Early Nissan Leaf

[lord trumpton]

Pondering a cheapie EV for the youngest and at the price I'm looking to pay, there's an abundance of the well regarded 'Leaf'

Anyone car to give any input or thoughts on them as a proposition and more to the point, the one below that's not too far away from us

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202402076...

TIA

[ZX10R NIN]

If it works for you then there's no reason not to buy one.

[Gad-Westy]

I’d look carefully at the range when fully charged. Leafs have poor battery heat management and capacity can degrade quickly with age. And unfortunately range wasn’t great when new either. We had a new 30kw 2015 one and real range could be under 70 miles in winter and 100 was always a push. It means you really cannot venture very far from home without using public charging. If it’s for very local journeys though, it could be good value.

[samoht]

I think younger people quite often end up making fairly long journeys, whether to parties, festivals, uni, work placements, interviews etc. So I'd question if a cheap EV with double-digit range and somewhat limited charging speed will really fit that use-case.

[lord trumpton]

Thanks for the input so far

Any thoughts in the one I've linked ie price etc?

[LivLL]

lord trumpton said:

Thanks for the input so far

Any thoughts in the one I've linked ie price etc?

Had a couple advisories on the MOT recently done - front pads knackered, front lower suspension arm pin or bush worn.

Mot ran out 20th Sep 22' and it only did 99 miles between then and Feb 5th 24'. Guess it was little used.

Only you know if it's the right car for your kid and their usage but it's just a car, always treat them the same way as any car ICE or not when buying 2nd hand.

Personally I wouldn't pay 5k for a car that can only go 50 miles but it's up to you.

[ATG]

lord trumpton said:

Thanks for the input so far

Any thoughts in the one I've linked ie price etc?

Note the picture of the dashboard. It looks like the battery is 50% charged and has a range of 26 miles. So this thing is going to have a max range of about 50 miles at the moment and that will only get worse with use. If this thing is only ever going to be used for local journeys, then that's fine, but that sounds more like a family's 2nd car rather than a new driver's first car.

For a couple of K more you'd be looking at a range of about 100 miles. You could look at a Zoe, which is a smaller car but typically has better range.

[agent006]

The key thing with that one is that it still has 12 bars battery health (the thin gauge next to the charge display). Forget the mileage range on the dash, it's called the guess-o-meter for a reason. Health drops to 11 bars at about 85% actual battery health. But be under no illusion, these could barely squeak 90 miles when they were brand new.

That one is also a Visia, so has bk all options. You can be picky, so make sure you get a Tekna so you get heated seats and steering wheel, 360 degree cameras, LED headlights, Bose etc.

Avoid the early Japan buit cars with the light interior. Mainly because the light interior is foul, but also because they had an earlier battery design that's not as good. Go for 2014 onwards, with the later inverter (no big lump in the boot), and make sure it's got the 6KW charger.

We've run a 2014 Tekna for 4 years now. Leafs are great cars, and if they fit with your life's radius from home then there's very little better for budget motoring.

The Zoe will get further on a charge but the early cars don't have rapid charging, they'll do 22KW AC (if you can find it). But rock up at a CCS/Chademo charger and you'll be firmly out of luck.

[Hustle_]

Nothing from the OP on what the youngest thinks of the Leaf? The range limitation would’ve been a straight jacket for teenage me.

[soupdragon1]

I wouldn't go for that one. I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a reverse camera and no parking sensors either.

Ideally, you want one with heated seats and steering wheel, so that you don't use the heater too much in winter. Heated seats and wheel use hardly any power and with a pair of warm socks, can give you better range in winter while not feeling freezing.

I had one a few years back and bought another last year for my son. They are sure footed and predictable behind the wheel. I was able to squeak 100 miles out of a 24kwh but it requires a little practice. Anything 70 miles or above though, I'm thinking about temperature, is it raining, is it windy or is it wet. I would hesitate to trust it to do 70 miles if 2 of those weren't in my favour.

[E31Shrew]

Already reduced by £1500 since 7th Feb so keen to do a deal by the looks of it

[dave_s13]

This one's better spec.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2024021064...

Of you can live with a realistic 75mile max range they are perfect for local use. We've had a 2011 and now a 2019 40kwh and both have been, and are great so far.

[lord trumpton]

Thanks to all for the very good and valued input

I did speak to the seller and they are keen to deal and i could get it for around 4.5k

That said it is the bog spec version. It does have nav (but probably st compared to a phone nav.

I think as many have said, the 75 mile range will become a big of a ballache and as such I'm going to rule one of these out.

Thanks again - great feedback!

[dhutch]

Borrowed a 41kW 17 plate Zoe as a garage courtesy car.

Appeared to have 150miles fully charged 25miles each way, showed about 80 miles left when I got back, almost exclusively motorway millage and I turned 'eco' off in order to be able to 70 rather than 65mph. This is 95% of my daily commute, with more than 50% charge remaining.

Bit gutless over 55-60mph, but nippy 30->40.

For what appears to be a £6500 car I was pretty impressed really.

The bork factor of the battery is a concern, but then you could also get terminal engine failure of a £6.5k 6yo ice car.

[ATG]

dhutch said:

Borrowed a 41kW 17 plate Zoe as a garage courtesy car.

Appeared to have 150miles fully charged 25miles each way, showed about 80 miles left when I got back, almost exclusively motorway millage and I turned 'eco' off in order to be able to 70 rather than 65mph. This is 95% of my daily commute, with more than 50% charge remaining.

Bit gutless over 55-60mph, but nippy 30->40.

For what appears to be a £6500 car I was pretty impressed really.

The bork factor of the battery is a concern, but then you could also get terminal engine failure of a £6.5k 6yo ice car.

That estimated mileage versus actually mileage at 70 is very much what I'd expect out of our Leaf too. I find its estimates to be a very good guide. If you're on country roads at about 55/60 they are bang on. Go slower and you can stretch the estimate, go faster and you'll undershoot. It's all pretty predictable and not a random number generator.

[Gad-Westy]

dhutch said:

Borrowed a 41kW 17 plate Zoe as a garage courtesy car.

Appeared to have 150miles fully charged 25miles each way, showed about 80 miles left when I got back, almost exclusively motorway millage and I turned 'eco' off in order to be able to 70 rather than 65mph. This is 95% of my daily commute, with more than 50% charge remaining.

Bit gutless over 55-60mph, but nippy 30->40.

For what appears to be a £6500 car I was pretty impressed really.

The bork factor of the battery is a concern, but then you could also get terminal engine failure of a £6.5k 6yo ice car.

You have to tread a little carefully with Zoe's as many are on a lifetime battery lease arrangement so you'd need to factor that cost in too if it applies. I think some early Leafs are too come to think of it.

[CivicDuties]

I have a 2017 30kwh Leaf. It has 40k miles on the clock. It has dropped a battery bar on the indicator, but I can get 100 miles range out of it in the winter, and 125-30 in the summer. Not that I ever do more than about 50 miles in any one day. I sometimes drive it on a 350 mile round trip, I need one charge stop in the summer (45-60 minutes), and 2 in the winter (20-30 minutes each).

I have had it 4 years, before that I had a 24kwh Leaf for 3 years.

I have not had one single reliability issue with either of them.

It is a brilliant, brilliant car for short range use. Comfortable and nippy, spacious and ridiculously cheap to run.

Watch out for insurance for a youngster though, it may be a bit of a shock. (Shock, geddit? Oh please yourselves.)

[dhutch]

CivicDuties said:

Watch out for insurance for a youngster though, it may be a bit of a shock.

Really, I was thinking about that on the drive, because in many ways it makes a perfect first car.

Presumably due to the cost to repair (battery) after a collision?

[dhutch]

Gad-Westy said:

You have to tread a little carefully with Zoe's as many are on a lifetime battery lease arrangement so you'd need to factor that cost in too if it applies. I think some early Leafs are too come to think of it.

Right, yes, ok.

"... the Renault Zoe ranges from £49 per month for up to 4500 miles per year. This goes up to £99 for 10,500 annually. This cost will be similar to the fuel for a conventional car. "

It seems a half reasonable model, offload the risk of battery degradation, but the cost is significant isnt it.

[CivicDuties]

dhutch said:

CivicDuties said:

Watch out for insurance for a youngster though, it may be a bit of a shock.

Really, I was thinking about that on the drive, because in many ways it makes a perfect first car.

Presumably due to the cost to repair (battery) after a collision?

That could be part of it. Also, they accelerate like excrement from a warm, earth inverting horticultural implement, compared to other cheap hatchbacks. It's a relatively high insurance group, and is a couple of hundred quid more annually than our other car, a petrol Civic Tourer. When I added my teenage son to the quote, however, we were propelled into the thousands. So I bought him a beaten up old Corolla instead.

Makes sense for me and the wife, because the extra insurance is made up for very quickly by the lower fuel, servicing and maintenance costs over an equivalent car. But I'll not be putting my children on the insurance for it as the payback would be far, far longer, if it paid back at all.