Nissan wants to know.......

[blackleaf]

1) AC fail safe mode issue - what is it, what VINs affected, and why doesn't Nissan post this somewhere?
2) BLINK system is inmature - units frequently crash, the company website shows many "coming soon" features that really should be up and running.
3) Navigation system - doesn't show charging stations that exist and appears to not be of the up-to-date quality that most of us expect, similar to $150 hand held units at least.
4) Charging network - very little infrastructure visible in the pacific NW. A few level 2's, no level 3"s. NISSAN should require that their dealersa all have level 2 (heck why not 3) availabe 24/7. Put in a system to charge us for the power, no problem, but help inable the infrastructure that will make this a success.
5) Nissan should have a plan and communicate it, for the remote applicaiton to work with more than iPhone. I'm a blackberry user. I know that the promotional information talked about this application being available for multiple types of phones, including the blackberry. However, while I've heard rumor that there will be an Android verion (which doesn't help me), I've heard nothing about the blackberry.

 

[BlueSL]

As for questions,
If Nissan won't discuss the order/delivery screwups, you might ask them simply "What, precisely, does Nissan use to determine the delivery order of the cars?" We still have no idea.

Nice. Here is my earlier expanded iteration of that question:

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.

 

[mwalsh]

OK, so in my spare time tomorrow, I'll troll through this thread and pull off all the questions we've put forward with the request that they answer the top 5 as soon as convenient, and then consider expanding their answers to the rest of the questions listed.

Thanks for participating. Hopefully we'll find a way to move forward that is both effective and mutually beneficial. Nissan needs to have our support moving forward. Hopefully they'll eventually come to the realization that we're not just purchasers, but advocates and ambassadors.

 

[sjfotos]

Some idea of when the Forgotten 36 MIGHT get cars would be very helpful. I have decisions to make due to the age of my current car and I am not inclined to wait forever....having already spent over $1,000 in maintaining the current ride over the last few months. I would very much LIKE to know whether I should just forget it and buy the Prius or a CT200h and wait for EV Gen II in a few years.....

 

[AndyH]

- When does Nissan expect to restart Leaf production?

Nissan restarted Leaf production on March 24th subject to parts inventory availability.

The latest news (March 30th) does say that production at Oppama will be suspended this week April 4-8th due to insufficient parts availability.

Rog...Also read that some cars would be moved temporarily to the back burner while they do an annual build on one model.

I guess I should have asked when they expect their supply chain to be operating at >75% and when they'll be able to start cranking out Leafs at 'ludicrous speed'. :lol:

 

[gbshaun]

The main reason the delivery date screw up is an issue is because the CA rebate pool is limited. The simple solution is to guarentee every skipped order a $5000 rebate IF the pool has gone dry by delivery time. If Nissan outsourced the ordering system and that company processeed the data incorrectly, it may be possible that that company would ultimately be liable for the cost.

It seems to me that in the long term all the ill will and bad word of mouth will cost this company a lot more than $5000 per screwed customer.

I would find myself far more "understanding" and "patient" if i knew I was still going to be ok for the CA rebate. It may be a deal-buster for me.
In CA we pay a high rate of state income tax (9.3%) so receiving some of it back when we're eligible is important

Shaun

 

[gbshaun]

..... Sure, I'd like the $5,000 even though I'm not in CA

I'd trade my CA rebate for your TX state income tax rate ;-)

 

[TomT]

But he likely also pays three to four times what I do in real estate taxes in Texas... There IS no free ride.

..... Sure, I'd like the $5,000 even though I'm not in CA

I'd trade my CA rebate for your TX state income tax rate ;-)

 

[smkettner]

But he likely also pays three to four times what I do in real estate taxes in Texas... There IS no free ride.

My brother lives in TX and the property tax rate is about triple. But with the higher value of my CA home and special bonds my tax is well over double what my brother pays for a similar size home. :roll:

 

[thankyouOB]

stop dealer price gouging by limiting their access to new vehicles, or putting that dealer's new vehicles on the same boat as beachcliff's car.
cars? what cars?
dont believe that Nissan cant do something about it if they want to do something about it.
that is ridiculous.

remember GM closed some of its dealerships?
Nissan has the same power to control bad behavior by dealers who are harming the brand.

 

[AndyH]

stop dealer price gouging by limiting their access to new vehicles, or putting that dealer's new vehicles on the same boat as beachcliff's car.
cars? what cars?
dont believe that Nissan cant do something about it if they want to do something about it.
that is ridiculous.

remember GM closed some of its dealerships?
Nissan has the same power to control bad behavior by dealers who are harming the brand.

Yes - GM 'closed' dealerships - by filing for bankruptcy and reorganizing. The dealer contracts were with the old company that no longer exists. It's really good that Nissan's not needing a government bailout.

Nissan dealerships are independent businesses - Corporate can't control them any more than they can control McDonalds or WalMart. And that's a good thing. Unintended consequences are often worse than the 'issue' we're trying to 'fix'.

 

[klapauzius]

1) Fix the range estimation on the car
2) Make an unambiguous statement what the USABLE battery capacity is
3) Display SOC as kWH remaining
4) allow charge stops via app/web
5) allow for 80% charges without the timer

 

[rnkepler]

1) Now that everyone with a reservation in the initial launch states has had the chance to order, who will be ordering next? Tier 2 states, nationwide, or will reservations open again for the initial launch states? I would ask when but I'm sure that's all up in the air right now.
2) Pricing of cold weather package.
3) Availability of 6.6kw charger. Are they going to at least upgrade the wiring so it won't be as expensive to replace the current charger later?
4) Improve customer support.
5) Improve the SOC meter.

 

[ERG4ALL]

I'll just add my two cents worth. Certainly the VIN numbers affected by the A/C issue and did it have anything to do with the QC port is number one.

Number two for me is when will the 6.6kWh chargers be available for the 2011 LEAFs and how much will it cost.

Thanks mwalsh for compiling these responses and sending them on to Nissan.

 

[GeekEV]

This is a little bit off topic, but this morning I met with a couple of Nissan engineers about my iPod issues and I took the opportunity to give them a rundown of my various concerns - including the CW OK button issue. The main guy indicated that they had discussed it, but the lawyers (gotta love 'em) said they had to have it as a liability issue to get consent to track data. I pointed out that they already had my consent by virtue of the CW username/pin combination and he immediately responded with "yeah, but what if someone borrows your car?" I suggested that by borrowing *MY* car, they inherently agreed to whatever *I* agreed to. He then suggested that they could talk about it some more and suggested (not a promise mind you) a possible compromise whereby the screen would *default* to OK after a fixed time period, but that the prompt wouldn't be completely removed so as to give another driver a chance to opt-out. I indicated that would be acceptable to me and a fair compromise. I sure hope they do that!

 

[davewill]

The main guy indicated that they had discussed it, but the lawyers (gotta love 'em) said they had to have it as a liability issue to get consent to track data. I pointed out that they already had my consent by virtue of the CW username/pin combination and he immediately responded with "yeah, but what if someone borrows your car?"

If someone borrows my car, I WANT the data tracked...whether the person who borrowed wants to or not. It IS my car, after all.

 

[jcesare]

This is a little bit off topic, but this morning I met with a couple of Nissan engineers about my iPod issues and I took the opportunity to give them a rundown of my various concerns - including the CW OK button issue. The main guy indicated that they had discussed it, but the lawyers (gotta love 'em) said they had to have it as a liability issue to get consent to track data. I pointed out that they already had my consent by virtue of the CW username/pin combination and he immediately responded with "yeah, but what if someone borrows your car?" I suggested that by borrowing *MY* car, they inherently agreed to whatever *I* agreed to. He then suggested that they could talk about it some more and suggested (not a promise mind you) a possible compromise whereby the screen would *default* to OK after a fixed time period, but that the prompt wouldn't be completely removed so as to give another driver a chance to opt-out. I indicated that would be acceptable to me and a fair compromise. I sure hope they do that!

All they have to do is change the consent wording when you sign up for CW. As the owner of the vehicle you give consent to data being collect by any driver at any time.

Old Mexican curse: "May your life be full of lawyers".

 

[TomT]

Actually, Lexus came up with a brilliant solution to the problem some years back when they introduced some particularly hot new models... A distributor can not control pricing but they can control distribution. So, they told the dealers that they were free to charge whatever they wanted but if they charged above msrp, their allocation would be cut. It worked like champ!

 

[davewill]

Actually, Lexus came up with a brilliant solution to the problem some years back when they introduced some particularly hot new models... A distributor can not control pricing but they can control distribution. So, they told the dealers that they were free to charge whatever they wanted but if they charged above msrp, their allocation would be cut. It worked like champ!

Actually, I have to give Nissan huge props in this area. Both Toyota (Prius) and GM (Volt) gave the dealers fixed allocations and had the buyers queue up at the dealer...giving the dealer maximum leverage. By taking reservations, they put the buyer in the drivers seat, for the most part.

 

[LakeLeaf]

((((((( #6 -if I may - I agree with Jimmy, it may not be Nissan stock, but it would be good for Beta Testers to be offered some compensation for taking this risk --- maybe a large discount on a new battery pack after 5 years, free service checks for a few years, OR having the interior re-upholstered in a darker grey.)))))))))

No need for compensation at all. Nissan should have, from day one, included a capacity warranty of some sort with the car. This is my #1 issue. If they are sure the batteries are going to last, they should stand behind that.

My belief is that this will become of the #1 issue for consumers after the initial waves of purchasers. So about the time that the Tennessee plant comes on board and there are sufficient numbers of LEAFs produced to stock dealer lots, those consumers are going to be asking a lot more about capacity warranty then the initial crop.