NISSAN LEAF ODOMETER @60002 and Battery @ EIGHT BAR

[smkettner]

Hindsight seems to be 20/20 on this. I assume you had about given up on the warranty and was not thinking clearly as you drove those miles to the dealer.

Regardless of the accuracy, the warranty is dependent on the odometer displaying less than 60,000 miles.
Many warranties seem to get extended for customer goodwill but Nissan seems unbending on this one.

I said from the beginning there should be a short prorated period after 60k as some people will get cut off right at the mark.
What a perfectly terrible example.

 

[skhmc]

Is there an argument to be made here that the battery capacity was under the 70% prior to the 60,000 mile mark due to the fact that the battery level must be under for about a month before the light is turned off?

 

[dhanson865]

Is there an argument to be made here that the battery capacity was under the 70% prior to the 60,000 mile mark due to the fact that the battery level must be under for about a month before the light is turned off?

no, Nissan makes the warranty dependent on the "light turning off".

That angle won't help. If the owner called and opened a case before the 4th bar dropped it might help. If they took pictures of it dropping before the 60,000 mile mark that might help. But just talking about the concept of the delay in the bar dropping won't.

 

[Nubo]

So if this went to court, what's Nissan's position? That the customer scheduled a service visit on the off-chance that the battery bar would drop during the 8 mile drive over? I mean, seriously.

 

[zhang000]

I just dug up my original purchase paper. When I bought the car, the ODOMETER has 7 miles on it. I did not even think about that 7 miles would not qualify the car as NEW and cheerfully signed the purchase contract. Why Nissan is making a big fuss about the extra 2 miles? This just seems to be so wrong.

 

[Valdemar]

I just dug up my original purchase paper. When I bought the car, the ODOMETER has 7 miles on it. I did not even think about that 7 miles would not qualify the car as NEW and cheerfully signed the purchase contract. Why Nissan is making a big fuss about the extra 2 miles? This just seems to be so wrong.

Because they know they screwed up and with people lining up for warranty replacements they are trying to minimize their losses using every opportunity they can. Apparently building on customer loyalty is a foreign concept to them. Shitty company in other words.

 

[gbarry42]

I'm not about to go reading fine print, but inasmuch as they want to take as much advantage of us as possible, it seems like they'd write something into the warranty that says, "according to the odometer reading, not how far the car has traveled".

 

[DaveEV]

I just dug up my original purchase paper. When I bought the car, the ODOMETER has 7 miles on it. I did not even think about that 7 miles would not qualify the car as NEW and cheerfully signed the purchase contract. Why Nissan is making a big fuss about the extra 2 miles? This just seems to be so wrong.

Yes, it's completely nuts.

Anyway, there have been others who have successfully gotten Nissan to replace the battery on an "out of warranty" vehicle through other means if for some reason you aren't able to convince them this way.

See this thread for details:

Early Adopter Mistake - Running on Empty

 

[skhmc]

Any update OP?

I believe if the original paperwork showed the car had 7 miles when you got it, your 60,000 mile warranty ends when the car has 60,007 miles, so you should be covered.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Folks, I need help here. My Leaf was at 59996 miles and I noticed 8 bar. Drove it to local Nissan dealer 6 miles away. I guess that was a big mistake according to Nissan. I should have park the car on highway, call AAA and tow it to dealer. Anyway, after charging me $160 for battery diagnose, they printed me a report confirming 8 bar and needing a new battery pack. That was it for $160, plus looking at brake pad and tire pressure. Warranty request was denied per warrant hotline. I even bought extended warranty and that was not applicable. Someone help me. I am in San Jose, CA.

I would appeal to Nissan Corporate. simply too close to not try

 

[desiv]

I just dug up my original purchase paper. When I bought the car, the ODOMETER has 7 miles on it.

Sounds like you're probably in good shape then.
59996 + 6 (to the dealership) = 60002. Sounds like your warranty should be till 60007 based on what has been said.

I did not even think about that 7 miles would not qualify the car as NEW.

That's not the case. If it was, virtually no car would be new. They all have miles on them. (well, virtually all)
Frankly, 7 is fairly low for a new car. ;-)

If they give you a problem, you're in great shape to get a lawyer.
Make sure you have your documents in order...
(You might want to have a lawyer send a letter to the dealer/Nissan also. At least ask them for the official addresses of both so you can give them to your attorney. Once they realize you won't just give in and pay, they might be a bit nicer..)

desiv

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I just dug up my original purchase paper. When I bought the car, the ODOMETER has 7 miles on it. I did not even think about that 7 miles would not qualify the car as NEW and cheerfully signed the purchase contract. Why Nissan is making a big fuss about the extra 2 miles? This just seems to be so wrong.

Because you talk to a flunky who cannot authorize a variance or interpretation of "anything." escalate it. Nissan has proven to be understandable in these things with me and doubt it would be different for you.

FYI; another person called Nissan about the warranty mileage (or miles AFTER you take delivery of a "new" vehicle) and was told its total mileage but again by a "flunky." This is not correct in most states. The warranty does not count mileage driven before you took ownership.

so you basically made it with 4 miles to spare.

another note; a lot of discussion about the inaccuracies of the odometer. I "have" to track mileage for work/tax purposes and I have never noticed any significant discrepancy in the distances involved so I would take any "2.7%" claim too seriously

 

[cwerdna]

59996 + 6 (to the dealership) = 60002. Sounds like your warranty should be till 60007 based on what has been said.

I did not even think about that 7 miles would not qualify the car as NEW.

That's not the case. If it was, virtually no car would be new. They all have miles on them. (well, virtually all)
Frankly, 7 is fairly low for a new car. ;-)

Yep, 7 miles on the odo at time of delivery isn't high at all.

The car at minimum will have to be driven off the line, onto a truck, off the truck and around a little bit at the dealer, assuming it's never been test driven.

 

[sub3marathonman]

I'm not about to go reading fine print, but inasmuch as they want to take as much advantage of us as possible, it seems like they'd write something into the warranty that says, "according to the odometer reading, not how far the car has traveled".

What the Amendment to Settlement Agreement actually states (Page 1):
"for a period of 60 months from the original in-service date, or until the vehicle reaches 60,000 miles, whichever comes first."

Since it states "reaches 60,000 miles," it should be possible to demonstrate, for this specific LEAF, the actual inaccuracy of the odometer. As has been estimated here, the odometer is about 2.5% high, so the LEAF in question has actually only "reached" 58,507 miles. It really would be a spectacular legal case, and would serve Nissan right for putting in the "below nine bars of capacity" instead of a specific percentage of degradation that could be independently confirmed.

Also, just a bit more on how absolutely idiotic this specific stance by Nissan is, in theory it is possible that the car showed 60,000 on the odometer at 60,000.99 miles. It could have reached the Nissan dealer at 60,002.01 miles, a difference of 1.02 miles, or 5385.6 feet over the alleged by Nissan limit, at a resulting cost to the OP of about $1 / foot. Of couse, the way Nissan thinks, if they say "no," and the customer says "OK" and walkes away, Nissan is $6K happier.

(Something similar to how Lakeland FL bullied people into paying bogus "code violations" of $150 or so for red light camera violations that were not legally allowed by the State of Florida, but they can't get their money back because they voluntarily agreed to pay it. OK, off topic a bit.)

Also, right in the beginning of the warranty booklet, it states the phone number for the BBB auto line (800) 955-5100, in order to file a complaint about this. I think I'd be filing TODAY if it was me.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

59996 + 6 (to the dealership) = 60002. Sounds like your warranty should be till 60007 based on what has been said.

I did not even think about that 7 miles would not qualify the car as NEW.

That's not the case. If it was, virtually no car would be new. They all have miles on them. (well, virtually all)
Frankly, 7 is fairly low for a new car. ;-)

Yep, 7 miles on the odo at time of delivery isn't high at all.

The car at minimum will have to be driven off the line, onto a truck, off the truck and around a little bit at the dealer, assuming it's never been test driven.

the number of miles on it is really up to you. the car is sold as new and you need to sign off on that odometer value. I have seen cars sold that had over 400 miles on it as new. We simply filled out a "We Owe" form which is promises of work to be done after customer takes delivery.

normally its things like touching up the paint or putting on an accessory the customer ordered and paid for on the purchase contract, etc. We have even done ones for "full tank of gas" since there were times customers took delivery after the gas station we contracted with was closed (along with Service Dept completely forgetting to do it earlier in the normally lengthy sales process)


now I did not spend enough time in the car business to say I am sure of really anything but can say that I never saw a mileage or time based warranty that included anything that was done before the owner took delivery...

If the "60,000" miles does include all the miles before and after the sale, what happens with the 5 year warranty part? does that include the time sitting on the dealers lot which could be a much as a year? think about it...

 

[skhmc]

If the "60,000" miles does include all the miles before and after the sale, what happens with the 5 year warranty part? does that include the time sitting on the dealers lot which could be a much as a year? think about it...

Yeah, this is the part that's weird. The warranty time-wise is 60 months from date of delivery, but 60,000 miles total? Even if not officially stated that way, the warranty should be 60 months & 60,000 miles after delivery. It's not that hard to track, either, since there's a known number of miles on the car when it was delivered to the purchaser. Yes, I realize I'm talking a little bit about "what should be" not "what is" but I think it's worth pointing out the difference between the time warranty (where you don't get "punished" for it sitting on the lot) and the mileage warranty (where you do get "punished" for it being driven).

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

If the "60,000" miles does include all the miles before and after the sale, what happens with the 5 year warranty part? does that include the time sitting on the dealers lot which could be a much as a year? think about it...

Yeah, this is the part that's weird. The warranty time-wise is 60 months from date of delivery, but 60,000 miles total? Even if not officially stated that way, the warranty should be 60 months & 60,000 miles after delivery. It's not that hard to track, either, since there's a known number of miles on the car when it was delivered to the purchaser. Yes, I realize I'm talking a little bit about "what should be" not "what is" but I think it's worth pointing out the difference between the time warranty (where you don't get "punished" for it sitting on the lot) and the mileage warranty (where you do get "punished" for it being driven).

the statement in the warranty also has implied information including the fact that a new car's odometer should be at zero. this is a point that can and has been argued previously

 

[fonsovelasco]

I'm so confused with the battery warranty, wasn't the warranty extended up to 100,000 miles?

 

[mwalsh]

I'm so confused with the battery warranty, wasn't the warranty extended up to 100,000 miles?

That applies to workmanship and materials. The capacity warranty, since it's inception, has only ever been 60k/5 years.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I'm so confused with the battery warranty, wasn't the warranty extended up to 100,000 miles?

that was for the new 30 kwh 2016 battery packs only. the 24 kwh packs stay at 60,000