First owner’s are selling it for under $10k with 15k miles, 4yrs old?
Plenty of supply too?
Car and driver review.
Or maybe it’s just a small EV that’s fine around town but dies after about 75 miles on a charge. The seamlessness in its operation and personality make it attractive, but it’s haunted by the driver’s constant anxiety over its limited range. After all, it can take eight hours to fully recharge its lithium-ion batteries. The Leaf works as a second car for some, but it’s a poor only car for almost everyone else.
Limited range, and Nissan was sued because the range is even worse in hot weather. The lawsuit was recently settled:
I fill up my gas tank when I hit 1/4, that is as much anxiety I can put up with. My friend was stuck at another friend’s house for one night because the leaf had overestimated its range. Life is too short.
“Life is too short.”
That’s the reason for the price reduction in a nutshell. Plus…there is a lot more supply than demand for the Leaf at this point.
I believe the Leaf is quite popular as a city car, in several European countries
But people in the USA probably drive much more, than people in Europe . . . ?
Because the previous owners got tired of a car they could only drive 200 miles and a few hours per day. They also needed a garage charger and could not park them on the street far from a plug.
Range matters.
I experienced it during the “gas crisis” of the 1970’s, driving from Austin to Fredericksburg TX late at night with only a quarter tank on the gas gauge praying that there would be some gas station open along the way. I ended up slowing down to 40 mph and switching the engine off on downhills while coasting in neutral in order to make it home. The next morning, the car ran out of gas on my way to town.
Someone must be buying the Leaf. My son lived in the town in Tennessee where Nissan has a,plant that assembles the Leaf. The plant runs three shifts a day cranking out these cars. I only saw one on the road when I visited my son in his,old location and I have never seen one here in east central Indiana. My guess is that the Leaf is being shipped to big cities. My son has since moved to another community.
On the campus where I taught, there is a,recharging station in the gymnasium parking lot. In the winter months and when it rains, my wife and I go over to the gym to exercise. There is often a,Chevrolet Volt parked in the spot hooked up to the charging station. I talked to the owner and he commutes from. A city 55 miles away. Had the Leaf been available before I retired 4 years ago, it might have been a good car for me. I live 2 miles off campus. We have no sidewalks and busy streets which eliminate walking. About 25 years ago, I found a,used Citicar. It needed new batteries. I thought it might work for me, but the car didn’t seem very substantial. I took a pass.
I do like modern technology. I bought a rechargeable battery mower used just to see how well it would work and I have been pleased with it. I can now my entire yard on a single charge. If the Leaf would work as well for around town use, I might consider one.
In 2008 when gasoline first reached $4 a gallon there was public outcry due to the lack of available electric vehicles with the accusation that we are being held captive by the auto manufactures and the oil companies. Soon after a politician pledged to put 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. I don’t know how that would be possible, the government can’t afford to give away 1 million vehicles. People don’t really want electric vehicles, they want to drive around for free.
I see Nissan leafs every day but this is a part-time vehicle in my opinion, like a motorcycle, it can’t do everything. I wonder how many people understand this when they purchase an electric vehicle.
Nissan appears to have reached a final settlement with plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit over Nissan Leaf electric-car batteries that now goes back almost three years.
The suit was filed in California in 2012 on behalf of all Leaf owners in that state and in Arizona.
California and Arizona are two places where an electric vehicle is impractical unless a person is willing to drive without air conditioning and those who drive $32,000 cars are not. On a conventional vehicle the condenser fan, HVAC blower and compressor clutch together draw 20 plus amps, more with an electric compressor. This will cut the operating range in half on an electric vehicle.
There are plenty of used Leafs in California for $9000 to $15000. At $9000 an electric vehicle sounds attractive, I could use an electric car to drive to work but right now I am satisfied with a $1000 car.
Don’t forget there’s a tax credit of $7,500 on Federal taxes and $2,500 on State income tax in California for the buyer of an all electric car. That lowers the cost of the car quite a bit.
There are lots of electric cars here in the San Francisco Bay Area, but we have a perfect combination of moderate weather, terrible traffic congestion, short driving distances for lots of errands, and a very supportive government that reserves parking for electric cars, lets them run in car pool lanes with one operator only, and free recharging stations. Many manufacturers make electric cars that are only sold in California and maybe Nevada. There’s an all electric Ford Focus, RAV4, Honda Fit, Fiat 500, BMWi3, Chevy Spark, Kia Soul, Mercedes B Class, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Tesla, VW Golf and of course the Leaf.
Different cars and trucks have their places. Driving a Suburban in San Francisco certainly has big drawbacks, but people do it anyway. It’s good to have choices.
But @Nevada_545 is right that the cheapest car transportation is probably a $1,000 beater car (and a $100 box of tools from Sears). I’ll stick with my $500 Honda Elite 250 scooter for easy local transportation.
Leafs are a pretty common sight where I live. But then I actually see a lot of Teslas too, which is I think more surprising. Not often you see a $120,000+ car at all, much less one that has an exotic powerplant.
I would say a used electric car is probably going to take a big price hit because everyone knows that batteries are only viable for so long, and buying it used means you’ve given up some of that expected battery life, and you don’t know how much it’s gonna be to replace them when the time comes, but you know it’s probably gonna be expensive.
This is why you can get a used Tesla S with less than 20k miles for $60,000 less than it was new.
Do the tax credits apply to a used car? I doubt it as that could result in 10s of thousands of payout as the car changes hands multiple times.
Pretty sure it’s only for new cars.
Yeah. I can’t imagine they would, as given the right circumstances you could get a used electric car for free.
I can hear it now, “Honey, I’m going to have to stay over again tonight. Someone parked in my charging station and I can’t drive the 55 miles home”. Yeah sure.
I’m certain the federal tax breaks are for new cars only.
Everything is much closer in Europe. You can drive from The Netherlands to Poland in something like 6 hours. You can’t even get to Cleveland from New York in 6 hours.
Actually in some circles a used Leaf is considered a good buy,if people keep hating electrics and wont change their driving habits ,there is nothing you can do about human nature,so select what you like(some folks like to change oil and replace exhaust systems,short hauls are not good on ICE cars)
Definitely lots of Nissan Leaf’s on the road here in the San Jose,CA area. Very popular vehicle here. At least as new cars. It’s pretty common for folks here to sell their cars after 3-5 years and replace w/ new ones. It may be the Leaf is more popular as a new car than as a used car. That might explain why the price seems a little lower than I’d have expected it to be at just 4 years old. I wonder how many of those Leaf owners that sold their Leaf bought another new Leaf?
I see a lot of Teslas on the road near me, but not that many Leafs, in a state where you allegedly can’t buy Teslas because Tesla is too pig headed to have conventional car dealerships or something like that.