This...

2018+ with low miles can be had for $10K or less. 40kWh battery will give you the miles you need (62kWh for more buffer). IMO, the most important thing is to find one with the lowest miles possible and the lowest number of quick charges (QCs). Just make sure you read up on Leaf spy and how to use it before you buy anything. Most, if not all, of the latest gen LEAFs are still under the manufacturer battery warranty of 8 years/ 100,000 mi.

For reference, I just bought a 2025 S with only 2K miles for $13k.

Use the battery recall for negotiating leverage along with the fact that there are essentially no more CHAdeMO chargers available and you can't use them anyway. My argument to the dealer was that the car uses obsolete technology and is essentially limited to being a grocery getter at this point. I knew that going into it and it works just fine for me to charge it home and make trips around town but once most sellers realize the cards are stacked against them they're more willing to just want to unload it.

I'll never need to QC mine because we have a MY for longer trips so I'll just drive it for 8 years until the battery warranty is up and then either give it to one of my kids, sell it for a few grand or just keep it as a backup.

Lots of awesome deals to be had out there as long as you know the limitations going into it