2012 Nissan Leaf consumer reviews

I just bought the 2012 Nissan Leaf 2 days ago. It is used. It looks good as new. All the inside stuff works and everything is fine. The only thing is that i was told that i can get a whole 100mpg on one charge and that is already bs. My car takes 8 hours to charge to the most it can which it shows is only 45 miles until the next charge. That's less than half of what was promised at dealership but it doesn't even stop there. My walmart is 10 miles from my house. It took almost the whole charge to go down the street to walmart and back. I have it on charge now. I am not satisfied at all with this range of charging. My work is 30 miles from my house. I am really worried that i wont even make it and i feel like i was ripped off because they didn't say that it had charging problems when i bought it. I feel like this was false advertisement. IT would cost me almost $6k to buy a new battery and instal it. My car cost $8K so it be stupid to get a new battery when the battery is about the same as the car. I would rather worry about having a gas guzzler over not even being able to make it to work every day......

This looks like a typical economy hatchback, but it's anything but. This is an all electric car, which is a completely different experience. Just plug it in at night to a regular wall outlet, and you're good to go each day, never buying gas or getting oil changes. The car is very peppy. The only downside is that the 2012 model doesn't have a very long range, so it's only good for short commutes or as a second car for local trips; if you buy one knowing that, you'll love it. The entertainment system is reasonably good. AM/FM/XM/CD/USB/Bluetooth all work as expected. The navigation is decent, but a little hard to use.

broken windshield, this car is almost free to drive. after six years of owning this car it has never been to the dealer not ones.no reason to stop at a gas station,other than to buy coke and chips.

After about 40000 miles, it still performs like it did when I got it at 8000 miles. It accelerates from a stop strongly and handles well. The only issue I've had is some squeaking from the front suspension when the weather is cold. It still has about 90 percent of its original driving range. On sub-zero (Fahrenheit) days, the range goes to about 60 percent of what it has on an 80 degree day. Then, I wouldn't trust it to go any further than 35 miles on a full charge.

My first electric car and I adore it. Only negative is limited range on fully charged battery (66 miles). It's whisper quiet and super fun to drive. I love whizzing past gas stations. I have not used a public charger yet. Had an electrician install a 220 plug in my garage and I bought a level 2 charger. Do all my charging at home. There is one thing I was shocked to discover. I took my car in for general service since I bought it used. I was informed they could not service my car because they had no mechanic on staff certified to service the Leaf. Say WHAT???? I'm standing in a Nissan Dealership and being told they are not equipped to service a car they make. WOW....just wow!! I even made the manager call other dealerships to see if any of them had a certified mechanic. Only way over on the other side of town. How disappointing. So this is a very important factor to be aware of. Make sure the dealership has a certified mechanic on staff before taking your car in or it's a wasted effort. Thank goodness my car didn't have any issues. Was just looking for general service since I was the new owner of a used car

This is my first electric vehicle. I love new tech & always wanted an EV, but the new ones are still too expensive for me. I recently purchased a 2012 Nissan Leaf SL, and am really enjoying it. It's a "1st Generation" Leaf (2011-2012), so it's got a couple drawbacks. It's got a 24 kWh battery, which only had a 75 mile range when new. It's got the 1st Gen heater, which sucks more power than later models. It's almost 7 years old, so the battery has lost a little capacity & only does 50-60 miles now (depending on how cold it is). Those are the negatives of an older EV. Now, the positives: It still drives like new. Ultra smooth & quiet. These EVs need virtually no maintenance. It's VERY peppy from zero-to-45, and not too shabby after that. There's literally NO noise produced unless you're moving or running something. It charges in about 12-14 hours from empty on a regular 110 household plug, 4-6 hours on a 220, and 30 MINUTES with the quick DC chargers you find in some gas stations. It's just a cool car if you're a tech geek. It's kinda like a video game because you find yourself adjusting your driving as a challenge to get the most range for your charge. Since I only have a 40-mile round trip to work, this car works great as a commuter vehicle. In a few years, I'll probably move on to a newer EV with longer range, but as a 'gateway' starter EV, an older Nissan Leaf is a great way to begin. The 1st Generation models can be had for around $7000 now (they were $36k new!), and are pretty widely available. Just make sure you get one that still has decent capacity left on the battery. At 7-ish years old, mine still has 11 out of 12 'capacity bars' showing on the original battery. That translates to around 80-85%. Still lots of life left. Avoid any that have 9 bars or less or have spent their lives in hot places like Arizona that kill batteries faster. Replacing the main battery is crazy-expensive (around $9k)! But one that's been well cared for can still provide you several good years for a pretty modest price.

If you have specific destinations. And don't make any side trips. You should come home with 18 to 21 miles left. The 2012 leaf has a 50-mile range. The car is reliable. But it's not built for long distances. When I bought it. I didn't understand range. So I get nervous if I go too far. The computerized voice tells me once the range hits 11 miles to charge it. And there are electric charging stations, but you have to buy a membership to use them. The price is cheap. And there are a few free charging stations. But you have to look for it. And I have charged it in the rain. But I take extra precautions like putting towels on top of the extension cord and putting a towel on where the plug goes in the car. I really think I should have gotten a hybrid. Because I use the gasoline-powered car to go longer distances. Overall, I still save thousands of dollars on gasoline by using the leaf. Maybe hundreds. And the car shakes a lot of the road is bumpy. So don't drink any water before traveling. But if the road is smooth, then the car is a great drive.

Plenty of space inside for 5 people, and storage space is decent. Nice kick when you put your feet on the pedal since it's electric. Pretty comfortable drive and handles well. Happy I don't need to go to gas station and spend any money on gas. My only complaint is battery range which needs improvement.

Almost seems like this car was intentionally crappy to push newcomers to hybrids and electric cars back to gas. But there are better electric cars out there. This isn't a good one.....

Very handy.Easy to charge. no worse than a car with a gasoline engine is much cheaper and does not damage the environment................ ................. ................... ................................