Where's my burlap suit? 2015 Nissan Leaf 24kw
Discussion
This week sees the arrival of our new car, a black Nissan Leaf with the optional 6.6kw charger, it sadly means saying goodbye to our trusty workhorse shed Saab 9-5 Aero (available via all good Pistonheads for sale websites). I think the Saab has been in my ownership for the longest period of any car (almost six years), its comfortable, reliable enough and has the space, pace and grace to almost be a Jaguar.
But if there is one limitation of my Scandinavian shed, it is that the fuel it drinks is often quite a lot. Whilst I've eeked out 40mpg on a very conservative motorway jaunt in the past (and lots of motorway trips was the cause for the purchase), I find myself doing very short runs over the last two years, specifically to day care and back as I now work from home. This type of driving is not the Saab's forte, and a good run around town sees the MPG crash down to below twenty and recently its started me thinking about what I use the car for.
In short, not much and certainly not to go all that far - perhaps I could find an electric car?
I had discounted the idea as after the wedding this year, I am not flush with cash but then I happened upon a very interesting deal for a Gen 1 Nissan Leaf (£200 down, £99 a month *36, 3 years servicing, battery owned, warranty etc), and I started to some calculations and that figure was either equal or less than my monthly fuel cost for the Saab, especially if you start to throw in service costs etc.
And so I chatted things over with the wife and pinged the dealer in question, over the last few weeks there has been some back and forth involving the local dealership when they gave me a counter offer a gen 2 car for £159 pm. The gen 2 has a better heating system, a crucial black interior (kids) and bigger boot that was more buggy friendly than the gen 1.This was over a 4 year period so not what we were looking for, fortunately the other dealer matched the deal over a 3 year term.
So the deal would be £1k deposit, £159 pm, 3 years servicing, 2 years warranty, battery warranty till 2020 and free home charger.
We've never undertaken a lease vehicle before, preferring the comfort of owning a car - but with the 2nd hand prices of EVs all over the shop, the risk is lower via PCP/hand back.
And at that price, we thought it was certainly worth a punt and so this lovely looking Leaf is winging its way to us this week!
It's going to be interesting to see how the real world usage of this car stacks up and what a long distance drive will feel like.
But if there is one limitation of my Scandinavian shed, it is that the fuel it drinks is often quite a lot. Whilst I've eeked out 40mpg on a very conservative motorway jaunt in the past (and lots of motorway trips was the cause for the purchase), I find myself doing very short runs over the last two years, specifically to day care and back as I now work from home. This type of driving is not the Saab's forte, and a good run around town sees the MPG crash down to below twenty and recently its started me thinking about what I use the car for.
In short, not much and certainly not to go all that far - perhaps I could find an electric car?
I had discounted the idea as after the wedding this year, I am not flush with cash but then I happened upon a very interesting deal for a Gen 1 Nissan Leaf (£200 down, £99 a month *36, 3 years servicing, battery owned, warranty etc), and I started to some calculations and that figure was either equal or less than my monthly fuel cost for the Saab, especially if you start to throw in service costs etc.
And so I chatted things over with the wife and pinged the dealer in question, over the last few weeks there has been some back and forth involving the local dealership when they gave me a counter offer a gen 2 car for £159 pm. The gen 2 has a better heating system, a crucial black interior (kids) and bigger boot that was more buggy friendly than the gen 1.This was over a 4 year period so not what we were looking for, fortunately the other dealer matched the deal over a 3 year term.
So the deal would be £1k deposit, £159 pm, 3 years servicing, 2 years warranty, battery warranty till 2020 and free home charger.
We've never undertaken a lease vehicle before, preferring the comfort of owning a car - but with the 2nd hand prices of EVs all over the shop, the risk is lower via PCP/hand back.
And at that price, we thought it was certainly worth a punt and so this lovely looking Leaf is winging its way to us this week!
It's going to be interesting to see how the real world usage of this car stacks up and what a long distance drive will feel like.
Edited by LincolnLovin on Wednesday 5th October 11:47
I keep getting seriously tempted by one of these, when I start adding up fuel costs, servicing, RFL, etc, and looking at the figure it costs me to run a 10 year old car.
The only thing that puts me off is they really are the definition of white goods for the road, I just can't get excited about one.
Hope you enjoy it, do please update with your experiences!
The only thing that puts me off is they really are the definition of white goods for the road, I just can't get excited about one.
Hope you enjoy it, do please update with your experiences!
Yeah its a little off putting but considering none of my cars have been blessed with a warranty...then again this isn't my car (unless we buy it at the end). I don't think its all going to work out a drop dead amazing deal like the prior gen 1 £99/m offer (especially factoring in extra warranty/gap/delivery etc).
Hard costs:
£1k deposit
£200 delivery
£299 gap
= £1499
Monthly cost:
£156 * 36 = £5616
£7115
Optional warranty (£299/399)
I think taking into account service costs, tax, fuel, insurance etc for the Saab I should still not end up in a too bad position, we took the gap as god know what the insurance payouts would be for an electric car in years 5/6 should we write the car off.
Hard costs:
£1k deposit
£200 delivery
£299 gap
= £1499
Monthly cost:
£156 * 36 = £5616
£7115
Optional warranty (£299/399)
I think taking into account service costs, tax, fuel, insurance etc for the Saab I should still not end up in a too bad position, we took the gap as god know what the insurance payouts would be for an electric car in years 5/6 should we write the car off.
Edited by LincolnLovin on Tuesday 4th October 10:53
A lady at work has one of these. It is her and her OHs only car and she uses it for her 40 mile daily commute.
Her plan is usually to charge it at the Work charge stations Monday and Friday and normally manages to go the weekends without charging it but sometimes it will be charged mid-week as well.
They took it to the lakes (from Surrey) a few months ago and made the journey each way a whole day thing on less busy roads through towns with charging stations where they stopped for cake and tea, which does not seem like the worst way to do the trip.
Interested to see how long until you play remaining range roulette.
Her plan is usually to charge it at the Work charge stations Monday and Friday and normally manages to go the weekends without charging it but sometimes it will be charged mid-week as well.
They took it to the lakes (from Surrey) a few months ago and made the journey each way a whole day thing on less busy roads through towns with charging stations where they stopped for cake and tea, which does not seem like the worst way to do the trip.
Interested to see how long until you play remaining range roulette.
I did a similar deal on a 3 year old one with 24k miles on the clock, its the tekna model but the 3.3kw charger.
This one works out at £200 deposit, £150pm for 3 years with 10k mileage each year
That was with a 2 year warranty and free charge point installation at home.
Have done a few thousand miles in it and have been surprised how decent it is. My other car is an old BMW 540 (E39) so the leaf doesn't handle as nicely as that, its quite high and wallows a bit around corners but its not terrible. Straight line speed 0-50 is comparable with my previous car (Peugeot 406 with 210bhp) which isn't bad at all.
Actually went down to the dealer in Kent to pick it up, so the first trip was 200 miles which was a bit of a baptism of fire. Wouldn't want to do that distance again in a hurry but your 100 mile trip at christmas should only need one stop off and would do it easily. Was definitely worth you going for the second generation car, the first generation cars had an issue with the electronic handbrake come up quite a bit and from memory its about £2500 to fix!
This one works out at £200 deposit, £150pm for 3 years with 10k mileage each year
That was with a 2 year warranty and free charge point installation at home.
Have done a few thousand miles in it and have been surprised how decent it is. My other car is an old BMW 540 (E39) so the leaf doesn't handle as nicely as that, its quite high and wallows a bit around corners but its not terrible. Straight line speed 0-50 is comparable with my previous car (Peugeot 406 with 210bhp) which isn't bad at all.
Actually went down to the dealer in Kent to pick it up, so the first trip was 200 miles which was a bit of a baptism of fire. Wouldn't want to do that distance again in a hurry but your 100 mile trip at christmas should only need one stop off and would do it easily. Was definitely worth you going for the second generation car, the first generation cars had an issue with the electronic handbrake come up quite a bit and from memory its about £2500 to fix!
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