May Deliveries! Or... May(be)?

[ElectricVehicle]

Lucky Dog!

Maybe I'll get mine in the next month or two. Let us know what you think of it!

 

[daniel]

With apologies for not reading the last month of replies on this thread (or the board) due to general frustration after they told me my car was in Portland with a VIN ending 1201 and an estimated delivery of April 22, and then it evaporated and they told me that was not even my VIN anymore!...

I got a call yesterday from a "Jessie" at Nissan telling me my car would be released from Long Beach the week of May 16, VIN ending 1919, and could take another week to arrive at my dealer. She also said there had been a delay due to pollen on the car and they wanted to make sure the car was perfect for me. My dashboard changed to Week of May 9, and then to Week of June 6. But we all know how meaningless the dashboard estimates are.

Jessie was not able to tell me what happened to VIN 1201 or why I lost that car and was pushed back another month. She was not able to tell me why my owner's portal said my car belonged to Jeff Breidenbach once they fixed it so it showed 1919 instead of 1201, though she did tell me that that person now has an entirely different VIN.

I believe nothing Nissan says. They have lied to me (and to many of you) too many times for me to believe them. I feel like someone who has been intentionally spit on by a stranger on the street and now I'm licking the dirt off that stranger's shoes, since I'm still actually considering buying this car from the company that disrespects me enough and has such contempt for me as to treat me the way they've been treating me (and many of you).

Meanwhile, the replacement batteries for my EV Porsche are in customs waiting to be x-rayed. The original conversion shop apparently overcharged the pack, ruined some of the cells, and damaged others. They replaced the ruined ones, but shipped the car to me with the damaged ones, which now have to be replaced, thus the additional delay. I've been waiting two years for the EV Porsche, years that I should have been driving it, years that the batteries have been aging, and now it appears that I'll get the Leaf (if I still decide to buy it) very nearly the same time as the Porsche. I bought the Porsche because it was looking like I'd have it two years before I could have gotten any other freeway-capable EV. It was a TOTAL waste of money. If it had come a month before the Leaf, I could have made a decision whether or not to buy the Leaf based on how the Porsche performed. If the Leaf had come when originally promised (December/January) or even when next promised (April 22) I at least would have had half a year (or a month) to drive it before the Porsche. But as it is, I've got the worst of both: Not enough time to assess the Porsche before I have to make a decision whether or not to buy the Leaf; and yet buying the Leaf will give me no advantage at all if the Porsche turns out to be all I need.

If I used the language I truly feel to describe my opinion of Nissan, I'd be banned from this forum. And yet, like a battered spouse, I keep crawling back every time they promise me that this time my car really is coming. I'm not sure whether I despise myself more for not walking away, or them for their treatment of me (and many of you as well.)

 

[gascant]

Finally got the call this morning from Boardwalk and went and picked up the car.

Congrats, Turbo! Hope to see you this weekend in Newark!

 

[gascant]

If I used the language I truly feel to describe my opinion of Nissan, I'd be banned from this forum. And yet, like a battered spouse, I keep crawling back every time they promise me that this time my car really is coming. I'm not sure whether I despise myself more for not walking away, or them for their treatment of me (and many of you as well.)

We've all been on the emotional roller coaster with some worse than others (as in Rat, who basically had to start over this month). If you can swing the cash flow, buy the LEAF. Even if you decide not to keep it, demand is so high that you'll find a willing buyer in a heartbeat. But I think you'll also find quite a comradery among your local fellow LEAF owners that you may not get otherwise.

 

[leafkabob]

I just may squeek into the may deliveries. Up until this morning I had a Month of July delivery estimate and no VIN. This morning, I got VIN 2530 and 5/30/11 delivery.

I had been trying to change my color since Feb. At that time they said it couldn't be done, because the car was in production. A couple of weeks later, my April delivery estimate moved to may, so I tried again to change the color. Still no dice. So then when my date moved to July, I asked if they couldn't at least change the color and they agreed to do it. So this new VIN is supposed to be for a white leaf. But ironically, changing from blue to white seems to have bumped me up in the delivery process. I was afraid it would go the other way, and I would have to start over.

Now I'll sit back and see what really happens.

 

[seandexter]

Yep, it has been eight weeks of constant and changing excuses as to why they can't take a car off of a ship at the largest port on the west coast and get it on a truck to the dealer. In my book this smacks of gross incompetence and extremely poor management at Nissan USA. Since we are all eager adopters I guess that Nissan just figures it can continually play games as we have no choice. Had this been a 'normal' ICE car I would have laughed in my dealer's face a while ago and told him good luck.

 

[SanDiegoLeaf]

Ahmood at Mossy Poway took our American Express card.

Huh! That's bizarre. The woman (Jaffe?) in Mossy Poway Finance flat-out refused and said the Mossy policy is No Credit Cards.
When I mentioned that Mossy Toyota certainly does, she said someone probably made a mistake. Bah.

I too enjoy my Amex Cash rebate. $2000 is $25, so hell yeah.

The moral is: Ask if Ahmood is available!

After ordering my Leaf, I realized that I needed another car ASAP for my son. Went to Mossy in Poway, where I ordered my Leaf, and asked if they had a lower priced used car. They had just taken a trade and I bought it for $6,500. I paid 5K of that on my Visa. No problems.

 

[SanDiegoLeaf]

Based on recent developments, I am dreading to become a June delivery person.....after having been an April, then May, now June delivery??? Give me a break!

I should be so lucky. I went from April 20 right to "July".

 

[adric22]

Well, at this point I think I'm going to have to go buy a used car. Don't get me wrong, I will buy the Leaf when it shows up. The trouble is, I sold my Prius 2 weeks ago. I should have held onto it. I've been driving a rental car, which is a POS Ford Focus for 2 weeks and now it appears it may be another week or two. I've decided it would be cheaper to buy a used car for cash around $3,000 or so and sell it again later rather than spend $450 a month renting a car I hate.

 

[daniel]

If I used the language I truly feel to describe my opinion of Nissan, I'd be banned from this forum. And yet, like a battered spouse, I keep crawling back every time they promise me that this time my car really is coming. I'm not sure whether I despise myself more for not walking away, or them for their treatment of me (and many of you as well.)

We've all been on the emotional roller coaster with some worse than others (as in Rat, who basically had to start over this month). If you can swing the cash flow, buy the LEAF. Even if you decide not to keep it, demand is so high that you'll find a willing buyer in a heartbeat. But I think you'll also find quite a comradery among your local fellow LEAF owners that you may not get otherwise.

Not much in the way of "fellow Leaf owners" here in Spokane. My dealer has delivered 3 so far, and I think there are maybe a dozen total orders. I wouldn't expect to even see another Leaf in the normal course of a month of driving, unless I stop at the dealership. It was the same when I lived in Fargo and bought my 2004 Prius. I think I saw three of them that first year.

 

[Lanzer]

Had quite an adventure today as I took a crash course on how to use the public chargers and managed to do everything wrong!

Finally got my blue SL from Northbay Nissan. I had a great experience as both Ron and Adam were superstars. The challenge for me was my 85 mile drive back to San Jose after picking up the car in Petaluma.

The plan was to get a charge half way through. I found Premier Nissan as the only charging station that Carwings found along my route. Called them before heading down but was told that "we can't have people coming in day after day, this is not a charging station." So much for the Nissan network!

So this called for plan B, to plan a longer route (100 Miles) and detour through San Francisco to use the free public chargers which Carwings pointed me to. Now this is where my poor planning kicked me in the nuts. Upon arriving at the station I found that all the free charging stations are hosted by Chargepoint and you can't use them unless you active them with a "chargecard". I called the 800 number and was told that they can actually activate the charger without a card over the phone, but those chargers were for members of the San Francisco Driveshare program and I can't use it. With only 16 miles left on my Leaf I'm starting to sweat...

The rep from Charpoint was nice enough to look for a nearby charging station. She found one 5 miles away, but only to inform me that those chargers are for employees only. My heart sank as I wondered how much would it be to tow my car to a charging station. Then I was told that there is a free and available one that's 11 miles away. I was pretty lucky as I got 16 miles left in the car, but at the moment I'm feeling anything but!

The charging station was apparently near the coast, far away from any city center or any businesses for that matter. As I drove closer I started to worry if I had typed in the right address... When the GPS said "you've reached your destination", I was looking at a building that's still under construction and with no occupancy. I panicked, thinking that the representative might have pointed me to a future location. Though I realized that I was looking at the wrong side of the road. The other side host a series of unsuspecting buildings that resembles warehouses. One of which was Blue Ribbin, a cleaning supply distribution company. Apparently the owner of the company had installed not only a public charger but also an array of solar panels. On their front desk is an LCD display showing the output of their solar array. A cleaning supply company hosting clean fuel. I'm impressed!

So with 5 miles left in my Leaf I managed to find a charging station. The folks at the company were really friendly and many stepped out to check out my baby. Most of the staff were impressed how roomy the car is, which broke the "electric cars are like golf carts with doors" stereotype. :lol: Many noted how cute the car is, which might or might not be a good thing. I knew that as the first wave of Leaf drivers we're going to show the world how feasible EV's are, and now this is actually happening.

I'm now a happy Leaf owner and putting together a cheatsheet for buyers regarding public transport and charging. After a lot more reading, turns out there are free and paid level 2 chargers spread all over the Bay Area. Hope there's a little bit that I can contribute to the community.

After a year of wait I'm happy to be a privileged Leaf owner. I guess I'll be spending more time in the Leaf owner sub-forum now. Good luck to the rest of the May deliveries, the thousands of you.

 

[daniel]

... I found Premier Nissan as the only charging station that Carwings found along my route. Called them before heading down but was told that "we can't have people coming in day after day, this is not a charging station." So much for the Nissan network!...

You can't really blame them: You bought your car at a dealer farther away, then wanted to use them to hopscotch home. But I'm glad you made it, and it's great that a company that seems to have nothing to do with cars or electrification has set up a charging station for wayfarers. And congrats on getting your car.

Here in Spokane I don't expect to see any Level 2 or 3 charge stations any place I could make use of them, so I'll be driving my leaf (if it ever comes!) where I can always make it home. Though apparently there's a Leviton portable Level 2 charger which (maybe???) could be plugged into the 220 v 50a. service generally available at trailer parks. And my dealer is just a few miles from me.

 

[ttweed]

You can't really blame them: You bought your car at a dealer farther away, then wanted to use them to hopscotch home.

I can blame them quite easily! That is a stingy and short-sighted policy to refuse charging to any Leaf driver who needs some juice to get home, especially in this early period of EV adoption. Until the public infrastructure is more fully developed, it will discourage "fence-sitters" who suffer from range-anxiety to hear stories like this, justifying their hesitance in taking the leap to an EV. I wish Nissan had made it MANDATORY that any Leaf-certified dealer offer free and accessible charging to any owner. :evil:

TT

 

[smkettner]

The plan was to get a charge half way through. I found Premier Nissan as the only charging station that Carwings found along my route. Called them before heading down but was told that "we can't have people coming in day after day, this is not a charging station." So much for the Nissan network!

I would call them out and contact Nissan to check on Premier Nissan's charging dock availability.
Otherwise it should be deleted from CW database.

 

[LEAFfan]

You can't really blame them: You bought your car at a dealer farther away, then wanted to use them to hopscotch home.

I can blame them quite easily! That is a stingy and short-sighted policy to refuse charging to any Leaf driver who needs some juice to get home, especially in this early period of EV adoption. Until the public infrastructure is more fully developed, it will discourage "fence-sitters" who suffer from range-anxiety to hear stories like this, justifying their hesitance in taking the leap to an EV. I wish Nissan had made it MANDATORY that any Leaf-certified dealer offer free and accessible charging to any owner. :evil:TT

+1! In addition to that, Premier is going to lose 'after market' business.

 

[dday]

Called them before heading down but was told that "we can't have people coming in day after day, this is not a charging station." So much for the Nissan network!

I don't read that as you can't come by and charge your car. I read that as a don't come here everyday and charge you car.
If you had arrived and pluged in I don't think they would have ask you to leave.

Remember that it is easier to ask for forgiveness then permission.

Glad things turned out for you and you found a really great place to charge up.

 

[JimLovewell]

Friday afternoon I stop by my Nissan dealer (my birthday) to see if I got lucky and pick up some news on my delivery. Wahid (my sales person) said he was following car carrier on 580 (on his way to work) that morning carrying 4 Leafs. He said to himself, oh boy Leafs are finial going to arrive! Then when he got to work there were no Leafs at all. Seems to be the common story but at least there was some lucky owners just not San Leandro Nissan. I will keep waiting, again.
_________________
LEAF SL glacier pearl + QC
Reservation 5/14 6:50 PM PDT
Order 12/10 6:50 PM PST (RAQ 12/16)
1st AV EVSE (for work) AeroVironment EVSE-RS 2/18/2011
ECOtality EV Project approved 3/25/2011
2nd meter installation (at home): installed, finial inspection scheduled May 16th
2nd EVSE (Blink, at home): scheduled for May 17th
Deliv. May ??
VIN #2012 (3/20)

 

[daniel]

You can't really blame them: You bought your car at a dealer farther away, then wanted to use them to hopscotch home.

I can blame them quite easily! That is a stingy and short-sighted policy to refuse charging to any Leaf driver who needs some juice to get home, especially in this early period of EV adoption. Until the public infrastructure is more fully developed, it will discourage "fence-sitters" who suffer from range-anxiety to hear stories like this, justifying their hesitance in taking the leap to an EV. I wish Nissan had made it MANDATORY that any Leaf-certified dealer offer free and accessible charging to any owner. :evil:

TT

Come on, man! Another dealer undercut their price, and you were basically saying to them: I saved a few bucks by not buying from you, but would you give me a free charge because otherwise I'd have had to buy from you.

Dealer 1 had a perfect right to offer a lower price and you had a perfect right to take it. But dealer 2 has no obligation to enable Dealer 1 to take business away by offering charging to customers in Dealer 2's region. They're both in business to sell cars. Don't expect Dealer 2 to roll over and say, Sure, buy your car from someone else and use us to get home.

Dealers are independent businesses and in competition with each other. Maybe it would be smart of Dealer 2 to offer a charge as a goodwill measure to try to get your business in the future. But just as you have a right to buy where you like, the owner of a charger has a right to limit who gets to use it.

Some day I expect to own a Leaf, and I'll have a charger. If a friend wants a charge, I'll let him charge. Probably even a stranger if he's nice about it. But if someone's been rude or unfriendly to me, and then asks to use my charger, I'm liable to say no.

As for Nissan telling dealers they have to give a free charge to everyone who stops by, ain't gonna happen. They are private businesses and they will determine their own policies. Probably some will welcome folks, and others will reserve their chargers for their own customers. Just like some businesses reserve their bathrooms for customers.

There's a joke about a guy who walks into a restaurant and asks, "If I order roast beef, is the bread and gravy free?" The waiter says "Yes," and so the guy says, "Great. I'll just have some free bread and gravy." When you buy your car from a dealer farther away, and then ask the local dealer to let you charge any time you like, you're basically asking for free bread and gravy. One of the reasons for patronizing local businesses, even if they charge more than bigger businesses farther away, or internet businesses, is to get service after the sale. In this case, access to the charger is one of the free services you gave up when you chose the other dealer. Your choice to buy where you like. Dealer's choice to offer charging to everyone or just to their own customers.

It's all part of free enterprise. There's no free bread and gravy if you don't pay for the roast beef. Still, I'm glad you found a charger and made it home okay, and I hope you enjoy your Leaf as much as I expect to enjoy mine, if I ever actually get one.

 

[leafmealone]

Well yes, dealers are independent businesses but they are also franchises of Nissan and I do believe Nissan "strongly encourages" the open charging to ALL Leaf customers (within reason of course) Seems like shortsightedness to me on the dealers part.

It's Nissan's multi-billion product and ALL dealers should support it, at least until a sufficient charging infrastructure is in place.

Forget the dealer 1 - dealer 2 stuff.... how would the offending dealer like it if their customer was denied by the other dealer? Or as another post stated, what if he was stranded and had to be towed right back to the offending dealer for a charge at Nissan's expense? Nissan needs to "enlighten" a few of their dealers.

Nissan, the Leaf owners and the dealers need to support this product to assure it's success!

 

[LEAFfan]

Maybe it would be smart of Dealer 2 to offer a charge as a goodwill measure to try to get your business in the future.

Maybe it would be smart? I agree, the dealer was not that smart. That's the bottom line. And it isn't only the OP's future business, but a LOT of people will just not bother with this dealer when they need a part, service, etc.