Grant
Active member
I've read this entire thread and I was happy to see that a couple of other people mentioned my very specific #1 complaint about the Leaf. I bought a 2012 SL that I've been driving for 3 years (30k miles).
My number one complaint is that I cannot put the windshield defog on with recirculated air. It forces you to use "fresh" air for this mode, which is not at all necessary. My '97 Lexus worked fine in defog mode with recirculated air (and a/c on) so I know it works without any issue. There's no reason for it to force it this way. One reason I bought an EV is because I HATE to breathe in exhaust fumes, so why is it forcing me to use "fresh" air that pulls in exhaust fumes of the vehicles in front of me? I'm reminded of this every winter when there is cold rain that fogs up the windshield and I have to turn the defog on and off so it defogs the window but I'm not constantly pulling in exhaust fumes. If this is fixed on later models, I'd be curious to know.
Another annoying thing about the HVAC system is when I turn on defog and it's on low fan speed, then I turn up the fan speed and turn the system off and on again, it's back to low fan speed. There is some weird routine to adjust the fan speed for defog that I haven't figured out (sometimes it comes on high, sometimes medium, sometimes low).
The GPS/navigation is pretty weak for certain functions and the maps are already a year out of date when you get the car new. I don't understand why no car company has purchased Garmin and put that in their vehicles rather than building their own. Also, a single map update for $179 is insane. You can buy a new Garmin with lifetime map updates for $100.
I was aware of the range limitations of an EV when I got on the waiting list for this car in 2010, but am still surprised when I turn on the car after a full charge and it still says estimated range is 90-100 miles (was often 110+ when new) but knowing that the real range is significantly less (maybe 75 max). This doesn't really make any sense and is very misleading. Also, there's a continuous battery/range degradation of about 5% per year (at best), which nobody really talks/thinks about until you see a range indicator bar disappear one day.
The misleading range indicator/bars is quite annoying. It's not linear, which makes no sense (can you think of any other graphical display used every day that's not linear?). The bars at the top represent about 4-6 miles each while the ones at the bottom are 8-10 miles each. It seems like it was designed to make people paranoid and think you have less range than you do, which could help with people not getting stranded, but also makes you think you have a less useful range/car.
Oh yeah, the two clocks need to be set separately. WTF?
There were a few other minor things (inadequate visor, no lock on charge plug, better regen braking), which I noticed were fixed/improved on the 2014 model when I had one as a rental in Orlando.
And what this guy said:
"I do wish the steering wheel heater is better at keeping a somewhat steady warmth, and not swinging wildly from "wow this thing is getting hot" to "is this thing even on?""
Unlike others, I don't have any big problems with the horn, styling, carpet or seats.
I like that it creeps. Maybe you don't have bumper-to-bumper traffic where you live?
Overall, I'm satisfied with the car, mostly because of the benefits of it being an EV, not specifically because it's a Nissan Leaf. I'll probably consider a Tesla Model III as my next car in a few years when those are available.
My number one complaint is that I cannot put the windshield defog on with recirculated air. It forces you to use "fresh" air for this mode, which is not at all necessary. My '97 Lexus worked fine in defog mode with recirculated air (and a/c on) so I know it works without any issue. There's no reason for it to force it this way. One reason I bought an EV is because I HATE to breathe in exhaust fumes, so why is it forcing me to use "fresh" air that pulls in exhaust fumes of the vehicles in front of me? I'm reminded of this every winter when there is cold rain that fogs up the windshield and I have to turn the defog on and off so it defogs the window but I'm not constantly pulling in exhaust fumes. If this is fixed on later models, I'd be curious to know.
Another annoying thing about the HVAC system is when I turn on defog and it's on low fan speed, then I turn up the fan speed and turn the system off and on again, it's back to low fan speed. There is some weird routine to adjust the fan speed for defog that I haven't figured out (sometimes it comes on high, sometimes medium, sometimes low).
The GPS/navigation is pretty weak for certain functions and the maps are already a year out of date when you get the car new. I don't understand why no car company has purchased Garmin and put that in their vehicles rather than building their own. Also, a single map update for $179 is insane. You can buy a new Garmin with lifetime map updates for $100.
I was aware of the range limitations of an EV when I got on the waiting list for this car in 2010, but am still surprised when I turn on the car after a full charge and it still says estimated range is 90-100 miles (was often 110+ when new) but knowing that the real range is significantly less (maybe 75 max). This doesn't really make any sense and is very misleading. Also, there's a continuous battery/range degradation of about 5% per year (at best), which nobody really talks/thinks about until you see a range indicator bar disappear one day.
The misleading range indicator/bars is quite annoying. It's not linear, which makes no sense (can you think of any other graphical display used every day that's not linear?). The bars at the top represent about 4-6 miles each while the ones at the bottom are 8-10 miles each. It seems like it was designed to make people paranoid and think you have less range than you do, which could help with people not getting stranded, but also makes you think you have a less useful range/car.
Oh yeah, the two clocks need to be set separately. WTF?
There were a few other minor things (inadequate visor, no lock on charge plug, better regen braking), which I noticed were fixed/improved on the 2014 model when I had one as a rental in Orlando.
And what this guy said:
"I do wish the steering wheel heater is better at keeping a somewhat steady warmth, and not swinging wildly from "wow this thing is getting hot" to "is this thing even on?""
Unlike others, I don't have any big problems with the horn, styling, carpet or seats.
I like that it creeps. Maybe you don't have bumper-to-bumper traffic where you live?
Overall, I'm satisfied with the car, mostly because of the benefits of it being an EV, not specifically because it's a Nissan Leaf. I'll probably consider a Tesla Model III as my next car in a few years when those are available.
