
I looked into selling the Bolt (at a profit !) a few weeks ago because I thought the ID.4 would serve more functions. And it does, but neither my wife or I liked the car in person. I'm under the impression that VW cars have a little brand name swag in the American middle class, so it may fit your wife better than a Chevy in that regard.
 
danrjones said:
Triggerhappy007 said:
evtifosi said:
We are looking at upgrading for our 2018 SV Tech LEAF - Carvana quoted us the best price as well...

However, we want to lock in whatever newer car we want first - looking at a 2023 SV+ LEAF - but can't find one in Nor Cal near to MSRP...so we are playing the waiting game at this point...
For $37k, the Leaf is not a good value. When I bought my 20 SV+ with Tech package for $30k - $10k in tax credit and rebate, it was a good value. I would rather get a 23 Bolt EUV Premier for $31k or US built VW ID.4 for $38k in 2023. They will have better resale value when the market goes back to normal compared to the Leaf.

Doesn't the entry level Bolt EV now start around 26k? That's the odd thing, and why I'm taking Carvana's offer ASAP - how can my used Leaf be worth the same as a new Bolt? I don't have a Bolt, haven't driven one, but a Bolt has to be superior to a Leaf? It has CCS, much longer range than my 2018 Leaf, and a Cooled Battery!

As far as a 2023 Bolt - I'm not sure it will qualify for the tax credit. Unwrapping the new tax credit is practically impossible - starting right NOW the old credit system still applies, but with the N American assembly. So no Bolt. Originally, I was under the impression that then Jan 2023, things switched over (so yes to Bolt!), and then 2024 the Battery component Req kicked in. But reading more articles, now I think that starting 2023 the battery Reqs for 40% Free trade sourced kicks in, then 2024 the exclusion of battery sources like China kicks in. So to know if the Bolt come Jan 2023 qualifies, you need to know if 40% of the battery materials are free trade sourced? Good luck with that!

And I could have that all wrong. But until an actual approved list comes out - from who ??? - how would you know?
Yes, but wrote the EUV Premier trim which is more expensive.

The Bolt is assembled in Michigan so it qualifies for the first half of the $7500. We will get more clarification on the second half from the Secretary of Treasury (I think that's what the bill said).
 
I don't have a Bolt, haven't driven one, but a Bolt has to be superior to a Leaf? It has CCS, much longer range than my 2018 Leaf, and a Cooled Battery!

The Bolt has an inferior interior (heh!), inferior ride, and feels more like an Econobox than does the Leaf, which feels more like a Camry or Corolla. You have to decide what features to weight more heavily to decide which car is better.
 
Interior quality on '22 Bolts has been improved, but I haven't been inside one to know by how much. '17 to '21 Bolts had a pretty crappy Tupperware interior.

As I mentioned at https://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=579607#p579607, even the Chevy Cruze and gen 2 Volts had better quality interiors.
 
cwerdna said:
Interior quality on '22 Bolts has been improved, but I haven't been inside one to know by how much.
I don't have any complaints about the interior of my 2022 Bolt, and the ride is nice. I don't like cheap, hard plastic, and I *really* do not like creaks and squeaks. So I suppose my opinion should be in that context. My wife said she didn't like the ride while passing at 80 mph, for what that is worth.

I really could not say if the bolt is improved or it is just me, but people should judge for themselves and not take Lefty's word for it.
 
LeftieBiker said:
I was giving the general not-quite-consensus, not just my own driving impressions. I assume that at some point the horrible front seats were fixed...?
Much improved but probably not as good as the Zero gravity seats. I think the Bolt and Bolt EUV have different quality interiors. The EUV's interior should be better than the Leaf now.
 
SageBrush said:
I looked into selling the Bolt (at a profit !) a few weeks ago because I thought the ID.4 would serve more functions. And it does, but neither my wife or I liked the car in person. I'm under the impression that VW cars have a little brand name swag in the American middle class, so it may fit your wife better than a Chevy in that regard.

No, she says she doesn't like the ID4. Thinks its plain and ugly on the outside, and MEH on the inside. But after going through the list of what now qualifies for the tax credit, and is available to pre-order, and is in our price range ... well, there wasn't much to pick from.

So I'll probably end up driving it most of the time, which suits me fine. She still likes her Outback anyway. Maybe a Lyriq or Q4 next go around, if the car market settles down by then.
 
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