Something leaking under the dash (heater core replacement)

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jlv

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 24, 2014
Messages
2,005
Location
Massachusetts
This morning I noticed the front passenger side floor mat was wet, and the driver side floor map was damp. It's rained a lot this week during the day, but I park in a parking garage at work and the car has pretty much not been rained on. I had used the A/C a few times, but not actively. We had just driven 20 miles with no A/C on a bright sunny morning when we first noticed the wetness.

I took it into the dealer and they service folks tell me the "heater box" under the dash has a leak. The need to order the part, which will take "a few days" , after which they need to install it. It apparently involves disassembling most of the dash and will take another day.

I'm really surprised at such a problem on a new car. The car is a '13 but I've only had it for 10 weeks (I got it with 50 miles on it, 15 of which I put on with an extended test drive).

Meanwhile, they gave me a crappy '14 Versa loaner that smells like someone was smoking in it (they specifically told me not to smoke in it). It's a huge step down from my Leaf. Prior to the Leaf, I've only driven manuals, and auto transmission in the Versa is the worst auto transmission I've every had to deal with.

Not to mention needing to fill it with gas. I've been 10 weeks without stopping at a gas station.

Sorry for the rant... just bummed out by the experience.
 
Yesterday I finally got my '14 SL back from having this exact problem corrected under warranty. It took them three weeks and five days, most of which was spent waiting for the new carpet to replace the soaked original one so it wouldn't smell from mold/whatever. The LEAF support line got the carpet expedited.

The dealer stated that the original blower box had a hole in it from "damage at the factory".

Suggest asking your dealer if they'll be replacing the carpet as well. At least they offered you a loaner up front... my dealer only coughed one up when I came in irate after two weeks wondering what the $%^ was going on.

(And I found the CVT in the loaner Versa interesting but not well suited to hilly Asheville - the engine revved a lot. Still, the car had averaged 38 mpg in its 1800+ miles since new...)
 
Interesting... I didn't think that the carpet might need replacing. I will mention that when I stop by the service desk tomorrow.
 
The update I got today is that the part is on back order as it is not available at this moment in the US! To paraphrase: "if it was available in NY or NC, it would take a day to get the part; if it was available in CA, it would take 3-4 days". At this point, they are telling me "probably" 1-2 weeks before I''ll get the car back again. :cry:

Meanwhile, my Leaf sits on the dealers lot. Any thoughts on recourse here? This morning I checked and the carpet was still slightly damp (I did add the carpet to the items I want them to look at). I'm wondering if I can just drive the Leaf without using the A/C.

I hate to think that my lease payments are getting me this Versa right now. Sure, it's giving me ~38 MPG too, but it takes all the fun out of driving.
 
DaveInAvl said:
Getting LEAF Support involved got me the part I was waiting for a lot quicker. 1-877-664-2738
Thanks for the suggestion. I've done that and had a case opened to see if they can expedite the heater core.

My dealership has told me they've already ordered a replacement carpet, but the heater core is still backordered.

Being stuck driving a low powered ICE is the biggest annoyance about this. If my loaner car was a Leaf, I wouldn't be miffed about this at all. Leaf Support told me to save my gas receipts to get them reimbursed, but that's not the issue nearly as much as being stuck with this loaner.
 
TomT said:
Well, it certainly beats the alternative of NO loaner...
True. But, no loaner would be a big surprise to me; in the last 10 years all of my experiences (*) have been that the dealer would provide a loaner car for a major multi-day warranty repair.

And, Nissan has giving a loaner as part of the warranty... http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=347643#p347643" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


(*) "all of my experiences" for me means my local Honda and VW dealers
 
jlv said:
Leaf Support told me to save my gas receipts to get them reimbursed...
You must've gotten a different support person than I did - mine said nada about that. Did they outline what the procedure was for reimbursement?
 
She said "save your gas receipts and I'll help you submit them for reimbursement" after the repair is complete. So, I don't (yet) know what the procedure will be.

She suggested it when I lamented about having to drive an ICE. (While the cost of gas is annoying extra expense it's not what I really care about. I'd just rather be driving a Leaf.)
 
I was just told the heater core has now arrived at the dealer, but the carpeting is still backordered. I'm at day 12 without the car, but starting tomorrow they might actually be working on it (it's been sitting on the dealer's lot mostly untouched since the first day I brought it in). However, from what that said about the carpeting, it doesn't look I'll get the car back until early next week.
 
FWIW, in Massachusetts, the "Lemon Law" kicks in when the same problem takes 3 repairs or 15 business days. I'm at 10 business days, as their service dept is open on Saturdays. After the law kicks in, I can give Nissan Corporate 7 calendar days to completely repair the problem or have them take the car back (repurchase or cancel the lease), recouping all expenses minus $.15/mile.

Thankfully, it doesn't look like it will get to that point.
 
jlv said:
Thankfully, it doesn't look like it will get to that point.
Well, that's good. Mine is fixed, and I'd decided to just wait and see if anything else goes wrong. Then the revised heater TSB, now covering the 2014s, came out... it wasn't really cold enough here after I took delivery of mine to see how well it worked under load. Guess I'll wait until the colder weather returns and have the dealer run the test in the TSB. A third warranty-related issue may be more than I'm willing to put up with.
 
jlv said:
DaveInAvl said:
Guess I'll wait until the colder weather returns
Does it ever really get cold in NC? :lol:

(I have family in NC and have spent many a Christmas there.)
In early 1985, it was -20F at our then-house at 3600 feet elevation in the mountains outside Asheville. Most winters there are at least a couple of single-digit nights in the city itself, which is at about 2100 feet. Mainly it needs to be cold enough to let the dealer perform the test in the TSB which would kick in the resistive heater element.
 
The replacement heater core has been at the dealer for 6 days now, but it's still not installed. They insist on waiting for all the parts before starting the repair work, which means they are now waiting on the replacement carpet.

Today I was told (by Nissan Leaf Support) that the carpet will be shipped from the supplier 8/8 -- this coming Friday. It will need 2-3 days of processing in their parts distribution facility (!!) before they can ship it to the dealer. They don't expect it at the dealer until 8/14 or 8/15.

At that point my Leaf would have been out of service for 4 weeks, which will be > 25% of the time I've had the car (15 weeks).

It's crazy not having any readily available replacement parts on a new car.

I'm getting annoyed. I've asked them to do the heater core work (1 day I'm told) and then let me drive the vehicle until the carpet comes in, but the service dept won't do that.

Tomorrow is the 15th business day the car is out of service, at which point I can invoke the MA "Lemon" Law. I have to decide if I'll pursue that. It isn't an easy decision, given how much I love driving the car.
 
I would invoke the "Lemon Law" as soon as it's applicable, get your money back, and buy a new 2015. There's no way I would put up with what you've gone through. :(
 
It certainly seems reasonable to reward good behavior and punish unacceptable behavior. That may be the only thing that stands even a chance of getting their attention... and that option can be looked into without necessarily having to follow through, if there's some other form of resolution which would be acceptable to all parties.
 
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