Japanese import Leaf?
Discussion
john2443 said:
Anyone got any experience of these - I've seen a couple recently on ebay, are they riskier, cheaper or something else-er than UK ones?
They are probably built to a better standard than the British ones but be sure to check out the battery state of health.I spotted two on eBay from the same person. One has the battery SoH cropped out of the photo, the other one one shows 6 bars which is 50-58% remaining, i.e. knackered. Winter range will be about 25-30 miles.
If they are gen1 cars then avoid unless really cheap.
The gen1 batteries are very poor. They have resistive heating rather than a heat pump which has an impact on range.
Obvious differences between gen1(up to 2013) and gen2(2013 on):
Gen1 cars are usually beige trim rather than dark grey (but beige was an option on later cars).
Gen1 cars have an electric parking brake - handle is visible in the cubbyhole between the front seats behind the gearstick. Gen2 cars have a manual foot operated parking brake. The electric brake can be expensively problematic.
Gen2 cars have an 'eco' button on the steering wheel (on the right hand side).
The gen1 batteries are very poor. They have resistive heating rather than a heat pump which has an impact on range.
Obvious differences between gen1(up to 2013) and gen2(2013 on):
Gen1 cars are usually beige trim rather than dark grey (but beige was an option on later cars).
Gen1 cars have an electric parking brake - handle is visible in the cubbyhole between the front seats behind the gearstick. Gen2 cars have a manual foot operated parking brake. The electric brake can be expensively problematic.
Gen2 cars have an 'eco' button on the steering wheel (on the right hand side).
Thanks - the Gen 1 / 2 info is useful. So far I'm just looking, haven't decided if it's worth going for an electric yet, but have a search running on ebay to keep an eye on what's coming up.
I'm still not convinced financially that an electric makes sense - OK, the running cost is low but the saving per mile divided into the cost of the car would mean I have to do lots of miles for it to balance, and I'm not likeyl to do lots of miles in a car that only has a small range!
I'm still not convinced financially that an electric makes sense - OK, the running cost is low but the saving per mile divided into the cost of the car would mean I have to do lots of miles for it to balance, and I'm not likeyl to do lots of miles in a car that only has a small range!
john2443 said:
Thanks - the Gen 1 / 2 info is useful. So far I'm just looking, haven't decided if it's worth going for an electric yet, but have a search running on ebay to keep an eye on what's coming up.
I'm still not convinced financially that an electric makes sense - OK, the running cost is low but the saving per mile divided into the cost of the car would mean I have to do lots of miles for it to balance, and I'm not likeyl to do lots of miles in a car that only has a small range!
We've had 2 leafs and done over 50,000 miles in them. The numbers work for us.I'm still not convinced financially that an electric makes sense - OK, the running cost is low but the saving per mile divided into the cost of the car would mean I have to do lots of miles for it to balance, and I'm not likeyl to do lots of miles in a car that only has a small range!
My OH has a 15 mile commute to work. Charge at home for a fuel cost of around 2p/mile as opposed to over 10p/mile in her old diesel. Buying second hand we've had free motoring.
Resale values are good, the batteries and motors have a high value for conversions and powerwalls which props up the used value.
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