Used 2011 Nissan LEAF Hatchback Consumer Reviews
Used LEAF for sale
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)
4 of 4 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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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 7 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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2011 Nissan LEAF for sale near you
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- SL 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $3,900169 mi away
- SL 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $4,995187 mi away
- SL 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $3,998220 mi away
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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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