Dear fellow electric car enthusiasts. Before you continue reading I just wanted to apologise for the length of this initial post but I believe that I wanted to include a clear picture of what I am currently going through and have been going through for the past 6 weeks and wish that none of you who own a leaf or are planning to own one would ever have to go through what I'm currently dealing with. I also wanted to ask for what your advice might be on how to handle this situation because I am currently planning to reach out to the media.
In August this year I was one of the lucky individuals to purchase a brand new Leaf SV. ( a vehicle that I have loved and been saving for over a period of 2 years) I loved the car as much as many of you currently love your cars. 6 weeks ago the unfortunate thing happened. On my morning drive to the train station to head to work a lady slammed her brakes of her 2003 toyota corolla for no apparent reason with a 2 vehicle gap between her vehicle and mine. I was traveling with traffic at 40kmph and when I noticed that she did that I quickly reacted. Unfortunately the leaf slid and I was involved in a rear end accident. The impact speed was 20-25kmph. Being the person from behind I was the individual at fault. The good thing is that no one go injured. The Toyota had its license plate bent and nothing more. My brand new leaf with 1500km on the odometer on the other hand got the short end of the stick. Because she was on a slight decend the impact was between her bumper and the leaf’s hood/charge port. On the inside that area is hollow with some wiring and brackets for the charge port. The impact absorbers on the bumper were not compressed, the drivetrain was not affected. The front of the vehicle looked like it had shriveled in as if it were made from recycled water bottles. Because the impact speed was minimal, no airbags were deployed and I didn’t even feel the hit on my body. (awesome job on protecting the driver, not so awesome on handling the hit structurally) After ensuring that every one is safe and fine, I towed the car to the dealer that I purchased it from and with their help we got it to their Nissan certified body shop. My primary concern was to get the vehicle repaired without voiding the warranty. To retain the warranty original parts were ordered 2 days after the accident form the Nissan deler and this is where the sad part begins. The total repair quote was almost 5 figures (didn’t know that plastic and aluminum costs that much…) but with the help of the insurance company the money was obtained for the body shop and Nissan's parts. As the parts were arriving at the dealership, they would immediately send them over to the body shop so that they can get the vehicle back on the road ASAP. EXCEPT… The front chargeport plastic assembly and its mounting bracket. After 6 weeks from their order date they weren’t able to come up with an appropriate ETA. Their system would show an ETA and few days later the ETA would change to a later date or no date at all. The dealership contacted Nissan for assistance and after 3 days of waiting they got a response saying that Nissan didn’t have an ETA. They apparently checked all their parts depot across the country and none of them had these 2 parts. At week 5 I had to step in and call Nissan’s customer relations line. Opened a case with them and they said it can take up to 48-72 hours for a response. 72 hours later I contacted them and they said that they are still working on the case. The next day I got a call from a Nissan representative saying that their response was that they “don’t know when the parts will be available and have no information on them” 6 weeks since the initial orders were placed we are still at the same situation... Nissan doesnt know when the parts are coming and I dont have my car because of that. After getting that response from them the only thing they offered me was a rent a car that is a gas guzzler. From the time I got their management response of not knowing the information on the parts I have been calling in on daily basis asking for any support from them and regardless on who I talk to I get the same response and they just want me to just agree and wait. No one has taken the initiative to try to come up with a way of obtaining the parts in any way. I honestly feel like they do not even care about their customers nor any one is willing to provide me with any help on getting a part for the car that is sitting at the body shop… I know that the assembly line is rolling as we speak of this car. Dont know how difficult it would be to get those parts shipped from the supply over at Smirnia... With thousands sold I do not understand how it is possible for one of the largest car manufacturers in the world who is trying to lead the way in EV sales not to be able to support their own vehicle and to treat their customers this way. I am deeply disappointed in Nissan and everything they have done to treat their customers. This is my first and my last Nissan that I will ever buy. I do not know where to go from here nor how long it will take to get my car back.
I wanted to reach out to you for any advice that you might have. I am very sorry for making this such a long post but I wanted to caution individuals who have purchased the vehicle and individuals looking into purchasing to be aware of how they could also be treated if the unfortunate happens. I would never wish any one of you to be in my shoes. I love my leaf but it hurts when you cant have the thing that you have been saving towards for 2 years because a corporation treats their spare inventory as if they no longer make the vehicle and treats their customers the way I was treated.
In August this year I was one of the lucky individuals to purchase a brand new Leaf SV. ( a vehicle that I have loved and been saving for over a period of 2 years) I loved the car as much as many of you currently love your cars. 6 weeks ago the unfortunate thing happened. On my morning drive to the train station to head to work a lady slammed her brakes of her 2003 toyota corolla for no apparent reason with a 2 vehicle gap between her vehicle and mine. I was traveling with traffic at 40kmph and when I noticed that she did that I quickly reacted. Unfortunately the leaf slid and I was involved in a rear end accident. The impact speed was 20-25kmph. Being the person from behind I was the individual at fault. The good thing is that no one go injured. The Toyota had its license plate bent and nothing more. My brand new leaf with 1500km on the odometer on the other hand got the short end of the stick. Because she was on a slight decend the impact was between her bumper and the leaf’s hood/charge port. On the inside that area is hollow with some wiring and brackets for the charge port. The impact absorbers on the bumper were not compressed, the drivetrain was not affected. The front of the vehicle looked like it had shriveled in as if it were made from recycled water bottles. Because the impact speed was minimal, no airbags were deployed and I didn’t even feel the hit on my body. (awesome job on protecting the driver, not so awesome on handling the hit structurally) After ensuring that every one is safe and fine, I towed the car to the dealer that I purchased it from and with their help we got it to their Nissan certified body shop. My primary concern was to get the vehicle repaired without voiding the warranty. To retain the warranty original parts were ordered 2 days after the accident form the Nissan deler and this is where the sad part begins. The total repair quote was almost 5 figures (didn’t know that plastic and aluminum costs that much…) but with the help of the insurance company the money was obtained for the body shop and Nissan's parts. As the parts were arriving at the dealership, they would immediately send them over to the body shop so that they can get the vehicle back on the road ASAP. EXCEPT… The front chargeport plastic assembly and its mounting bracket. After 6 weeks from their order date they weren’t able to come up with an appropriate ETA. Their system would show an ETA and few days later the ETA would change to a later date or no date at all. The dealership contacted Nissan for assistance and after 3 days of waiting they got a response saying that Nissan didn’t have an ETA. They apparently checked all their parts depot across the country and none of them had these 2 parts. At week 5 I had to step in and call Nissan’s customer relations line. Opened a case with them and they said it can take up to 48-72 hours for a response. 72 hours later I contacted them and they said that they are still working on the case. The next day I got a call from a Nissan representative saying that their response was that they “don’t know when the parts will be available and have no information on them” 6 weeks since the initial orders were placed we are still at the same situation... Nissan doesnt know when the parts are coming and I dont have my car because of that. After getting that response from them the only thing they offered me was a rent a car that is a gas guzzler. From the time I got their management response of not knowing the information on the parts I have been calling in on daily basis asking for any support from them and regardless on who I talk to I get the same response and they just want me to just agree and wait. No one has taken the initiative to try to come up with a way of obtaining the parts in any way. I honestly feel like they do not even care about their customers nor any one is willing to provide me with any help on getting a part for the car that is sitting at the body shop… I know that the assembly line is rolling as we speak of this car. Dont know how difficult it would be to get those parts shipped from the supply over at Smirnia... With thousands sold I do not understand how it is possible for one of the largest car manufacturers in the world who is trying to lead the way in EV sales not to be able to support their own vehicle and to treat their customers this way. I am deeply disappointed in Nissan and everything they have done to treat their customers. This is my first and my last Nissan that I will ever buy. I do not know where to go from here nor how long it will take to get my car back.
I wanted to reach out to you for any advice that you might have. I am very sorry for making this such a long post but I wanted to caution individuals who have purchased the vehicle and individuals looking into purchasing to be aware of how they could also be treated if the unfortunate happens. I would never wish any one of you to be in my shoes. I love my leaf but it hurts when you cant have the thing that you have been saving towards for 2 years because a corporation treats their spare inventory as if they no longer make the vehicle and treats their customers the way I was treated.