Ibought this Nissan LEAF just over a year ago for the princely sum of £3500, before the panic buying induced petrol shortage resulted in prices of used EVs go through the roof. So, what did I get for my money?
My car is a 2012 model with just over 100,000 miles on the clock, it’s clearly had some sort of minor frontal impact and the bumper has some cracks. The tow point cover is missing, as is the actual towing adaptor, which is another clue.
The test drive revealed no major problems though. In fact, it drove very well for a ten-year-old car. The performance is great with strong acceleration from standstill and the brakes pull up straight but there was a rattle from the front and the steering had slight play. On inspection the antiroll bar droplinks were worn and the track rod ends were rather loose. Other than that, it was mechanically sound.
The range had depleted to 60 miles max, so somewhere between 80% and 60% of its new range, depending on who you believe. There are better 10-year-old LEAFs out there, but this was the cheapest one with an MOT that I could find, and one of the reasons I bought it was to teach students how to service and repair EVs – being a bit degraded was actually quite useful to me as it allowed me to show students typical problems.
It all seems to work
However, it is still quite a usable car and handles the daily commute with ease. In fact, it’s surprisingly easy to live with, you just get in it and go, everything still works fine. The aircon can still pump out cold air and the heater gets the cabin warm in the winter before
