Family of four with two active sporty teenagers needed a second car once the sports training daily jigsaw scheduling of getting 2 kids at either end of town became too much. The old and faithful manual diesel Prado has served us very well including multiple off road lengthy exetitions in WA and NT. However it is not the best tool in the shed to run around town. At $3000 to $4000 per year in fuel not the cheapest either. Could I get something that could be used as a second car and operating cost be in line with that fuel bill ? Kept a log of daily distance travelled for about a month to see what sort of distances all those school and sporting commitments entailed (about 70/80kms per day). Did some number crunching based on estimated running costs of electric cars that were starting to appear 2nd hand. Might be doable but looking at the choices available and budget not too many options for us as we needed 5 seats from time to time. So focused on a Nissan Leaf. Lots of research to try and figure out what could go wrong, battery life expectency a big unknown. Perth can be hot in summer, not so good for batteries apparently. Ended up getting a May 2012 Leaf from Gumtree, $26000 and about 28000kms in February 16. The car came with a separate aftermarket charger which plugs into our 240v 10amp in the carport (Clipper Creek brand, no issues to date). There is another charger inside the car supplied as standard but takes a 15amp plug, we haven’t used it to date. So almost 2 and a half years later and now at 86000kms what’s the verdict?
As a second car it fulfills the running around town brief brilliantly and is very cheap to run. Servicing costs are minimal, our mechanic checks it once a year, nothing do do appart from topping up the windscreen washer fluid. Nissan serviced it once while still under the statutory warranty, changed brake fluid and replaced air con filter, t’was about $200. Since then $100 for a looksee by our mechanic to check brakes (all G) and suspension and whatnot.
Very reliable so far, nothing has fallen off. Comes with a space saver type that does the job. I found that out after the kerb won the argument against the non standard tyres fitted when purchased. Car handles potholes etc well but leans a fair bit in corners, it’s also very well planted on the road with that battery under your posterior. Said battery makes for a rather heavy smallish car. Registration cost is on the heavy side as well as a result.
Range anxiety not really an issue once you know what the car is capable of. With about 70% of the battery capacity remaining we can still do 80kms as a dead cert and 100kms around town by being conservative with lead foot and the heater. Aircon doesn’t really affect the range that much but the resistance heater does.
Ranges increases a bit in summer weather compared to winter. Yes the battery will need replacement at some point or some renos. Replacement cost outside of warranty is a big unknown here in Aus. We may be eligible for a new battery if we drop another capacity bar before 100,000kms but unlikely at this stage based on previous drops shown by battery capacity meter. Overall I am very impressed with the Leaf. Teenage daughter on her P’s loves it and is very reluctant to drive the manual diesel Prado. It is so very smooth and quiet and fits the bill very well for us to do the vast majority of the driving needs. We have been able to run a household of 4 and about 25000km/year around town for a total electricity bill of about $1500 with an efficient house and 2KW PV on smart power set up to charge during off peak period. A bit more than half our power bill is from the car now {average usage per day went from 10 to about 24 units post Leaf).
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