Importing a Leaf into Western Australia

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sbakker5
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Importing a Leaf into Western Australia

Post by sbakker5 »

Hi all,
Has anyone in Western Australia imported a Japanese Leaf? If so who was the registered RAW facility. I have searched the RAW registrar but no one in WA can sign off on a Leaf. Any help would be appreciated.
We have a Mitsubishi PHEV and I would like my work car to become an EV. The only issue I have is thatvthe journey is a 90km round trip at 100km/h + a hill. The 30kW battery version Leaf should be able to handle my commute until I can convince my employer to install a charging station or a accessible power outlet (my employer did investigate into providing a charging station but since no one drives an EV to work there was no need provide one).
antiscab
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Re: Importing a Leaf into Western Australia

Post by antiscab »

It's probably better value to have a few 15A power point installed than an evse. Cheaper and less risk of any installed equipment becoming obsolete.

No WA importers, not yet anyway. The 30kw leaf doesn't handle high WA temperatures all that well.
Matt
2023 BYD Atto 3 - 21k km
2017 Renault zoe - 147'000km
2012 Leaf - 101'000km - soon to be trialing a booster battery
2007 Vectrix - 197'000km (retired)
2007 Vectrix - 50k km
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jonescg
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Re: Importing a Leaf into Western Australia

Post by jonescg »

Prestige does them I think. Isn't that right @@reecho ?
AEVA National President, WA branch director.
reecho
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Re: Importing a Leaf into Western Australia

Post by reecho »

jonescg wrote: Wed, 26 Dec 2018, 15:19 Prestige does them I think. Isn't that right @@reecho ?
Geoff Risbey at Prestige Motor Sport will happily import one. But it would have to go east first for compliance.

I doubt any more SEVS workshops will sign on for Leaf, especially n WA.
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Bryce
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Re: Importing a Leaf into Western Australia

Post by Bryce »

Hi there - given the price of importing a 30kW Leaf vs the cost of a new Zoe or Ioniq, I'd buy one of them instead. Zoe has a better range than the 30kW Leaf anyway. (BTW: Zoes do not have DC fast-charge though, 22kW on 3 phase is the fastest they will go).

NB: the 30kW Leaf does not have any form of practical battery cooling: in hot conditions the 30kW is still reputed to have some of the battery degradation issues the earlier ones had. (And possibly the current 40kW one too - it has no real battery cooling either. Only the coming 60kW Leaf looks likely to have active battery cooling).

On paper, the Ioniq BEV looks the best current choice. It has DC fast-charge, a range as good or better than the 30kW Leaf AND has decent battery cooling - and would not be much more in cost than an imported superseded Leaf (that has a Japanese SatNav) anyway - plus you'd have a dealer back-up in Australia.

Cheers
Bryce
Current EV drive: 2019 Kona electric, 2010 iMiEV
Also in family: 2019 Renault Zoe
Past drives: 2011 Blade Getz, 2011 Leaf, 2001 Citroen Berlingo conversion
Past Conversions: DC Berlingo, AC Berlingo, AC Sprinter
mikedufty
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Re: Importing a Leaf into Western Australia

Post by mikedufty »

Seems to be about $20,000 cheaper for the Leaf based carsales.
Imports do have their issues though, took over a year to get the Takata airbags fixed on our import Delica.
I quite like the Japanese sat nav, the maps there are so much more interesting than Perth, lots of mountains and islands. I am still mystified as to how it decides which part of Japan it thinks we are driving in though.
reecho
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Re: Importing a Leaf into Western Australia

Post by reecho »

mikedufty wrote: Thu, 27 Dec 2018, 09:31 Seems to be about $20,000 cheaper for the Leaf based carsales.
Imports do have their issues though, took over a year to get the Takata airbags fixed on our import Delica.
I quite like the Japanese sat nav, the maps there are so much more interesting than Perth, lots of mountains and islands. I am still mystified as to how it decides which part of Japan it thinks we are driving in though.
But there is no warranty either. You could be buying a lemon.

But I have bought plenty of ICE cars from Japan over the years. The better quality of broker the better the result.
PiMan
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Re: Importing a Leaf into Western Australia

Post by PiMan »

reecho wrote: Thu, 27 Dec 2018, 19:20 But there is no warranty either. You could be buying a lemon.

But I have bought plenty of ICE cars from Japan over the years. The better quality of broker the better the result.
While not as extensive as for a new car, there are statutory warranties for used cars bought from dealerships. If you buy a lemon, you almost always have a right to a refund or repair.
Most of the used Leafs on CarSales are from dealers, and so some warranties apply. (Although I think there are some state by state differences, where some will go above and beyond Australian Consumer Law requirements, while others will not.)
mikedufty
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Re: Importing a Leaf into Western Australia

Post by mikedufty »

Not sure how great warranties are anyway. My recent experience with the i-Miev was it took 7 months to get fixed under warranty. Other people with the same issue fixed it in a few weeks for less than the cost of 7 months rego and insurance.
You could certainly get a lot of repairs done with the $20,000, plus big savings on depreciation if it lasts a few years before breaking.

On the other hand I wasn't able to find anyone to quote to replace the takata airbags out of warranty, just had to wait for the free ones.
sbakker5
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Re: Importing a Leaf into Western Australia

Post by sbakker5 »

Thank you all for your input,
I thought it might be the case, that you will have to get the leaf compliant in another state. I will give prestige motor sport a call in the new year. I still think if I could source a leaf for around $20000ish with the range to get the 90km to work it would be workable and if I could charge at work then it is a worth it.
I am a bit sceptical on the Zoe as the performance is a bit slow when the vehicle hits 60km/h and above and with Tesla 3 and Nissan leaf being released at around the same price as the Zoe ($50,000) I think the resale value would drop quite significantly after 5 years.
I will need to keep lobbying my employer to get at least access to a 15A power outlet.
antiscab
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Re: Importing a Leaf into Western Australia

Post by antiscab »

There's a leaf for sale on gumtree for $18.5k, with enough battery bats remaining to do the 90km with margin
Matt
2023 BYD Atto 3 - 21k km
2017 Renault zoe - 147'000km
2012 Leaf - 101'000km - soon to be trialing a booster battery
2007 Vectrix - 197'000km (retired)
2007 Vectrix - 50k km
reecho
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Re: Importing a Leaf into Western Australia

Post by reecho »

sbakker5 wrote: Fri, 28 Dec 2018, 16:06 Thank you all for your input,
I thought it might be the case, that you will have to get the leaf compliant in another state. I will give prestige motor sport a call in the new year. I still think if I could source a leaf for around $20000ish with the range to get the 90km to work it would be workable and if I could charge at work then it is a worth it.
I am a bit sceptical on the Zoe as the performance is a bit slow when the vehicle hits 60km/h and above and with Tesla 3 and Nissan leaf being released at around the same price as the Zoe ($50,000) I think the resale value would drop quite significantly after 5 years.
I will need to keep lobbying my employer to get at least access to a 15A power outlet.
Must point out that the Hyundai Ioniq is now on sale priced slightly lower than the Zoe. Early reports from owners indicate they really are an efficiency powerhouse...
reecho
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Re: Importing a Leaf into Western Australia

Post by reecho »

PiMan wrote: Thu, 27 Dec 2018, 20:15
reecho wrote: Thu, 27 Dec 2018, 19:20 But there is no warranty either. You could be buying a lemon.

But I have bought plenty of ICE cars from Japan over the years. The better quality of broker the better the result.
If you buy a lemon, you almost always have a right to a refund or repair.
True but if you import yourself using a broker there is no recourse. But this has the potential to save a bucketload of $$$ compared to selling prices at the yards.
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