The WRX is gone, and we now have on lease this 2013 Leaf SL. We were, as noted in my previous thread teetering on the brink of doing a TDI Sportwagen instead, and Thursday evening we had lamented that the lease terms from Nissan had mostly seemingly standardized on 36 months, and wouldn't it be nice if they did 24 again so there was a bit less of a haul if it turned out not to work out for us... Lo and behold, the next morning the dealership we'd been to and had a reasonably favorable experience at on the last test drive was running just such a thing.
I have no idea how we really did on the negotiations, and as usual, now that it's over, I almost don't want to know. Anyhow, it felt a lot better than when we bought the WRX. That said, they came within one vague answer of us walking away and buying the TDI just because we had a simple, concrete price via my CU's service and were so tempted to go that way anyhow. Feeling like we had a Plan B that we were tempted to make into Plan A made it less stressful.
It's a neat little car. I think I, so far, am settling into driving it more aggressively than the WRX; it's still quite efficient even when you're having fun, and that thrust at city speeds is fun. And there's no external indication that you're driving like a fiend 'til the tires squeal (which I haven't actually done yet; I've actually only driven it home from the dealer and out for breakfast ingredients).
Right now we just have the 120V power source. It's not unlikely we'll add a level 2, 240V unit, but the reality is that so much of our driving will never come close to using the full range in a day that most of the time we'll start with a full charge in the morning even with the trickle charger. I suppose I'll only have to get annoyed with the setup once or twice before deciding it's worth it for the L2, though. Plus it's a very Portland upgrade to the house's marketability
For now we're planning on taking the Leaf for shorter out of town trips where we can plan for charging, and renting something for longer trips. We've agreed that if that ends up making either of us mental I get to go get some kind of road trip car, but we're going to try not taking on the parking, insurance, maintenance if we can avoid it...
Got a lot to learn about the nav/widget details. It was neat to turn on the heater while I started to prep breakfast and go out to a warm car, bu it was also a warm car with fogged windows, so that could use a little looking into...
Anyhow, I'm stoked for our new adventure. If I'm honest, as a car, I think I preferred the Sportwagen, but in terms of picking the right tool for the job for two people who drive almost exclusively around town, averaging probably 25 miles a day (and quite possibly less than that), it was just too compelling to pass up. Add to that the fascinating technology, the sense of adventure, and the fact that the free market waits for demand before doing development... I'm excited to see how this goes.
One last observation about driving it: It's really easy to wind up exceeding the speed limit; there's very little sensation of speed. The ride is taut and nice, but there's little wind noise, and no engine noise.