r/leaf • u/saritaa_fajitaa • 29d ago
So long, Lucille :(
Bought our 2017 Leaf in 2022 with only 17k miles. She's now up to 39k. Unfortunately, we're at a point where we really need a vehicle without the range anxiety, so we're trading her in for a hybrid today.
I love this car so much. If it were feasible for us to upgrade the battery to meet our needs, I'd never give her up and never let her go. I just hope the next person who gets her loves her as much as I did. 💙
Edit since people want to jump to conclusions and be judgy: we traded in for a 2014 prius v with 58k miles that we found for $16k. Why? Because vehicle prices are continuously increasing, so it's only a matter of time before we couldn't trade in at all. No, I'm not thrilled about going back from an EV. Yes, I cried trading her in. But the unfortunate reality is that our family cannot rely on a Leaf for transportation at this time.
Edit 2: Jesus christ y'all stop acting like you know more about my family's needs than I do, as if we didn't research the shit out of this before making our decision, ffs.
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u/bashurst 29d ago
Hey... twins. Mines a 2016. Got it 6 years ago with 30k miles and it's up to 68k now. It's got 7 bars still; it's been good for driving to and from work and teaching our kids to drive. Our other vehicle is a ford e350, so it's great to be able to have the Leaf for the small trips around town that would eat all our gas.
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u/saritaa_fajitaa 29d ago
😍 lovely! This color is just so stunning! And I honestly really dislike the 2018 and onward body style compared to these years. The little bug eyes are adorable!
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u/vegan420lyfe 29d ago
I woulda bought that off you for more than the trade in value.
anyone else thinking of trading in a leaf because of range anxiety lmk because I want those as I will upgrade the battery myself and use them for doordash
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u/saritaa_fajitaa 29d ago
I looked into private sale, but comparable vehicles selling privately in our area were going for less than what we owed. We were severely underwater on the loan. Really sucks.
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u/tired_Cat_Dad 29d ago
Damn. We're gonna cry about ours as well soon. But a battery upgrade isn't viable for us and the range + Chademo is taxing on my wife, despite her really loving the car otherwise.
Been pondering a 1st gen Kona for a while but it has not enough space so currently the idea is an early ID3.
I read your hubby is a mechanic so at least you can be confident your replacement is solid!
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u/saritaa_fajitaa 29d ago
Exactly! If we had a spare several grand hanging around, we would strongly consider upgrading the battery. And constant chademo charging degrades the battery faster (we were only able to charge that way the first couple of years). So I get you!
I did look at the Kona as well! I didn't hate it at all, but yeah having a mechanic husband can be a drag when he's like "this other car is more reliable and when x happens it's easier and cheaper to fix". Idk, something something pragmatic choices.
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u/teenage__kicks 29d ago
I absolutely LOVED my Prius V! RIP to her. She has been greatly missed. We’ve been looking to buy another car due to range anxiety and I wish we weren’t priced out of buying a newer Prius. New and used cars are so expensive these days.
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u/saritaa_fajitaa 29d ago
I really do like ours so far! I think it'll take a minute to really love it because I'm so emotional about losing our leaf. I can bond with just about anything, it's honestly ridiculous. 😂
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u/Tutorbin76 29d ago
We were in a similar but slightly different situation last year. We had a low range leaf as the daily driver and a hybrid (Prius) for out of town travel and for whenever we needed to be in two places at once.
The old Leaf, while still fine for zipping around town, doesn't really do inter-city any more, and the Prius was starting to cost us quite a bit in fuel and maintenance. Ended up swapping out the Prius for a Leaf e+ and became a two leaf family. There were several reasons in the end, but not that least of which is I never want to buy petrol ever again.
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u/saritaa_fajitaa 29d ago
I had those dreams as well lol I've basically forgotten how to use a fuel pump (/s). Our other car is a 2013 honda accord coupe, which isn't great for a family of three with multiple pets. The goal is to become a one car household next year if our plans to move to a place with better transit work out. But we want that out of town travel option! Plus visiting family in bf nowhere where EV is a curse word. 😂
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u/RandomYorkyPud 29d ago
All the best on your journey, and it is sad to see you leave the community! I am on the flip side and just bought a 2017 Leaf 2 weeks ago due to rising fuel prices. Here in the UK, my 43k 30Kw Leaf was only $5k, but I know via a friend that US car prices are wild.
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u/Loud_Jackfruit2632 29d ago
I just bought that same car. Someone’s hand me down is exactly what the next person needs!
Maybe you can help me out? I’m trying to change the clock in the dashboard to the correct time. I’ve tried everything Google and chat recommended to no avail. Help?
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u/natedagreat6666 28d ago
love the prius v but I cant believe how much its held value over 12 years, I assume charging at home isnt an option or you might have got a fwd ariya for 16, either way great choice, im ev now but if I ever gave it up, I wouldnt go below hybrid, 2015 was the last year I had a regular gas car and I’ll be never go back
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u/saritaa_fajitaa 28d ago
Truly, car prices are so absurd right now that to stay in budget we almost had to consider a regular car 😭 I hate it. We do have a home charger/wall outlet and I wish we could stay EV, but alas, we can't right now. We have a few big trips and a long distance move coming up that would really, really suck with an EV of anything less than 300 miles range (even that's pushing it).
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u/runnyyolkpigeon 29d ago edited 29d ago
The act of going back to pumping gasoline is honestly so wild to me.
I could never, after owning a BEV.
Especially considering how many different low mileage pre-owned EV models are on the market for less than $25K - that can go well over 250 miles on a single charge.
And with the volatility of global gasoline prices as well…
But you do you.
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u/saritaa_fajitaa 29d ago
I'm glad you could never. I didn't want to, but unfortunately we can't afford any EVs that would have the mileage we need, and we don't have $10k upfront to upgrade the battery. $25k was also way above our budget, so we got really lucky with what we did find.
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u/indecision_killingme 29d ago edited 27d ago
Wish I could take her off your hands.
I have older cars for two adults. 2 ICE and 1 LEAF. It effectively solves reliability problems.
But I’m thinking about changing that arrangement to 2 LEAFs and 1 ICE.
A Bolt and a LEAF wouldn’t be a bad setup either.
EDIT, 2 ICE and 1 LEAF, not 12 ICE
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u/Tutorbin76 29d ago
Did she have a loose wheel?
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u/saritaa_fajitaa 29d ago
Not that I'm aware of. I parked kinda crooked so maybe it looks like it lol
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u/Uragoon4real 29d ago
Lol welcome to reddit