Just bought a 2016 Leaf with 27,000 miles on it. First off… the battery bars per mile are used every 7 blocks instead of every 1 mile. So, the rate is worse that stated. That wasn’t cool. The seats aren’t so comfortable, they sit too high, the parts used are CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP! Many components go out faster than they should. I suspect because of the cheap metal. For example, under carriage, control arm and other parts are pretty rusted. For a 5 year car, that shouldn’t be. Maybe I’m used to Lexus. I feel really stupid for buying this car. I’m probably going to drive it at most 2 years before I have to sell it. I should note, I’ve been used to driving Lexus… so this review may be a little biased. I’m used to great long lasting cars.
Why did you buy it? Were the seats lower when you test drove it? Did the rust appear after you bought it?
How do you predict
Remember this is a five year old car, you have no way of knowing how it was treated
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Congrats! You just bought the bottom feeder of the electric vehicle market.
Were you expecting a Tesla? I am guessing Yes.
Did you get the car inspected before you bought it? Did you give it a good long test drive before you bought it? Also guessing, No, to both. In the future I suggest you do both before purchasing any used car.
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Is this supposed to be helpful or belittling?
I don’t predict a long and happy relationship between the OP and this forum.
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No need to be sarcastic you started it by complaining and BI /t//ing first the guys are telling you what you should have done in the first then you would not be here complaining.
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@AnnLoew I was in a similar situation thirty six years ago. My wife had taken a job 150 miles away. She commuted back home weekends. We bought a new Ford Tempo. It wasn’t like the bigger, more expensive cars we were used to driving. The 4 cylinder engine was noisy on acceleration.
On the plus side, the Tempo was very reliable and economical to run. The year after we bought the Tempo, my wife got a job back in our community. When we got a little bit ahead financially, we traded the 1985 Tempo in for a 1988 Ford Taurus.
I knew going into the deal that the Tempo was a less expensive car. For three years, it did the job for us. Maybe your Leaf will work out for you for a couple of years.
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Here’s what you do: sell it and buy something you like. Don’t live with a daily irritation if you can avoid it.
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I had the misfortune to have rented one, many years ago. If the only problem had been engine noise, it wouldn’t have been so unpleasant to drive. Its handling was lousy, the acceleration was poor, the brakes were just so-so, and the seats were uncomfortable. It was the epitome of “just transportation”, and I couldn’t wait to return it to Hertz after ~5 days behind the wheel of that mediocre car.
Thank you, this was a refreshing useful contrast to some other comments I’ve received in response to my post.
You are doing the very same thing to me without knowing my back story.
I gave useful advice.
We tell everyone to do this before buying any used car.
I hope you have a wonderful experience with your Leaf. Hopefully you won’t need a $6000 battery replacement.
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I bought a car. I don’t like this, or this, or this. I used to own a quality luxury model. What type of response if any were you looking for? Do you like the color?
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You are the one being a jerk and in your own words not knowing the background of any one hear in other words a royal \\PIA///.
Pot meet kettle…so let me sum up your post. You bought a used EV that isn’t performing as well as it should have when it was new yet you were expecting like new performance? You’re also disappointed in the comfort (which is a subjective thing, someone else may actually prefer that seating to that of your old Lexus). Things rusting out make me suspect that 1. this Leaf spent a lot of time in a “rust belt” state where they use lots of salt and 2. you didn’t pay to have this car inspected by YOUR mechanic prior to purchasing.
You basically have 2 options as far as I can see. Live with it or get a new car. And yes, it is definitely unfair to compare reliability of a Lexus vs a Leaf.
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I am happy to see that someone flagged AnnLoew so I don’t need to thank you.
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@VDCdriver I agree that the Ford Tempo wasn’t the greatest car ever made. However, it held its own with the other “winners” I had owned before–a Rambler, a Corvair, and a Maverick.
I don’t have a sensitive tailbone, so I didn’t find the Tempo uncomfortable. The university where I taught had Tempos, Plymouth Reliant K-cars and Chevrolet Citations in its fleet. I had driven all three makes to conferences that were at least 150 miles off campus. I preferred the Ford Tempo to the other two makes. When I bought the Tempo, the Ford dealer had a special price on Tempos that were all equipped the same way–automatic transmission, air conditioning, power steering, etc. I assume that Ford turned out a bunch of these specially equipped Tempo models for rental fleets.
I don’t know that I would be happy with a strictly transposition car today. I have become spoiled with power seats, lumbar supports, thermostatically controlled HVAC with separate controls for the passenger and for the rear seats that I have in my minivan. However, if I was just starting my career today, I would probably be o.k. with a strictly transportation vehicle.
I agree with you, mostly. However, as unreliable as my Citation was, it handled and accelerated much better than the Tempo.
But, I think that most of us can tolerate imperfect creature comforts when we are young, and in our younger years, many of us–me included–couldn’t afford vehicles with any luxury features. At this point in my life, I don’t want to deprive myself of anything that I can afford, and all of the bells and whistles on newer cars are affordable for me at this point in my life.
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"VDCdriver,
But, I think that most of us can tolerate imperfect creature comforts when we are young, and in our younger years, many of us–me included–couldn’t afford vehicles with any luxury features. At this point in my life, I don’t want to deprive myself of anything that I can afford, and all of the bells and whistles on newer cars are affordable for me at this point in my life.
Even though I am classed as a geezer I still don’t want any bells and whistles also an automatic transmission is not an option for me I recon compared to most I am considered an oddball the only thing that changed for me is I need one that is not to low as I have a bad back and getting into and out of is to hard for me plus I have long legs and most seats are to low.
OK, I think some of the initial comments were a bit sarcastic for a stranger who began by posting a negative review of a Leaf. And @AnnLoew we do ask that people refrain from name-calling and damnation, so that’s why I agreed with the flags. We don’t get much commentary about Leafs (leaves?) but I’ve learned from it.
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@AnnLoew @VDCdriver I think the last Nissan product I drove was over 15 years ago. It was a Nissan Sentra. All the vehicles in the university fleet had already been requisitioned, so the university rented the Sentra for me to travel to a conference 250 miles away. I remember thinking it was an o.k. car. My research partner did some of the driving. Her personal car at the time was a Honda Civic and she thought that the Sentra compared w well with her Civic. I haven’t had much occasion to drive other vehicles since I retired 10 years ago, so I don’t know much about recent Nissan vehicles.
The one way that I know to improve the ride and quietness of almost any vehicle is to mow a field with a 1930s International Harvester F-12 tractor with a sickle bar. I could then get into my 1950 Chevrolet one ton pickup and that truck rode as smoothly as a Cadillac and was as quiet as a Rolls Royce.
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