openinverter forum

Hi guys
I'm trying to decide the max price it is worth paying for a complete Nissan Leaf to use as a donor car for an EV project compared with buying the parts separately.
I can buy a complete 2011 or 2012 car 2nd hand with around 80k to 100k miles for around £3500 but the battery will probably be in poor condition.
I can wait for a damaged one from Copart for a similar price (After fees, tax and delivery), hopefully with a better battery but some of the parts I want may have been damaged in the accident or may already been scavenged by an unscrupulous seller.
Or I can buy the parts separately and probably pay a lot more. The Inverter, motor and drive train can be bought for around £1500 but there are loads of other bits needed and I will get no battery, not even a poor one.
So the question is, what is the max price it makes sense to pay for complete car if we assume the battery is fairly good and everything else is working?

Thanks

Hey Alibro
I missed out on a 2015 Leaf that had been rolled into a field a few months back. It popped up from my alerts I have set up on Donedeal here in the south. I called the guy litterly an hour or two too late and he basically said, first to arrive with a trailer, gets it. That was €3,500 which was a great deal looking back and going on the details he gave me.
That is always my first port of call. Alerts on the used/damaged car sites. I found that forming the relationship with an ev/hybrid licenced breaker seemed to yield good results when you meet face to face. I contacted the breakers a few weeks after seeing the ad for a 2015 Leaf (weeks after buying the Gen 1 stack) thinking the battery was already gone but they put it aside so I could have first refusal. €2k for a 93% healthy 24kWh pack was fair enough I thought. Any time I have been back for a part, I usually gather a load of wiring and bits and pieces for free to go along with it.
To answer the question how much? I would try keep sub 3.5K for something complete that you have proof of good health of the battery as I have seen on a couple of occasions over the last 18 months or so.

Alibro wrote: ↑Fri Aug 07, 2020 10:49 pm Hi guys
I'm trying to decide the max price it is worth paying for a complete Nissan Leaf to use as a donor car for an EV project compared with buying the parts separately.

Just saw this from Damien

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=959

Sorry I didn't reply earlier. For some weird reason this forum doesn't automatically subscribe me to threads I've posted in or even created so I didn't see your post.
I've messaged the guy but I think the ad has been up for a long time so probably gone.
I've been watching Done Deal too and saw a 2011 car for 3700 Euro but wasn't sure how to get it home as it's around 175 miles from me. I think the battery was in poor shape though as it had done over 100k miles and the car was dog rough.

So it looks like £1421.70 is a good price to pay for a Leaf without a battery.
Thanks to Cookie6000 and Jack Bauer I now have a 2011 Leaf in my garage and that was the exact cost after taking exchange rate and delivery into account.
I guess the fun starts now.