8 bars at 59836 miles, what next?

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schamberlin

Member
Joined
May 6, 2013
Messages
24
Location
Bay Area, CA
My 2011 Nissan Leaf just dropped to 8 bars, at 59836 miles. Can I just bring it to the Nissan Dealer and get a replacement now, or is there more to it? I see lots of posts here from people discussing the battery warranty, and watching their bars waiting for the 4th to drop, but not many reports from people who actually had the battery replacement done after dropping to 8 bars. What is the process? Are there any other requirements?
 
You take it to the dealer BEFORE your odometer shows 60,000 miles for verification of 8 bars and for them to order the new pack. The new pack takes a few days to a couple of weeks to come in, so you could theoretically keep the car and drive it, but I probably wouldn't drive the car much if you were to keep it - I'd personally want to make sure it stayed under 60k during the whole process, just in case Nissan started playing silly buggers. Replacing the pack once it's in at the dealership should take a couple of days.

Just as a matter of interest, do you have any LEAFSpy readings from your car?
 
With you being so close to the 60k limit, I would bring it in immediately. There is a thread here (that you might have read already) in which a warranty claim is being denied for driving into the dealership TWO miles over the limit :roll:

If possible I'd leave the car at the dealership, so it doesn't rack up more miles. If they won't let you do that until the parts actually come in, then park it and find alternative transportation. Even if you have to rent a car for a couple of weeks, that's better than losing out on a warranty claim worth $5500.

Some folks who have a bit more time/mileage left are opting to wait until at least the summer is over, and possibly as late as possible, before making a warranty claim, in the hopes that any eventual degradation will be further postponed. But I wouldn't do that in your case.
 
Take a picture of your dash with the 8 bars & mileage.
Call the EV hotline and start a ticket. Email them the picture if you can showing the 8 bars & mileage. Ask them if you should tow the vehicle to prevent additional mileage buildup. (I would try to tow it anyway based on the previous comment)
Drive/tow the car to the dealer immediately and leave it there. Make sure it's well below the 60k mark.
 
I called the local Nissan dealer, and they said to bring the car in today to collect the info for a warranty claim. That's only 5 miles away, so there's no risk of going over 60K. After that I should be able to swap cars with my wife, and keep it under 60K for a week or two while waiting for the replacement battery to arrive.

I'll check out the LeafSpy app and post some readings for anyone that's curious.

With our normal daily commuting, the Leaf would have gone over 60K by end of day Friday, so this 4th bar dropped just in time! I feel like I won the lottery. :D
 
schamberlin said:
With our normal daily commuting, the Leaf would have gone over 60K by end of day Friday, so this 4th bar dropped just in time! I feel like I won the lottery. :D

I just lost mine today after what seems like an eternity of waiting, so I feel the same way!

Now, however, we must empathize and send good wishes to those still waiting and hoping.
 
mwalsh said:
schamberlin said:
With our normal daily commuting, the Leaf would have gone over 60K by end of day Friday, so this 4th bar dropped just in time! I feel like I won the lottery. :D

I just lost mine today after what seems like an eternity of waiting, so I feel the same way!
Congratulations to today's lottery winners!
 
kolmstead said:
Congratulations, Mike! I knew you'd beat me. What were the stats? Are you going in immediately, or waiting until January?

-Karl (42.62 Ahr)

I think I'm going to try and get it done over the Thanksgiving break from school. So I might take it in right away to get the formalities taken care of, so they can order the pack and fitting kit to have it arrive in time.

Full stats are here:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=12789&start=627
 
Congrats mwalsh, it's a lucky day! My battery stats upon 4th bar loss appear slightly worse than yours, but I see differently-named stats than you reported. Maybe I have a different version of the app? Here's what I see:

AHr=42.66, SOH=65%, 385.47V, Hx=43.87%, odo=59,846mi, 8 QCs, 3506 L1/L2s

The car shows 59 miles range after a 100% charge.

I brought the car to the dealer today, and they collected whatever data they needed for the warranty claim. They've ordered a replacement battery, but advised it would take 3-5 weeks for delivery. Ouch!
 
I would not really drive the car until it has a new battery. Let it sit at home if needed. Rent a car if you must. Too much at stake to take any risk.
 
Congrats, mwalsh! Yay!
smkettner said:
I would not really drive the car until it has a new battery. Let it sit at home if needed. Rent a car if you must. Too much at stake to take any risk.
Yeah. I concur, unfortunately.
 
Yeah. The Nissan service advisor told me it was OK to exceed 60K now that they'd collected the warranty claim info, but I'd hate to get a nasty surprise when it's time to perform the new battery install. If I swap cars with my wife, we can limit the Leaf's daily mileage to 4 miles. But 3-5 weeks is a long time to wait... if the new battery still isn't ready when the mileage reaches 59980 or so, I'll look at renting another car for the remaining time.
 
I'd be OK driving the car, but only if I had something in writing that says they're replacing the battery under warranty...and pictures that show 8 bars, and the odometer. Their verbal agreement is unfortunately not sufficient.
 
davewill said:
I'd be OK driving the car, but only if I had something in writing that says they're replacing the battery under warranty...and pictures that show 8 bars, and the odometer. Their verbal agreement is unfortunately not sufficient.
+1. As long as you've got the official documentation to fall back on go ahead and drive it. And drive it A LOT, for that matter, as long as you can actually get anywhere. Might as well drive that old POS battery into the ground. Nissan might be shitty about somebody who went 2 miles over BEFORE taking it in (or as he was taking it in), but this is a much different case.
 
Thanks! Just got the Leaf back today with the replacement battery pack, and it's like having an entirely new car. 110 mile range!

leaf-110.jpg


Unfortunately that only lasted for about 10 seconds before it dropped to a more realistic number. Now it reports about 84 miles on the guess-o-meter with a full charge. Much better than the 50-ish miles with the old pack.
 
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