Used 2012 Nissan LEAF Hatchback Consumer Reviews
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Electric Wonder
mikelaw1, 02/16/2013
2012 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
The Leaf has great acceleration up to about 40 mph, because of the high torque of the electric drive, it is only two wheel drive but feels like four wheels drive, maybe because of large wide tires (55 series) and a low center of gravity, Batteries under floorboard have a lot of weight, so it really hugs the road. Keeps the car about forty mph in ECO mode, (slower mode, slower acceleration ) should get you 150+ mile range. It really begins to use up the juice over 50 mph and by 60 to 70 mph range is only about 75. Frost on inside if left outside is a problem requiring defrosting before starting out. It is a really about town car. Most charging stations appear to charge $3 for a charge.
Ditch the Gas guzzler
Angela, 01/22/2024
2012 Nissan LEAF SV 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Excellent vehicle for getting around in urban areas. Reliable. As it is winter I especially love the extras like heated seats (front/rear), heated steering wheel, and instantly warm vehicle. It was a breeze to charge and so incredibly quiet to ride it.
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2012 Nissan LEAF for sale near you
3 of 63 listings
- SL 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $3,99539 mi away
- SL 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $1,65057 mi away
- SV 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $4,56372 mi away
See all 63 listings
Don't buy a Nissan Leaf, battery awful
robert amaio, 08/03/2016
updated 02/16/2021
2012 Nissan LEAF SV 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
3 of 9 people found this review helpful
I'm scrapping this car for parts. I've got less than 60,000 miles on this car, and it's down 4 bars on a second battery. The first was replaced by Nissan. I lost a bar about 4 months ago, on a battery that is about 2 years old. The bars on a Leaf are not equal in distribution. I've lost about 25% of the total charging capacity of this car. So now i realistically get maybe 40 to 60 or so miles to a charge. I take this car back and forth to the beach and to run errands, but that's about it. The car has lost most of its value as well. I'd be very lucky to see 5000 dollars on a car with 54,000 miles on it. I'll drive this car into the ground and then donate it. Nissan only warranties the battery one time. Are you telling me i have to get the battery replaced twice on a car that will end up with less than 60,000 miles on it? I have since had the battery replaced with the New Lizard Battery. This car realistically gets about 60 to 70 miles to a charge. I can never be sure, since I never go from full to empty on it. But I have NO issues with the new battery. What they don't tell you is you only get the ORIGINAL capacity warranty on the battery, even when you replace it with the new one. So the warranty is only good till August 2017. From what I've been told, the new battery consists of replaceable cells. I actually would have leased the car at 200/month and gotten rid of it by now. I would have walked away from the car for 7200 instead of the 17000 I've spent. Nissan's software is completely inaccurate regarding its measure of battery capacity. I get 9 bars yet when I look at the graphs it's barely measuring 10.5 KW of total power utilized out of 24KW/h. The Techs and Engineers insist that NISSAN is right and do not care about what I had to say. They hook it up to their diagnostic equipment and say the battery is fine and just wait till we get 8 bars and we'll replace it. I bought the car wholesale with 2000 miles on it thinking I got a deal for 17K. It took nearly 4 months to get it to 8 bars.
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Very much as expected
Yel0sub, 12/22/2017
2012 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
1 of 2 people found this review helpful
Range is an issue as it was on this model new. 49,000 in it has gotten worse. Rocket from start, handled well, great fuel economy. Dealers don’t really deal well with electrics. Cars need very little work. 2017 with large battery should be a great used car.
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This car needs a lot of work before ready for driving
reginaa, 03/07/2013
2012 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
7 of 38 people found this review helpful
bought a nissan leaf sl 2012 in Sept 2012. Since the purchase I have not been able to rely on the car for transportation to work, home, child's activities or anywhere. My child is afraid that I will be killed in a car accident cause I can't drive the speed limit and return to where I need to go. The car takes more than 16-24 hours to charge 100% and Nissan told me I bought the special edition quick charge that will charge in 20 min, but actually it takes 1 hr 15 min for 83% charge. I contacted Nissan International (NI) and although they are buying back many nissan leafs, they would not deem my as defective and would not repurchase the car.