Used 2011 Nissan LEAF Consumer Reviews
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Well built, loved the quiet
rufustf, 06/20/2011
2011 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
26 of 26 people found this review helpful
We are in TN, so only Nissan dealers are supplying the charging stations making "range anxiety" a very real concern for me after hours driving. It will just take more planning until I adjust to it. When DC quick charging stations are more available, range anxiety will be much reduced. Handles very well.
A history making car!
R. Edelman, 08/07/2016
2011 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
53 of 55 people found this review helpful
Why is this a history making car? Because the Nissan Leaf was one of the first practical and affordable all-electric sedans. I purchased this car new in 2011. Back then, the Leaf was made in Japan. Now they are made in Tennessee, but I don't think there should be a difference in quality. My Leaf has almost 50,000 miles on it, and it has been reliable and almost completely trouble free. It is deceptively roomy inside because there is no fuel tank or exhaust system. Maintenance costs are low. The original tires lasted 45,000 miles. To recapture the kinetic energy of the car, most of the braking is done by the drive train. This is called "regenerative braking", and allows the drive train to act as a generator to charge the battery. All electric vehicles and hybrids utilize regenerative braking. Not only is regenerative braking energy efficient, it allows the brakes to last a long time. For example, I also own a Toyota Prius with over 100,000 miles on it, and the brakes have never been serviced. Driving an electric car is fun. The electric motor provides all of its torque instantly, which allows excellent acceleration from a stop as well as on the road. It is quite, and there are no vibrations. There are no exhaust fumes or oil leaks, and the drive train of the car tends to stay clean. The down side of any electric car is the battery. Batteries are heavy and expensive. They become less efficient in very cold weather, and they lose charge capacity as they age. Both of these translate into reduced range. And you need access to a 220 volt charging station to recharge the car in a few hours. The Leaf is sold with either a 24 kWh battery or a 30 kWh battery. I recommend the 30 kWh battery as it provides a range (when new) of about 100 miles, rather than the 75 miles provided by the 24 kWh battery. That 75 mile range provided by the 24 kWh battery when new drops down to about 55 miles after 5 years. So, the larger battery will allow you a more generous range even after the car is several years old. Despite the battery issue, I really enjoy the Leaf ownership experience. Nissan service and support has been very good. Based on my Leaf ownership, I have become a fan of electric drivetrains, so much so that I am now on my second Leaf, one with the 30 kWh battery (which was not available in 2011). I do not think that I will ever go back to owning a car that is not either all-electric or a hybrid. Nissan should be commended for taking a big risk in developing and marketing the Leaf. I think that the commitment to manufacturing an all-electric car will pay off for Nissan in the future.
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2011 Nissan LEAF for sale near you
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Love this car, but man it cost me.
Zac Held, 02/07/2017
updated 08/12/2020
2011 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
85 of 90 people found this review helpful
Its a great car. The car itself is completely vanilla, but I love how smooth and quiet it is. At stoplights I think my other gas car has something wrong with all the vibration. The acceleration is linear and totally smooth. Not visiting gas stations is awesome. Its fun to sneak up on people in parking lots. The range anxiety went away after a month of owning the car, although its starting to come back. The BIG HOWEVER, I have had the car for over five years now, it has less than 60k miles and my battery capacity is now half of what it was when new. I was a responsible battery charger, and live in a mild climate. Since it is just out of warranty (4 years) its up to me to cover the cost of the replacement battery. I can currently go about 40 miles if I don't use the heater, and my work is about 40 miles roundtrip. I know all batteries degrade over time, and I was comfortable of having to replace it. What totally caught me by surprise is the cost of a new battery; quoted by my dealer is $8000. A quick blue book value of my car is about $6000. The horrible depreciation of the car combined with the cost of a replacement battery, completely make the economics of owning this car a terrible deal. For $8000 I could buy nearly twenty thousand gallons of gasoline! At 25 miles per gallon I could travel 500,000 miles! All these leafs are going to have to be converted to golf carts in retirement to get any value out of them. Update 2-18. Car has about 68,000 miles now. Still gets me back and forth to work, but due to battery degradation the heater is only allowed for small spurts to defrost the windows in the winter. It is a great car durability wise since I have only had to change the tires so far, and drives like the day it was new. We tend to drive it less miles now because the range anxiety of driving to new places is resurfacing. Bad news is that battery degradation and the cost to replace it is crazy. Buying a used one that doesn't need to go very far makes sense. Today a 2011 leaf in my area goes for 5000-7000. Not sure what a battery costs today, if its still $8000, no way that makes sense. The battery needs to be closer to $1000 to even think of changing it. 2-2020 81,000 miles. I am probably going to have to sell it in a few months because I can almost not get to work. Car is probably worth around $2500. It has 5 bars of capacity. There is definitely no regenerative breaking now. I have heard it is maybe due to the old battery not being able to accept the rate of charge. The car does seem to charge at a slower rate now. Great car other than the big fact that it has trouble getting me where I need to go, and the fix does not make any economic sense. 7-2020 Car was sold for $2300. Great car if your commute is in your neighborhood. If you consider the cost of a new battery, and the resale value of higher range leaf it really makes no economic sense to put any money back in these cars. Buy used and work close to home.
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Outstanding So Far
jsgenc, 05/24/2011
2011 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
40 of 42 people found this review helpful
Just picked up my Leaf a few days ago and I've put several 100 miles on it already. I'm hooked. It's a remarkable car in many ways. Quiet, smooth, surprisingly powerful and nimble, and cool as all heck. It is not a toy or part-time car by any stretch of the imagination. So long as you understand its limitations, you will use it all the time. I rarely drive more than 80 to 100 miles in a day so it is perfect for me and my family's needs. It's excellent for commuting to work. It is great for running errands and schleping kids around. If you are someone who regularly drives more than 80 to 100 miles per day, do not get a Leaf. If not, check it out now.
<50% battery capacity at 90,000 mi & more issues
Rick SantAngelo, 11/24/2016
2011 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
19 of 20 people found this review helpful
The gauge is wrong, though I am missing only 4 bars my battery is under 50% of original capacity, a maximum charge from one bar to full is less than 10Kwh, my driving experience is 40 mi or less on a charge at this point in time. At 60,000 miles the dealer checked and told me that 3 bars down (which was my state at the time) was to be expected even though I experienced under 50 miles. My brakes pulse wildly at high speeds and I am on my third set of tires. Based on the revised battery warranty, a buyer should be well aware that their car will be worthless after 5 years and no one in their right mind should buy one used. All along the way my dealer (and the designated technician) demonstrated a total lack of knowledge and expertise on this car, and to this day has no idea about replacing a battery. As recently as this year (5 yrs after introduction) Nissan still does not have any description of what is covered ON A LEAF under their own extended warranty which demonstrates that they have not figured out yet how to deal with this technology.
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Good so far.
pacoug, 09/26/2011
2011 Nissan LEAF SV 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
11 of 11 people found this review helpful
I'm in Pennsylvania so I haven't experienced the reduced range that comes from cold winter temps yet. That comes in a couple months. But I can tell you right now this thing makes a much better commuter than I thought it would. My drive to work is about 12 miles, about 30 minutes each way. It works in my life and would work for most urban commuters. I didn't intend for this car to do much duty besides going to work and back; essentially it's the third car. But it's becoming my choice for anything within 20 miles of home--which is most of what I do day-to-day. If this car fits your life you might consider it. I'm still probing the range limits to see what I can and can't do.
Nissan Leaf & Blink Charging Station
rickrick, 12/10/2011
2011 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
18 of 19 people found this review helpful
The Leaf is a fun car and it's always great passing buy the gas stations and not having to pay the ridiculous prices.
LEAF exceeds our expectations!
doeskin, 06/16/2011
2011 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
9 of 9 people found this review helpful
Took delivery about a week ago; the car is wonderful, very well engineered, fun to drive; range exceeds their promises; Blink charging station is very user friendly and fun to use; comfortable seats ... we sold our Lexus RX350 since taking delivery because it would probably just sit in the garage. You will not be disappointed!
Turning over a new Leaf!
anewleaf1, 05/30/2013
2011 Nissan LEAF SV 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
8 of 8 people found this review helpful
We've only had our 2011 Leaf for two weeks but already we are in love with this car. Gas has gone up $.20 since my last fill up in my old car, so I'm already saving more money. The car has great "get up and go", it isn't anything like the hybrids you hear about not having any power to them. I can leave everyone at the stop light if I want to. The first few days I found myself speeding frequently. The interior is very comfortable, even for adults in the back seat. It sits up a little higher than the sedan I traded in, which is nice. This car is all electric so it's not for someone looking to drive it a long way. I only use it to commute to work and run errands so it's perfect.
Owning a Leaf +4 days
rbdiamond, 04/24/2011
2011 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
8 of 8 people found this review helpful
I've read a number of professional reviews of the Leaf, and what few them mention is what a hoot it is drive. With 207 ft/lbs of torque available at zero miles, versus a Porsche Boxster with 214 ft/lbs at approx. 4400 rpm, the car drives fast and fun. The bluetooth connection is superb for my iphone, my effective cost of going 100 miles is $2.00 vs. the vehicle it replaced at $25.00, and it is very comfortable.
Welcome to the 21st Century!
stellarrat, 05/01/2012
2011 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
12 of 13 people found this review helpful
I've had my 2011 Leaf for a month now. It's my only car. So far I've spent a grand total of $8.10 in electricity to drive 729 miles. In my previous car I was spending $180 a month in gasoline and probably another $50 in maintenance (if you averaged it out per month.) In the NW, off-peak power is $.044 / kwh. So, as you can see it's saving me about $220 / month. I've taken this car to every family event, errand and work daily. Not a single problem with range or anything else. I don't even need the 240v charger. The car is just great all around. Good room, good ride, excellent electronics, and decent handling. Acceleration is very good around town.
After over a year of ownership
eniac, 02/09/2012
2011 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
I've owned my LEAF for over a year now and have put just over 10,000 miles on it. The car is still really fun to drive and we've enjoyed every single mile. Everything is still tight, no rattles or wind noise. As for operating costs, I had the tires rotated twice (for fre at Discount Tires), annual battery check at the dealership (also free), and I replaced the cabin filter for $11 and had it detailed on its birthday for $60. Other than $342 in electricity to "fuel" it for the entire year, thats my total costs so far.
Fatal brain tumor at 62K, total garbage
Suwakon, 04/17/2022
updated 05/12/2025
2011 Nissan LEAF SV 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
I decided to reward Nissan with $30,000 for being the first with affordable EV. We were one of the first buyers when these cars came out in 2011, always garaged always pampered. At 55K we lost the 4th bar of battery capacity one week after the warranty ended. Two weeks previously I had been at the dealer arguing that the forth bar was effectively gone from real world experience, to no avail. The dealership helped me negotiate with Nissan USA to get a replacement battery for $1800. I realized that those who abused their battery were rewarded with free battery replacement while those who were conscientious were punished! I also learned that Nissan was going to stop making the replacement battery for 2011-12 in the next year or so and the upgraded 2013+ batteries would NOT fit the car! I had tried to pay extra and get the 30kw battery instead of the original 24kw during the replacement. Realizing that Nissan was Orphaning the early Leafs and learning that the resale value of Leafs (maybe all EVs?) was horrible, I put the car up for sale on Craig's List for a few months. I started at $7900 and ended at $6500 with no offers above $4000. I thought the new battery and showing all 12 bars of capacity would sell the car; it made absolutely no difference at all. EV owners be warned: you will not get one penny more of resale value for a new battery! So we decided to keep the car and baby the new battery as long as we could; after all it was one of the nicest cars I had ever driven around in. In October 2021 we put new tires all around and replaced the 12v battery, got inspected, paid registration (which had now gone up significantly because EVs don't pay gasoline tax!), topped up charge at Walmart and headed home. On October 10, 2021, one mile from Walmart the Leaf strangely lost power (at 30mph) and drifted off the highway (main error light flashing, car would not go into drive or reverse, only park and neutral). I and some EV enthusiasts spent that afternoon and the next morning trying anything to recover the car only to have it towed to the Nissan dealer the 11th. The Leaf tech spent a month trying to figure it out, finally Nissan USA said the "traction motor inverter" had failed. Nissan no longer makes this part but one was available in another state and could be had for around $5300 dollars plus install. I balked because I knew this to be more than the value of the car. The service manager, after promising me this was the ONLY problem with the car, agreed to let me try to find a used part on Ebay. A month later I got a functioning part for a total cost of $550 to the Leaf tech who was just leaving for vacation. 2 months later they finally got it installed only to find it did NOT fix the problem. Now they are saying the battery must come out and the relay box built into the traction battery investigated for a fault; this would start at $5,000 and could go to $10,000. Maybe they are just trying to get rid of me? By then it is March 2022. I half heartedly try to sell the car for the battery or as a parts car, no takers. I eventually GIVE the car (April 22) to a friend who lives off-grid and wants to try to salvage the battery. It costs him $500 to get it away from Nissan. So our beautiful Leaf, with out a scratch or dent outside, nor a single blemish inside is being dismantled for it's battery. I will never buy another EV nor a Nissan product. Stone cold dead at 62K would get some kind of response from other manufacturers, but not Nissan. Yes, I did see the Tesla blown up because quoted $22,000 to repair. Update 8Nov24: We now own gas Honda Fit and Toyota RAV4 each with well over 62K miles and no trouble other than oil changes, these cars are expected to go 200-400K miles with little trouble. Both have made trips across the country and all over without hunting for charging stations that are broke or blocked. Even if someone gave me an EV for free I would balk at paying the registration and insurance and finding another parking space. BTW, I'm an Off-the-grid installer and have done huge solar, controller/inverter/charger with big battery banks and back-up generators. Nissan should be ashamed. The EV industry seems to be on its way to failure. Update: 12May25, Leaf still sitting in friends garage in mint condition (IC cars still perfect). Several "experts" tried to figure it out and failed. Taking the battery out and re-configuring for off grid house system was too much work and never attempted (price of "ready to go" Li Ion batteries fell dramatically). Chinese comparable EVs are half the price before tariffs and Na Ion is replacing Li in China, the West has lost the race to Nowhere. I am Off-the-grid and will be laughing when the Iberian Black Out becomes more and more common.
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Smooth As Silk
billsea, 02/25/2012
2011 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
I've really enjoyed owning and driving this car, which is now up to 10,000 miles. It is incredibly smooth, quiet and generally effortless to drive. The interior feels large, with plenty of room in the back for adults. The storage area is ample for the around-town usage dictated by the range. The range is occasionally a nuisance, but that's increasingly mitigated by charge stations. When my trips are well within the range, I have fun with the torque and the low center of gravity. So far it's getting about 30 miles per dollar, a fascinating new metric that really puts the sucking sound in the front of our minivan in perspective. (It's five times more expensive to drive that one a mile.)
Just Buy It!
peterhi, 02/17/2012
2011 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
I have been driving my Leaf for 1 month, with 1,000 miles. Had a very difficult decision to sell my 2007 Lexus IS250 which I loved, and was worried to be driving an econobox tin can. I have no regrets at all! Believe it or not but it drives just as well as the Lexus, is more quiet, just as smooth, accelerates well, and just feels good to be doing the right thing! I have a 20 mile r/t commute to the office; with side trips, often am driving 35-40 miles which is perfect. I have a gas car for longer drives but rarely use it. Take advantage of tax credits while you can! Nissan put lots of research and money into this vehicle to get it right the first time. Just Buy It!
Hard to work with Nissan support.
Lloyd Dawson, 11/29/2016
2011 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
Nissan keeps a lot of information closed to the public. Replies to questions get "canned answers". After a battery replacement the vehicle needed many other repairs. Even when I purchased a 5 year 100000 mile extended warranty the in service date caused me to lose 6 months on the warranty I paid for. We love using our EV but Nissan has been a pain.
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Buy Used! BTW Zac Held's review has a math error
Leaf Fan 2011, 06/27/2021
updated 12/29/2021
2011 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
I agree with Zac Held- buy a used Leaf for around 5-6K if you live close to work and it's a heck of a deal. A 50 mile range is plenty if you live in the city & work in the city. That's what we're doing. But - Zac! Check your math dude. You're right that the $8000 cost to replace the battery is more than the car, but your assertion that you could drive 500,000 miles in a gas-powered car for that $8,000 is wrong. You multiplied when you should have divided. $8000 *divided* by the price of gas = the number of gallons you can buy. So instead of 20,000 gallons, it's actually more like 2,000 gallons. ($8,000/4=$2000) Multiply that by the 25 MPG you used, and you get 50,000 miles, not 500,000. So, your economic picture looks like this: If you put a new battery in for 8K, you get back to the full range capacity, and the car becomes fully useful to you with your 40 mile commute in winter. Since there aren't many other moving parts, you'll probably come out ahead compared to the cost of maintaining and driving a gas-powered vehicle for another 50K miles. Being realistic, there are so many fluids, belts, pulleys, gasket seals, rubber pipes, etc in a gas car, and they all need regular replacement. it wouldn't be unusual to spend $2,000 to $6,000 on maintaining that thing between 50K & 100K miles. Just a timing belt or head gasket could cost that much to replace on a modern car. With the Electric car, sure you have to pay for the electricity, (although if you're strategic about it, there are still so many free charging stations that you can get a lot of that for free.) but it's much cheaper than gas, so you get around 100-120 MPG equivalent, depending on the price of juice in your area. And the maintenance costs are dramatically lower. So to me, the value proposition beyond those 50K miles is pretty good. If you want to drive your gas-powered vehicle any further, you need to buy more gas. Much more expensive than the equivalent amount of electricity. Yet your Leaf will still have a decent range. 50 mile range after 50K miles seems to be the average in the real-world used car market. At the end of the day, a used Leaf is a very solid economic choice for in-city dwellers with short commutes. I have three friends who bought used Leafs as well. All live in the city. All are saving serious money compared to our gas guzzlers.
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No battery capacity warranty leaves owners with worthless cars
azdre, 09/07/2012
2011 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
15 of 27 people found this review helpful
The lack of a battery capacity warranty has left dozens of warm-climate owners with cars that are no longer useful, and that are unsellable. There are no dealers in Phoenix, AZ that will take these cars as trade-ins because of the issues with the battery. After getting positive battery care reports, we can travel no more than 50 miles in our car that should go 80-100 miles. Nissan is changing it's story at every turn, and refuses to acknowledge a problem. Google: Real World Battery Capacity Loss, and you'll see the real deal with how Nissan treats it's customers. They do not stand behind this product. They got their 1.4 billion dollar loan, they don't need the LEAF anymore.
Magic Carpet ride
1nissanzealot, 12/11/2010
2011 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
19 of 58 people found this review helpful
It's everything i knew it would be and more! Not over-done and nothing neglected. It's equipped with the latest usable technologies and easy to use' it just keeps the "WoW-factor" needle pinned at '10'! No more gas fill-ups or oil-changes. feels awesome to start that inevitable break from the "old" to the "what's new and what's-coming'". The future is now, be a part of it.n me?
Love my Cayenne red Leaf
Don, 09/10/2015
updated 09/10/2016
2011 Nissan LEAF SV 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Wish it had the Tesla range, but great for 105 mile range
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Car of the Future
jackie_gt, 09/22/2011
2011 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Just LOVE the new car. It exceeds my expectations in all areas. I highly recommend buying an SPX Level 2 EVSE portable charger that can auto detect voltage. This also charges the Chevy Volt. I use it to charge my Nissa Leaf. Plugs into an outlet similar to a electric dryer outlet at home and similar ones at my businesses. As of 9-22-11, price $749 + S+H.
Check amount of Bars when Charged
Rob, 11/19/2022
2011 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
I bought this car. Downside - it is electric and based on the amount of battery wear, it does not go very far before needing to be charged again. Mine said 50 miles when fully charged. Well, when you use the air conditioning, heater, lights, radio, they also consume the battery charge. Beware - I was only able to go to the hardware store and back before needing to charge again. This is a car for short errands around town only.
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Experience after 2 months
ph_, 08/23/2011
2011 Nissan LEAF SV 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
9 of 30 people found this review helpful
Ok, I've had a leaf for about 2 months now. Admittedly, I also have a gas car, which I use when I need to go out of town. That said, the Leaf is the primary vehicle being driven about twice the miles as the gas car. Overall, Nissan did an excellent job. I could complain about a number of things but I'll focus on the essentials instead. 1. Plugging in at night is no problem. It takes about 15 seconds - and another 15 in the morning. 2. Acceleration is great. The specs are above. But, from observing the Leaf's kilowatt meter, it appears Nissan restricted the acceleartion (probably for safety). Instead of immediately pegging at 80kw (the top of the meter), it... (see forum)