Turning a New (Well, Used) Leaf

The thought of owning an electric car had piqued my interest for some time. So, I recently looked at some used ones online, did the math, and discovered that one was within my financial reach. Teslas were not. Bolts were too new for there to be used ones at a price I could afford. But, Nissan Leafs hit my budgetary sweet spot.

My math was as follows:

I drive 22 miles each way to work and back. That is 44 miles a day x 5 days a week x 52 weeks, or 11,440 miles a year. I read that electric cars use $18 per month on average. Figuring gas at $2.20 per gallon and my current truck getting 22 miles per gallon, that is 11,440 miles / 22 MPG or 520 gallons per year x $2.20 per gallon, or $1140 for gas per year. For the electric car, it is $18 per month x 12 months or $216 per year for electricity. That is a savings of $924 per year or $77 per month. What a deal! And that is not even mentioning my original reason for looking at an electric car – their 107 to 126 MPG equivalent rating, resulting in greatly reduced environmental impact

I found many 2 to 4-year old, used Leafs for sale in the $8-12K price range. As I did my research, I found that one with a quick charge port was a must for me. I read that it allows one to charge their car from a 20% charge to an 80% charge in just 30 minutes. This is done via a 480-volt quick charge station, which many Nissan dealer offer for free, and many BP gas stations offer for a high price.

Leafs come in three ‘trim packages’. That is Nissan’s term for their slate of accessories. The S package is the standard one, with cloth seats, no navigation capacity, resistance (not efficient) heating, no quick charge port, halogen headlights, and no fog lights. The SV offers some upgrades. The SL offers a quick charge port, leather seats, LED head and fog lights, navigation, heat-pump heating, and some other bells and whistles.

As I shopped, I learned that some S and SV models have an upgrade that includes the quick charge port. I found a SL at my local dealer for $12K that fit my needs and budget, but it was sold in the hour that it took me to clean up and get to the dealer. Then I saw a SL,20 miles away, with only 10K miles on it for $12K. I called to test drive it and was told that they did not have it yet, but that they had a S with 10K miles with a quick charge port for $10K in hand. I agreed to come for a test drive.

When I got there, I learned that the advertised mileage was wrong and that it had only 1600 miles on it. It had been the dealers test drive and loaner car. It was a 2015 that was not put into service until August of 2016, had been detailed bi-weekly, and serviced regularly at the dealership. So, it was basically a one-year old car with only 1600 miles.

True to car dealers’ historical price obfuscation, my $10K deal came in at just under $12K ($1K for Scotchgard on the interior and exterior, which it already had when they advertised it for $10K ? and tax, tags, extended warranty, etc.), but it still worked for me. With an estimated car payment of $216 per month minus the $77 per month savings from my earlier math, my effective payment would be $139 for a relatively new, low-mileage car. I test drove it, bought it, and brought it home that day.

I’ll update my Leaf owning and driving experience from time to time.