Nissan wants to know.......

[mwalsh]

....what our top 5 concerns are right now - the questions we'd like answered more than any others for the moment?

So, clearly, the climate control/dead car issue has to be the top of the list for many of us already with cars. And from the thread involved I think we're all wanting to know what cars are involved, what is the cause of the problem, and what is being done to rectify it. Anything else on that issue?

What are the next four most important issues you'd like properly addressed?

Nissan is listening, and is concerned about some of the negative (and sometimes factually incorrect statements) they've seen posted in various threads here.

I have, of course, tried to explain that a lot of it is down to the vacuum created by the absence of quality information. I've also tried to make it abundantly clear that, should they decide to make someone directly accountable to us again over these concerns, the person needs to have really good information - stuff that goes well beyond the talking points and platitudes from the customer service people.

Will it work? Who knows. But I can't see the harm in trying. Can you?

 

[derkraut]

....what our top 5 concerns are right now - the questions we'd like answered more than any others for the moment?

So, clearly, the climate control/dead car issue has to be the top of the list for many of us already with cars. And from the thread involved I think we're all wanting to know what cars are involved, what is the cause of the problem, and what is being done to rectify it. Anything else on that issue?

What are the next four most important issues you'd like properly addressed?

Nissan is listening, and is concerned about some of the negative (and sometimes factually incorrect statements) they've seen posted in various threads here.

I have, of course, tried to explain that a lot of it is down to the vacuum created by the absence of quality information. I've also tried to make it abundantly clear that, should they decide to make someone directly accountable to us again over these concerns, the person needs to have really good information - stuff that goes well beyond the talking points and platitudes from the customer service people.

Will it work? Who knows. But I can't see the harm in trying. Can you?

I'm a little confused by your post, mwalsh; So, has Nissan asked you to relay our concerns to them? Why can't they communicate directly with this forum? :? :? :? :? :?

 

[occ]

My top 1 concern is that Nissan needs to publicly acknowledge and explain the screw up that allows for Jan/Feb orders to jump the line and get their car before Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec orders, and what are they doing about it...even if to officially (and I mean NOT through second hand report we read here) say that they cannot do anything about it, and let reservation holders make up their mind about their own orders/cancellations (either because of the CA $5K, or because they don't trust Nissan anymore..).

We should have a list compiled, and get a proper tally to let Nissan know. Some of us, like myself, don't want to go through the hassle of calling and complaining, but we like to be able to let Nissan know the issue that will most likely change our minds about Nissan the company in general.

 

[mwalsh]

I'm a little confused by your post, mwalsh; So, has Nissan asked you to relay our concerns to them? Why can't they communicate directly with this forum? :? :? :? :? :?

Yes, they have.

I have already told them that it would be better to have a person dedicated to interacting with us. Gut feeling I get is that they found the last try more than a bit intimidating. I mean we're a pretty unforgiving crowd here (we should try to check that, BTW....the board is getting a bit of reputation, even with other EV enthusiasts!)

 

[palmermd]

Glad to hear they want a list. Thanks for organizing this. For me right now as I've only had the car a day my only concern is solving the ac issue so I can trust my car will work the next time I enter it!!!

 

[BlueSL]

Thanks, mwalsh. All help is appreciated.

I am not suggesting these concerns absolutely belong in the top 5, but they are the primary concerns of many people who find themselves in the spreadsheet donut hole between those with cars/delivery dates and the "line jumpers" (a term I use only because everyone here knows exactly which subset of orders it refers to).

1. From the factory to the dealer, what are the steps involved in getting the car to a customer? Please explain whether Nissan intends to endeavor to deliver the cars in the sequence in which they were ordered, when a car is matched to an order, when the customer is told that a car has been allocated to them, and how long each step in the delivery pipeline should ordinarily take. If any of these procedures have changed since Nissan began delivering the cars, please describe Nissan's current operating procedures so that we will no longer rely on the experience of the August 31 and early September orderers for our expectations.

2. Please explain how the line jumping orders were assigned VINs, whether Nissan intends to address the concerns of persons who placed earlier orders but still lack delivery dates and VINs, what steps Nissan intends to take, and when it will take them.

Atta boy, Nissan!

 

[ralphmc]

....what our top 5 concerns are right now - the questions we'd like answered more than any others for the moment?

So, clearly, the climate control/dead car issue has to be the top of the list for many of us already with cars. And from the thread involved I think we're all wanting to know what cars are involved, what is the cause of the problem, and what is being done to rectify it. Anything else on that issue?

What are the next four most important issues you'd like properly addressed?

Nissan is listening, and is concerned about some of the negative (and sometimes factually incorrect statements) they've seen posted in various threads here.

I have, of course, tried to explain that a lot of it is down to the vacuum created by the absence of quality information. I've also tried to make it abundantly clear that, should they decide to make someone directly accountable to us again over these concerns, the person needs to have really good information - stuff that goes well beyond the talking points and platitudes from the customer service people.

Will it work? Who knows. But I can't see the harm in trying. Can you?

Thank you mwalsh,

May I suggest to have the delivery sequence / order issue to me the next highest one, because I find this does indeed not help the EV cause and the Nissan reputation. (AKA missing Sep/Oct orders threat). Why people are put on pending and guys that ordered in Jan / Feb are scheduled to get there cars "way" before the December / November orders.

 

[trentr]

Maybe have Nissan go through this thread ten times or so! For the forgotten Sept/Oct future owners, this is the top issue:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=3056

Nissan knows about this issue, but it seems like whoever screams the loudest is the one who gets the cake. They need to fix this for everyone.

 

[smkettner]

1 Reliability
2 Delivering cars in proper order
3 charge stations in CW
4 dealers should have charging available 24/7/365 until some ev project infrastructure actually gets built
5 And allow CW to stay logged in and skip the "agree to" screen each time

(I do not have mine yet so mostly this is from the experience of others)

 

[gbshaun]

Thank you mwalsh,

May I suggest to have the delivery sequence / order issue to me the next highest one, because I find this does indeed not help the EV cause and the Nissan reputation. (AKA missing Sep/Oct orders threat). Why people are put on pending and guys that ordered in Jan / Feb are scheduled to get there cars "way" before the December / November orders.

I agree.
Thanks

 

[sdbonez]

My top 5 issues:

1. The Climate Control / Fail Safe mode issue: Speaking to the inaccurate info comment - and more than the void piece you mentioned, I would ask that Nissan work hard to make sure their customer care folks know what they're talking about. The gentleman I spoke with this morning was definitely not knowledgeable. I'm not saying all the 'guessing' is helping, but any info coming from Nissan personnel should be factual.

2. Dates: This is still my #2 issue and I'm already in possession of my leaf. I watched people pass me up in-line and that definitely was very frustrating but the worst part was the constantly changing delivery dates. This has really hurt the supply chain given all of the people involved in a delivery. Yesterday while at work, I couldn't take an errand at lunch because I didn't have enough charge left. Why didn't I? Because I'm still stuck charging L1 at night and it often doesn't finish charging. Ecotality was told I wouldn't have my Leaf until the week of April 8th so when I took delivery more than a week early, I was left without an EVSE to charge with. Being unable to go somewhere was when it hit home how much this was really impacting me.

3. Blink - there appear to be some serious issues with these things and I don't even have mine operational yet. While not Nissan's direct responsibility, some heat on the appropriate EV Project people would be great. While Nissan's car system logic is fantastic, as is the 'dumb' dongle to plug it in Level 1, having to worry about whether your car is charging over night is simply inexcusable. They need to do some serious work to get the software in the Blink units stable and compatible with the Leaf very quickly.

I don't have a #4 or #5 'top issue' - so I'm going to turn them into compliments:

Compliments:
4. Training / Prep of Nissan Folks: I am *thoroughly amazed* at the amount of in-advance training and prep work that's gone into making sure that there are people at Nissan ready to deal with the Leaf. From the initial folks like Mark Perry, to the staff at the drive events, to Sales, to Service Managers, to Mechanics, to Customer Care - it's been a real delight to not have to educate Nissan employees on a regular basis about their own vehicle. I was reminded of how much work went into this when scheduling a quick service appointment yesterday and the guy scheduling appointments at the dealer said 'a what?' and '80,000 miles on it? No, again, just 80'. And still further, everyone is engaged and excited about it. This had to have been a monumental job and I'm delighted at the result.

5. This car is an absolute blast to drive: It handles well, the battery pack really adds a lot of 'solid feel' to the vehicle that keeps it from feeling cheap like a pregnant roller skate (or even my Prius), the internal main console software is well-written, chock full of features, and easy to navigate - it's just a really good car.

So that's my top five. Notice, I didn't say one of them is 'not having Nissan here'. While I'd commend them for allowing someone to participate, or (ducking) hosting their own forums for more official support, I realize that it's ultimately a decision only Nissan can make. I'll close by echoing your comment about the void of info. All people ever want is open, honest, transparent communication and the more it doesn't exist, the more people will speculate when there are problems. But remember, the opposite is also true, when you establish a more personal relationship with your consumer base, you'll also find them much more forgiving when you do run into issues because they know you care enough to communicate with them.

-Mike (not using my climate control right now)

 

[abasile]

First of all, I want to express my thanks to Nissan for the huge investment they have made in the LEAF, and I am very much looking forward to taking delivery of my first EV very soon!

Here's my list of top issues, though admittedly some of these might be broader in scope than what Nissan is looking for right now.

1. A/C problem(s). Clearly #1.

2. Order/delivery sequencing issues. (I ordered in January and am eagerly anticipating my early delivery, but this is clearly a big issue for many who were passed over.)

3. Uncertainty as to battery life. This isn't preventing me from buying the car, and is to some degree something that early adopters will have to live with. However, just as Nissan provided range estimates for several different driving scenarios, perhaps it would be helpful to attempt to provide rough battery life estimates based on various, typical driving and charging patterns.

4. 6.6 kW charger upgrade. It would be great if Nissan can confirm for sure whether this will become available to 2011 LEAF owners, and if so, approximately what the upgrade cost will be. Having this capability will really help in extending the usable range of the car.

5. Charging infrastructure. We are really hoping to see more public QC stations and L2 charging docks over the coming year, but this seems to be slow going. Is there anything further that Nissan can do to spur this along?

Thank you.

 

[TomT]

Mine (aside from the current A/C issue):

1) The over-boosted, numb steering with its lack of return and on-center feel. (This is number one with a bullet for me!)
2) The Carwings nag screen every time I boot the car.
3) Not being able to charge to 80 or 90 percent without having to use a timer.
4) All the nav system limitations that have been previously discussed, including the lack of depicted charge stations and timely database updates.
5) No real SOC meter.

Oh yeah, and no Android App...

....what our top 5 concerns are right now - the questions we'd like answered more than any others for the moment?

 

[davewill]

I'd like them to address the reported lack of charge station locations in the nav database. I was really excited by this feature. I live in North San Diego, and I should be able to take a shopping trip to Laguna or Irvine, confident that the car will help me find a place to charge. That's what they showed at the Drive Electric event. As it stands I have to search around to various websites, or ask here, PRINT the locations out, then guess which ones might be close to me when I feel the need to stop and charge. The reports suggest that not even all the Nissan dealer charge stations are in there! This is NOT rocket science and they need to explain how and when they will fix it.

 

[LEAFfan]

Since other people have listed the main concerns, I'll add that Nissan needs to 'fix' the Carwings 'accept' screen so we won't have to touch 'ok' every time.
One other one is that I would like to know if NMAC is going to extend the Lease Application Period (for the current rates) past April 30th, 2011, since it expires April 30th according to their information sheet. Thanks Michael!

 

[BnBinSD]

I wonder if an actual survey page might be the way to handle their request?

Other than that, there seem to be three major categories:

1. Nissan delivery issues - lack of communication, unclear delivery mechanisms (Sep/Oct order snafu).

2. Car issues:
A. A/C shutdown.
B. No real SOC info.
C. Useless nav charger info.
D. Charger thresholds of only 80% or 100%, can't stop charging remotely.
E. No ability to modify temp settings remotely.
F. Leaf app has very limited functionality.

3. Blink charger problems, though probably not much Nissan can do to twait their tail.

I'm sure there are plenty more, but those are ones that I recall best.

 

[DarkStar]

My #1 issue is when will we be able to see an actual percent (%) of state-of-charge? I've been doing okay going off of the 12 bars, but the center display (where the time for a complete charge is displayed) is wasted most of the time and could easily be used to display the actual SOC %.

 

[DeaneG]

Need to change the dash "charge now" switch to touch once, set 80% charge and one beep from car; touch twice, set 100% charge and two beeps from car. The car should remember this setting for say one minute after I exit the vehicle, so I don't have to open the door again to start charging after plugging in.

Add extensions to the sun visors.

 

[Long4Leaf]

Even though I have recieved my LEAF and not directly affected by the out-of-order deliveries, this is my #1 concern at the time.

#2 is the lack of empowerment of the CS. They need access to more information and/or greater authority to communicate information to the customers

 

[leafkabob]

Nissan knows about this issue, but it seems like whoever screams the loudest is the one who gets the cake. They need to fix this for everyone.

I agree with Trentr. When I talked to the supervisor yesterday, I got the distinct impression he was trying hard NOT to say: "We are working on getting cars for those folks who have complained a lot." He didn't quite say that, but I think that is what is happening.

The supervisor yesterday told me that Nissan made a decision to NOT pull back the VINS from the out of sequence orders because it would cause them more problems down the road. I would like to know what those problems would be. It would be nice to have a factual, reasonable explanation for that, so that we all don't have to read between the lines and fill in the blanks with our own speculation. Not that there is any shortage of speculation on MNL.

I hope Nissan gives good, thorough explanations and does not approach our top five concerns like lawyers do: If you don't ask exactly the right question, we won't give you a good answer.