Nissan LEAF - General

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14 posts

Geek

#2429088 28-Feb-2020 21:42

RunningMan:

XERG:[snip] Right now gonna go and check how reputable is 2CheapCars.

They were fined $438,000 a few months back for Fair Trading Act breaches. https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/2-cheap-cars-large-fine-sending-pretty-strong-sign-other-car-dealers-expert-says

Beautiful! I'm so lucky... Actually, this is my first deal with dealer. Another two ICE cars I have bought from Ace and Snap rentals on their old fleet liquidation and pretty happy with them.

Thanks for sharing this. Hope, now they will be much more reasonable with frustrated client then before.

Battery problems fall under category "any other relevant circumstances, eg how soon the car developed a problem after purchase". I have printed web page of the classified with SOH showings printed in description and shown on a picture as well as "11 bars" mentioned in my purchase agreement.

nofam

1094 posts

Uber Geek

#2445820 24-Mar-2020 21:23

Hey All, probably a silly question, but just bought a 2015 24X Autech and it has a port of some kind to the left of the bonnet release, under the steering wheel - I can't find any reference to it online or in the US Leaf manual I downloaded. I can't upload an image of it currently for some reason, but it has a dial control on the left, a credit-card sized port with two led's and two buttons on the right of the port, one of which looks like speaker volume, and the other which is looks like the repeat/loop button on Spotify?

Scott3

3972 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2445823 24-Mar-2020 21:25

nofam:

Hey All, probably a silly question, but just bought a 2015 24X Autech and it has a port of some kind to the left of the bonnet release, under the steering wheel - I can't find any reference to it online or in the US Leaf manual I downloaded. I can't upload an image of it currently for some reason, but it has a dial control on the left, a credit-card sized port with two led's and two buttons on the right of the port, one of which looks like speaker volume, and the other which is looks like the repeat/loop button on Spotify?

Assume it is for a toll road system used in japan.

duckInferno

89 posts

Master Geek

#2445842 24-Mar-2020 21:53

Like this? https://andrewsjapanesecars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/DSC00229_v1.jpg

It is indeed a card reader for japanese toll roads. You can safely unplug it if you don't want to hear the japanese lady complaining about a lack of card when you turn the car on.

Guilliman

80 posts

Master Geek

#2446411 25-Mar-2020 15:05

duckInferno:
tripper1000:

D mode is only more efficient for people with a digital right foot (full on/full off).

I feel seen

Hmm, I always drive in D mode, interestingly enough I'm now running at 8.2km/kwh.

nofam

1094 posts

Uber Geek

#2446631 25-Mar-2020 20:11

duckInferno:

Like this? https://andrewsjapanesecars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/DSC00229_v1.jpg

It is indeed a card reader for japanese toll roads. You can safely unplug it if you don't want to hear the japanese lady complaining about a lack of card when you turn the car on.

Finally remembered how to upload images! 🤦

Guilliman

80 posts

Master Geek

#2447068 26-Mar-2020 12:45

I had something similar to that in my Toyota Blade which was my previous car, it also seemed to host a robot Japanese woman I could barely understand. All I could remember from 5th-form Japanese was 'please'. I disconnected it after a while.

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wellygary

8328 posts

Uber Geek

#2447122 26-Mar-2020 13:32

nofam:
duckInferno:

Like this? https://andrewsjapanesecars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/DSC00229_v1.jpg

It is indeed a card reader for japanese toll roads. You can safely unplug it if you don't want to hear the japanese lady complaining about a lack of card when you turn the car on.

Finally remembered how to upload images! 🤦

As others have said it a smart card slot for the Japanese ETS motorway toll system.. it is of no use in NZ so you are free to do whatever you like to it..

mdf

3516 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2502252 10-Jun-2020 14:39

I'm second hand Leaf shopping (Mrs MDF's skepticism about Leafs appears to have been overcome with a test drive).

This is the shopping checklist I've assembled from the internet and this thread. Anything I'm missing/no longer relevant?

Number of airbags isn't determined by trim level
Make sure SD card is present (and works - fiddle with stereo to confirm)
Battery bars / SOH
Dash conversion
Radio conversion
Charging cable
30kWh models firmware upgrade (though I'm most likely shopping in the 24kWh models anyway)

duckInferno

89 posts

Master Geek

#2502312 10-Jun-2020 15:33

mdf:

I'm second hand Leaf shopping (Mrs MDF's skepticism about Leafs appears to have been overcome with a test drive).

This is the shopping checklist I've assembled from the internet and this thread. Anything I'm missing/no longer relevant?

Number of airbags isn't determined by trim level
Make sure SD card is present (and works - fiddle with stereo to confirm)
Battery bars / SOH
Dash conversion
Radio conversion
Charging cable
30kWh models firmware upgrade (though I'm most likely shopping in the 24kWh models anyway)

For radio just leave it japanese, there are very few options relevant for NZ and imo it's just not worth the $500-600 to change language for them. It's easy enough to memorise the ones you might actually use (eg select bluetooth device) and use Google Translate's camera option for the rest.

UNLESS you get an S trim in which case you should absolutely swap it out for an aftermarket stereo. :)

Dealers should supply the cable and SD card but yeah check that they are, dealers that don't specialise in EV's might not know things they should. Generally dealers also include a dash conversion in the price, it's not as much as a PITA as the radio.

If 24kwh does the job then don't bother looking at 30kwh models, you pay more than +25% for that +25% range.

Dugimodo

168 posts

Master Geek

#2502367 10-Jun-2020 16:00

Check it has a NZ compliant charger, not a 200V japanese one with a caravan plug on it (ok they work but not legal unless certified for 240V)

Maybe get a spare wheel for it - your call but I didn't and as luck would have it hit something in roadworks and wrecked a tyre a couple weeks after buying it and had to call a tow truck. Now I have a spare wheel and I made a false floor for it to go under. You only need to use it once and it pays for itself - cost me $100 from hamilton EV.

Check the front suspension bolts under the bonnet for water & rust, and get caps for them if the car doesn't have them. (Lift the bonnet, pull of the little plastic grate on each side near the windscreen and have a look - known design flaw it's shaped like a cup and water collects in there).

Some EV dealers will replace all the japanese stickers and supply an english manual - not needed but nice to have.

I really like my leaf but couldn't live with it as an only vehicle so I now have 2 cars. The leaf is good for round trips up to approx 90km safely depending on speed, A/C, temp, etc.

consider getting a dedicated charge point installed where you park it, in my case it's just a 16A caravan plug but it's convenient and charges faster than a normal power point. I ended up with 2 chargers and kinda regret it, a 16A one with a caravan plug and an 8A one with a 3 pin plug. You can get chargers that can be set for either.

smac

333 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2502379 10-Jun-2020 16:15

duckInferno:

For radio just leave it japanese, there are very few options relevant for NZ and imo it's just not worth the $500-600 to change language for them. It's easy enough to memorise the ones you might actually use (eg select bluetooth device) and use Google Translate's camera option for the rest.

Hmm...I was the opposite. I paid the money and think it was worth every cent. I'm always in settings fiddling around and having to use a translator is a pain, and impossible on the move. NZ maps is also handy sometimes. I've never bothered to get the dash done, and it's not a problem cause the stuff I want is all numeric anyway.

mdf

3516 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2502927 11-Jun-2020 13:55

Thanks! As a follow up (or else possibly it's own thread), a Wellington dealer (https://www.coventrycarselectric.co.nz/) helpfully posts what are - I think - screen 1 leafspy data on most of their used Leafs. I've just been watching/reading instructions on what to actually look for on these. Of course opinions differ!

Is this about right?

Disregard red/blue bar graph (red=cell balancing?)
Lower QCs (quick charge) = better
SOH = higher the better percentage
AHr = higher the better (max 66 for new 24 kWh car)
Check bars on dash correlate to SOH + AHr - 12 bars for SOH >85% and 54-56AHr
Disregard everything else

Some of the odometer readings at Coventry cars are very low - <10,000 kms for ~5 year old cars. Is that any cause for concern?

Dugimodo

168 posts

Master Geek

#2503011 11-Jun-2020 15:09

If you are going to be test driving many leafs it wouldn't hurt to get yourself an OBD2 bluetooth dongle and install the free version of leafspy on your phone. That way you can check it all yourself while test driving. They are pretty cheap but admittedly I use mine less and less.

Disinfo

80 posts

Master Geek

#2504198 13-Jun-2020 18:17

Based on the experience I've had with my 2012 I'd tend to avoid very low mileage cars and try and get something that has been in the country for a while. The reason is that a low mileage car has probably sat for extended period at high levels of charge and that is not good for the battery and most Japanese imports experience a significant drop in battery health in the first few months they're used here.

As for dealer provided Leafspy you want to check the date the report was run because some get them done while the car is still in Japan so they're out of date by the time the car gets here.

If the dealer offers a battery warranty make sure you get in writing exactly what it covers and exactly what they'll do for you if your car does experience a big enough drop to trigger the warranty.

Personally if I was buying again I'd have spent the extra 7k or so that it would have cost to go from a fairly low SoH gen 1.1 to a healthier 2014 onwards gen 1.2 - that way you get significantly faster charging and better regen as well as longer total range. The one thing to watch out for is side airbags are a very rare option on the gen 1.2 (which is weird because they were standard on all early cars). This is what caused me to go for the 2012 in the first place.

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