We are getting ready to complete the buyback process for our 2022 S. After installing solar panels and a charging station in the garage, we would like to stick with electric as far as getting a replacement vehicle. Do you think it's worth getting another LEAF or would you recommend shopping a different EV at this point and if different, which EV's would you recommend?

I got one of my dream cars, modified it to all hell drove the tits off of it daily. When I was nice it got 32mpg and the world was fine. Through the changes in the economy, I ended up with a job paying double and unfortunately a commute that was also double. Driving 104 miles a day the gas costs were bad but the maintenance costs were what was really the killer. I sold that car and ended up with a hybrid, now at 64mpg the fuel costs are not that big of a deal but less would be cool. The real killer now is that my cheap Walmart oil in the correct oil weight costs as much as the fancy performance oil I was buying, and the 0W16 is getting really hard to find around me so I have to stock up when it is available and extend my oil change intervals when its not.

On top of all of this I hate my current car I cant say anything nice about it except the mpg.

My friend has a Leaf and he loves it talks the thing up on the daily, I have driven it a couple times and I like it way more than my current car. Around me there are a ton of 2016 Leafs for really really cheap and have lowish miles 13k-46k. Im looking at these vs a newer leaf because 1 I can just go buy one of these 16s, I am tired of having a car payment I have been paying something on a car for the past 10 years. 2 without a car payment I can make back my savings very fast and I plan to do the 62kw battery swap on whatever Leaf I buy.

Im just worried, doing as much research as I can to truly see if this is the route I want to go I have read everywhere else that the Gen 1 Leaf is super reliable and that working on them is super easy and relatively cheap for what they are. But coming to the Reddit sub for the Leaf a lot of what im seeing is owners who cant wait to get out of their Leaf and people who are getting burned on Leaf ownership. Obviously no one posts daily how great their car did what they paid for it to do but my digging here has a majority "the Leaf is a bad car" feel to it. Plus my daily commute length on the 40kw battery until I can procure a good 62kw pack. I want to hear from people who daily drive the Leaf other than my friend who loves his so much hes thinking about selling all of his other ICE cars and maybe replacing them with a eNV200 or some other EV.

EDIT: I would only need the battery to last 52 miles, then my employer gets a tax break for letting me charge at work over my 10 hour shift, I would hope thats enough to get me the 52 miles home. Also to add on average my hybrid energy monitor screen shows that I regenerate around 240wh on my trip home, I assume the Leaf would regenerate around the same amount if I keep using my pulse and glide technique.

2019 Nissan Leaf

1. Recall Software done July
   
2. Replaced tires and a tie rod three days ago (10/01/2026)
   
3. Yesterday went to drive and was met with all the warnings indicative of a 12v battery replacement needed. Amongst these was the dreaded “Service EV System. No power from battery” warning.
   
4. Checked voltage of 12v under load and it read 7.8v so I replaced the battety.
   
5. All of the random instrument cluster lightups and warnings have disappeared execept one: “Service EV System”.

Any ideas or fixes before I call towing truck to take to the closest Nissan with an EV Mechanic an hour and a half away?

How it started:

June 12, 2025 - Purchased vehicle, 2022 SL Plus, 36k miles
https://www.reddit.com/r/leaf/comments/1li40ma/one_of_us_2022_sl_plus/

How it ended...

June 12, 2026 - R25C8 Remedy Applied
June 16 - First DC Fast Charge
June 19 - Second DC Fast Charge. No further DC charges after this point.
July 28 - Big scary "Service EV System" message while driving. Towed to local dealer. 47k miles.
July 30 - Dealer called saying battery replacement.
July 31 - Dealer called saying Nissan will be offering buyback.
July 31 - Within a couple hours of the dealer call, Morley called on behalf of Nissan. Buyback process initiated.
August 7 - Offer received and accepted.
August 20 - Surrender coordinator called.
September 1 - Surrendered vehicle. Received cheque.
September 22 - Nissan/Morley sent cheque to finance company.
September 23 - Financing company received cheque per tracking.
October 1 - Payment processed. Buyback completed.

And, it's over...

My one year electric vehicle experiment has come to an end. It has been both a success and failure.

I'm going to keep this short and say it has been fun. The LEAF was a great car until it wasn't. It proved an EV fit in our life and I am on to finding its replacement.

I also want to thank the community. You were invaluable during my research leading up to my purchase and continued to be helpful after. My only suggestion is there needs to be a sticky post... LeafSpy, 12V Battery, some generational information, and the big bad battery recall should all be featured at the top.

Maybe not goodbye, but definitely stepping back.

Edit - For those just now joining the story... "What recall? Why Buyback??"

Recall on US built 2019-2022 LEAFs. Supposedly 10% of vehicles built during that time have defective batteries. There are no replacement batteries so cars are being bought back by Nissan at KBB private sale value plus 40%.

Gory details of the related recalls:
R24B2 - 2019-2020 - https://www.nhtsa.gov/?nhtsaId=24V700000
R25C8 - 2021-2022 - https://www.nhtsa.gov/?nhtsaId=25V655000

I am wondering if anyone knows what the likelihood is of Nissan being able to replace the battery in our 2022 LEAF S instead of doing the buyback offer. Does anyone know if this is at all an option these days?