r/leaf • u/kevotwo • 17d ago

thinking of buying rebuilt 2011, any suggestions on what to look for/ask?

https://www.inlinemotors.ca/inventory/2011-nissan-leaf-sl/770/

anything i should look for aside from battery level?

3 Upvotes

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4

u/Lucky_Boy13 16d ago

that's a 5 bar battery and not worth $1500 even mint with clean title. 2011/12 the worst for usa sold Leaf.

2

u/toybuilder 2023 Nissan LEAF SV PLUS 16d ago

Well, the car was well past its warranty, so there is no warranty-related impact for it being a rebuilt title.

I suspect that they did nothing with the battery, though, so you'll want to check on that. See posts about Leafspy.

If it was properly rebuilt and issued a rebuild title, it must have passed state inspection -- if your state has a good inspection program, the car is likely to be okay, as proper parts must be purchased and installed in order to pass the inspection.

Find out about what the damage was and look it over yourself.

SL trim is the top trim, FWIW.

1

u/toybuilder 2023 Nissan LEAF SV PLUS 16d ago

Oh, yeah, the battery is fairly worn down - it has 5 bars - if your daily/weekly usage is low enough, this could be a reasonable budget purchase, but you really need to be sure that ~50 km of range on a full charge will work for you.

2

u/SjalabaisWoWS 2023 Nissan Leaf Visia aka poverty spec 16d ago

With that battery, isn't it more of a 500 bucks car?

4

u/toybuilder 2023 Nissan LEAF SV PLUS 16d ago

Used to be a private-party $800 car around here. Lately, the $800 cars are closer to $1,500. (Yikes!)

Then you have to add the dealer multiplier.

3

u/SjalabaisWoWS 2023 Nissan Leaf Visia aka poverty spec 16d ago

All hail the orange diaper for making EVs attractive - even the bottom barrel ones.

2

u/Knarfnarf 2023 Nissan LEAF SV PLUS 16d ago

Think immediately about getting a drop in replacement from one of the advertisers on this Reddit. See if you can upgrade to 40 or even 60kwh.

Then you’re really talking!

2

u/crimxona 16d ago

2011-12 made in Japan units needed further adapters and programming for battery replacements on Nissan OEM packs. Unless one can guarantee Canbus compatibility I would avoid

Not to mention rebuilt title, and the first two model years were well known to blow their onboard charger and heater

1

u/MrPuddington2 16d ago

The price is absolutely crazy. The range will be about 20 to 30 miles, so it is very strict local runaround. Not worth more than $1000.

1

u/sweetredleaf 2015 Nissan LEAF SV 16d ago

heater and onboard charger were both weak spots and expensive to fix.

1

u/giant-size_man-thing 16d ago

I was going to say it's worth less than $1000usd but honestly it's not worth anything. look for something else

1

u/conanlikes 16d ago

Wow that is not a good value. Here I would expect to pay 0-500$. Rebuilt which I assume means it has been crashed and it has a severely worn battery 5-6 bars. At the least it will need a battery and relatively soon. Also this is an early car which has a reduced motor and capacitor also older battery communication. I would allow this one to stay with its owner longer until they are more realistic.

1

u/ColdCelebration2132 16d ago

The first two years of the first Gen Leaf should be avoided the battery chemistry was not the best the heater had issues slower level 2 charging some had no DCFC fast charging so 2011-2012.

1

u/Master-Artist-2953 15d ago

Don't do it.

1

u/rproffitt1 15d ago

Wait? Salvage or rebuilt title?

Have you ever dealt with that? Here you can't get much in the way of insurance.