UPDATE-Picked up a new 2013 Leaf SV, but with a problem...

UPDATE: Nissan came through. On Thursday, 3/7, I received a call from Nissan corporate with additional questions about the car. I spoke to a very pleasant lady, Elise K., who was going to escalate this up the Nissan chain. She promised to call me every day with an update until the issue was resolved, and she did.

On 3/8 she informed me the correct seat was ordered and enroute to the dealer and the repair was simple - about 15 minutes.

On Saturday, 3/9, I received a surprise FedEx package from Nissan. Inside was a handwritten apology letter, and a Nissan Leaf model toy car as a gift.

On Monday 3/11, Elise called and offered to cover 2 months of car payments. Note: I didn't lease and my payments are substantial. Later that week I received the check, earlier than expected.

Also later that week the seat came in and the repair was painless. The dealer also detailed my car at no charge.

All is good in the household and this definitely will not be our last Nissan! The Leaf is also exceeding my expectations on range & performance.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original: 3/6 post:

My first Nissan purchase and the buying experience has a flaw.

I was getting a delivery orientation on the car, and a speech about Nissan quality and all their quality checks they perform prior to release from their new factory...yada yada yada

I look in the back seat, and the bottom seat cushion is leather. The rest of the interior, including the back backrest is all cloth. I pointed it out to the dealer and he turned stone cold (insert egg on face). The dealership freaked out and was trying to get ahold of their Leaf rep. It was after hours and they couldn't get ahold of him. They told me they'd call me tomorrow with a gameplan. I was uneasy, but allowed it and took it home.

Now my fiance is all over me for accepting it (she was at home during the purchase). She's furious to say the least, especially since we traded in her Civic.

Not a good experience. We'll see what Nissan does. Not certain about their quality and I feel the need to test everything tomorrow to make sure it works and is in the right place!

How bizarre. Not that it really affects the car in any way. Technically, it should add some value right? Leather is more expensive usually. Hahaha. I hope they get it fixed. I wonder if there is a twin somewhere that was supposed to have leather and got a little cloth on the bottom part.

Wow, they must be taking this U.S. domestic build quality really seriously and emulating Detroit! :lol:

Funny, I just picked up an SL with a cloth rear bench...

JK, I don't think you have anything to worry about, Nissan will make this right as soon as they can. It's just so egregious a screw up they have to, especially now that its all over the interwebs.

Phatcat73 said:

My first Nissan purchase and the buying experience has a flaw.
I was getting a delivery orientation on the car, and a speech about Nissan quality and all their quality checks they perform prior to release from their new factory...yada yada yada
I look in the back seat, and the bottom seat cushion is leather. The rest of the interior, including the back backrest is all cloth. I pointed it out to the dealer and he turned stone cold (insert egg on face). The dealership freaked out and was trying to get ahold of their Leaf rep. It was after hours and they couldn't get ahold of him. They told me they'd call me tomorrow with a gameplan. I was uneasy, but allowed it and took it home.
Now my fiance is all over me for accepting it (she was at home during the purchase). She's furious to say the least, especially since we traded in her Civic.

Click to expand...

Have the fiance call Customer Service tomorrow morning and ask them how long it will take to fix this problem?

If they do not give a good answer tell her to ask to speak to Andy Palmer. That will get their attention.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=253595" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Oh my God, it's not the end of the world, tell ur fiancé. They will make it right ASAP. Like no one ever makes a mistake. Just get out there and drive it, have fun and Nissan will fix it.

Ian B

P.s. congratulations!!!!

Its kind of funny - unless you have a religious/moral objection to leather.

Ask them to give you a CHADEMO charger for the inconvinience

nice practical combo, unless it should've come with full leather, this looks like you got a bonus

Gee, it is such an easy fix, no big deal.

I would have taken the opposite approach and asked why they forget the leather on the rest of the seats! :lol:

For the hassle I would ask for all leather
Including front seats.

Takes 10 seconds to remove the back seat. You can just buy cloth seat cover for it

All leather for all the trouble. That's it!
You'll see...they'll do it. Just have to open your mouth and ask for it.

Only made in the USA can accomplish quality build and final inspection like this. I would ask that the rest of the car be made into an SL also, why stop at the seats!

IBELEAF said:

nice practical combo, unless it should've come with full leather, this looks like you got a bonus

Click to expand...

You can only get leather seats on the SL which are standard.

LEAFfan said:

IBELEAF said:

nice practical combo, unless it should've come with full leather, this looks like you got a bonus

Click to expand...

You can only get leather seats on the SL which are standard.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a bonus to me.
I'd hardly freak out about leather where there is supposed to be cloth.

They will fix it, but be sure you want them to.

Sounds like you have the only SV / SL hybrid.

Problem is, why should they fix something that was brand new? Factory tooling and craftsmanship, is far superior to a local tech trying to figure out how to remove/replace.

Secondly, if this simple visual inspection was missed on the car at numerous quality check points, what else may have been missed?

I already told my dealer not to do anything with my trade-in. The more I think about this 1st time Nissan experience, the more anxiety I get.

PhatCat,

One of the reasons I went with the 2012 was that they where built in Japan. I concede that build quality of American vehicles have greatly improved over the years but this is basically a first year run for this car(2013). I have to say I love my Leaf and have been trying to convince truck loving Dakotan's there a good deal $$$ wise. I would still recommend a Leaf and might get a 2013 for the wife but want to wait a few months so the bugs (sorry yours was one of them) are worked out.

Matt

Phatcat73 said:

Problem is, why should they fix something that was brand new? Factory tooling and craftsmanship, is far superior to a local tech trying to figure out how to remove/replace.

Secondly, if this simple visual inspection was missed on the car at numerous quality check points, what else may have been missed?

I already told my dealer not to do anything with my trade-in. The more I think about this 1st time Nissan experience, the more anxiety I get.

Click to expand...

A dealership tech should have no problem swapping the leather trim for a cloth one. Installing new trim for various reasons is more common than you think; especially leather trim.

I agree the mistake should have been caught before the car hit the showroom floor, but in someone's defense, the seats most likely had plastic coverings on them when they were being installed.

With that being said, after the car was dropped off at the dealer, a technician had to do a PDI (pre-delivery inspection), and then someone in the detail department had to get it prepped. So at least two sets of eyes at the dealer dropped the ball.

Phatcat - I realize that you are anxious about the upholstery issue. And as others have already pointed out, this should have been caught before it reached you. The fact of the matter is that these types of mistakes do happen - whether it be Nissan, Honda, Toyota, or any of the domestics or Europeans. It doesn't matter whether they are made in America, Japan or Europe. Replacing a seat cover is pretty simple. It's not much different than replacing a slip cover on a sofa in your home, so you shouldn't be concerned about the quality of the correction.

Regarding other quality issues - obviously, there is no guarantee that other issues weren't missed in the building of your LEAF. On the other hand, there was no guarantee that there were not quality issues that were missed on the build of your fiance's Civic either. Perhaps there were, but they were not noticed - which is more common than you think.

If you are truly concerned about the quality of the overall vehicle, by all means ask the dealer for your Civic back. It sounds like you might have at least another day to sort this out since today is Saturday. Keep in mind that if you really wanted the LEAF (which apparently you did, as you made the decision to acquire it), try not to let a relatively small (and easily correctable) build issue influence you too greatly. Should you choose to keep it, you'll have a great story (and some unique photos) to show off.

Best of luck,

Ernie