Your wife is driving a car with a bad head gasket?
Yes.
It is a known issues with the specific engine. Starts as a minor exterior oil leak/drip and can slowly increase in rate and/or develop into an exterior coolant leak. Due to the design of the specific family of engines the exterior leak is apparent much sooner than other engines. Standard practice at dealers and third party service shops tends to be monitor until the weeping become more pronounced or an exterior coolant leak develops, often that can take years (sometimes up to 5 years).
Typical costs (based on a quick google) appears to be between $2,100 and $3,000 to do gaskets and belts. (For this car it is an engine out service).
Given the range of other issues, and development of rust a head gasket replacement is probably the death knell for this car.
I live in upstate New York and we got a 2015 Leaf in the spring of last year. 84 mile range. So we have only been through one winter. And I can't really speak to longevity other than the fact that when we were looking we only saw one Leaf whose mileage had degraded.
Turning on the heat definitely lowers the range. You will immediately see an 8 or so mile drop when you turn it on and it goes back up when you turn it off. The seat warmers don't have much of an impact though so you don't need the heat on the whole trip.
The overall cost of running it is so much lower and no one talks about what an incredible convenience it is to never deal with getting gas or oil changes. I love this car and I am not a car person and generally consider cars a hassle.
I would suggest looking at the plugshare app to see if there are any even level 1 chargers near her office. She wouldn't need a fast charge while she's at work just to top it off.
Or she could lobby to get her employer to get one.
Thanks for experience, info, and tips.
Unfortunately, the nearest plug share listed (at a dealership) would be half an hour walk and she would have to leave it there all day. (When working she cannot leave the site during her shift).
You are right she could lobby her employer to get a charger (and then she could get off of the charger during the day).
We've got a 2012 Leaf with a similar range estimate when it was new. I live in MN with a similar commute as your wife two days a week, and our battery has degraded to the point that I could probably do it in the summer, but once the temps drop below 40 F, no bueno. Your commute of 36 miles round trip would be OK until the highs are below 0 in January. How are your jobs with working from home? DH and I can easily do it almost any time, so when it gets really cold we just check our work calendars and make sure there aren't any difficulties.
I'm not sure what battery improvements there were between 2012 and 2015, but if there weren't many, an older Leaf may not work for you.
Thanks! The mileage in the cold is my biggest concern.
My job is (by policy) no work from home period. Her current job (by its nature) cannot be done from home. Her next job will allow work from home, but not for significant stretches and there will be plenty of days that she has to go in.
My round trip is only 18, so we could always switch cars on the coldest day.
Can you charge at work? If so, a 24 leaf will easily make it.
Nope in both of our cases.
Her round trip commute is (and will continue to be) 54 miles. (Before anyone comments that we should move closer to her job . . . my 5-day-a-week job has a round trip commute of 18 miles in the exact opposite direction; that mean every mile off of her commute is a mile added to my commute).
This is the MMM forum... have you seriously looked into getting a new job for one or both of you? Or at least you might be able to arrange remote work for certain days of the week, reducing total life spent in the car.
For Leaf in winter:
https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2017/10/06/electric-car-vs-winter/
We have considered changing jobs, but realistically unless I change sectors/career path I need to be in (or near) the city I currently work in and there is only one possible employer for her in that area, but they have a horrible problem with morale and staff retention. So, we are stuck working in two different cities for now.
Thanks for the link to MMM article (I vaguely recall reading that at one point) the 20% loss in the winter is what worries me.
plus age related items such as; leaking head gaskets
Head gaskets are supposed to last as long as the rest of the engine (Subaru didn't get the memo). If they are leaking they need to be replaced ASAP or you will be junking the engine very soon.
You got it, the engine in question is in fact a Subaru. We are monitoring the leak for the moment (which is the current opinion of our trusted service center). She has a routine maintenance appointment and state inspection next week and if they say the head gasket needs to be done, it will likely be the death knell for the car (given the list of other items from large ticket maintenance, to rust repair, and transmission work that are on the foreseeable horizon).
Hence, we are exploring replacing the car when that time comes.
she LOVES the more expensive BMW i3
The i3 is a really good deal, depreciation has hit them hard. However, before you commit to one make sure you consider the cost of tires. The i3 has a unique tire size that is not shared with any other vehicle and currently TireRack is showing a set of tires at $624.50 (plus installation). And you don't get to choose which tires. I've also read that they wear out somewhat quickly so with your wife's mileage anticipate a set of tires every two years. Tires for the Leaf are roughly half the cost and should last about twice as long. So it's about $26/month (i3) versus $7/month (Leaf) in tire costs.
Thanks for that, I hadn't read anything about the i3 tire life issues (yet, but I will now).