Used Nissan LEAF market looks strong
Upon closer inspection, we’ve found that the used Nissan LEAF market is actually very good – at least for one little company.
eBay has a feature that allows registered shoppers to view completed listings. Being extremely tired the other day when we wrote our original article, we neglected to check this out. Having some time this morning, we chose to revisit eBay to evaluate the current offer, but also to check on completed listings for 2011 Nissan LEAFs. What we found was very interesting.
A small Nashville area auto broker has been buying up new and low mileage 2011 used Nissan LEAFs and offering them for sale on eBay via the no-reserve auction for a couple of weeks now. Area dealers likely are tired of inventorying the vehicles and are happy to be rid of them. The broker picks up the cars at a very attractive price and offers them on eBay in these no-reserve auctions. In the last two weeks, three LEAFs have been sold in this way with the lowest auction price of $25,950 for a LEAF with 4,111 miles up to $26,900 for a 2011 LEAF with 60 miles. All SL trim levels. As we write, the bid on the current LEAF has just topped $20,000 with almost six hours to go. Our guess is that it will reach a final bid similar to the amount that the previous three have gone for. As more individuals discover the availability of the LEAF via this avenue, we expect that the final bid price may actually increase slightly as the potential buyer’s market gets larger. Let’s face it – the mid-$20,000 range is way more attractive than the $29,750 for a new SL after federal rebate. And there is not an inexhaustible supply of these vehicles available. This arrangement works out for all parties involved – the dealer gets to move the LEAF out of his inventory, the broker makes a small profit on each car sold, and the new LEAF owner gets an almost new LEAF at an attractive price.
Not long ago we were reading the comments in response to a LEAF article on a blog somewhere. One comment maker suggested that he would consider a LEAF when the price came down to around $13,000. At this rate, we think it will be quite some time before anyone sees LEAF pricing falling below $20,000, much less approach his desired price point.
At least two of those LEAFs didn’t come from dealer inventory. I checked both vehicles via CarFax when they were listed. They were both originally rental cars. After a year they were auctioned at a car auction in Tennessee. The company you mention bought them at the Tennessee auto auction then placed on Ebay at no reserve. One LEAF was from OK with 4K miles and the another was from GA with under 100 miles.
Indy – thanks for the additional research. It seems we’ve learned what the market price is based on these no-reserve auctions.
Ya, I thought it was gutsy to put them up at no reserve. Appears they did well.