First gen LEAF still selling decently enough, but what of 2nd Gen?

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Jay Cole

Jay Cole

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Just thought I would pass this along. In September Nissan sold 1,055 copies of the LEAF - now in its 7th year on the market:

https://insideevs.com/nissan-leaf-sales-resilient-in-september-ahead-of-new-model/

Certainly no where near its highs...but decent considering its age, limited abilities and with the upgraded LEAF coming in January. Looks like it will be passed by the Tesla Model S in December as the all-time leader in the US for BEV sales, but then the race starts anew with the 2018 version.

Tesla Model S Soon To Exceed Nissan LEAF Sales In The U.S., But Can It Hold On?
https://insideevs.com/tesla-model-s-soon-to-exceed-nissan-leaf-sales-in-the-u-s/

We imagine the LEAF retakes the overall lead in 2018, but likely both EVs will be rundown by the Model 3 by the time 2019 rolls around.
 
I can't understand why anyone would buy the old one considering the new Leaf is almost here. I would've waited, but hey, that's just me!
 
Adrian said:
I can't understand why anyone would buy the old one considering the new Leaf is almost here. I would've waited, but hey, that's just me!
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Yupe, I'm definitely with you Adrian. I get there is a lot of bonus cash on the hood right now...but I think it would drive me crazy to see the new ones driving around beside me in a couple month, and hear people talking about how much better it is.
 
PSE&G (east coast) offers a $10,000 rebate on any 2017 Leaf in stock at participating dealers.
The nearest such dealer was 50 miles away and claimed to have a loaded $42,000 vehicle in stock.
I drove there two days later and they said it was sold the night before. I had to hang around 2 hours to recharge my Mercedes BEV to get home.
For $10,000 plus other incentives, I was willing to give up my plan to buy a Chevy Bolt in December.
i.e. the continued sales of the 2017 leaf are understandable, given this incentive.
 
I have been caught "waiting to purchase until the next upgrade" on too many things in my life--and waiting to lower my C02 footprint was not something I wanted to explain to my kids. I was ready to buy a used Leaf last December and then the $10K Nissan rebate arrived! Walked out the door with a new SV for $17,500 all in. It will be hard to get that kind of deal on a 2018 for at least another year (if ever)--when the potential 200+ mile range 2019's are launched...and then people will be saying why did you buy at 2018? The 110 mile range meets 100% of our families' regional driving needs. For cross country driving we will use our other ICE car for now, but in the next year or so we will divest the dirty beast and purchase another EV. If the charging infrastructure is still not up to par, we will rent ICE using PART of the saving from driving EV's. My family LOVES our 2016 Leaf and we will NEVER by another ICE vehicle again. EV's are best kept secret in transportation--but the word is finally getting out--bring on the S curve!
 
Minnesota: $10K Nissan instant rebate began in late Dec and ran through March (but then the local electric utilities offered the same $10K rebate until all new 2017's were gone off the lots) + ~$3K off sticker by the dealer + $7.5K Fed Rebate.
 
Domenick said:
What state are you in to get a deal like that? That's pretty awesome!
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I also picked up a new Leaf SV, just two months ago. They didn't have the $10k off deal, but the lease will cost me just $5500 after all taxes and fees, and I expect I can buy it for $10k when the lease is up. Even if I have to pay the full residual value of $13k it'll still be a pretty good deal!

I test drove the Bolt a few times and really liked it, but it would cost nearly twice as much and the extended range would only help out once every couple months. I've already taken my Leaf on two 300 mile trips and one 900 mile trip that spanned two days. The 300 mile trips took hardly longer than before when I used my (now sold) gas car, since we'd usually make a couple stops along the way to get a bite to eat or buy gas, but the 900 mile trip was noticeably longer. I had not realized how much the quick charging would slow down after the first couple stops! By the end of the first day of the trip we were only getting ~50 miles of range for every half hour charging session.
 
Feb 2017, got a 2017 Leaf S (30kWh battery) for $17K (not even counting CA $2500 rebate).

State: California
Dealer: Nissan of Vacaville
Total Drive Off: $0.00 (yes no check required)
Payments: $216.30/month inc tax (36 mth lease)
Total Payments: $7786.80
Residual Value: $9130.05

So after 3 years, I'd paid $7786.80 in lease payments but gotten $2500 back. Then I'd throw in $9K + tax to keep the car.

Call it what? $15K total?
Super cheap, thanks to Nissan of Vacaville. No haggling on top of that.
Sacramento Nissan wanted way more.
 
The $10K incentive is available to everyone in North Carolina via Plug-in NC, and many others in the Southeast via an identical incentive from Duke/Progress Energy. I had great end-of-the-month timing in September and picked up an S for around $14K out the door, net after the $7500 federal credit. But the cars have pretty much all dried up in the Southeast due to this deal.

At this price, personally I have absolutely no regrets about not waiting for the new model, which to me looks like it has very bland styling and will be much more expensive versus the heavily-discounted current-gen Leaf. By the time the new Leaf hits the street, my Model-3 reservation should be up, and Daddy gets a Model-3 while my teenage drivers will share the nearly-new Leaf-S that cost me way less than the next-gen Leaf!
 
I'm looking forward to a glut of cheap ex-lease Gen 1 Leafs to hit the market next year when people jump on the 2018 Leaf. It's the only way I'll be able to afford it:)
 
silversod said:
I'm looking forward to a glut of cheap ex-lease Gen 1 Leafs to hit the market next year when people jump on the 2018 Leaf. It's the only way I'll be able to afford it:)
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That's the same boat I'm in. Come on, 2018 Leaf, hurry up and get here so I can see how prices of 2nd hands are affected!
 
Domenick said:
That's the same boat I'm in. Come on, 2018 Leaf, hurry up and get here so I can see how prices of 2nd hands are affected!
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The off lease Leaf's are here now. The auctions, craigslist, eBay, true-car on and on are **** if 2013, 2014 and some 2015 Leaf's especially S models. I just bought 3 days ago a 2015 Leaf SV with 20K and options for $11.8K. My car came from San Diego. He is a broker, but a one man show, basically only selling LEAF's. He said he sold ~200 of them. He buys them all from Nissan on Auction. I don't have it yet. It is on the truck coming my way. Should be here Monday.
 
Adrian said:
I can't understand why anyone would buy the old one considering the new Leaf is almost here. I would've waited, but hey, that's just me!
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WHY? Cost. A 2013 Leaf is now under $10K. My just purchased 2015 Leaf SV with 20K miles, perfect, factory warranty in effect, with all the good options for $11.8K. What's a new comparable 2018 Leaf model? Even with a tax break, that's about $20K more, including sales taxes. No loan I bought it cash. Granted a new one has better range and style. However the 110 range (real world 85) is about double what I drive on days I commute to work. I've a second car, VW turbo diesel TDI JSW. It gets 50 mpg Hwy and has tons of torque.
 
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gmcjetpilot said:
WHY? Cost. A 2013 Leaf is now under $10K. My just purchased 2015 Leaf SV with 20K miles, perfect, factory warranty in effect, with all the good options for $11.8K. What's a new comparable 2018 Leaf model? Even with a tax break, that's about $20K more, including sales taxes. No loan I bought it cash. Granted a new one has better range and style. However the 110 range (real world 85) is about double what I drive on days I commute to work. I've a second car, VW turbo diesel TDI JSW. It gets 50 mpg Hwy and has tons of torque.
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You're right, the cost. My EV fund is not quite there yet and I think the prices will fall a little more in the months to come over here in the UK yet.

I shall be paying cash for my Leaf EV too, No loans/lease, I want to be free of payments.The Gen 1 range is not a problem with me as I'm retired and have no daily commute.
With free road tax on EV's over here and petrol at £5.46 / $7.17 a UK gallon it's a no brainer for me to get one:).
 
silversod said:
You're right, the cost. My EV fund is not quite there yet and I think the prices will fall a little more in the months to come over here in the UK yet.

I shall be paying cash for my Leaf EV too, No loans/lease, I want to be free of payments.The Gen 1 range is not a problem with me as I'm retired and have no daily commute.
With free road tax on EV's over here and petrol at £5.46 / $7.17 a UK gallon it's a no brainer for me to get one:).
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Silversod I have only had it two days and I love it. The level 1 charger is fine, but I already bought a 16 amp level 2 cable, simply because I have a 6-20 (220v) plug in my garage for my air compressor. Level 2 @ 16 Amps is about 3 times faster than level 1. I did not need a 32 amp charger, but that would have cut times down half again. Yes, our fuel here in USA (Tennessee) is $2.07/gal regular, $2.37/gal, cheap fuel in USA. That may change of course.

I will have to save a lot of money on fuel to "make this LEAF pay for it self" outright, even as cheap as it was, but my plan is to commute with it over the next 10 years, with estimated (assuming fuel stays same) $8000 fuel saving over my VW TDI. I'm not including the cost of electricity if about $4000. This does not account for lower maintenance, no engine or transmission services. I may work some free charging into the mix. There is a big public park near me. There is a free EV charge station about 2 miles away. Of course my there is always a long extension cord and my neighbors outdoor outlet... :) Kidding. There is free charge at Whole Food, Ikea. The real benefit I hope is a comfortable trouble free, low emission, high "MPG" car which will give me service for next 10 years.

The big down side in my math is having two cars means x2, insurance and yearly registration (which is not much). The trick is to get rid of my VW TDI, but I really hate to do that. I can go over 700 Hwy miles on one tank, averaging near 50 mpg, +40 mpg mix driving. VW TDI is pretty efficient.

I can add "Zero Emission" and using the HOV lanes driving solo as other reasons for my purchase. However I commute off peak hours, and the routes I drive only have HOV access for a few miles. In California the HOV thing is a big dot deal (the traffic is nightmare).

The real reason I bought it is saving a little, reliability (or lack there of as my VW gets older but reliable so far), and technology. I was looking at a Tesla, but that REALLY makes no dollar and cents, at least to me. The new LEAF (150 mile range) is suppose to expand that range year after next, too 200 miles, which is where the Tesla Model 60 S is.
 
gmcjetpilot said:
Silversod I have only had it two days and I love it. The level 1 charger is fine, but I already bought a 16 amp level 2 cable, simply because I have a 6-20 (220v) plug in my garage for my air compressor. Level 2 @ 16 Amps is about 3 times faster than level 1. I did not need a 32 amp charger, but that would have cut times down half again. Yes, our fuel here in USA (Tennessee) is $2.07/gal regular, $2.37/gal, cheap fuel in USA. That may change of course.

I will have to save a lot of money on fuel to "make this LEAF pay for it self" outright, even as cheap as it was, but my plan is to commute with it over the next 10 years, with estimated (assuming fuel stays same) $8000 fuel saving over my VW TDI. I'm not including the cost of electricity if about $4000. This does not account for lower maintenance, no engine or transmission services. I may work some free charging into the mix. There is a big public park near me. There is a free EV charge station about 2 miles away. Of course my there is always a long extension cord and my neighbors outdoor outlet... :) Kidding. There is free charge at Whole Food, Ikea. The real benefit I hope is a comfortable trouble free, low emission, high "MPG" car which will give me service for next 10 years.

The big down side in my math is having two cars means x2, insurance and yearly registration (which is not much). The trick is to get rid of my VW TDI, but I really hate to do that. I can go over 700 Hwy miles on one tank, averaging near 50 mpg, +40 mpg mix driving. VW TDI is pretty efficient.

I can add "Zero Emission" and using the HOV lanes driving solo as other reasons for my purchase. However I commute off peak hours, and the routes I drive only have HOV access for a few miles. In California the HOV thing is a big dot deal (the traffic is nightmare).

The real reason I bought it is saving a little, reliability (or lack there of as my VW gets older but reliable so far), and technology. I was looking at a Tesla, but that REALLY makes no dollar and cents, at least to me. The new LEAF (150 mile range) is suppose to expand that range year after next, too 200 miles, which is where the Tesla Model 60 S is.
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Glad to hear you're enjoying your Leaf, I cant wait to get mine. I've already bought the OBDll plug & downloaded Leafspy pro onto my mobile phone in advance to check the state of battery health etc. :p

When I get my Leaf (I've been saving haphazardly for over two years) It will be just for local use, I rarely drive more than 50/60 a week these days, If I have to travel into the city I always use public transport as it's quicker than by car & I've got my free travel concessionary bus/train pass :) besides the banning of diesel cars & charging for older petrol cars to drive in cities is just around the corner here.

I drive an old Rover 75 which I think I might put on a limited mileage classic car policy which is a lot cheaper insurance than a normal policy and just use it for the weekend.
 
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