Dealer Service, New VCU, New BCM - $3,700 and Leaf Still Won't Run

I bought a used 2012 Leaf in January with 44,000 miles on it and in May it stopped working. I got the "I-Key System" error and "Parking Brake" error. I disconnected the battery, charged it, re-connected it, etc. The vehicle would go into neutral and park, but not drive or reverse.

The vehicle also would't shut off unless the 12v was disconnected. I read the forums carefully and decided it might be the BCM, but didn't have a diagnostic computer or time to deal with it.

So I towed it to the local dealer - Kona Nissan in Kona HI.

They charged $320 to "diagnose" the problem and decided it was the VCU which they wanted more than $2,000 to replace. I checked with a family member who runs a shop who told me I couldn't replace it myself or get a used one because it has to be programmed with the VIN which much match the batteries or some such anti-"right to repair" proprietary B.S.

So I authorized the repair. Four ( 4 ) weeks later I get a call that the repair didn't fix the problem. The vehicle still won't shut off and they want $1,360 to replace the BCM. I'm already $2,300 into this "repair" and now I'm feeling I'm being taken advantage of.

I am more than capable of tearing this car down to its component parts and have the space, tools and skills necessary to do so - IF - and that is a big - IF - Nissan hasn't taken steps to be sure that only their own technicians can program the various boards.

I really don't want to throw good money after bad, and at this point I wish I'd never seen a Nissan. My Volt runs like a champ. Is there a way to contact Nissan support directly when I'm working on the vehicle? Are there real manuals, diagrams and repair trees available to owners, or is everything "Go to authorized dealer and bend over."

Any insight? Advice? Help?

There are people here who can provide links either to scanned service manuals (but probably not for a 2012) or to Nissan's service publication subscription service. I looked, but searching this site can be pretty frustrating...

Unless you signed something to the effect that you authorize any repairs, needed or not, you should, when this is resolved, be able to demand that they reinstall the parts that they erroneously diagnosed as needing replacement, and refund you the charge for the replacement of said parts. Of course, this IS a car dealership, and they DO tend to be quasi or even fully criminal enterprises...

Did you check 12 volt battery voltages? If the battery had actually failed, then just charging it, and not clearing the more serious error codes with LeafSpy Pro, might not have been enough. You could, possibly, have only needed a new, pre-charged, 12 volt battery.

The battery was practically new and I went ahead and tested the voltage. Came up clean at around ~12.3V under load.

I didn't have a plug at the time I sent it to the dealership. I've since bought a diagnostic computer and a plug. When ( if ) the car comes back from the shop I'll plug that in.

In the future I'll probably do all of the maintenance on this vehicle myself. It is electric and, for some reason, I thought that would mean less maintenance, but it is turning out to be much more of a pain than my Volt which is MUCH more complex.

Thanks,

Josh

The battery was practically new and I went ahead and tested the voltage. Came up clean at around ~12.3V under load.

Click to expand...

I assume the rest voltage was higher? Because below about 12.4 volts the car can start to glitch. It usually happens around 12.1 volts, though.

oojoshua said:

The battery was practically new and I went ahead and tested the voltage. Came up clean at around ~12.3V under load.

I didn't have a plug at the time I sent it to the dealership. I've since bought a diagnostic computer and a plug. When ( if ) the car comes back from the shop I'll plug that in.

In the future I'll probably do all of the maintenance on this vehicle myself. It is electric and, for some reason, I thought that would mean less maintenance, but it is turning out to be much more of a pain than my Volt which is MUCH more complex.

Thanks,

Josh

Click to expand...

Josh:

The Leaf is a far more reliable car than most others, including the Volt. Unfortunately, the replacement component costs appear to be very high--I'm not sure why. In short, in general, they're far less expensive than other cars, but sometimes you get unlucky.

Download the service manual and see what it says. They can be easily found online.

I'd also be pretty mad if this happened. I'd likely refuse to pay for the repairs, since they didn't fix the car, but I don't know what the specific contract says. I agree with Leftie that if they didn't repair the issue, put the old parts back in and refund me the parts.

LeftieBiker said:

The battery was practically new and I went ahead and tested the voltage. Came up clean at around ~12.3V under load.

Click to expand...

I assume the rest voltage was higher? Because below about 12.4 volts the car can start to glitch. It usually happens around 12.1 volts, though.

Click to expand...

Also replace the battery in the KeyFob, just to be sure.

https://www.nissanclub.com/threads/i-key-system-error.430649/

(because it also threw a parking brake error, this probably isn't it...)

I've asked the dealership to try a new keyfob and a new battery as a starting point. I've also asked them to examine the shifter to see if the problem is the vehicle not registering the brakes.

I also sat down with the service manager and had a discussion about the costs of the repair and contacted the Nissan electric vehicle line. Both indicated a willingness to work with me. Hopefully the end result will be a reasonable bill for the repair.

I'll keep the community posted. I'm glad that no one has weighed in with "why didn't you try X, Y and Z stupid" because it indicates I was correct to send the original problem to the dealer. Taking a wait and see approach for the time being.

- Josh

LeftieBiker said:

Unless you signed something to the effect that you authorize any repairs, needed or not, you should, when this is resolved, be able to demand that they reinstall the parts that they erroneously diagnosed as needing replacement, and refund you the charge for the replacement of said parts. Of course, this IS a car dealership, and they DO tend to be quasi or even fully criminal enterprises...

Click to expand...

Will OP still pay for labor ?
There is the installation component and if the old part is replaced, the re-installation

SageBrush said:

Will OP still pay for labor ?
There is the installation component and if the old part is replaced, the re-installation

Click to expand...

Good question,

Historically in this state
there was a law that work done in error was the responsibility of the dealership and could not be charged to the owner.

Where things sit today, no idea, every state is different