Bought a lightly used 2013 Nissan Leaf...financing around $17,000. Bad idea?

[DTech]

Should I try to sell it and go for something much cheaper? I currently pay very little to drive the car, and I plan on paying off the loan within a year. I plan to keep the car for a long time, as well. Is the cheaper cost to operate (electricity is very cheap) a justification to keep it or is $17,000 way too much for a car with only 100 miles of range (at best)?

I would definitely take a loss of around $5,000, maybe more, if I try to sell it. Unless I get insanely lucky and get to sell it for 14 or 15k. It's got only 13,000 miles.

[Ricky]

It may be worth keeping. I mean, in theory, you could profit ~$4k by selling and buying like an $8k (assuming the $5k loss is real) vehicle. Then again, you may save as much gas in time as you would have spent over the life of the Leaf and theoretical vehicle.

I'm a fan of the Leaf. I don't think they sell as well given their limited range but if it works for you, why not? You're obviously paying to be somewhat of an early adopter, but it's still not a bad option.

The thing is though, if you don't drive much (gas not being an issue anyway), selling and buying a much cheaper car may prove to be worthwhile. You don't know what you can get ($12-$15k) until you try obviously.

[Thegoblinchief]

Most people around here are pretty happy with the Leafs, but do you get any of the government grease when buying used?

Do you even need a car? How many non-bikeable trips do you make per year that you couldn't fill in the gaps by, say, renting a car?

"My city/area isn't bike friendly" is not a valid excuse.

[DTech]

My commute to work is about 15 minutes each way. A total of 20 miles or so. I could bike, but it'd take an hour. I'd have to give up my lifting sessions each morning in order to bike instead, and I currently want to build muscle. But yeah, I need a car. I go farther distances every now and again to keep appointments and meet with people. But honestly, I could probably ditch lifting in favor of biking to work...that way I could get a cheap gas powered car for when I really can't bike.

The range definitely works for me though. That's why I bought it. I just never expected to come across blogs like this one and start contemplating massive changes. I've already cancelled my Sprint smartphone and gotten a Moto G from Republic Wireless. I've had it for two months already and it's been amazing. $12 a month instead of $100 a month. Can't believe I didn't change sooner. Now I've started thinking about my car purchase.

Selling and buying a car for $8k wouldn't profit me , because I'd have to pay back the car loan. 17k - 5k loss might net me around 12k. Then I'd have to pay off the remaining 5k. If I did this, it'd be for long-term gains.

Edit - no, buying a used Leaf doesn't give you any government tax incentives. That's only if it's new.

[bacchi]

You obviously bought it for reasons other than financial, right? Keep it if you can truly afford it (e.g., do you have ANY other debt?). Not everything comes down to whether it saves/makes money. If it did, we wouldn't be on an ER board but rather a "Retire at 65 with $15 million" board (aka, WCI).

[Thegoblinchief]

I would just accept it as a sunk cost and move on.

[DTech]

I bought it because I love electric cars and what they stand for, and I want to help contribute to the new movement by putting my money where my mouth is. I also test drove it and fell in love with it. Really fun car.

I can definitely afford it. The payment is $300, insurance is $100. That's a lot of money but I can afford it no problem. I do have other debt though - I owe the government a few thousand in taxes and those will be paid over the course of several months. Once I finish college at the end of the year (majoring in computer science) I'll have anywhere from 17k to 25k in student loans, depending on whether or not I pay the rest of my education mostly with cash. I'm not too worried about the student loans because I plan on living at home and paying them off within a year. Already working as a software developer intern, and the pay can only get better from here on out.

Would it be better to pay the car and loans off over a longer period of time and instead invest some money starting now? Or is it better to pay off debts before investing? Sorry for this slight deviation from the original question.

[KungfuRabbit]

I don't understand the loss...

You bought it used, so it won't have instant depreciation off the lot like a new one. So if you recently bought it why can you only get 2/3 of your money back?  Normally buying a selling a used car quickly wouldn't be nearly that bad.

[Faraday]

I bought it because I love electric cars and what they stand for, and I want to help contribute to the new movement by putting my money where my mouth is. I also test drove it and fell in love with it. Really fun car.

I can definitely afford it. The payment is $300, insurance is $100. That's a lot of money but I can afford it no problem. I do have other debt though - I owe the government a few thousand in taxes and those will be paid over the course of several months. Once I finish college at the end of the year (majoring in computer science) I'll have anywhere from 17k to 25k in student loans, depending on whether or not I pay the rest of my education mostly with cash. I'm not too worried about the student loans because I plan on living at home and paying them off within a year. Already working as a software developer intern, and the pay can only get better from here on out.

Would it be better to pay the car and loans off over a longer period of time and instead invest some money starting now? Or is it better to pay off debts before investing? Sorry for this slight deviation from the original question.

If the car works for you, keep it. It's possibly (with exceptions I cannot think of) the most efficient car you can buy at over 100MPGe. Even if you could ride a bike (and nothing's STOPPING you from doing that), riding a bike builds aerobic fitness and leg muscle mass, but doesn't give you the same upper body muscle mass that lifting will.

You could take the equivalent money you might have spent fueling a 30-35MPG car and start routing that money to either before-tax or after-tax investment savings, if you want to see payback start accumulating.

Don't forget: when you score that big programming career you are aiming for, you will have pre-tax 401k opportunities you may not have now. Selling the LEAF won't matter one way or another - you want to be in a pre-tax 401k, that's the priority, not necessarily selling the LEAF.

One other advantage of the LEAF that only time will tell: You may be able to drive it many years longer (and cheaper) than a gasoline-engined car. The batteries will last a very long time (I got 15 years out of the battery pack in my hybrid) and the electric motor can run indefinitely.

[DavidAnnArbor]

You're not going to have to worry about oil changes, and also I don't think there's a radiator to worry about either. Are there less belts to deal with in an electric car? I think the simplicity of the innards of an electric car over a gasoline engine will make car ownership cheaper over the long-term because there will be less maintenance and car repair costs. Also if you're in a state like California you can be assured that your car will have a much smaller Carbon footprint because California is increasingly deriving electricity from renewable non-carbon sources. Additionally, there will be more and more electric charging stations in the future enabling you take longer road trips if you need to. Some states offer preferential highway road lanes for electric and hybrid cars. Gasoline prices will eventually surge upward at some point, and for each mile you drive it costs less with electricity than with gasoline.

[Syonyk]

The Leaf doesn't have a radiator or anything. It's pretty simple and air cools the pack.

[pbkmaine]

Keep it and focus your saving energies on other things.

[forummm]

I have 2 Leafs. They are very nice cars. Check out this thread for a bunch of Leaf tips
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/share-your-badassity/nissan-leaf-almost-paying-me-to-drive-it/

[Sofa King]

The Leaf is an excellent car!!!  You got it at a great price!!!

[lr]

There are great non-financial reasons for helping kickstart the electric car market, but if you really want to crunch the numbers, try this calculator. Be sure to factor in any tax credits.

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/calc/

[DTech]

Thank you all for the wonderful advice and links. I've decided to keep the Leaf. Yeah, it was a great price considering the low mileage. I'm hoping the maintenance won't ever be anything substantial because I don't know if many mechanics are familiar with the system. But so far, people who have driven their Leafs 100K+ miles have not reported too many maintenance needs so I should be good for a long time. Once it's paid off, I can always pick up a cheap gas car for any long-distance needs.

[CCCA]

looked on craigslist in the SF bay area and there are literally hundreds of nissan leafs (leaves?) starting around $10,000 for the 2011 or 2012 versions with low miles (under 30-50k miles).  Personally, I'm waiting for one to be under $7000 and I think we can get 50% of our annual miles using a 70 mile range car alone (plus more or less free solar electricity). 


I've been keeping an eye out on these cars as there will be tons of Leafs and other Plug-in vehicles coming off lease in the next few years, and since the technology is improving rapidly, there may be some good bargains as people try move to the latest generation of technology.