[dombutler]

I have been looking for a cheap leaf, without any success, it seems ebay and facbook marketplace are full of people selling on leaf to make a profit, rarely see any genuine sellers. They often don't show pictures of the battery health or reset it.
I am looking in the 2.5k-3.5k range, not bothered on cosmetics and willing to fix issues etc., i know the battery range will be an issue, but it is for use around town.
Thanks!

 

[80698]

I am looking in the 2.5k-3.5k range

The demand for EVs has increased prices beyond that now. If you get a LEAF That cheap it will probably be a very early, likely imported original model with a very unhealthy battery pack where you're lucky to get 30 miles in the real world. That or maybe a previous write-off. I would have suggested considering the triplets but even they are over budget now. You're definitely better off trying to stretch your budget or saving more money to manage a good example these days.

There is an imported LEAF On Autotrader right now. Still a little over your budget but they are fairly well trusted and sell quite a lot of these cars. They are also honest about the battery capacity and range. Might be worth taking a look if you are sure this is what you want to do. Dealer is fairly local to me and I have offered to look at their cars in great detail for other forum members in the past but given the current covid restrictions I unfortunately can't do the same for you on this occasion.

 

[Johnny Read]

You missed a good example only very recently for £3.5k. SOLD: Nissan Leaf 2011

keep your eyes peeled on here and be ready to move quickly. That one sold within hours. Certainly looked more functional than running as a shopping trolley

 

[proddick]

I am looking in the 2.5k-3.5k range

The problem you face is that a Leaf has significant value for stationary storage or use in a conversion. Other parts from the Leaf are also valuable, so older Leaf are often broken for parts. If any come up at that price you need to be quick and 100% sure the battery is owned.

 

[chris-b]

Might be worth checking where this one has got to:

2012 Nissan Leaf - Cheapest leaf on eBay - Save loads on running costs | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2012 Nissan Leaf - Cheapest leaf on eBay - Save loads on running costs at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[dombutler]

thanks for the advice, looks like under £3k is impossible these days then, though I did see this guy get one for £2600 and that was posted in october. I'd like to know where he bought it from!
you tube: cheapest leaf in UK

 

[Johnny Read]

though I did see this guy get one for £2600 and that was posted in october. I'd like to know where he bought it from!
you tube: cheapest leaf in UK

I've been recommended a few of his videos before - have now subscribed (and even let a couple of Ads roll to give him some revenue). I agree it's a good price to buy it for - Acenta spec? The Feb2021 part-ex for that age/mileage is now circa £2400. Would be interesting to know the actual backstory on why it was sold for the part-ex price. Whether or not the owner knew the private price was around £900 more is anyones guess. You sometimes see cars for sale at the part-ex on this forum, so hence the suggestion to keep your eyes peeled for the great deals which go very quickly, on the same day.

Slightly off topic... One question while watching the video. The car has a 70%SOH. He says the early Leaf has an Achilles heel with battery degredation because the battery is passively cooled. I thought they all are?

 

[dk6780]

You are correct, all LEAF have passively air-cooled batteries. The earlier batteries deteriorated quicker than the later ones are, as well as being older of course.
So the 2014 Sunderland built cars are a better car than the previous cars having got a better battery, improved charging efficiency and got rid of the electronic handbrake that the earlier Japanese built cars suffer from. Whether that justifies the extra price to you is for you to decide.

 

[mikeselectricstuff]

What sort of issues are you prepared to deal with....?

https://www.copart.co.uk/lot/33316861/clean-title-2015-nissan-leaf-acent-newbury

 

[farmergiles]

You are correct, all LEAF have passively air-cooled batteries. The earlier batteries deteriorated quicker than the later ones are, as well as being older of course.
So the 2014 Sunderland built cars are a better car than the previous cars having got a better battery, improved charging efficiency and got rid of the electronic handbrake that the earlier Japanese built cars suffer from. Whether that justifies the extra price to you is for you to decide.

Some EV owners sneer at the Leaf's lack of active cooling but what are the actual downsides in a UK climate? I can see that in a hot climate, it could be a disadvantage but presumably Nissan considered this when designing the car. It's one less thing to go wrong too.
(My Leaf E+ has an electric handbrake)

 

[G.a.r.y]

Some EV owners sneer at the Leaf's lack of active cooling but what are the actual downsides in a UK climate? I can see that in a hot climate, it could be a disadvantage but presumably Nissan considered this when designing the car. It's one less thing to go wrong too.
(My Leaf E+ has an electric handbrake)

The issue comes when rapid charging - if you're pumping 50kw+ into a battery it is going to generate some heat and if you don't remove that heat then the batteries warm up rapidly - Nissan protect the batteries by limiting the charge rate to prevent excessive heating but this just causes rapidgate, and it is still taking the batteries outside their best operating window. Zoe batteries on the other hand are actively cooled by a separate AC condenser, don't rapidgate and seem to have a better lifespan...

Cheers.

 

[farmergiles]

The issue comes when rapid charging - if you're pumping 50kw+ into a battery it is going to generate some heat and if you don't remove that heat then the batteries warm up rapidly - Nissan protect the batteries by limiting the charge rate to prevent excessive heating but this just causes rapidgate, and it is still taking the batteries outside their best operating window. Zoe batteries on the other hand are actively cooled by a separate AC condenser, don't rapidgate and seem to have a better lifespan...

Cheers.

Thanks, that makes sense.

 

[Kiltox]

thanks for the advice, looks like under £3k is impossible these days then, though I did see this guy get one for £2600 and that was posted in october. I'd like to know where he bought it from!
you tube: cheapest leaf in UK

This is my video - the car was sourced from this very forum. I used a little creative license with the title since I actually just collected it for a friend and arranged for it to be delivered to them, but it was definitely legit.

*****SOLD*****Nissan Leaf 24kw 11reg -Swindon area.

Nissan Leaf Gen1 Battery owned for sale. £2800 (on Gumtree for £3100 ono) Incredibly reliable fully electric car with a few minor body marks. Charge overnight using a normal 13A plug socket with the supplied adaptor cable. Incredibly cheap, green car to run, Vehicle tax = £0. This is my...

www.speakev.com

Note the 70% SoH and 6045 L1/L2 charges in 80k miles! It must have spent most of its life plugged in and charged to 100%.

They don’t come up at that kind of money very often - it was an absolute bargain. The chap that now owns it is considering a battery upgrade.

 

[dombutler]

Ok, well I still have not bought a Leaf, missed loads, mostly due to covid and bad luck!
Someone did message me on here 7 months ago, but only saw it yeasterday as it was a profile post?!
Still looking, though in the 4-5k range, it depends on what it is, could possibly go more.
Cheers,
Dom.

 

[Mofo]

There’s a raffle you could try… (just need to find the post/link)
voila!

£2 Raffle of my Nissan Leaf Tekna with every available...

IMPORTANT 11 BATTERY BARS NOW - NOT 12 Only 8,000 tickets in total, so really good odds of winning. The sooner they sell, the sooner I will be delivering it to the winner :) Click ink below for full details Enter Raffle to Win Rare 2017 Nissan Leaf Tekna Hosted By ANDREW MITCHELL

www.speakev.com

 

[Aleras]

I never leased it's always been more expensive that buying if you bought used wisely historically.

Given decent cars are not depreciating much currently and haven't for last 2 years it makes even less sense now.

It's just another way for many to majorly live beyond their means As you said if you buy it you can always sell it for X amount down line. You lease it you have nothing when you hand it back. It's down to cost of ownership. Leasing was only ever cheaper compared to buying a brand new car every 3 years with historic deprecation which few ever did anyway.