Used Nissan Leafs for £10k - worth it?

[Deleted User]

I've seen some two year old Leafs on sale for around £10k (meaning they suffered some MASSIVE depreciation).

By may calculations, getting one of these on a decent 5-year loan (assuming you only need a car for 25 mile max. commuting and around town) would pay for itself in fuel savings after 5 years, and after that if it's still giving good enough range for you, you'll be laughing.

I guess it's a gamble on new technology, but thinking about it theres a lot less that can go wrong with an electric car. The battery would degrade over time, but if you can still get 40 miles out of it that'd be enough for most people who can charge it overnight at home.

MX5huggy

"would pay for itself in fuel savings" That depends on how far you travel what numbers are you working out in. Got to presume the car will be worth next to nothing in 5 years.

hksoftware

Electric vehicle technology is progressing relatively fast.
Also, these batteries may have to be replaced at some point. Back in 2011 it would cost you £19k to replace all of the batteries in 1 car!

[Deleted User]

I was assuming spending £14 a month on electricity instead of £140 on fuel, also no road tax, and £160 a year annual service.

Nissan claim a maximum of 30% battery depletion over 10 years, which still leaves a 50 mile range.

The modular battery system shouldn't all fail at once, and I can only think of two ways to wreck a battery: mis-charging, and extremes of temperature. There are many more ways to wreck a combustion engine: timing belt fail, fuel contamination, major oil leak,... Both would be a probable write off, so not too worried about battery replacement cost.

BeenThroughItAll

I know a number of people who work at the Nissan plant, and I know none of them would recommend buying a secondhand Mk1 Leaf. Mind you, none of them would have recommended buying a new one either. I do now know four Leaf 'owners' but they're all paying buttons for them on Nissan's employee/family lease scheme.

forgotmyname

Slight flaw in your 50 mile range being good after a 30% battery drop they barely did that with new batteries.

The tests are done with no heater or aircon or lights etc etc etc.

If you do 10 miles or less into a City and back again then it may save you money on the congestion charges. Otherwise buy a real car.

[Deleted User]

In the case of a working couple needing two cars, if one of them has a 15 mile commute to work and can charge overnight at their house then getting a 2 year old Leaf for 10k instead of a 2 year old Focus for 10k looks like a no-brainer to me. It'll easily do 30 miles a day with aircon, heater, lights.

teabelly

You can get 2014 ones from £11k so there is no point buying an old model for £10k...Have a look on autotrader at the new/nearly new offers.

Plus if you buy it new you get a free charger as well.

The newer ones have much better heaters/AC so they don't kill the range anywhere near as the original model.

If you lease the battery for £70 a month then you get the lifetime warranty.

But if you want a small car then the VW up! at £99 a month is a total no brainer in comparison. No limits on range either.

EVs only make sense if you commute into London and are therefore saving the £11 a day congestion charge. If you live elsewhere they're just a waste of money.

stevemLS

Surely they are "Leaves"? lol

UsernameAlreadyExists

teabelly wrote: »

If you live elsewhere they're just a waste of money.

I was about to argue with you because I have a 12 mile round trip commute and an EV would be perfect for me. However, you're absolutely right, because they cost far too much and are therefore a waste of money.

AdrianC

When you see an ad for a used Leaf, first question is to ask what the battery score is - buying new, you can chose to buy, or you can chose to lease. If it's a cheap purchase price, then there's probably a lease cost for the battery there, too.