The Battery Replacement Thread

[keydiver]

Call 1-877-NoGasEv and notify them that you are down to 8 bars. At this point, there are no "9 bar" battery packs for Nissan to install in your car, so everyone gets a new 2015 battery pack for free, as long as:
1) you have less than 60,000 miles
2) the car has been in service <5 years
3) you have not opted out of the class action suit
4) You have been having your mandatory yearly battery test done
5) Nissan does not consider you to have abused your Leaf/battery

 

[spike09]

Here's a current pic from my LeafDD. How soon can I expect to lose that 4th bar? I have a 63.5 mile round trip commute and 61.5 of it is highway. I'm amazed that I can still make it.

Lost my 9th bar on Oct 13.
LeafDD readings as follows:
180 GIDS
S 93.2270
C 43.3878
H 59.45

 

[mxp]

Clarification about the battery test: Is this still an absolute requirement?

IIRC, there were 2 complimentary battery tests provided during the 3 years of ownership. After that, the car's out of factory warranty and I can only assume one would now have to pay for that battery test.

I really hate to pay the dealership for a battery test (that battery report amounts to nothing at all!) just to keep my vehicle in compliance for the warranty. Is there an alternative approach to this??

Call 1-877-NoGasEv and notify them that you are down to 8 bars. At this point, there are no "9 bar" battery packs for Nissan to install in your car, so everyone gets a new 2015 battery pack for free, as long as:
1) you have less than 60,000 miles
2) the car has been in service <5 years
3) you have not opted out of the class action suit
4) You have been having your mandatory yearly battery test done
5) Nissan does not consider you to have abused your Leaf/battery

 

[keydiver]

No, I don't see any alternative. Fortunately, a few dealers have done the test for free, whereas I have heard that others dealers charge as much as $150.
Until I get my free battery replacement (hopefully next year) I plan on having to pay the dealer for the test, but after that I doubt I will take it in every year.

 

[Stanton]

No, I don't see any alternative. Fortunately, a few dealers have done the test for free, whereas I have heard that others dealers charge as much as $150.

It should definitely be <$100; mine did it for "free" as well. Look at it this way: it's a small price to pay for a "free" battery pack (if you're on track).

 

[kubel]

If they void your warranty for not paying for a "battery test", take them to court where the burden of proof is on them to show that not having the test somehow caused the degradation.

 

[mxp]

Right... Thanks. As Stanton also indicated in his response, perhaps shopping around first might yield a lower price... I might try that.

No, I don't see any alternative. Fortunately, a few dealers have done the test for free, whereas I have heard that others dealers charge as much as $150.
Until I get my free battery replacement (hopefully next year) I plan on having to pay the dealer for the test, but after that I doubt I will take it in every year.

 

[mwalsh]

Price on estimate is 5,038.88 for NI295B0-3NF9E (fairly certain it is zero, not O) - Battery Assy.

Dropping the "NI" will give you better results searching Google. Cheapest I've seen it is $3600 with core on (Mossy Nissan's site) nissanpartsconnection.com, and the list price is given as $4499 on all the sites I've looked at.

At $3600, and being guaranteed a full-capacity lizard pack too, I might just say screw the battery warranty and B0133 situation.

 

[fooljoe]

So if one were to purchase a new battery "off the shelf", would that reset the 8yr/100k warranty and/or the 5yr/60k capacity warranty?

 

[kolmstead]

As I understand it, the attempt at mediation occurred because a few vocal and legally astute individuals objected to the proposed settlement of the defective battery class action suit. So if mediation failed, does the whole process start over? I'm trying to imagine what the consequences might be. Nissan has apparently been acting as though the settlement was in effect for over a year now; replacing 4BL batteries and denying warranty coverage to those folks who opted out of the settlement. Seems to me that if the lawsuit starts over, the outcome might be different now. Maybe three bars lost would become the new replacement standard, or five. If it went to three bars, hundreds of 2011 and 2012 Leafs would qualify before the warranty runs out.

So many questions! Will Nissan continue to uphold the capacity warranty on 2011-2012 Leafs or not? Will they keep the B0133 exclusion for folks who opted out? Might the new settlement, assuming that there is one, be better? Or worse?

-Karl

 

[TimLee]

... So if mediation failed, does the whole process start over? ... Seems to me that if the lawsuit starts over, the outcome might be different now.
...

No, it just goes back to Federal Court.
The court after reviewing the proposed settlement decided mediation was the most efficient path forward.
The initial mediator report indicated the parties were making progress.
The final report said it failed.
But keydiver's source could still be correct that the parties kept talking and might have come to a tentative agreement on October 28.
There will be a new court hearing, just no info about when.

I don't think Nissan wants this to end up in a lengthy court battle.
That would entail discovery.
As a business matter they clearly recognized that not having a capacity warranty was unmarketable.
So they added one for 2013 forward and attempted to settle on the cheap with 2011 and 2012.
More likely the parties will go back to court with a near settlement rather than starting again with discovery.
Nissan does not want discovery.

 

[TimLee]

Dropping the "NI" will give you better results searching Google. Cheapest I've seen it is $3600 with core on (Mossy Nissan's site) nissanpartsconnection.com, and the list price is given as $4499 on all the sites I've looked at.

At $3600, and being guaranteed a full-capacity lizard pack too, I might just say screw the battery warranty and B0133 situation.

Kind of surprising when Nissan clearly said their MSRP would be $5,499 :?:
Makes you wonder what dealers actual cost from Nissan is if someone is selling for $3,600 :?:

Is your interest in quicker replacement based on you now having to charge at work to make your 60 mile round trip commute :?:

 

[mwalsh]

Is your interest in quicker replacement based on you now having to charge at work to make your 60 mile round trip commute :?:

Yes. Messing around with the portable charger every day while waiting for bar 9 to disappear is a bit of a pain (the B0133 against my car notwithstanding).

 

[mwalsh]

Cheapest I've seen it is $3600 with core on (Mossy Nissan's site) nissanpartsconnection.com, and the list price is given as $4499 on all the sites I've looked at.

D'oh. Now $4400 on the same site. Should have bought it two weeks ago.

Edit: Actually I can still get it to come up at $3599 by putting the part number into Google and clicking through to the page here:

http://www.nissanpartsconnection.com/OEMParts/nissan-142/2/295B03NF9E.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But if I enter the part number on the site's home page, I end up here instead:

http://www.partswebsite.com/nissancatalog/oemparts/nissan-142/295B03NF9E.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here you can see the same part added twice to my cart:

 

[Wennfred]

Cheapest I've seen it is $3600 with core on (Mossy Nissan's site) nissanpartsconnection.com, and the list price is given as $4499 on all the sites I've looked at.

D'oh. Now $4400 on the same site. Should have bought it two weeks ago.

Edit: Actually I can still get it to come up at $3599 by putting the part number into Google and clicking through to the page here:

http://www.nissanpartsconnection.com/OEMParts/nissan-142/2/295B03NF9E.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But if I enter the part number on the site's home page, I end up here instead:

http://www.partswebsite.com/nissancatalog/oemparts/nissan-142/295B03NF9E.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here you can see the same part added twice to my cart:

Always delete your cookies, cache & history before returning back to any site that has a price, the same goes with booking a hotel, Hawaii excursions etc. first price is 54.00 then you return and the price jumps to 74.00, the website is reset to the original price after deleting the history.

Give that a try.

On the first link it shows Your Price : $ 3,599.20

I'm guessing with labor it's the 6000.00 total price.

Fred

 

[scubasandy]

As I understand it, the attempt at mediation occurred because a few vocal and legally astute individuals objected to the proposed settlement of the defective battery class action suit. Will they keep the B0133 exclusion for folks who opted out? Might the new settlement, assuming that there is one, be better? Or worse?

For anyone curious (if not already posted), search :"Chief Judge Kozinski and Nissan Leaf". I'm not a lawyer, but I did opt out. I did get a new battery after the updated warranty came out when I hit 8 bars. I never paid for any battery checks. Anyone with a B0133 exclusion that is being denied a battery replacement (if they fall under warranty details) should file with their BBB lemon law claim that Nissan is not upholding their updated warranty- regardless of the settlement. I doubt Chief Judge Kozinski would allow a worse settlement (could there even be a worse settlement?)

 

[hill]

D'oh. Now $4400 on the same site. Should have bought it two weeks ago.

Edit: Actually I can still get it to come up at $3599 by putting the part number into Google and clicking through to the page here:

http://www.nissanpartsconnection.com/OEMParts/nissan-142/2/295B03NF9E.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But if I enter the part number on the site's home page, I end up here instead:

http://www.partswebsite.com/nissancatalog/oemparts/nissan-142/295B03NF9E.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here you can see the same part added twice to my cart:

Always delete your cookies, cache & history before returning back to any site that has a price, the same goes with booking a hotel, Hawaii excursions etc. first price is 54.00 then you return and the price jumps to 74.00, the website is reset to the original price after deleting the history.

Give that a try.

On the first link it shows Your Price : $ 3,599.20

I'm guessing with labor it's the 6000.00 total price.

Fred

Then how would you reconcile the $4400 price . . . less labor?
.

 

[TimLee]

... I did opt out. I did get a new battery after the updated warranty came out when I hit 8 bars. I never paid for any battery checks. ...

Interesting.
Does the Nissan maintenance system show you flagged with B0133?
Maybe they just missed you?
Or maybe you failed to fully comply with the opt out requirements?
Requirements were pretty specific with deadlines.
I just barely met the deadline.
But there was no confirmation of any kind.
Only confirmation was Nissan B0133 flag in the maintenance system

Did you have your third annual battery "test" done in January 2014?
Some dealers failed to charge for it.
But if it was not done within Nissan three month window, it is surprising they did capacity warranty battery replacement in early June 2014.

What did LEAF Spy Lite show your post P3227 amp hour rating was prior to the replacement?
You asked what to check before replacement in another post but I did not find where you reported the info?

Sorry about your loss of the labrador Sandy

 

[mwalsh]

For anyone curious (if not already posted), search :"Chief Judge Kozinski and Nissan Leaf". I'm not a lawyer, but I did opt out. I did get a new battery after the updated warranty came out when I hit 8 bars. I never paid for any battery checks. Anyone with a B0133 exclusion that is being denied a battery replacement (if they fall under warranty details) should file with their BBB lemon law claim that Nissan is not upholding their updated warranty- regardless of the settlement. I doubt Chief Judge Kozinski would allow a worse settlement (could there even be a worse settlement?)

As I think I said in the B0133 thread, you likely got in under the wire, before the exclusions were applied to our cars. You initiated your warranty claim in May, and we didn't become aware of the exclusions until early July. It would be very handy to know EXACTLY when the exclusions were applied, but I don't think we'll ever know that unless it comes out in the discovery from a new lawsuit. You'll remember that we had to opt-out by the end of October, so there is an apparent 8 month gap (that we know of) between opt-out and exclusion.

What would be interesting, if you've a mind to do it, is finding out if your car NOW has an exclusion against it. That way, any of us who have to go back to court with Nissan can say to the Judge, "Look...here's a guy who opted out, has the exclusion against his car, and got a battery under warranty anyway." Regardless of any time lapse in applying the exclusions, I think it shows yet more inconsistency by Nissan that could be used against them.

 

[memoryisram]

Wanted to add my battery replacement experience because I read the forums and have found tons of useful information here.

I have a 2011 Leaf I purchased about 6 months ago that was off-lease. Battery pack is original had only 1 bar missing (32000) miles. In the time I've owned it I've lost 2 bars of capacity giving me barely 40-50 miles of range with the most conservative driving. Took it into the dealer I purchased it from to have the battery pack replaced under warranty after explaining the situation. I was under the impression at 9 bars, it triggered a replacement, but it appears now that is has to be one bar below this. My dealer in San Diego initially told me to come in and they would have it replaced in a few days. When I got the call that the car was ready to go, I found out they changed the 12v battery and charged me $170 for the swap. You can imagine my frustration. The guys at this shop despite being 'Leaf certified' have ZERO experience with the Leaf, and after very heated discussions, still had no idea I was talking about the large battery pack in the vehicle.

I ended up having to call and open a case with Nissan over it. Nissan engaged the dealer directly and after keeping my car for a week, returned it to me saying come back when you lose another bar there's nothing we can do. Nissan confirmed a new 2015 battery pack would be offered for my replacement.

I've been speaking with dealerships in Escondido, Temecula and Palm Springs, all who have assured me they understand the replacement warranty and would be happy to assist when the time comes so assuming in the next month or weeks when this happens, I will update with my experience then.