Who's got good service in Los Angeles area?

Santa Monica Nissan is closing at the end of the month. There's some chance a new owner will buy it and move it, but most of their good people have already made arrangements to leave and go to another location.

I've started looking at reputations of other dealers and I'm wondering who can recommend a good service department in the area with at least one certified Leaf technician.

-Michael

I had a pretty good sales experience at Universal City Nissan, but I have not dealt with their service department yet. One nice thing is that there is an In-N-Out and a Poquito Mas within walking distance of the dealership, so you can get some good eats while you wait.

I have to say that they generally have a miserable reputation and have had for many years. I know many Nissan owners who would never go back to them... They would definitely be well down on my list...

JustinC said:

I had a pretty good sales experience at Universal City Nissan, but I have not dealt with their service department yet.

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So who would be high up on your list?

A good question. Unfortunately, in the L.A. area, there really aren't any Nissan dealers that now stand out... Mission Hills Nissan was OK when I had my VCM software update done but that hardly was a demanding test and I watched them the entire time...

JustinC said:

So who would be high up on your list?

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The only reason I might be tempted to go to Universal City Nissan is the convenience of being walking distance from a red line subway stop which I can use to get to work in Hollywood. I've heard good things about Miller in Van Nuys.

Keyes Nissan in Woodland Hills is supposed to be good although when my dad used to take his Honda Element to Keyes Honda I thought they took way too long and charged way too much for simple servicing. I kept telling him that he doesn't need to service it where we bought it and eventually he listened. It now gets serviced at their local mechanic in Agoura Hills, and that's not often due to the Volt becoming his primary car.

For tire rotations I think I'll just go to Costco or Pep Boys and only go to Nissan for the battery checks. I figure it may not be a bad idea to show Costco it's membership does indeed own and drive EVs.

Really? I didn't believe that Costco would service any tires that they had not sold... Perhaps their policy has changed... If true, that is definitely where I would go. I'll have to call and check or stop by next time I am there and find our definitively...

artline said:

A quick check with Costco and they will rotate factory tires for $16 and reset the wireless pressure monitors too. For that price, it's not worth getting my hands dirty. I will be doing the 7500 mile rotation in the next month or so.

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Devin said:

For tire rotations I think I'll just go to Costco or Pep Boys and only go to Nissan for the battery checks. I figure it may not be a bad idea to show Costco it's membership does indeed own and drive EVs.

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TomT said:

Really? I didn't believe that Costco would service any tires that they had not sold... Perhaps their policy has changed... If true, that is definitely where I would go.

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I was under the impression that you could get non-Costco-purchased tires rotated there for a fee, but I could be wrong. I've never tried it personally as having ICE/HEV cars I've always ended up at the dealership for service every 5,000 miles or less.

For small issues i have had so far, downtown la nissan was fine. Very soon the expo line station will be open very near this dealer. There are places to eat nearby on figueroa.

cant provide an answer. We have not needed service yet and dont expect to for 6 more months.

So are you guys going to get the tires rotated at 6 months?

I took delivery 4/30 and am thinking about it. I've been to Miller Nissan on Van Nuys for service with my Nissan Sentra. They are pretty friendly and walking distance to Four N Twenty Restaurant, which has a good black-bean veggie burger quesadilla.

Unless you have at least 7,500 miles on them by then there is no point. Also, any tire place can rotate them for you and many will even do it for free to encourage you to come back to them in the future. Unless they will do it for you for very little (free to less than 20 bucks), or there is some other compelling reason to visit the dealer, it's kind of silly to go to a dealer for just tire rotation...

SharonaLA said:

So are you guys going to get the tires rotated at 6 months?

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I stopped by Costco in Northridge today and they absolutely do NOT rotate tires that were not purchased from them. This per corporate decree due to "liability."

Devin said:

TomT said:

Really? I didn't believe that Costco would service any tires that they had not sold... Perhaps their policy has changed... If true, that is definitely where I would go.

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I was under the impression that you could get non-Costco-purchased tires rotated there for a fee, but I could be wrong. I've never tried it personally as having ICE/HEV cars I've always ended up at the dealership for service every 5,000 miles or less.

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SharonaLA said:

So are you guys going to get the tires rotated at 6 months?

I took delivery 4/30 and am thinking about it. I've been to Miller Nissan on Van Nuys for service with my Nissan Sentra. They are pretty friendly and walking distance to Four N Twenty Restaurant, which has a good black-bean veggie burger quesadilla.

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Did mine at home, just a few weeks back ...7,500 miles plus. I wanted to get up under it and root around anyway, so it was the perfect opportunity.

Based on the experience of a friend who took his Leaf to Miller recently, I'd pass on their service department, at least for Leafs.

The problem is, there seem to be a lot more bad Nissan service departments around then good ones, at least in the L.A. area...
Sorry, but I expect a higher level of competence, support and service than, perhaps, your average Versa driver...

SharonaLA said:

I've been to Miller Nissan on Van Nuys for service with my Nissan Sentra. They are pretty friendly and walking distance to Four N Twenty Restaurant, which has a good black-bean veggie burger quesadilla.

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What happened to your friend at Miller?

He's on this forum; I'll let him post about it if he so chooses...

SharonaLA said:

What happened to your friend at Miller?

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I posted it in a Carwings topic a few days ago . .. here's the link:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=5108#p145749

It's toward the bottom of the first page.

I took my LEAF for its first service visit today, at about 6500 miles and 7 months of age.

I took it to my selling dealer, Connell Nissan of Costa Mesa, CA. I emailed the General Manager, Mark Ranauro, ahead of time to see if he'd do the first service at no charge and he gladly agreed. In fact, he said that he would make that offer to any LEAF owner, regardless of whether they bought their LEAF at Connell or not, as long as they ask for Mark Ranauro and he will okay it. That is the standard first service, which includes tire rotation and some visual inspections. I realize that this service is optional, and that at light duty, only the tire rotation is recommended, but I was seeing some edge wear on the front tires and wanted to get the rotation done.

I made an appointment and was in and out in 90 minutes, including having them install my front license plate and bracket, taking a look at the brakes due to grabbiness at low speeds, and they test drove the car. Everything was done professionally and in good order and I saw no attempt to try to upsell or profit inappropriately.

Anyone have a mechanic on the West side of LA they've been taking their Leaf to? I'm taking my car in to Downtown Nissan tomorrow for the 2-year battery check but I'd like to see if someone else can do the brake fluid replacement. I've called a couple mechanics in Santa Monica I've worked with in the past and a few others that have good Yelp reviews and no one has worked on a Leaf.