How do I know if the battery is Flex or Paid for?
1 - 20 of 32 Posts
Joined
·
145 Posts
If it says on the V5 it's a Flex then it is. If it doesn't then you don't know, because they were originally issued with V5s that didn't say this and a replacement one was issued later. You don't know if the previous owner "forgot" to destroy the original V5.
The only sure way is to ask RCI.
However, I don't see how you could get saddled with paying the battery rental without signing a battery lease transfer agreement. I say this as someone who had a Flex Leaf, traded it in at a Nissan main dealer without getting the battery rental transfer sorted out first and ended up paying two months of battery rental for a car I didn't own before it was finally resolved (I did get the money back but it was a huge amount of unnecessary stress).
So my view is that no-one is going to want to sell you a Flex Leaf without being very sure that you are paying the battery rental as if you're not then they are!
However, I am not a lawyer, your mileage may vary and I may be talking rubbish.
The only sure way is to ask RCI.
However, I don't see how you could get saddled with paying the battery rental without signing a battery lease transfer agreement. I say this as someone who had a Flex Leaf, traded it in at a Nissan main dealer without getting the battery rental transfer sorted out first and ended up paying two months of battery rental for a car I didn't own before it was finally resolved (I did get the money back but it was a huge amount of unnecessary stress).
So my view is that no-one is going to want to sell you a Flex Leaf without being very sure that you are paying the battery rental as if you're not then they are!
However, I am not a lawyer, your mileage may vary and I may be talking rubbish.
Joined
·
2,703 Posts
Sounds like a great little scam to buy a flex quickly, not see the battery agreement then claim it wasn't a flex when you were sold it......
....this whole idea of battery rental really wasn't one of Renault's best....
....this whole idea of battery rental really wasn't one of Renault's best....
Joined
·
145 Posts
Whilst I agree entirely that battery rental is a really bad idea, my point is that only a complete idiot (like me) will sell you a Flex without being sure that you have taken over the battery rental agreement.
Unless it was written off and the RCI were paid out for the battery. Then the V5 will still say Flex, but no rental is required
RCI still own the battery, you cant just claim you never knew, refuse to sign the paperwork and steal (literally!) the battery from them
I'm not entirely sure it does. This is one of the big issues and one of the reasons the motortrade are now avoiding some EVs.
Joined
·
1,552 Posts
I would never buy a car with a battery lease, no matte who makes it or how cheap it is. I understand that Nissan will not replace or repair a battery under warranty or flex if it has less than 3 bars removed.
My car has 1 bar missing, and its a good 5 years old. I can't imagine anyone buying a 5 year old car, and paying monthly to drive it. After 5 years, the flex should be nullified. They got their money back by then.
My car has 1 bar missing, and its a good 5 years old. I can't imagine anyone buying a 5 year old car, and paying monthly to drive it. After 5 years, the flex should be nullified. They got their money back by then.
You have a 5 year battery warranty (8 years on the 30kwh). If the battery has lost a bar you could get it fixed by @Mike Schooling who offers that service. That brings it back up to low 90's SOH I believe.
Joined
·
2,703 Posts
I'd like to see what happens if you genuinely never knew then, or were sold a flex as a non-flex, and the leaseholder just stopped paying. It's the leaseholders name on the paperwork and I doubt you'll find a bailiff who'll go out and repossess a 400V battery that is live and connected to a car that they have no right to touch. Not to mention that the original owner is the one who is technically responsible for the lease, whilst the new owner could put together a reasonable case of either criminal damage or entrapment if their car were immobilised because a battery that every piece of paperwork said they owned was repossessed because of a financial agreement they had no ability to know they were responsible for.RCI still own the battery, you cant just claim you never knew, refuse to sign the paperwork and steal (literally!) the battery from them
Flex Leafs are the minority and there is no reliable method of knowing that any given Leaf is a Flex model - it's a complete and utter mess that should never really have happened!
Joined
·
1,552 Posts
Its out of warranty. I knew this before I bought it. Mine is March 2011. And your saying then that 1 bar loss is a warranty claim ? I understood it was 3
Joined
·
1,552 Posts
More likely you will be done for receiving stolen goods. The original seller would be done for theft or at a minimum handling stolen goods. The law is never for the little man.
Have you seen the debt recovery programs, if you can't prove you own it, they take it away. Might not even be your debt - just parked at the wrong place at the wrong time. Brutal - but thats the way of it.
Dont say whatever the price.....everything has a price,£2k for a 6month old Tenka and i'm sure you would have their hand off
The seller cant sell something they don't own, and the buyer cant buy something from someone who does not have 'clean title' to it.
If you buy a year old Range Rover for £10k cash in the local pub and it turns out stolen you don't get to keep it, this is no different.
In reality RCI reclaim their goods if you refuse to lease it, and it's for you to you to raise a civil case against the person that sold the car to you.
Really? For the sake of Reductio ad absurdum, what about a quid for a brand new car with £70 a month battery?No I would never buy a car with a lease battery. Also - you believe what you like, when they take your car off you for having a debt on its battery - I won't say I told ya
I'm 100% with you on what RCI would do
Joined
·
1,552 Posts
It has nothing to do with the money. Its to do with the fact that the car is useless with out a battery. And flex battery is not part of the car. You can't even give them the battery back and buy a new one. Your basically renting part of the car. I would never buy a property on a lease hold for the same reasons. I would lease a car on flex - but never in a month of Sundays buy one. You would have to give it to me - and I would then thank you for saddling me up with a £70 debt (minimum) every month.
Sorry I just can't even comprehend the thought of kinda buying it.
Sorry I just can't even comprehend the thought of kinda buying it.
1 - 20 of 32 Posts
Join the discussion
Join now to ask and comment!