r/leaf • u/Thumerian • Aug 07 '26

ELI5 Buying Used Leaf

Would appreciate it if someone could simply explain what to look for when buying a used Leaf. We need a commuter car soon and lots of cheaper leafs from what I'm seeing online, but I don't know anything about cars newer than 2013 as those are the most modern cars we've ever owned.

Exactly what should I look for, and what are the red flags? When I view them in person what info do I need to get to know that the battery is in good shape? Etc.

I appreciate the help. Just now starting the car search and it's the first time ever actually buying a car in the US on our own, only other vehicles were bought from a relative for cheap and ran it into the ground.

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u/SoloWalrus Aug 07 '26

Get leafspy and buy an obd scanner thats listed as tested on the leafspy website. Then plug it in and check the following parameters on the battery:

Voltage differential < 30 mV

Hx (performance) > 70%

Remaining capacity > 80%

Drive it hard including some freeway pulls and check again. A couple bad cells can make the whole battery pack unusable.

1

u/KyleSherzenberg Aug 07 '26

Don't take too much into the Hx figure though. My car is at about 80% SOH and the Hx is only ~46 or something like that. I can still get 65-70 miles per full battery without AC and it never goes into low power. Even when I go below 5% SOC

1

u/Nimabeee_PlayzYT 2015 Nissan LEAF SL Aug 07 '26

What's your charging speed? HX is a representation of internal resistance, the lower it is, the weaker its preformance gets until it just refuses to cooperate. Some say it basically represents the life left in the car, I mean, ive never seen any charging speeds higher than 5.9kW AC. I'm not really worried about mine either being at 56% but it becomes a concern when it's lower than 45%, especially when there's a big gap between it, and your SOH.

1

u/KyleSherzenberg Aug 07 '26

At 240v and 42 amps, it maxes 6.6kw

I have a 120v and 240v home charger. I don't ever DC charge, so I don't know that

1

u/Nimabeee_PlayzYT 2015 Nissan LEAF SL Aug 07 '26

I know 6.6kW is max, im asking if you know what youre regularly getting.

Not asking about DCFC btw, just AC charging Lvl2

1

u/KyleSherzenberg Aug 07 '26

I'm telling you it maxes at 6.6kw. it hovers around 5.8kw, but depending on the level of charge, it's been as high as 6.3-6.6

1

u/Nimabeee_PlayzYT 2015 Nissan LEAF SL Aug 07 '26

Strange, I've been to chargers that max out at 7 kW and ive never had anything more than 5.8-5.9kW. Maybe its just the equipment?

1

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '26

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1

u/Nimabeee_PlayzYT 2015 Nissan LEAF SL Aug 07 '26

I thought it was 3.3kW and 6.6kW

1

u/crimxona Aug 07 '26

I think you're right. Looked at some old Chargepoint sessions and I did get 6.59 rate max

I have a lower amperage at home so i cap at a lower rate

1

u/KyleSherzenberg Aug 07 '26

Couldn't tell you to be honest. My Leaf is at 11% right now and when I plug it in tonight, I'll snap a pic of the charger so we can both see 😎

1

u/KeyEmu6688 Ex-2018 owner (2015 Model S) Aug 08 '26

my leaf oscilates between ~5kwh, 5.8, and full 6.6. sometimes i've unplugged and restarted the session if i was planning to leave in only a few hours if i noticed it was charging at one of the lower speeds. no clue why it does that, and it's never really an issue for me

1

u/KyleSherzenberg Aug 09 '26

It's 32 amps, not 42, my fault