The official "I got my Leaf" thread

[Ready2plugin]

Picked up my Leaf saturday afternoon. It was one of 5 Leafs that arrived at my PD Friday and the only Red one of the bunch. Dealership experience was just OK. Was in and out in just over 2 hours. Took them two try's to get the purchase contract right as the first one they presented me showed full MSRP and not my quoted price I agreed to back in Janurary. Never actually got to meet Leon as he had left for the day so maybe that was the reason. Regardless, they fixed it. It helped that I had with me a printed copy of my quote. Car had 5 miles on it when I drove off the lot. Never even driven one until today. My first "new" car since 1994. The car is cool! Will be looking forward to my first drive to work Monday morning (46 mile roundtrip, mostly highway).

Just sharing my experience. Please don't beat me up for being a line jumper.

Welcome to the Red owner club. As for jumping in line, if you were not apart of MNL, you probably wouldn't even know others who ordered before you are still waiting. Your commute is perfect for the LEAF, should be able to do 80% charging. Mine is about 60 miles, so I'm still charging to 100% each night. Wish they would come up with a 90% setting. Anyway, ENJOY!!!

 

[uspearls]

Just sharing my experience. Please don't beat me up for being a line jumper.

Its not your fault, so enjoy your car. Congrats. ...thanks for the heads-up on the quoted price.

Its annoying as hell seeing Nissan do this. Nissan's public affairs told me on Friday that 200 of the 800 cars have been fixed for A/C related problems and confirmed my VIN was not one of them, so I know my wait is going to be lot longer. The said they will fix remaining 600 in next 48 hours (yeah right) and all the cars will be at the dealership by the end of the week (don't hold your breath).

I agree with you my fellow "Penasquiton".....Brian, I'm trying to keep from going into my garage more than once an hour to gaze at the Blink, because that would be REALLY geeky....not your fault, enjoy it (and please bring it by if I don't have mine very soon!).

The way I feel about all of this is that we are all very very privileged to be on the cutting edge...this truly is a historic event. At the same time, I feel that the senior U.S. based Nissan executive responsible for communications should be fired, plain and simple. Consumers these days (at least in the U.S.) expect transparent, honest messaging. Nissan should be applauded for selecting a revolutionary model to rollout the Leaf by connecting the consumer directly to the manufacturer. This was an opportunity to innovate and to deploy some of the best practices in corporate communications. Nissan put in the infrastructure to do just that, between the dashboard and Facebook, but execution has been abysmal as we all know. Having said that.....sometimes we all can't see the forest from the trees, blinded by our own frustrations, excitement, etc....this is the absolute infancy in the product cycle. Nissan has plenty of opportunity to get it right...we should not expect the product to be perfect off the bat or to be all things to all people (even Apple can't achieve these two things) but we SHOULD expect open dialog. Step up Nissan....start talking.

 

[SilverLeaf]

My Magnificent Cayenne Red 2011 Nissan LEAF SL-e arrived at 10:00 pm on Sunday, April 17.

I registered for CarWings, and within 5 minutes I was able to access my Account (Owner's Portal)

It shows correct SOC and everything.

The entire process from Reservation to Receipt took 363 days (April 20, 2010 - April 17, 2011)

I can already confirm that this vehicle is DEFINITELY worth the wait.

There was one other LEAF on the transporter, a SILVER SL being delivered to Vail, AZ.

I have updated the spreadsheet with the latest information for my LEAF.

 

[linkim]

Well I finally picked up my LEAF this afternoon. The most surprising part for me was the Extended Warranty program that was being promoted by the dealer (Steven Creek Nissan). There was no brochure or other documentation (except small business form to sign) about the warranty to look at. It was touted as a money back warranty backed by Nissan. The options are 60 months/100K miles, 72/75K (2353$), 72/100K, 84/70, 84/70 (2465$), 84/100K and 96/100K. I only asked for the cost of two of the options as shown here. My understanding is that after the term, the money is returned. It was not clear what happens if a small claim is made. Does one receive a pro-rated return of the money or nothing? Because I was unclear of the potential negative aspects of the warranty, I refused it. Maybe someone who has such a warranty can let me know if I was crazy not to take it. The finance manager did tell me that 6 of 7 (me being the 7th) recent LEAF buyers did purchase the warranty. Maybe I missed any discussion of this warranty on the MNL forum.

Forgot to take any pictures or other visual documentation at the dealer. I was anxious to drive the LEAF. I guess there was nothing unusual about the procedure to learn about the vehicle – taking about 2 hours. Now I will try and charge the LEAF on 120 V in my garage until I get the Blink installed. LEAF had 4 miles on the odometer.

 

[jcesare]

Well I finally picked up my LEAF this afternoon. The most surprising part for me was the Extended Warranty program that was being promoted by the dealer (Steven Creek Nissan). There was no brochure or other documentation (except small business form to sign) about the warranty to look at. It was touted as a money back warranty backed by Nissan. The options are 60 months/100K miles, 72/75K (2353$), 72/100K, 84/70, 84/70 (2465$), 84/100K and 96/100K. I only asked for the cost of two of the options as shown here. My understanding is that after the term, the money is returned. It was not clear what happens if a small claim is made. Does one receive a pro-rated return of the money or nothing? Because I was unclear of the potential negative aspects of the warranty, I refused it. Maybe someone who has such a warranty can let me know if I was crazy not to take it. The finance manager did tell me that 6 of 7 (me being the 7th) recent LEAF buyers did purchase the warranty. Maybe I missed any discussion of this warranty on the MNL forum.

FYI I'm trying to capture warranty costs in this thread:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=3426

If anyone has anything to add about the actual COST and what they accepted or rejected (no editorials about how it's a bad deal) please update it.

 

[z0ner]

Ahhhhh! I've been waiting with great anticipation to post in this thread.

I got "the call" Monday morning, and coincidentally I had taken the day off from work so I was able to capitalize on it. With Fontana Nissan being about 35 miles away, it was going to be a loooong night.

I put the last spit shine on my 2004 350Z Roadster and headed out in the late afternoon, knowing it was going to be my last ride with her. I finally got to meet Danny Truong after all this time. He and Joanna have been excellent in regards to communication and the facilitation of the whole process.

I had forgotten to ask them NOT to drill front license plate holes. Argh. Danny was nice enough about it and is sending me a couple of plugs with touch-up paint so it won't look as bad.

I also didn't have my title for the Z. In the rush to get out of the house I had forgotten it, so Wes in finance got the paperwork together for a duplicate and didn't charge me for that either ($25). No sales pressure at ALL for add-ons. In fact the warranty wasn't even mentioned (presumably because I leased).

Danny was great, going over everything methodically. By now he's been through the spiel a few dozen times. He just returned from vacation, and didn't specifically know if my car had the firmware fix, but had gotten a general "all cars were taken care of" from Joanna.

The only wrench in the works was that because I didn't have the actual title, and because I wasn't sure if the previous leasing company had released liability they couldn't cut me a check for the trade-in. Yesterday I sent it off to them so it should only be a matter of a few days. It's a significant amount.

However, halfway home I had realized I missed the I-15 and was halfway to the 57 and panic set in. Although I was driving in ECO mode with no climate control, I was down three white bars and had no idea if I was going to make it home to Orange. My stomach was in my chest. I started STARING at the bars. Once I got closer and realized I was going to make it I finally relaxed a little. I made it into the garage with two red bars to spare


It's been a couple of days now, and the car drives like a dream. "Range anxiety" is still there, but it's getting better the more I drive.

 

[jcesare]

Picked up my car this evening. Drove the I-15 home on crusie control at 65. Mileage range indicator was almost right on the button. Maybe the new software has fixed the issue.

The car is everything I expected it to be and more. :mrgreen:
I'll revise and extend this post tomorrow (getting late and I have a LOT of reading to do). I'll also discuss the warranty. Turns out you can get a deductable and that really reduces the price. I wanted protection from catostrophic instrument cluster failure (happen on another car I owned) so I went with an 84 month / 75,000 mile warrenty with $100 deductable. If part of the cluster fails, or some other computer componant, you're looking at more than the cost of the warrenty.

Tip of the hat to Leon at Mossy Nissan Kearny Mesa and all of the staff there. Excellent service.
The EVSEs are located in a great location with easy access and right off route 163. Anyone can use them.

 

[sdbonez]

Picked up my car this evening. Drove the I-15 home on crusie control at 65. Mileage range indicator was almost right on the button. Maybe the new software has fixed the issue.

The car is everything I expected it to be and more. :mrgreen:
I'll revise and extend this post tomorrow (getting late and I have a LOT of reading to do). I'll also discuss the warranty. Turns out you can get a deductable and that really reduces the price. I wanted protection from catostrophic instrument cluster failure (happen on another car I owned) so I went with an 84 month / 75,000 mile warrenty with $100 deductable. If part of the cluster fails, or some other computer componant, your looking at more than the cost of the warrenty.

Tip of the hat to Leon at Mossy Nissan Kearny Mesa and all of the staff there. Excellent service.
The EVSEs are located in a great location with easy access and right off route 163. Anyone can use them.

Congrats - finally!!

 

[stanley]

Congrats jcesare!!! Enjoy!!!!!

 

[csriram45]

Ok finally I get to write on this thread. I picked up my 2011 Nissan Leaf - Red. Exacty 1 year after reservation. My experience at dealership wasn't good though. I am not sure if it has been mentioned anywhere on the forum and if so I definitely missed it in plenty of info.

As soon as I arrived at BW Nissan the first thing I was asked was how do I plan to pay for it. I mentioned I have my own financing and have a cheque. The next thing I was told to do was to fill a Credit Application. I was taken aback because I did not understand why am I filling a credit application. The dealership told me its standard practice and they want to make sure its for identify proof etc. I said there are other ways to prove my identity and I refused. Then the person went and called another guy who mentioned that since its a cheque they have to run a credit report so that they can create a secondary contract or something. This again made no sense and I was still not convinced about it and at this point I was really upset. I had heard about how BW Nissan was a painless process but this was all happening to me in the first 10 minutes. At this point the dealership said that the only way they can sell the car to me is if I can get PenFed to wire the money or do the credit application. Left with no choice I finished the application but did tell them that I will write about it as I have read about dealerships doing this when there is no reason for it.

After that I asked them to give me a test ride as I had not driven the Leaf so far and neither had my wife. We both drove around and came back. After coming back we were given the manual and other docs from PGE etc etc. We then had to wait close to 1/2 hr - 45 minutes for them to finish the paper work. In between Brendan came over and introduced and spoke well. It was nice to put a face to the name. He too justified the reason for doing the credit application.

After that I was called into the finance department and sign bunch of waivers. I then noticed a mistake in the pricing as the price on Dashboard was no longer valid due to the fact that my Eco design package was dropped at the port.

I was then offered various extended service plans and protection packages which I declined. I was tempted when they mentioned that its fully refundable etc. I however decided to decline everything.

I then asked them to make a copy of the sales contract and the temporary registration and signed the penfed check and left.

Things that I noticed was. My car mats were not loaded. My trunk mat was not loaded. Even when I left I realized they forgot to remove the vehicle sticker. Overall I felt they did not care. Could be because of a bad start but that too I felt could have been handled better.

I was a bit surprised by the overall experience and would suggest the future buyers to be prepared better.

 

[jcesare]

As soon as I arrived at BW Nissan the first thing I was asked was how do I plan to pay for it. I mentioned I have my own financing and have a cheque. The next thing I was told to do was to fill a Credit Application. I was taken aback because I did not understand why am I filling a credit application. The dealership told me its standard practice and they want to make sure its for identify proof etc. I said there are other ways to prove my identity and I refused.

I too paid by cash at my PD (Mossey Nissan Kearney Mesa, Thanks Leon!) and I too had to do the credit app thing. Not sure why this was such an issue with you? It is standard practice in the industry. It was explained to me the paperwork is geared around a credit contract that has been standardized for just about every car dealer. (Ever notice wherever you buy a car the paperwork is identical?) When you pay by cash, the paperwork is actually a loan with 0% interest with one payment. This is simpler for the business because very few people pay cash for a car and they don't want to deal with two sets of contracts. They also have to verify you are who you say you are as this helps ensure the check is authentic. This has more to do with their legal requirement since they are releasing their rights to the vehicle and giving you the title. Using a credit bureau to validate your identity is a service they already pay for, why would they want to go out of process and assume some other sort of risk and cost? Life is full of compromises. Deal with it.
BTW I always enjoy the credit check portion of the car buying experience. It gives me an actual free credit report with my credit score, sometime you normally have to pay for. (Don't believe those commercials, you need to pay to get the score #)

 

[linkim]

As soon as I arrived at BW Nissan the first thing I was asked was how do I plan to pay for it. I mentioned I have my own financing and have a cheque. The next thing I was told to do was to fill a Credit Application. I was taken aback because I did not understand why am I filling a credit application. The dealership told me its standard practice and they want to make sure its for identify proof etc. I said there are other ways to prove my identity and I refused.

I too paid by cash at my PD (Mossey Nissan Kearney Mesa, Thanks Leon!) and I too had to do the credit app thing. Not sure why this was such an issue with you? It is standard practice in the industry. It was explained to me the paperwork is geared around a credit contract that has been standardized for just about every car dealer. (Ever notice wherever you buy a car the paperwork is identical?) When you pay by cash, the paperwork is actually a loan with 0% interest with one payment. This is simpler for the business because very few people pay cash for a car and they don't want to deal with two sets of contracts. They also have to verify you are who you say you are as this helps ensure the check is authentic. This has more to do with their legal requirement since they are releasing their rights to the vehicle and giving you the title. Using a credit bureau to validate your identity is a service they already pay for, why would they want to go out of process and assume some other sort of risk and cost? Life is full of compromises. Deal with it.
BTW I always enjoy the credit check portion of the car buying experience. It gives me an actual free credit report with my credit score, sometime you normally have to pay for. (Don't believe those commercials, you need to pay to get the score #)

My experience with the buying process was similar to yours and csriram45. They did the credit check and the paperwork with 0% loan. I pulled out my checkbook and wrote a personal check to purchase the LEAF. The most annoying part of the process was the promotion of the Extended Warranty, part of which is described in the thread - Cost of Warranty. I would be interested in hearing about the refundable warranty offered to csriram45. Was it similar to the one from my Nissan dealer?

 

[DarkStar]

As soon as I arrived at BW Nissan the first thing I was asked was how do I plan to pay for it. I mentioned I have my own financing and have a cheque. The next thing I was told to do was to fill a Credit Application. I was taken aback because I did not understand why am I filling a credit application. The dealership told me its standard practice and they want to make sure its for identify proof etc. I said there are other ways to prove my identity and I refused. Then the person went and called another guy who mentioned that since its a cheque they have to run a credit report so that they can create a secondary contract or something. This again made no sense and I was still not convinced about it and at this point I was really upset. I had heard about how BW Nissan was a painless process but this was all happening to me in the first 10 minutes. At this point the dealership said that the only way they can sell the car to me is if I can get PenFed to wire the money or do the credit application. Left with no choice I finished the application but did tell them that I will write about it as I have read about dealerships doing this when there is no reason for it.

In my purchase, this was my sole complaint about the process as well. Nissan uses our credit information for data-mining purposes, literally to learn more about their customers. Unfortunately it's completely legal as they can choose whether or not to sell the car to us, however since the credit check is done through NMAC I'm fairly certain the requirement comes from Nissan corporate.

I was certain to cross off on the form the sentences regarding applying for credit, as if there is any repercussions from having an additional "ding" on my credit report, I'll be able to prove that I did not authorize my credit check in the process of filing for an application of credit (there are two ways to run a credit check, one for applying for credit, the other one for a background).

 

[thankyouOB]

can I assume the dealer will know where to put the plate (CA) on front bumper?

 

[csriram45]

As soon as I arrived at BW Nissan the first thing I was asked was how do I plan to pay for it. I mentioned I have my own financing and have a cheque. The next thing I was told to do was to fill a Credit Application. I was taken aback because I did not understand why am I filling a credit application. The dealership told me its standard practice and they want to make sure its for identify proof etc. I said there are other ways to prove my identity and I refused. Then the person went and called another guy who mentioned that since its a cheque they have to run a credit report so that they can create a secondary contract or something. This again made no sense and I was still not convinced about it and at this point I was really upset. I had heard about how BW Nissan was a painless process but this was all happening to me in the first 10 minutes. At this point the dealership said that the only way they can sell the car to me is if I can get PenFed to wire the money or do the credit application. Left with no choice I finished the application but did tell them that I will write about it as I have read about dealerships doing this when there is no reason for it.

In my purchase, this was my sole complaint about the process as well. Nissan uses our credit information for data-mining purposes, literally to learn more about their customers. Unfortunately it's completely legal as they can choose whether or not to sell the car to us, however since the credit check is done through NMAC I'm fairly certain the requirement comes from Nissan corporate.

I was certain to cross off on the form the sentences regarding applying for credit, as if there is any repercussions from having an additional "ding" on my credit report, I'll be able to prove that I did not authorize my credit check in the process of filing for an application of credit (there are two ways to run a credit check, one for applying for credit, the other one for a background).

Precisely my point, If I have done my part of getting a credit and everything I do not see why I need it run again. I can still understand if it was a personal cheque but this is from a proper registered credit union. I guess I am smarter now. Last year when I was car shopping I read about how the credit check is done for no reason. Typically one would walk away from the dealership but in this scenario one can not.

Like I said, it was more of the overall experience. When you are buying a car the credit check part comes at the end after having seen the car driven the car etc. I had not driven a Leaf or for that matter sat in one before and so my expectation was a bit different from the dealership. The point of my posting was that people are at least aware of this and can plan accordingly.

 

[jcesare]

can I assume the dealer will know where to put the plate (CA) on front bumper?

My front plate frame was attached when I picked up the car.

 

[rawhog]

I told my dealer not to install the front plate holder. They lost the note and did it anyway. I got pissed and let them know it. To their credit, they painted and installed a new bumper on their dime.

 

[idunk]

As soon as I arrived at BW Nissan the first thing I was asked was how do I plan to pay for it. I mentioned I have my own financing and have a cheque. The next thing I was told to do was to fill a Credit Application. I was taken aback because I did not understand why am I filling a credit application. The dealership told me its standard practice and they want to make sure its for identify proof etc. I said there are other ways to prove my identity and I refused.

I too paid by cash at my PD (Mossey Nissan Kearney Mesa, Thanks Leon!) and I too had to do the credit app thing. Not sure why this was such an issue with you? It is standard practice in the industry. It was explained to me the paperwork is geared around a credit contract that has been standardized for just about every car dealer. (Ever notice wherever you buy a car the paperwork is identical?) When you pay by cash, the paperwork is actually a loan with 0% interest with one payment. This is simpler for the business because very few people pay cash for a car and they don't want to deal with two sets of contracts. They also have to verify you are who you say you are as this helps ensure the check is authentic. This has more to do with their legal requirement since they are releasing their rights to the vehicle and giving you the title. Using a credit bureau to validate your identity is a service they already pay for, why would they want to go out of process and assume some other sort of risk and cost? Life is full of compromises. Deal with it.
BTW I always enjoy the credit check portion of the car buying experience. It gives me an actual free credit report with my credit score, sometime you normally have to pay for. (Don't believe those commercials, you need to pay to get the score #)

I don't know why it's an issue for him/her, but I know why it would be for me: the check will affect your credit score (I know, not much, but it does). Plus, I see no reason to give my SSN to anybody unless it's really needed.
When I paid cash for the Toyota Prius I was not asked to do a credit check.
I am fairly sure that the credit check is just something that they normally do and that makes their lives easier. Not sure whether they really mine the information though.

 

[Train]

I have a bought a few vehicles through pre arranged financing and have given the dealership a certified bank check. NEVER, have those dealers asked to run my credit report. There's no reason to run it when you have the check in hand.

Now, if the dealership wants you to wait until the check clears, that's their prerogative. But they don't need to run your credit when you've already got financing through someone else.

 

[rv6abob]

As far as dealers requiring a credit app even when paying cash, I don't have a problem with this. They are merely protecting themselves in case your check is bad or the cashier's check you gave them was couterfeit or altered. If you have good credit, they have a much greater chance that your check that you just handed them will ultimately result in them actually getting paid.