Missing welds, Nissan may replace up to 211 2014 LEAFs

[NasGoreList]

Checked my welds this evening and all 6 are where they are suppose to be. Mine was made on feb 14th 2014

 

[TomT]

Likely a software glitch or setup error... Spot welding does not use rods. A current is passed through both sides of contacting metal surfaces held under pressure by electrodes causing the metal to melt together in that spot due to resistive heating.

These cars have been rolling off the same assembly line, identical to the thousands that came before it. How does the robot welder just stop welding and the line keeps rolling for weeks? Someone forgot to restock the welding rod?

 

[evnow]

Is it just my (unrealized) bias - or is the Nissan US workmanship not as good as the Japanese ?

 

[TomT]

Well, the 2013 and later Leafs certainly do seem to have more build and QC issues than the previous models from Japan...

Is it just my (unrealized) bias - or is the Nissan US workmanship not as good as the Japanese ?

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

So, over an almost two week period, they suspect only 211 cars? Pretty specific number for an estimate. And aren't they making over 2000/month now? How does that yield 211 over 2 weeks? Just one part of one shift's worth of production?

 

[NasGoreList]

Is it just my (unrealized) bias - or is the Nissan US workmanship not as good as the Japanese ?

You are probably right, I wasn't happy when I found out that mine is made in USA...Will see how it turns out.

When I just got out of the school I bought new Mazda 626 that was made in Michigan Ford/Mazda plant..was trouble free for 5 years and 100K miles

 

[TomT]

Nissan USA plants, at least for the first few years of production, are legend for bad quality. As a case in point, remember Nissan's Truck/SUV plant that was famous for some of the worst quality vehicles Nissan ever produced?

Is it just my (unrealized) bias - or is the Nissan US workmanship not as good as the Japanese ?

 

[jelloslug]

These cars have been rolling off the same assembly line, identical to the thousands that came before it. How does the robot welder just stop welding and the line keeps rolling for weeks? Someone forgot to restock the welding rod?

Well, what could have happened is that a single robot went out of service. When that happens they reprogram the other robots in the same cell to do the work that the damaged robot was doing. Since that is out of the ordinary the programming could have been off and they just misses some of the welds when the other robots were reprogramed. It's highly unlikely that a robot malfunctioned and just did not do welds that it was programed to do though.

 

[mwalsh]

It's highly unlikely that a robot malfunctioned and just did not do welds that it was programed to do though.

Robot found out it was earning less than robots employed by vehicle manufacturers outside of right-to-work states, and went on strike.

 

[cwerdna]

Nope, not under federal law.

what do you think Nissan will do with the cars that are replaced?

can they "retro weld" and resell the cars?

Why not? Can't they sell them as repaired used cars?

Any car that's been in a severe accident needs to have welding work done on it.

 

[cwerdna]

Nissan USA plants, at least for the first few years of production, are legend for bad quality. As a case in point, remember Nissan's Truck/SUV plant that was famous for some of the worst quality vehicles Nissan ever produced?

Is it just my (unrealized) bias - or is the Nissan US workmanship not as good as the Japanese ?

I'm not sure that was the case for Smyrna, TN but yes, the Canton, MS plant had a VERY terrible start with a bunch of their vehicles having the worst reliability of ANY vehicle in CR.

Example references:
http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article_1.aspx?cp-documentid=435413" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2004-10-03/nissans-boss" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - there were many other stories like this about Nissan flying out that large set of engineers from Japan to figure out what was going on and fix the problems. I remember reading a few of them, back then.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2005/06/01/8263466/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - just stumbled across this

 

[jelloslug]

It's highly unlikely that a robot malfunctioned and just did not do welds that it was programed to do though.

Robot found out it was earning less than robots employed by vehicle manufacturers outside of right-to-work states, and went on strike.

Southern robots are very anti-union and would be very unlikely to strike.

 

[Devin]

Nissan USA plants, at least for the first few years of production, are legend for bad quality. As a case in point, remember Nissan's Truck/SUV plant that was famous for some of the worst quality vehicles Nissan ever produced?

Is it just my (unrealized) bias - or is the Nissan US workmanship not as good as the Japanese ?

I'm not sure that was the case for Smyrna, TN but yes, the Canton, MS plant had a VERY terrible start with a bunch of their vehicles having the worst reliability of ANY vehicle in CR.

Spend a week in Japan, then spend a week in the US Southeast. That should tell you everything you need to know!

 

[hawkeye1824]

Checked mine (manufactured 2/14), hard to see, but I think I've got six welds...

 

[apvbguy]

Robot found out it was earning less than robots employed by vehicle manufacturers outside of right-to-work states, and went on strike.

was that before or after the environmental impact investigation?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Checked my welds this evening and all 6 are where they are suppose to be. Mine was made on feb 14th 2014

Valentines Day? how did you nail down the exact day?
obtw; your date is outside the dates in question

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

So, over an almost two week period, they suspect only 211 cars? Pretty specific number for an estimate. And aren't they making over 2000/month now? How does that yield 211 over 2 weeks? Just one part of one shift's worth of production?

computer controlled means computer monitored. probably just a report stating undervoltage weld incidents or some such. I think its all much ado over nothing. lets see how many get replaced.