Build Quality Nissan Leaf 2015 S

We brought home a brand new 2015 Nissan Leaf S a few weeks ago. We were tickled pink about it. I have owned various makes of Japanese cars since I was 18 and have found most of them to be second only to very high marque cars in terms of quality. I noticed a few build quality issues from a untrained eye within the 1st week of getting our 2015 Leaf home.

- Unequal gaps between doors, top and bottom.
- Lines not continued from doors to doors and panels.
- Front hood not lining up. large gap on one side compared to the other... like the end of your finger will fit in 1 but not the other.
- Driver door looks to have be hit on the top corner, no paint missing, like it was damaged before being painted.
- Front arm rest on center console - 1 Rubber stopper that softens the closing missing, found inside the car.
- Rear door does not seem to close very easily, it has a harder knock than it seems that is should. no signs of wear that I can find.
- Plastic cover on the pillar to the front wind shield passenger side doesn't fit, coming away from pillar, I've tried pushing it back on but it doesn't fit true like the other side.
- Mud flap installed not flush to the car like all the others.

These are just things I notice without really paying too much attention. I feel like taking a hour or so to look over the whole car as best I can to see what else is wrong.

I bought a 2012 Leaf SL too and it has no issues with fit and finish of the doors and interior and the back hatch closes nicely which makes me think our 2015 just hasn't had the attention this one has during it's build.

All of these are cosmetic, baring the back door fit, so I'm not too worried about them. What does worry me is what I can't see and don't know how things are supposed to fit under the hood. Is there a large important piece of equipment in the car that is missing a bolt or is not installed properly that would cause it to fail?

I'm not sure what to do. If I take it down to the Nissan dealership will I be dismissed and sent on my way as a fussy Leaf owner?

Anyone else had issues of this kind and had them resolved to their satisfaction? or has anyone else just taken their car back and requested their money back (or with a lease, ended without obligation?)

Constructive remarks are welcome.

When I saw they were going to build the 2013 here instead of Japan. I bought a 2012 and have be pleased. The US built cars are just not quite the same.

69800 said:

When I saw they were going to build the 2013 here instead of Japan. I bought a 2012 and have be pleased. The US built cars are just not quite the same.

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I think it's more a case of the US-built cars not being as consistently well-assembled and well-checked. My 2013 has had just one issue: the rear hatch being a little hard to close. The fit and finish is fine. I bought a 1986 Civic Si new, and that car had more build problems than my Leaf, from the rear hatch also not closing perfectly, to a rainwater leak from the windshield that developed after two years and lasted as long as I owned it, despite several complaints and attempts to fix it.

The hood was not even on my 2015 so I took it back to the dealer to have it adjusted. Because build quality of the US-built Leafs has been questioned in other threads, I checked it over carefully and found no other issues.

Gerry

Same here on the hood misalignment. Very visible against the charge port cover. Dealer resolved by sending to body shop.

Phatcat73 said:

Same here on the hood misalignment. Very visible against the charge port cover. Dealer resolved by sending to body shop.

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Your post from Aug 15/2014 http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=17670" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; . Surprised nothing has been done to correct this at factory :!:

DuncanCunningham said:

- Driver door looks to have be hit on the top corner, no paint missing, like it was damaged before being painted.

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Curious...Is this the black trim on the uppermost corner of the door? Corner bent lightly, looks like someone opened the door into a hard object? Can't see it until the lighting angle is just right? Mine had this dent from day 1 and so did the 100-mile Sentra loaner they let me use a couple weeks ago. My theory is the car hauler or a rack in the factory.

It is very clear that the build quality in the U.S. is not nearly as good as it was in Japan. Nissan has had this problem with almost every vehicle they build here over the years...

TomT said:

It is very clear that the build quality in the U.S. is not nearly as good as it was in Japan. Nissan has had this problem with almost every vehicle they build here over the years...

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As an anecdotal counterpoint, I've had two 2013 LEAFs that were essentially flawless with no cosmetic nor functional problems. I haven't had a Japanese made vehicle in several years so I can't compare quality, but I have no complaints about the build quality of the LEAFs I've had.

dm33 said:

TomT said:

It is very clear that the build quality in the U.S. is not nearly as good as it was in Japan. Nissan has had this problem with almost every vehicle they build here over the years...

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As an anecdotal counterpoint, I've had two 2013 LEAFs that were essentially flawless with no cosmetic nor functional problems. I haven't had a Japanese made vehicle in several years so I can't compare quality, but I have no complaints about the build quality of the LEAFs I've had.

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Probably press day at the factory or perhaps a training day :lol: Or, no one was pissed off at their manager that day. To me Nissan quality is so so. Toyota is slacking but used to be really top notch as well as Acura years ago. The American auto makers are doing better with fit and finish in some places and if they just brought their Euro models here years ago they would be way ahead a wile back. Crap for the US but the good stuff in Europe, they catered to the lower taste and expectations of the US market for years. We had the Pinto what did they have? We had the soft suspension and over boosted steering and they had everything built to be drift ready in comparison. The LEAF could easily be a amazing handing car with a few tweaks but they compromised for the Asian market with stupid things like like drive by marshmallow steering.

The LEAF could easily be a amazing handing car with a few tweaks but they compromised for the Asian market with stupid things like like drive by marshmallow steering.

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That soft, vague steering feel is from the tires, not the steering system. Put stiffer tires on (and most are stiffer than Ecopias) and the car handles fine.

No it is not. It is from the very over-boosted power steering with almost no feedback. No tires on the planet will fix that! I have Michelin Primacy MXV4s on mine and while, it is unquestionably a better handling and performing tire, it did nothing for the Leaf's total lack of steering feedback and numbness. Drive a car with good steering feedback, regardless of the tires, and you will immediately note the difference.

LeftieBiker said:

That soft, vague steering feel is from the tires, not the steering system. Put stiffer tires on (and most are stiffer than Ecopias) and the car handles fine.

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I guess we have different standards. It should be noted that I thought the steering was "kind of vague" at first; when I switched to hard-compound snow tires I was so amazed at the difference in crispness that I never put the Ecopias back on, opting to buy new tires instead. Even the inexpensive Goodyear Eagle L/S all-seasons I got from an Ebay dealer are much more precise. It should also be noted that for years I drove a 1986 Civic Si that handled like it was on rails - once I changed the OEM tires. It's true that the Leaf is lacking in "road feel" but it's also true that you can greatly improve the steering behavior just by putting better tires on it.

LeftieBiker said:

I guess we have different standards. It should be noted that I thought the steering was "kind of vague" at first; when I switched to hard-compound snow tires I was so amazed at the difference in crispness that I never put the Ecopias back on, opting to buy new tires instead. Even the inexpensive Goodyear Eagle L/S all-seasons I got from an Ebay dealer are much more precise. It should also be noted that for years I drove a 1986 Civic Si that handled like it was on rails - once I changed the OEM tires. It's true that the Leaf is lacking in "road feel" but it's also true that you can greatly improve the steering behavior just by putting better tires on it.

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I read, in more than one place, the new cars come with tyres that are too soft to give the impression of a better ride over performance.

I read, in more than one place, the new cars come with tyres that are too soft to give the impression of a better ride over performance.

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There are several variations on that. Many OEM tires are of lower quality than the brand's regular offering (Camry OEM tires used to be terrible, but a known brand - Continental?) while the Leaf's Ecopias are also Low Rolling Resistance (LRR) for a little more range. LRR tires often have soft sidewalls, and that makes for squishy steering. Finally, Nissan posts too low a tire pressure for the Ecopias on the door sills, making a bad situation worse.

LeftieBiker said:

I read, in more than one place, the new cars come with tyres that are too soft to give the impression of a better ride over performance.

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There are several variations on that. Many OEM tires are of lower quality than the brand's regular offering (Camry OEM tires used to be terrible, but a known brand - Continental?) while the Leaf's Ecopias are also Low Rolling Resistance (LRR) for a little more range. LRR tires often have soft sidewalls, and that makes for squishy steering. Finally, Nissan posts too low a tire pressure for the Ecopias on the door sills, making a bad situation worse.

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So what is a good psi for those. I have ours at 44. Too high?

I don't like to run right at the maximum rated pressure, although some people do. I prefer 40-42psi.

Our 2015 S had a couple problems.

1. AC didn't work right, kept shutting down. Turned out that they overfilled it with coolant and pressure was too high. They released some and it was fixed.
2. There was some trim that was slightly bulging on one door. It turns out that it was the metal underneath that was bend somewhat. Dealer fixed it (probably just bent it back).

Looking at our hook, there is a very minor misalignment as well. I'll probably leave it until it goes in for its 15K mile battery check.

Other than the above the car has been fine. I don't think any of this is specific to the S model, but maybe has to do with US manufacturing.

I haven't noticed many significant build quality issues w/my '13 SV.

The only three I can think of are:
- left side of glove box is drooping slightly (horizontal gap between glove box door and the dash is larger on left vs on the right). The cause seems to be the latching mechanism and it just being 2 pieces of plastic that stick out and latch into 2 holes in the plastic on the dashboard side. Either the hole on the left was too big or slightly too low or it started to wear. A rental VW Passat I recently had used a similar latching design except that VW had metal around the holes, which would probably reduce the probability of wear to the point of this problem.
- I had some intermittent rattle/knocking coming from the passenger side when going over some bumps at low speed. It's unclear if it's a rattle from the interior (e.g. behind glove box, in door panel, etc.) or a suspension rattle. Dealers have made two attempts to fix, to no avail (comes back) and semi-recently, it seemed like it totally went away but now it's back w/less noise.
- some intermittent dash plastic rattles around the driver's side when it's cold

I don't really care that much about these since I'm leasing. If I extend my lease (making my 2 year lease a 3 year), I might try to get these fixed, esp. the dash rattle when cold... in the (unlikely) event I end up buying the car at the end year 3 of the lease.

http://m.caranddriver.com/features/the-nearly-10-g-nissan-leaf-getting-an-ev-to-grip-like-a-911-featurequote=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"LeftieBiker"]

The LEAF could easily be a amazing handing car with a few tweaks but they compromised for the Asian market with stupid things like like drive by marshmallow steering.

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That soft, vague steering feel is from the tires, not the steering system. Put stiffer tires on (and most are stiffer than Ecopias) and the car handles fine.[/quote]

Tires can make a big difference. See this Car and Driver test:


http://m.caranddriver.com/features/the-nearly-10-g-nissan-leaf-getting-an-ev-to-grip-like-a-911-feature" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;