2012 NISSAN Leaf

Commuter

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 3 Performance Rating: 4 Interior Rating: 4 Reliability Rating: 4 Safety Rating: 3 Technology Rating: 4 Value Rating: 3

I was putting less than 5000 miles a year my previous car. The Leaf is just great for my needs i.e. grocery store, church, occasionally to Costco 3 miles from my house. I seldom go further than that. It's not the best for freeway driving if you are going great distances, but does accelerate to freeway speeds. Keep in mind freeway driving will probably drain your battery faster. Lots of blind spots, check them carefully. Overall I'm pleased with the car.

50,000 Miles Best Racing Commuter ever

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 4 Reliability Rating: 5 Safety Rating: 5 Technology Rating: 5 Value Rating: 5

Very tough car, very very quick. Corners like a go cart. Best Sports car I ever owned. We save about $150 a month on our electric bill because of electric company incentives. Couldn't be happier. We take the wife's Prius when we go out of town. We are healthier too, gas pump handles are covered with diseases. The car will go anywhere we want to in our city. Had two issues taken care of under warranty. Nissan was very helpful and took care of us. Best car we ever owned. Do not regret it at all. It does look funny but it grows on you. I think most complaints are from people that did not research the car's capabilities. My daily commute is about 50 miles, one third expressway and two thirds secondary roads. I only charge at home overnight. Did I mention how tough the car is? Comapred to my other sports cars -- Miata, 323 AWD GTX, 300ZXs. This thing is quicker and loves white knuckle abuse. Best Nissan ever built. If anyone says the car is slow they never drove it. I'm glad I didn't waste my money on a G37 to replace my previous Infiniti.

love it

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 4 Safety Rating: 4 Technology Rating: 5 Value Rating: 5

I have had my Leaf a little over 2 months and i adore it. If i could change a few things this would of course be the range, i am just starting to adjust to the range anxiety. I work from home so that solves a chunk of range. I have learned a great deal about improving my driving skills in order to save miles! The second thing about the car is the shifter....cant understand why reverse is a forward shift and drive is to the back..lol, am now adjusted to it but was confused in the first week. Third thing is the rear window limited view, i took the rear headrest off and that helped alot. Other than that, the car fits me to a T. I bought mine used at 17,000 miles for 11,500. I feel that was a very nice deal, all though since buying it i have lost 1 battery bar which concerns me.

5,000 miles and loving it

Performance: 5 Comfort: 5 Fuel Economy: 5 Fun To Drive: 5 Interior Design: 5 Exterior Design: 5 Build Quality: 5 Reliability: 5 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5

I was lucky to find a dealer car with only 3000 miles and still new even though I bought it as used vehicle. There is little I cannot do with my LEAF. I have a pickup truck when I need to drive farther than my LEAF can take me, but honestly I hardly ever need to drive it. The range of the LEAF works for 90% of my daily and weekly driving needs.

Nissan leaf built on a Friday

Performance: 4 Comfort: 4 Fuel Economy: 4 Fun To Drive: 4 Interior Design: 3 Exterior Design: 2 Build Quality: 3 Reliability: 1 Comfort Rating: 4 Performance Rating: 4 Interior Rating: 3 Reliability Rating: 1

Bought the lowest price for 28K. After 3 weeks the car left me stranded, the dealer did not know what to do, it took them 8 days to figure it out. Now, after 3 months, the AC failed completely. But other than that is an excellent car for commuting. I do recommend the quick charging package Chademo with 6.6kw 240 charger. If you dont get it you would regret it, Like I did. This gives you more functionality.

Amazing vehicle front to back

Performance: 5 Comfort: 5 Fuel Economy: 5 Fun To Drive: 5 Interior Design: 5 Exterior Design: 5 Build Quality: 5 Reliability: 5 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5

What an amazing piece of machinery. I really don't have one bad thing to say about the Nissan LEAF. Nissan really hit the nail on the head with this car. The technology is second to none. It drives a like a dream car. It handles very well and brakes extremely well too. I highly recommend this car all the way around. I look forward to driving the LEAF everyday!!

Excellent first electric vehicle

Performance: 4 Comfort: 5 Fuel Economy: 5 Fun To Drive: 4 Interior Design: 4 Exterior Design: 4 Build Quality: 4 Reliability: 5 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 4 Interior Rating: 4 Reliability Rating: 5

Have been driving the 2012 Nissan LEAF SV for three months now. So far very impressed and glad to be driving electric. Car is smooth, responsive and has many of the features I would like. My only shortcomings are lack of telescoping steering wheel, poorly designed Carwings telematics with limited functionality, and inability to view % state of charge (2013 model offers this). The car design takes a bit getting used to and offers poor visibility when backing up if not equipped with back up camera. Otherwise a solid choice, great reliability and performance so far. Range varies considerably especially with highway driving drains battery fast (about 65 miles)

7,000 miles in, I would buy another

Performance: 4 Comfort: 5 Fuel Economy: 4 Fun To Drive: 4 Interior Design: 4 Exterior Design: 4 Build Quality: 5 Reliability: 5 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 4 Interior Rating: 4 Reliability Rating: 5

Prior to this vehicle I had a 3rd gen Prius. I much prefer the drive of this. The power train is more responsive, and at low speeds the car is much quicker (though no quicker at higher speeds). I am in NY state and have taken this through a winter now. Including winter my average miles/kWh are in the low 3's. 3.9 miles/kWh that EPA claims are quite optimistic. The heat destroys range, as does highway driving. Nonetheless, at 3.2 miles/kWh and at 75% charge efficiency (120V charging) and $.11 kWh I am still about 87 miles per $4.00 in electricity.

The problem is NISSAN, not the car!

Performance: 4 Comfort: 3 Fuel Economy: 2 Fun To Drive: 2 Interior Design: 3 Exterior Design: 3 Build Quality: 2 Reliability: 2 Comfort Rating: 3 Performance Rating: 4 Interior Rating: 3 Reliability Rating: 2

Things to know: You will NOT get the EPA rated distances, especially at freeway speeds, or with the heater on! I am sure this is also true for the Volt. Besides this, the car did well until I got a flat. Remember that the leaf has no spare, and Nissan has not figured out what to do about that. They include a little electric pump and sealant. DO NOT USE THEM!!! It will cost you a fortune! Worst, the car now fails to start, and the dealership has not been able to get an answer in OVER A WEEK AS TO WHY! No car for me! More disturbing is the fact that it is related to the BRAKING SYSTEM , and the computer does not understand that the brakes have been touched!

So far, so good!

Performance: 5 Comfort: 5 Fuel Economy: 5 Fun To Drive: 5 Interior Design: 4 Exterior Design: 5 Build Quality: 5 Reliability: 5 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 4 Reliability Rating: 5

I just purchased a used, 2011 SL Leaf. Such a bargain; they've taken a huge hit in depreciation so I was able to get one with only 4,900 miles for around $18,500. [non-permissible content removed]

This car needs a lot of work before ready for driving

Performance: 1 Comfort: 3 Fuel Economy: 1 Fun To Drive: 2 Interior Design: 4 Exterior Design: 2 Build Quality: 3 Reliability: 1 Comfort Rating: 3 Performance Rating: 1 Interior Rating: 4 Reliability Rating: 1

bought a nissan leaf sl 2012 in Sept 2012. Since the purchase I have not been able to rely on the car for transportation to work, home, child's activities or anywhere. My child is afraid that I will be killed in a car accident cause I can't drive the speed limit and return to where I need to go. The car takes more than 16-24 hours to charge 100% and Nissan told me I bought the special edition quick charge that will charge in 20 min, but actually it takes 1 hr 15 min for 83% charge. I contacted Nissan International (NI) and although they are buying back many nissan leafs, they would not deem my as defective and would not repurchase the car.

Electric Wonder

Performance: 5 Comfort: 4 Fuel Economy: 5 Fun To Drive: 5 Interior Design: 5 Exterior Design: 5 Build Quality: 5 Reliability: 5 Comfort Rating: 4 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5

The Leaf has great acceleration up to about 40 mph, because of the high torque of the electric drive, it is only two wheel drive but feels like four wheels drive, maybe because of large wide tires (55 series) and a low center of gravity, Batteries under floorboard have a lot of weight, so it really hugs the road. Keeps the car about forty mph in ECO mode, (slower mode, slower acceleration ) should get you 150+ mile range. It really begins to use up the juice over 50 mph and by 60 to 70 mph range is only about 75. Frost on inside if left outside is a problem requiring defrosting before starting out. It is a really about town car. Most charging stations appear to charge $3 for a charge.

Apotheosis of perfection!

Performance: 5 Comfort: 5 Fuel Economy: 5 Fun To Drive: 5 Interior Design: 5 Exterior Design: 5 Build Quality: 5 Reliability: 5 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5

Put off going electric for a plethora of reasons. And hemmed and vacillated on getting the Leaf for about a year. But wow: THIS CAR IS TRULY AWESOME. Hands down...this is the best car I have ever had. And to be able to never put gas in a car again. NEVER! A feeling like no other.

The best car we've owned!

Performance: 5 Comfort: 5 Fuel Economy: 5 Fun To Drive: 5 Interior Design: 5 Exterior Design: 4 Build Quality: 5 Reliability: 5 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5

We have a 68 mile daily commute to and from work in cold climate Michigan so we looked at the volt, prius, tdi, among others trying to offset costs of gas. We narrowed our choice to a volt or leaf after test driving cars. The volt was a close second but the Leaf beat it out for the following reasons: the volt managed a meager 30 miles in all electric when driven in temps hovering in the mid 40‘s - this wouldn't even get us half way. The leaf pulled out 82 during same weather. The leaf is larger with seating for 5 and larger cargo area. We liked the Leaf's dash and gauge layout better than the Volt. The leaf is quiet,yet has tremendous torque and really flies off the line. And price

Still great after 11 months

Performance: 5 Comfort: 5 Fuel Economy: 5 Fun To Drive: 5 Interior Design: 5 Exterior Design: 5 Build Quality: 5 Reliability: 5 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5

We were on the original resv list from 04/2010, picked up the car at the end of Dec '11. We have about 8K miles now and have been quite happy with it. We're in IL so in addition to the $7.5K fed tax credit they offer 10% IL EPA MSRP rebate and 50% rebate on charger + install. We've averaged about 4.3 miles per kWh (which we pay 6.6 cents per kWh) so very cheap to run. Only maintenance so far is to rotate tires. Car is very, very quiet and smooth ride; so far holding up quite well, no problems at all. We use it on 30 mile daily commutes and 50 to 80 on each weekend day. Heated seats front & back and steering wheel are welcome on cold days!

Great little car

Performance: 5 Comfort: 5 Fuel Economy: 4 Fun To Drive: 5 Interior Design: 5 Exterior Design: 4 Build Quality: 5 Reliability: 5 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5

We purchased this car so that we could park our van and only use it for long trips. We use the Leaf in all our 'around town' running. I was pleasantly surprised upon driving the car. It is very quite and rides very good. It seats 5 has all the latest technology and many luxury features such as rear heated seats, heated steering wheel, and heated exterior mirrors. We get around 85 miles per charge. We do not use the 220v charge, but, instead using the 120v charger that came with the car. This isn't an issue for us as we plug it in around 7pm and leave it until 8am which is plenty of charge time.

Great Car!

Performance: 4 Comfort: 4 Fuel Economy: 4 Fun To Drive: 4 Interior Design: 5 Exterior Design: 3 Build Quality: 5 Reliability: 5 Comfort Rating: 4 Performance Rating: 4 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5

I've only had my Leaf for a couple of weeks, but it is a great car; fun to drive and a novel experience. I just love that I haven't visited a gas station since I got my Leaf. It's got peppy acceleration, a forgiving suspension, good handling, and a comfortable interior. Real-world range is only 75-80 miles, depending on speed, acceleration and climate control/headlight use. As long as that will work for you, the Leaf is a fine choice. We were drawn in by big discounts on 2012 models right now.

Money Saving Tips

Performance: 5 Comfort: 5 Fuel Economy: 5 Fun To Drive: 5 Interior Design: 5 Exterior Design: 5 Build Quality: 5 Reliability: 5 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5

When buying the LEAF start off with the lease. This way get the $7500 deducted from the price right away. After that is done, you refinance and buy it. I did this and got my discount right away without waitng. Next, Home Depot has a 240v battery charger online that is a couple of hundred dollars cheaper than what is offered anywhere else. If you have a gas dryer use the electrical connection for that circuit and save more money. Driving tip, I have found that following behind large trucks on the highway increases the range considerably. I auctually got the 100mpg when I drove under 60mph when following these trucks

Passing Gas Stations!

Performance: 5 Comfort: 5 Fuel Economy: 5 Fun To Drive: 5 Interior Design: 5 Exterior Design: 4 Build Quality: 5 Reliability: 5 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5

Had for over a month and with nearly a 1000 miles, I haven't had to purchase any gas yet for our other car (gas of course, we always drive the Leaf whenever possible). The Leaf feels like a luxury car, not a economy car. Quieter than a Lexus, a smooth ride and based upon the electricity used so far, averaging around 140 mpg equivalent. The city driving range has been around 80 miles which for my daily commute has been good.

Initial Purchase

Performance: 4 Comfort: 4 Fuel Economy: 4 Fun To Drive: 4 Interior Design: 4 Exterior Design: 4 Build Quality: 4 Reliability: 4 Comfort Rating: 4 Performance Rating: 4 Interior Rating: 4 Reliability Rating: 4

The vehicle is every thing that I expected from the research that I did. I would rate it higher but I have only had the vehicle for a week so I still want to evaluate the car more before I determine whether there should be an excellent rating or not. Thus far I am continuing to see the advantages of having a EV. I notice many other people driving smaller gas vehicles and it is there second or third vehicle and I wonder why they have not gone EV.

Environmentally Responsible

Performance: 5 Comfort: 5 Fuel Economy: 5 Fun To Drive: 5 Interior Design: 5 Exterior Design: 5 Build Quality: 5 Reliability: 5 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5

A great vehicle with excellent acceleration from a stop, quiet, nice ride and handling, and very much an eye catcher. I've calculated my total cost of ownership over 15 years, 180,000 miles as about $45000. $33000 initial cost after the $7500 tax credit, $5000 in electricity, and $7000 for repairs, tires, and insurance. That is about 25 cents per mile, lower than any conventional vehicle. The mileage is 4 miles per kWh in the city, which at 11 cents per kWh is about 150 MPG. In an area with cheaper electric, and when I get metered service for night charging @7.5 cents per kWh, it goes to over 200 MPG city! The vehicle is fun to drive and has great pickup from a stop.

A Connecticut Leaf Owner Speaks

Performance: 5 Comfort: 5 Fuel Economy: 4 Fun To Drive: 5 Interior Design: 5 Exterior Design: 5 Build Quality: 5 Reliability: 5 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5

I am not your prototypical Leaf owner. For one, I live in Connecticut...one of two Leaf owners in the state...I have a long commute (45 miles one way) and, at the moment, I don't have a Level 2 charger where I work (I'm working on that, but the Chevy Volt has made convincing my company to get one very difficult). After a few rookie mistakes (driving 70 mph to work in the cold w/o a full charge), one of which found me driving into my garage with 4 miles of charge left, I have learned to drive back and forth to work with no range issues. The Leaf definitely makes you think about the way you drive and makes you think about your trips before you go anywhere. That being said, I love my Leaf.

High Price, all-electric

Performance: 5 Comfort: 4 Fuel Economy: 1 Fun To Drive: 5 Interior Design: 3 Exterior Design: 4 Build Quality: 4 Reliability: 3 Comfort Rating: 4 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 3 Reliability Rating: 3

I bought a Nissan Leaf SL and this review tells the pros and cons. The dealer, Koon’s Nissan in Virginia, would not disclose the costs. Here they are: Standard MSRP = $38,100. Processing fee = $499. Tax = $1,157.97. Filing Fee $10. Business License tax = $72.40. Plates = $105.50. Total Price = $39,944.88, not including floor mats. Honestly, you have to pay an extra $175 for floor mats. The Federal E.Car subsidy of up to $7,500 will come in April (tax return) if you buy or is taken off immediately if you lease. I regret waiting 16 months to pay way too much for all-electric. It seems worth about $20-22k. Other than the price, Nissan proprietary GPS, and no floor mats, it is fun to drive.

Nissan Leaf

Performance: 5 Comfort: 5 Fuel Economy: 3 Fun To Drive: 5 Interior Design: 4 Exterior Design: 3 Build Quality: 5 Reliability: 4 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 4 Reliability Rating: 4

If you can afford it, this car is fun to drive. Plenty of pick-up (we drive home over 80 mph). It is a commuter car for going to work and coming home. Approximate round trip distance is 100 miles on one charge. If you use economy mode, it can get more miles, but no pick up and go, I mean none. When you go down hill or even flat (not up hill) it can make more miles instead of using up miles on economy. Approximate cost to charge from empty is $2.50. Don't get ripped off when getting your home charger, (see suggested improvements). Go see Gina or Ken at Performance Nissan. I can honestly say you will get an up and up deal, and not get ripped.