Nissan Leaf Accidents

[Pauly]

Have you had an accident with your Leaf?

I leased my 2013 Leaf SV on May 27th, 2013. September 26th, 2013 a 78 year old grandmother pulled out in front of me from a stop sign. I collided with her going 50 mph. Neither of us were seriously injured. The air bag in the seat and the seat belt gave me some large and painful bruises.

The body shop completed the repairs and I pick up my Leaf on December 20th, 2013. Yes, almost three months in the repair shop. The problem was the lack of replacement parts from Nissan. I contacted the Nissan Leaf hotline, opened a case number and one of the parts expeditors kept in contact throughout the ordeal. I had four parts that did not have release dates from Nissan. The information I received from the parts expeditor became more or less mythical information as days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. My insurance policy covered the first 30 days of a rental, and the other persons insurance covered the next 60 days until my car was fully repaired.

I am back in my Leaf. I love this car!

Pictures of the damage.
https://picasaweb.google.com/114655759351383406742/LeafAccident#

Other Leaf pictures
https://picasaweb.google.com/114655759351383406742

Pauly

 

[UBUYGAS]

WOW, Crazy Photos, Is the steering OK?, no wheel damage?

I like the airbags the way they cover the windows. Very nice.

What did they do to bake the paint?, did they remove the main batteries?

Or did they only paint the replacement parts?

 

[MIKEA]

I feel your PAIN.
My leaf had same damage only 2 days old.
Took NISSAN DEALER IN RHODE ISLAND all summer to repair !!!!
2013 Red SV 1799 miles/12 bars/284Gids/67.19AHr/100% SOH/108.8% Hx on 23 Dec13

 

[RonDawg]

I'm glad you and your passengers (if any) were able to walk away from this accident. However, that impact damage does not appear to have come from a 50 MPH impact....it appears to be far less speed.

This is what a Leaf looks like when it hits a collapsible barrier (simulating another car of similar mass) at just 40 MPH:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZVXLuaUX9c[/youtube]

While the road you were on may have had a 50 MPH speed limit, you likely scrubbed off enough velocity so that the impact occurred at a much, much slower speed. Other folks here have had crashes with their Leafs at much lower speeds, and ended up with far greater damage. Yours looks like it only slightly bent the left frame rail, with most of the damage being cosmetic (bumper/fender) and the airbag deployments. The hood looks like it's OK and even the left headlight assembly appears to be intact, though any plastic locating tabs may have broken off.

If it weren't for the airbag deployments possibly invoking the battery safety system, and the front bumper now dragging on the ground, your Leaf looks like it was still driveable.

 

[UBUYGAS]

So, your delivery date is after the leaf was repaired?

I feel your PAIN.
My leaf had same damage only 2 days old.
Took NISSAN DEALER IN RHODE ISLAND all summer to repair !!!!
2013 Red SV 1799 miles/12 bars/284Gids/67.19AHr/100% SOH/108.8% Hx on 23 Dec13

 

[adric22]

Wow.. Thanks for the photos. I've been driving my Leaf for nearly 3 years and I actually had no idea that airbags came out of the seats. That is news to me!

 

[jms]

In late October my wife hit a deer. We dropped it off on November 2nd. We are waiting on a wiring harness part number 24012-3NF7B

Today we got:
I am still working to resolve your current STP request, but currently we do
not have an ETA for your part and will advise you as soon as it becomes
available.


So no idea when I will get the leaf back but I've about had it.

 

[Berlino]

I actually had no idea that airbags came out of the seats. That is news to me!

It may be news to a lot of people, otherwise seat covers wouldn't be as popular. Some are designed to not impair airbag deployment, but it's not always the case.

 

[TomT]

Yes, the car has been available for more than three years in the states now. To have virtually no parts available at this juncture is totally unacceptable and Nissan should be badly embarrassed by it!

So no idea when I will get the leaf back but I've about had it.

 

[KillaWhat]

In late October my wife hit a deer. We dropped it off on November 2nd. We are waiting on a wiring harness part number 24012-3NF7B

Today we got:
I am still working to resolve your current STP request, but currently we do
not have an ETA for your part and will advise you as soon as it becomes
available.


So no idea when I will get the leaf back but I've about had it.

2013 NISSAN LEAF WIRE HARNESS (24012-3NF7B)
Part #24012-3NF7B replaces: 24012-3NF3B
WIRE HARNESS FRONT COMPARTMENT, W/QUICK CHARGE, SL, W/PREMIUM PKG

Yes, this is a 2013 part, for a vehicle that is at least assembled in the US.
No excuse that Nissan cannot pull you one and send it to you.

(any Leafer out there that has one?)

Having said that, Is the car drivable / chargeable?

If not, what is actually damaged that makes it so?
Just trying to help.
We (The Brusa people) have pretty much rebuilt the charging harnesses on our cars, and if it's just some plastic part that is physically cracked or something, it could probably be "fixed" temporarily if the car is down because of it.

At least it would dull the immediate pain of the problem if the car could be charged and driven.

Good Luck.

 

[Klayfish]

I can tell you that the LEAF is not alone in part availability issues, so it's not a Nissan thing. Whenever I see a Prius accident, I always tell my staff to be prepared for a very long process. Some of their parts are unicorns. There are other cars that have part availability issues as well. There are a lot of factors that go into it, but it's no surprise the LEAF parts aren't readily available.

And I agree with Ron that the impact wasn't 50mph. I can only see the cover photo at my work computer, so I can't see everything. But a 50mph impact would have totalled the car...and badly. From the one photo I can see, I'm guessing impact speed was under 25mph. That's a good thing...

 

[Deleted member 9999]

I slid into truck the other day, at a much lower speed. My damage looks a lot worse, see it in that thread. We're both in Minnesota too so I'm interested in where you got your repairs done (the shop I went to, recommended by the dealership, had NEVER seen a Leaf). I've been given the runaround with regards to some labor cost because apparently noone had ever had to repair the "Engine Cradle" before, and they didn't have it in the book and couldn't find an estimate required for the insurance to go through. I'm unhappy with the responsiveness of the dealership especially with this transaction, it has been a month to just get an estimate.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Yes, the car has been available for more than three years in the states now. To have virtually no parts available at this juncture is totally unacceptable and Nissan should be badly embarrassed by it!

So no idea when I will get the leaf back but I've about had it.

my 2006 Prius was in an accident in 2009. this was 3 years and more than 10X the number of Priuses on the road than the LEAF and the shop had to do a parts search expanding to a 1200 mile radius (ya, that means all the way to CO for some reason because Washington, Oregon AND California did not have the parts)

it was a 3 week wait for what was nothing more than a fender bender accident at speeds under 15 mph

 

[Rat]

I actually had no idea that airbags came out of the seats. That is news to me!

It may be news to a lot of people, otherwise seat covers wouldn't be as popular. Some are designed to not impair airbag deployment, but it's not always the case.

I just removed the covers from mine.

 

[jelloslug]

Yes, the car has been available for more than three years in the states now. To have virtually no parts available at this juncture is totally unacceptable and Nissan should be badly embarrassed by it!

So no idea when I will get the leaf back but I've about had it.

my 2006 Prius was in an accident in 2009. this was 3 years and more than 10X the number of Priuses on the road than the LEAF and the shop had to do a parts search expanding to a 1200 mile radius (ya, that means all the way to CO for some reason because Washington, Oregon AND California did not have the parts)

it was a 3 week wait for what was nothing more than a fender bender accident at speeds under 15 mph

That's odd. I rebuilt a wrecked 2008 Prius in late 2008 and had no issues with buying parts.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

That's odd. I rebuilt a wrecked 2008 Prius in late 2008 and had no issues with buying parts.

but I would have to have a 3000 mile radius to include the area you got your parts in. with that much area, I probably wouldn't have had any problems either. as it was, we settled for used parts on about half the repair

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

That's odd. I rebuilt a wrecked 2008 Prius in late 2008 and had no issues with buying parts.

but I would have to have a 3000 mile radius to include the area you got your parts in. with that much area, I probably wouldn't have had any problems either. as it was, we settled for used parts on about half the repair

 

[jms]

Having said that, Is the car drivable / chargeable?

If not, what is actually damaged that makes it so?

Not any more, they had to pull the batteries to do the work. I'm not sure why it needs replaced but I've thought of rebuilding the damn harness myself. Pretty soon I'm gonna have to break into the factory to pull one off the line.

 

[jelloslug]

That's odd. I rebuilt a wrecked 2008 Prius in late 2008 and had no issues with buying parts.

but I would have to have a 3000 mile radius to include the area you got your parts in. with that much area, I probably wouldn't have had any problems either. as it was, we settled for used parts on about half the repair

I just ordered the parts and had them shipped to me. There is no magical location in the country that has access to more parts than other places. Most of the time when someone claims there is a "shortage' of this or that it just means that someone forgot to order something.

 

[suwaneedad]

I'm surprised insurers even bother repairing LEAFs, frankly. The hassles associated with it must make things ridiculously costly for the entire supply chain. It's not an Accord (yet). Just total em and go get new ones, insurance industry. Building an inventory of several thousand totaled LEAFs in junkyards across America during the next, say, 12 months, would alleviate much of the spare parts availability issue, in short order.