Car problems - Hire Purchae

Grumpy_chap

crunk said:

My Tesla and my wife’s leaf.  I did look at the lead before purchase but you can’t check a faulty cell on a test drive or forecourt? 

This is interesting to me.  I have commented many times on the current high residual values of used EVs as being something of an anomaly.  I have commented that, for me, the value of any used EV is zero, precisely because there is no way for a purchaser to assess the condition of the battery.

If I understand the OP correctly, as well as the Tesla, this is the second Leaf they have owned as a family.  With that experience, the OP was therefore able know that the range experienced was not what the particular model of car should do, even given driving style and conditions.  If that were me, I would likely have suffered the "fob off" about the stated range being equivalent to MPG figures and driving style, temperature being why I got so much less.  Even the range dropping from 30 miles to zero could be covered by the "fob off" as a comparison to car fuel readouts, which can also jump with a level of erratic steps.

As well as the experience, the OP has an app (LeafSpy) that could assess the SoH of the battery in the Leaf.  But even that was not sufficiently straightforward that it could be used prior to purchase and had to be done afterwards.  The OP is probably also helped by the fact the car quickly needed a service at Nissan, so any faults could be identified and recorded properly.  Most people won't have that need straight after buying the car.

How does a typical EV buyer assess the condition of the car / battery prior to purchase to give any value greater than zero - zilch - nada?

DrEskimo

Grumpy_chap said:

crunk said:

My Tesla and my wife’s leaf.  I did look at the lead before purchase but you can’t check a faulty cell on a test drive or forecourt? 

This is interesting to me.  I have commented many times on the current high residual values of used EVs as being something of an anomaly.  I have commented that, for me, the value of any used EV is zero, precisely because there is no way for a purchaser to assess the condition of the battery.

If I understand the OP correctly, as well as the Tesla, this is the second Leaf they have owned as a family.  With that experience, the OP was therefore able know that the range experienced was not what the particular model of car should do, even given driving style and conditions.  If that were me, I would likely have suffered the "fob off" about the stated range being equivalent to MPG figures and driving style, temperature being why I got so much less.  Even the range dropping from 30 miles to zero could be covered by the "fob off" as a comparison to car fuel readouts, which can also jump with a level of erratic steps.

As well as the experience, the OP has an app (LeafSpy) that could assess the SoH of the battery in the Leaf.  But even that was not sufficiently straightforward that it could be used prior to purchase and had to be done afterwards.  The OP is probably also helped by the fact the car quickly needed a service at Nissan, so any faults could be identified and recorded properly.  Most people won't have that need straight after buying the car.

How does a typical EV buyer assess the condition of the car / battery prior to purchase to give any value greater than zero - zilch - nada?

The Leaf has the battery SoH indicated on the dash board. It has 12bars and as the OP states, there were only 11/12 bars on the dash indicating it had a SoH around 85%.

I don't know why the OP did not use LeafSpy before buying the car, or simply ask for the Nissan dealer to provide a battery health report during the service. I used the same dongle and an App to check the battery health of both mine and my MiL Zoe before I bought them. Very straight forward.

So the battery degradation was known, and all that is left is the faulty cell. This is and should be repaired under the Nissan battery warranty. This does not mean the Leaf is worthless?