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Old 07-31-2017, 11:41 AM
 
Location: Central Ohio
10,823 posts, read 14,898,817 times
Reputation: 16537

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In just over one year I will turn 70 at which time I will retire and possibly give up my Chevy Suburban and I am looking for a used Nissan Leaf as a second car.

I will never go into debt, I only pay cash, so I am looking for a used car somewhere around three years old which appears can be purchased for $10k.

We live in the Columbus, Ohio metro area so it does get cold in winter and hot in summer. I like my heat (wife demands heat) and air conditioning so anything I purchase will have both.

I found ChargePoint which leads me to believe there are a good number of charging stations away from home. The map feature is pretty neat and once I purchase my Leaf, if I purchase a Leaf, I plan to get the app.

Just so everyone knows at 70 I don't give a damn about status and could care less where the Leaf stands among the electric car crowd as long as it works for me.

If you have experience with a Leaf I would like to ask some questions.

1. What typical range do you get if a nice day where you don't have to have heat or air?

2. Very super hot day 100 Deg F and must have air on full blast. What does air do to real life range?

3. Very cold day, 10 degrees below zero and my wife loves the heat. What does heat do to real life range?

4. Charging at home issues? How long does it take typically for a full charge?

5. ChargePoint has a map showing all the charging stations with many at shopping malls but I have never seen one. Maybe I just wasn't looking but I think I would have noticed.

6. If you need an on the road charge how long does it typically take? Of course it has to cost more than the cost of electric so how much do these charging stations typically charge?

Being retired nearly all our trips will be < 40 miles round trip. Shopping, doctors offices, hospitals, church, children and grandchildren are all within range of a 40 mile round trip and if we have something farther there's always the wife's Honda.

And what brought me here is I was thinking of getting a road worthy golf cart which is now legal in Ohio but... someone suggested a Nissan Leaf and I think that would be a whole lot better choice.

Thank you all for any input on your personal experiences.
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Old 08-05-2017, 10:16 AM
 
Location: Western MN
1,000 posts, read 1,000,796 times
Reputation: 1810
I can offer no personal experience but it might be helpful to download a Leaf owners manual to learn about battery life and care.
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Old 08-30-2017, 03:52 AM
 
Location: Leesburg, VA
735 posts, read 1,166,144 times
Reputation: 636
I saw your question earlier this month but I haven’t been able to send a detailed response until now. (I have been really busy). Last fall I purchased a used 2012 Nissan Leaf. The vehicle had about 33,000 miles on it.

I had conducted research for months and thought I had a really good handle on everything, but I was caught off guard by a few things. The same things that I would advise you check before purchasing this electric car.

First, make sure you have the battery thoroughly tested. There is a battery capacity gauge on the right side of the heads up display- a good battery has 12 bars. (Maximum) Mine had eleven- the less amount of bars you have the decreased potency of the battery even on a full charge.

Last month I lost another bar leaving me with ten. As a result I could only travel 50 miles on a full charge. (I think the 2012 Leafs could travel 74 miles on a full charge or was it 84?) Using the air conditioning or heater decreases your range as well by about 7 - 10 miles. Keep that in mind. The weather outside also will affect the range and as well as being a lead-foot. On a cold night (30 degrees), I had the heater on and was driving 70 miles on a local highway into work (my commute time is only 20 minutes.) and saw the range DROP from 60 to 20 miles just like that. I realized that this car does not like highway driving- it likes local roads with stop and go traffic.

Second, if you see a message on the GPS/radio unit of your potential purchase please insert SD card look out! You will not be able to control the radio, climate control or the GPS until you either obtain a new SD card or the seller produces the original. In my case the seller had to purchase a new one and it took a few tries to get it right- because the card has to be married to that specific Leaf otherwise it won’t work.

Third, test all of the components of the car before purchase. I discovered that the vehicle’s heater was busted after I bought the car and the repair would have been quite expensive if the seller hadn’t taken care of the issue for me.

I hope this helps. Despite the limited range, I have fallen in love with my car. So much so that I decided to replace the battery in order to maximize the range. That is a very expensive prospect. I only decided to do it after junking an older vehicle of mine that needed $4000 in repairs.

Having said that, I would still keep a gas powered car around for long range trips; use the Leaf for short range trips near home. (I call the Leaf a county car- for use only within the county only.)
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Old 09-18-2017, 09:55 PM
 
Location: Cape Cod/Green Valley AZ
1,111 posts, read 2,790,246 times
Reputation: 3144
I don't own a Leaf but did look into this model. My observations:

Very reliable car, based on owners comments that I read.

The newest model coming up has a range of around 150 miles. The Leaf after that model (2019) will have a range of over 200 miles (just).

The battery does not have a temperature management system (as does Tesla and the Chevy Bolt). In very warm weather this is a real issue. Tough on the car's battery and, if too warm out, the car will refuse to charge.

You will need a 220 volt charging system installed in your garage in order to charge your electric car overnight. This is true regardless of the model you purchase.

Take a look at the Chevy Bolt. It has a real world range of 240 miles.

One thought; the technology and market for EVs is changing so quickly you might consider a lease. Yes, leasing is a lousy way to own cars, but because of the quickly evolving EV market, it might be the way to go for the next few years.

Oh, one last thing. The used price for Leafs drops to half the cost of the vehicle, or less (lots less), very quickly. I suggest you keep that in mind before purchasing a vehicle costing over $30,000 dollars.

Best of luck!

Rich
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Old 12-10-2017, 01:27 AM
 
Location: Leesburg, VA
735 posts, read 1,166,144 times
Reputation: 636
After more than a year of owning mine I love it with the exception of the limited range. If you turn on the climate control system -air conditioning or heat the range drops. In my case from 86 miles to 50 miles.

I am still waiting for someone to make the holy grail of electric cars- one that will give you a range of 330 miles on a single charge for $22,000. It doesn't exist at this moment in time.
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Old 01-20-2018, 02:19 PM
 
Location: Central Ohio
10,823 posts, read 14,898,817 times
Reputation: 16537
I am going to be retiring soon and I am thinking of getting rid of the suburban, keep the Honda Civic that we have and perhaps go with a Chevy Volt so does anyone have one of these you can tell me about?

The Chevy Volt would be used for local traveling with maybe the longest trip running around 80 miles round trip but the majority of trips will be within a 6 mile radius of where I live.

Being 70 years old I must have air conditioning when it is hot and heat when cold.

My understanding is Chevy warranties the battery to 100,000 miles?
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Old 01-22-2018, 06:40 PM
 
Location: Las Vegas
3,631 posts, read 7,645,582 times
Reputation: 4372
Quote:
Originally Posted by nicet4 View Post
I am going to be retiring soon and I am thinking of getting rid of the suburban, keep the Honda Civic that we have and perhaps go with a Chevy Volt so does anyone have one of these you can tell me about?

The Chevy Volt would be used for local traveling with maybe the longest trip running around 80 miles round trip but the majority of trips will be within a 6 mile radius of where I live.

Being 70 years old I must have air conditioning when it is hot and heat when cold.

My understanding is Chevy warranties the battery to 100,000 miles?
You should probably consider posting this in the Chevy part of the automotive forum.
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Old 02-03-2018, 08:17 PM
 
Location: Leesburg, VA
735 posts, read 1,166,144 times
Reputation: 636
Still frustrated with the Leaf's limited range. I think it was quite stupid for Nissan to put out a electric car on the market with anything less than 200 miles total range.

Like someone in a frustrating relationship, I will stick around until something better comes along. Right now the only two long range electric cars on the market are the Chevy Bolt (I can't bring myself to buy a Chevy- I am still mad at GM for the ignition-gate thing some years back.) and Tesla (Their model 3 starts at $35,000 but quickly tops out much higher than that.)

The other auto manufacturers need to jump on the long range all electric wagon NOW. Ford? Dodge? Honda? Toyota? Mazda? Kia? Hyundai? BMW? Where art thou?
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Old 06-21-2018, 09:20 PM
 
8,924 posts, read 5,602,968 times
Reputation: 12559
My friend has a volt. 2013. He has close to 80,000 miles on his. He has had the main battery replaced under warranty. Cold air and heated seats. We never used the heater in Florida. (Not cold enough) he gets around 50 miles per charge. No worries if you go farther the gas engine kicks in unnoticed. Premium gas is required for these older models. Rear seats are tight for adults. No A/C vents in the rear passenger area. Not good in FL. Great hatchback concept very useful. Decent ride. He has the tricolor and it’s a challenge if you get a ding or want to use touch up. Hard to match. Great one pedal driving in rush hour traffic. Use Low for city driving, Drive for expressway driving. Low uses less battery. Take your foot off the accelerator in low and the car uses the engine to slow you down.
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