2011 Nissan LEAF

Rating from Electric Car Enthusiast

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		4 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"I have owned my Leaf for 9 months and have loved every minute of it. Just try to imagine how it feels to say "I have not purchased gasoline or had my oil changed in 9 months!" Every morning I leave my garage with a "full tank" so to speak. Because I have a wall-mounted charger i the garage it only takes a few seconds to plug the Leaf in every evening when I get home from work. The "range anxiety" that people talk about will disappear in a few weeks of driving the car. As long as you can charge at home every day and as long as you drive less than 40-50 miles per day, you'll probably never even give it a thought. I believe a lot of people over-estimate the distances they drive. I have experimented and asked people at work questions like "how far is it to the Mall?" Many people replied with answers ranging from 10 to 20 miles. In reality, it is 6 miles. So when you finally start to understand how far things really are (or aren't) then the range of the Leaf suddenly looks a lot longer. I have let about 20 people drive my car over the last 9 months. Every single one has been surprised, if not blown away, by the acceleration of the vehicle. It exceeds all expectations. I've even been challenged at a few traffic lights and won. I'm not big into being "green." I mean, I'm not against it, but it was certainly not my motivating factor in my purchase. I love the high-tech feel of the car. It really does feel like a car of the 21st century. I also love the money I save on gasoline, and the convenience of being able to fill up at home. Once you own a Leaf for a month or so, you'll discover something odd when you ride with friends in their gasoline cars. You'll realize for the first time how smelly they are, how much they vibrate, and how noisy they are. The best analogy I can think of are smokers. I've been told by people who quite smoking after several years that once exposed to cigarette smoke again they will suddenly realize for the first time how stinky it is. So now when I ride in a friends' gasoline car I really feel like I might as well be riding in a steam-powered car or some other obsolete technology."

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Commuting

Rating from T. Gordi

(5)
Comfort:		4 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		5 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"We have owned a Leaf since July 2011 and we love it! It drives very nice, always ready to jump on your command. It is very quiet. By owning this car, I don't sponsor governments I don't like, keeping the "gas" money in the country. I don't pollute the air (have solar panels creating the electricity that drives the car). And we enjoy driving the car. Thank you Nissan, you did a fantastic job!"

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Commuting

Rating from Arizona Leaf Owner

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		4 out of 5
Interior Design:		4 out of 5
Value for the Money:		3 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"No gas, what more can I say? Plenty. It's got great performance, not as good as other cars I've owned but still pretty snappy off the line. A/C works great even in the 115+ Arizona heat. My range is only about 60 miles between charges since I go 75 on the freeway with the A/C on. If I go slower, like 70, I'll get more like 70 miles between charges. Very easy to plug and unplug, about 10 seconds or less each time. Not a fan of the white interior but it hasn't shown any dirt yet. My wife says this is the happiest I've even been about a car."

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Commuting

Rating from Techno-Daddy

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		5 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"This is a superb car. Styling is good, comfort great, amenities like full navigation system, Bluetooth, XM radio, rear-view camera, etc. And you can't beat the cost per mile. My costs have been running at 1 to 2 cents per mile for fueling. Which I do at night, in my garage. Of course, the range is limited. Only 60 to 70 miles at highway speeds and 100 to 120 in city driving. But that is exactly what I wanted and expected. Oh, and did I forget to mention performance? I can beat most sports cars off the line because of the zero torque aspect of an electric. True, I do top out at 90 mph. But I am not doing that anyway."

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Commuting

Rating from JC

(5)
Comfort:		4 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		4 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		5 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"I've had my LEAf since April 2011 and I absolutly love it. It's the first true 21st century car. If I forget to plug it in, it sends me email. I can pre cool or pre heat the car from my smart phone or any web browser. Timers alow me to charge during off peak hours. The ride super quite and totally vibration free. In comparison, when I drive a gas car, it feels like I'm driving tech from the Industrial Revolution, old noisy, vibrating, and smelly. The LEAF is a blast to drive and is costing me 3 cents/mile to drive PERIOD... no oil change, no tune up, no air filter, no transmissi­on fluid. My EV and I mock Big Oil."

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Commuting

Rating from JPWhite

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		4 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		4 out of 5
Interior Design:		4 out of 5
Value for the Money:		3 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"Drives very smoothly, quietly and comfortably. A nicely engineered vehicle. Interior is too light and soils very easily and isn't that easy to clean without affecting texture of material. Very cheap to run, get a 2011 while you can, the 2012's are more expensive and state rebates will run out soon."

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Commuting

Rating from NO CHARGERS IN SAN ANTONIO

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		4 out of 5
Interior Design:		3 out of 5
Value for the Money:		4 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"The Leaf is great. I bought an orphaned 2011 SV trim, paid a lot, but still I love it. Dealers are dealers and will get what they can even when the ordering customer turns it down when it arrives. My dealer delivered the car personally (80 miles to my home). I bought it site unseen and could not be happier. I own a 7 series BMW and Lexus hybrid and still the ride is very compariable. My trooper and Kia Sorrento (1994 version) don't have half the ride. I use it for a 20 mile commute and then running 4 kids around to various practices. More than a couple af times I have been white knuckled on the steering wheel hoping that we make it home, even after a full chargeat the start of the day. Therefore, it is not for everyone! The charge goes down super fast when on a freeway driving over 60mph. Running around town in traffic, never seems to zap the charge and we can go forever. I am still using the trickle charger. I bought the 220v charger from Nissan (delivery) for 800 bucks. It arrived yesterday and my electrician is installing it today for less than 200 bucks, so don't be put off by charging issue. If your city is like mine, good luck finding a public charger. Up the rode in Austin they had close to 30. All the Nissan dealerships have one but I have yet to see how happy the are to give me a little juice to get home! It is a hit with the kids and the environmentalist wanna be folks here in SA. I get thumbs up almost everyday. You are gonna love it!!"

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Commuting

Rating from Amorphous

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		5 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"I am in month 5 with my Leaf and it just seems to get better as I go along. I have the advantage of living in Tennessee Valley Authority territory, so my electric rates are low. I consistently (well, over the past four months anyway) get about 1000 miles from $20 of electricity. I don't think you can beat that. Use is a 10-mile commute (each way) everyday plus errands in the evenings and on weekends. I charge to 80% during the week (recommended by Nissan) and never have a problem with the commute plus the errands. All in all, it's not a Z-Coupe; it's not a Bug-Eye Sprite, but it's incredibly inexpensive to operate and so far it has been flawless in terms of quality, components, and assembly."

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Commuting

Rating from JJnHAWAIi

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		4 out of 5
Value for the Money:		5 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"I purchased this car because it is all electric,but now that I drive it daily the car has more than impressed. It's very quiet, comfortable, smooth in acceleration and breaking, and just works like it should. You plug it in a night and drive the next morning. Simple. No more gas to worry about; no more oil changes to take up time out of your day; no more tune ups. Enjoy driving... Also, I really enjoy turning on the ac on a hot day with my iPhone, yes it is nice. The car only gets better the more I drive it. Well done Nissan!!"

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Transporting family

Rating from ENIAC

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		5 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"I've owned my LEAF for 8 months and nearly 6,000 miles at this point. I'm truly impressed with this vehicle. The technology is amazing. The ride is planted because the battery pack creates a low center of gravity. Also, it's very quite. Those two attributes inspire a luxury feel to the vehicle. I like the open feel of the interior. Being a completely new vehicle, in every way, I expected we would have some early adopter issues. But thus far it's operated flawlessly."

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Just getting around