Are used EVs a rip-off?!

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The car's original price was 24,000 pounds AFTER government subsidies, which means the actual cost of the car was about 30,000. And now you can buy it for 1,500. That is a 95% loss in resale value. CRAZY!

The most unrealistic thing on this video is the fact RAC actually showed up within 12 hours!

Few things as an ex-Leaf owner (2015 version): • I think the 124 range you mentioned, was the "rated" range, which is about as reliable as the range-o-meter in the dash. I had the Tekna (top spec at the time) and I used to get about 90 miles safely with normal driving style. • The range-o-meter was affectionately known as the "guess-o-meter" in the community. It bases the range of current driving so the estimate changes wildly as you drive. • I opted for the Tekna model as it had a heat pump for the climate, other models had a resistive heating system that would eat battery! • The map in the car used to make me chuckle, especially as I used to potter over to the Trafford Centre a lot and it had the "Manchester Ship Canal" listed as "Manchester Shit Canal" which was classic as there is a sewage works next to the motorway as you went over it. • It uses a CHAdeMO rapid charging connector which in the UK is getting harder and harder to find. CCS2 is the standard now and CHAdeMO has been phased out a lot over the past years. Honestly, when I had the car I loved it. I made some videos on it including charging at rapid stations. When my finance finished I switched to an ICE Ford Fiesta after it and really missed it, but at the time the then "new" Leaf was ridiculously expensive. These days I am in a Model 3 and soon a Model Y as well and it is night and day. Driving down to London I look at the services I use to have to stop at in the Leaf and remember the stop start nature, now the range of the Tesla is longer than I would drive without a break. It was a great car, I used to love the acceleration especially at traffic lights with a Police car next to me, setting the speed limiter to 33MPH and flooring it, I did about 30k miles in it with no charger at home (lived in an apartment block at the time) and I still look back on the car as a great car. If you bought a used gun metal grey Tekna Leaf with a reg of MK65 KDN, congrats - that was one mine! :D

For a two car family, £1500 for a car that will cost about 3p per mile when home charging is perfect for all the school runs and short trips that make up 95% of journeys for the average family. If you scrap it after 5 years you’ve still had some pretty cheap driving

The cheapest "anything" in the country probably won't be a good indication of what you can get if you go to the used market in general.

The most shocking thing about this video is the calling the RAC and it still being daylight when they turned up!

So the car’s estimate at the beginning was pretty much spot on - it said 59 and you got 60.

A family member bought one of those three years ago. It was used for shopping and dropping the kids off at school. They thought as stated here, they would be more reliable than the petrol corolla they traded in. Then after three months the range dropped off slowly until it simply didn't go. The replacement battery is worth more than the car. No one wants to buy it including the car wreckers and so it sits in his yard - useless.

Matt failed to mention it only cost £3.75 at current kWh price to fully charge it.. If you work close to home or just do the school run 2x a day this would easily do you 5 days without charging. People need to realise it’s a town/ city car

As someone who owns a 2012 Nissan LEAF my battery is also at about 70% and my experience has been similar. I bought it in May 2022 with about 92K kms and have had no issues with it as it approaches 122K km. Range is an issue, but for in town daily driving it can’t be beat!

In 2019, I bought a 2013 Nissan Leaf with a bit over 30,000 km on the odometer. It initially had 11 bars of battery health, which decreased to 10 bars by the time I sold it. I drove it for 1.5 years, covering approximately 10,000 km. During the summer, it offered a range of 100-120 km, while in winter, the range dropped to 80 km. Unfortunately, in Germany, the purchase price was 10,000 Euros, and I sold it for 6,700 Euros. Nonetheless, it served me well for my daily round trip of 28 km to work, and I could easily charge it using a standard Schuko plug in my garage. I appreciated the ability to schedule preheating for every day of the week, and the rear camera proved to be very useful. Additionally, I utilized LeafSpy for monitoring purposes. Overall, it was a great car, but I decided to switch to a Tesla Model 3 Performance in 2021. 🙂

Yeah, i have a friend that bought one of these used recently. He is very happy with it. He charges it nightly and most all days he drives less than half of the 60 mile range. If he has to drive further he just takes his wife’s car that day. Its a specific use for shorter commutes but if for a few k you can get a car that does all your local driving without needing gas, its a good deal.

My 2013 Leaf still has >80% original capacity and does most things it did when new. The biggest issue is that the tech has moved on massively, and with it peoples expectations.

The problem is, the sort of people that would want/benefit most from a £1500 EV are also the sort of people that probably don't have anywhere to charge one at home. They're utterly useless for anyone living in a flat or with communal parking, and next to useless for anyone with on street parking, all left at the mercy,expense and inconvenience of the public chargers.

CRAP!!! I've been ripped off! I got a an 2019 EV bike for $1900 and it only went 20 miles (32km) with throttle only (recently stolen out of my porch). This Nissan is a steal of a deal!

I own a 2018 Renault Zoe (which shares some parts with the Nissan Leaf) and was leasing the battery for 100€ a month. Last year I asked if I could purchase the lease, and it only cost me 3500€. All in all it cost the same as if I bought the battery with the car originally. After 5 years and 66000km, I've lost about 8% capacity.

The early leafs had the worst battery chemistry, and no thermal management. Undoubtedly fully charged to 100% after every trip. Both of which killed the battery much quicker than more modern ones.

I still have one of these, alongside my Kia EV6. Its not a long range, but fine as a city commuter. Costs virtually nothing to run, and if you can buy them for £1500 thats less than an electric bicycle.

I’ve still got my 2014 Leaf. The battery is down to ~100 km but that usually gets me through a week of driving to work and running errands. The only thing I don’t like is that the telematics don’t work anymore so I can’t pre-condition the cabin while plugged in before leaving. Also, living in Canada where car thefts are on the rise but it’s almost 200 km to the next city, it’s not a vehicle many thieves target. 😅