Used 2016 Nissan LEAF Consumer Reviews
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We have a limited number of reviews for the 2016 LEAF, so we've included reviews for other years of the LEAF since its last redesign.
A Fun car to drive and you save money too! Update!
Jim Mol, 09/14/2017
updated 03/19/2018
2015 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
13 of 13 people found this review helpful
UPDATE: Having the car for 7 months now I would like to update a few thing. Upgraded charging station: Had the electrician run a 220 line to the garage and installed an electric meter in October. Found a Clipper Creek HCS 30 charger on eBay for a 435 and had the electrical hook it up. From October 13 until March 15 we have used 1390 kW for charging and preheating the car. Winter: Bought Michelin Ice tires for the winter and they have worked well. We lost a bit of miles per kW, dropping from 3.8 to an average of 3.5. While my wife can drive it to work and back, with side trips, for two days before we charge it, we ended up plugging it in most nights just so it could be warm for her drive to work. Then she just uses the seat and steering wheel heat. On trips across town I used the heat and the energy display tell how much milage you loose - I'd rather be warm. Electric usage: for the first two months of usage, I tracked how much electricity we used compared to how much gas we would have used. We would have paid 2.5 times more using gas at 22mpg. I saved $108.52. With the meter installed, which includes heating most days this winter, gas would have cost twice as much, saving just under $400.00. Our cost of a kW, including distribution and the like is currently $.15. This savings paid for my Clipper Creek charger and part of the electrical work. How many miles? In the winter, I figure my wife has about 70 miles. The tires reduce some and she does use the heater for longer trips. Lately it said I have 78 miles. I do not know how it figure this, if it goes on past performance or what. I have been taking the freeway across town at 70 mph over the week end, now I am using to drive my mile to work since my wife is out of town. She has come home several times with the dashes showing . I use SpyLeaf to give us the exact milage they say is remaining. Charging: The Flint area is dismal for electric cars. Thankfully Consumers Energy has one public charger 3 miles away and down town has two on the university, though I do not know how accessible they are to use. The local Nissan dealer is a mile away from where my wife works so she could away stop in and charge for 20 min if she needed. A trip to the Detroit area would include a stop at the Nissan Tech center for their fast charger: 20 min to 80%. A 20 min walk is nice in the summer. We greatly enjoy having the car and I alway look for a reason to drive it. If I could find a low battery one dirt cheap, I would use it to drive to work (1.7 mile round trip) and around town. ORIGINAL REVIEW: If you are looking for a LEAF, do your homework. Figure out how many miles you drive a day to help you decide if this car will work for you. Batteries seem to be a biggest problem after a number of years of use and there are forums for the LEAF that will tell you what to look for and how to check them. It is such a different car, from your internal combustion engine car, that you need to think different. If you want to follow manufacturer recommended service, you take it in every 7500 miles and they check a few things. Every 14,500 miles they change the break fluid. That's it. On my 2015 I figure we have 85 miles to use even though it says we have 110 miles available. That is more than enough to get to work 10 miles away and run errands along the way. We are now charging every other day. The day after we bought it, we had gone 75 miles and still had 20% of the battery left. As it gets cold, expect the milage to go down - part in heating the car and part due to how cold can effect a battery. For us, even if it is cut by half, it would still serve our needs. As with every electric vehicle, this one has a sweet spot: 38 mph. If you could drive that on a nearly level road I have read you can get 134 miles out of it. Meanwhile in the real world, be conservative and decide if the milage it will normally achieve based on the number of bars left on the battery are right for you. If so, get it. If not...your choice. Oh, I didn't rate the safety cause we have not had it over a winter and I do not know what they mean by active safety.
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Nissan Leaf Issue - Winter
Steve Clubb, 01/04/2017
2016 Nissan LEAF S 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
26 of 28 people found this review helpful
In the winter > 20 degrees I am lucky to get 50 miles on a charge. Additionally, the heating is not effective. Heated seats work fine but the feet and leg area is cold and does not warm up. My feet stay frozen. Seats are not comfortable when commuting @ 24 miles.
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2016 Nissan LEAF for sale near you
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- S 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $2,950194 mi away
- S 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $1,700194 mi away
- SL 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $6,7955 mi away
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Reliable-No Maintenance-Low operating cost
Andy, 11/15/2016
updated 07/28/2021
2015 Nissan LEAF SL 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
24 of 26 people found this review helpful
We bought this car in Dec of 2015. After 6 years 7 months, and 59K miles, it runs as good as the day I bought it. Since I've had it, it's never broken down. The only maintenance I've done is I put in a new 12-volt battery at the 5-year mark because that tends to be their limit. I also put on a set of winter tires. So far there hasn't been any battery degradation. (There's a bar indicator on the range gauge). Nissan provides a once-a-year free battery check to maintain the battery warranty which is good for 8 years. Since we put solar panels on our roof in April 2021, 100% of our electricity has come from the Sun, which of course includes charging the LEAF. A lot of people that don't know anything about electric cars or the LEAF think it's slow. The LEAF can easily keep up with traffic, and accelerate quickly into traffic from onramps. The only shortcoming of this 2015 LEAF is the limited range. For me, it doesn't matter because it's a 2nd car used for errands and I don't need to travel more than 50 miles from home. The new LEAFS and most EVs now have ranges between 200-300 miles and can recharge to 80% from nearly empty in about 15 minutes. Overall I'm sold on EVs, the low cost from virtually zero maintenance, excellent reliability, free kilowatts from the sun to power it, and excellent performance are a winning combination.
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Best car to own for commuting
Kurt, 06/17/2017
2016 Nissan LEAF S 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
15 of 16 people found this review helpful
This car is great. I like having the filling station at home in my garage. I save money on fuel and maintenance. I like the quiet ride especially when driving through the neighborhood with the windows down on a nice day. My first reaction to the styling was not good but it grows on you and now I love it. The only thing I don't like is that my wife keeps driving off in it leaving me stuck filling her Prius with gas. There are some great deals on these out there right now.
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Battery Life is TERRIBLE - Don't buy this vehicle
Georgiana Maly, 02/10/2018
updated 02/21/2020
2016 Nissan LEAF SV 4dr Hatchback (electric DD)
25 of 28 people found this review helpful
You should know that my Nissan Leaf was supposed to get on a 100% charge, a mileage range of 112. It's 2 years old and starting after owning the car for a year and a half (18 months), the battery started degrading rapidly. On a full charge, mileage range was approximately 85 miles and now February 1, 2018, driving it for 2 years, on a full charge, mileage range is approximately 70 on a good day. I NEVER can use my radio, heater or a/c because the mileage range will drop to 55 on a full charge. I have the 220 outlet for the charger at home. It gets a full charge within about 3 hours. If you use the 110, it will take up to 12 hours or more for a full charge. I am so disappointed in the mileage. Other than that, I like the car; however, battery life sucks! It's now February 2020 and the car still sucks along with battery life. I'm getting rid of it. Come to find out, it's worth a lot less than what I still owe on it.
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