2010 reservations

I'm probably not alone in thinking that those of us who reserved last year with the original 20,000 are not feeling good when, after all the waiting, we have maybe a 2 week advance over those who didn't reserve back then. It just seems like such a letdown. I'm not sure exactly what Nissan could do to make it up to us.. I do feel as if Nissan's marketing studies are the main beneficiary of holding my $99 for a year, because as it turns out, I feel I get very little.

I know, in another 8 months I might have my LEAF, and when I do, this will all be quickly forgotten. But I wonder how much effort they really put into trying to reward those of us who have stood by them since the original wave of reservations? (Maybe they did put some thought into it and 2 weeks is the best they could come up with.) I'm not trying to be hard on Nissan so much as get people (and maybe Nissan, too) thinking about what they might do to make us feel better about the reservation process.

tps said:

I'm probably not alone in thinking that those of us who reserved last year with the original 20,000 are not feeling good when, after all the waiting, we have maybe a 2 week advance over those who didn't reserve back then. It just seems like such a letdown. I'm not sure exactly what Nissan could do to make it up to us.. I do feel as if Nissan's marketing studies are the main beneficiary of holding my $99 for a year, because as it turns out, I feel I get very little.

I know, in another 8 months I might have my LEAF, and when I do, this will all be quickly forgotten. But I wonder how much effort they really put into trying to reward those of us who have stood by them since the original wave of reservations? (Maybe they did put some thought into it and 2 weeks is the best they could come up with.) I'm not trying to be hard on Nissan so much as get people (and maybe Nissan, too) thinking about what they might do to make us feel better about the reservation process.

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I don't have an answer/suggestion for you; but I think you make an excellent point.

I wonder about the thought / planning processes period. Why did
we consistently know more than the dealers? I started calling a number
of days after the 25th and the dealers were clueless.
Big Nissan Fail.....

As someone from the same forgotten 36 states who only recently was able to place an order I hear you -- the 'announcement' that 2010 LEAF reservationists in IL were now eligible to place an order on 7/25 was actually a bit of a misnomer; it was more like a few days after that as the online system had some bugs (as I was also out of state on vacation it didn't help matters either). Very early on only one Nissan dealer in the entire Chicagoland area was even listed as a 'certified' LEAF specialist on the web site (it turned out to be the one I placed my order with, his first order; he later mentioned to me that he had 3 other quotes out) but at least this dealer had been to LEAF training AND made the commitment to not charge a huge mark up like a few others are seeing (looks like at least in Chicago, all the dealers are selling at MSRP; our 'doc' fees are also regulated so hopefully no other hidden fees -- did not see any at all in my quote).

At the time of the announcement, I had all but about given up on getting a pure EV any time soon and was looking and test driving the new Lexus CT200h (another rare find due to the problems in Japan). I crunched a few numbers and with not only the $7,500 Fed Tax Credit but IL also kicks in a 10% off MSRP rebate up to $4,000 as well as reduced licensing fees and it actually looked like even though the LEAF's MSRP was about $6K higher it would end up about $5K less than the CT so I confirmed my order for it and we'll hopefully see a Cayenne Red SL in about 3 to 4 months.

Back to your question on the two weeks notice -- perhaps Nissan has analyzed (and this has never been posted) how many reservations there are in the forgotten 36 states so they feel two weeks is more than enough for this small number of people to take advantage of being the first to be able to order one -- they need to make sure their systems are ready to handle these at the very least the day of or day after the announcement but doubtful if they would do more than that. The supply after all is still quite limited -- my dealer says his allocation at present is only one LEAF per month so I would be his only order for August! If someone has the stats by state of the original 20K reservationists it would be really interesting to see if high to low it matches how the rest of the roll out goes -- Nissan says it picked IL earlier due to the states commitment to having more charging stations but I have to believe that simply due to population (IL is ranked 5 in '09 population) we would have been more towards the top versus say our neighbors to the north (WI - ranked 20) or the east (IN - ranked 16). But how do you put HI towards the top (ranked 42)? Probably as it's of course closer to the source of supply as well as its mild climate and commitment to keeping its environment as pristine as possible --- also with limited supply initially it was an easy win.

I think Nissan's decisions around where/when to launch were very simply based on:

1) Warm weather plus proximity to (Long Beach) port
2) Population size

Obviously, you want your initial 'wave' to see good battery performance; after that, you're trying to cluster shipments into high population areas (after all, they're trying to maximize return on the dealer infrastructure investment).

Stanton said:

I think Nissan's decisions around where/when to launch were very simply based on:

1) Warm weather plus proximity to (Long Beach) port
2) Population size

Obviously, you want your initial 'wave' to see good battery performance; after that, you're trying to cluster shipments into high population areas (after all, they're trying to maximize return on the dealer infrastructure investment).

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I'm in Philadelphia, lots of people here. Having lived for 20 years in northern Indiana, I can definitely say that the weather is much milder here than Chicago. Yet we're in "wave 4" (before the end of the year) whereas Chicago is in "wave 2" (beginning of August). My PD is less than 5 miles from New Jersey, a "wave 3" state.

When I rented the Hertz LEAF from NYC and drove it to my house in Philadelphia, I scoped out Nissan dealers along the route for charging opportunities. The NJ dealers are not any better prepared than the PA dealers; neither have chargers. At my PD, I actually took their mechanic who had taken the LEAF training for a ride in the rental LEAF. He'd never seen a real LEAF, but he seemed extremely knowledgeable regarding how the controls and indicators should respond and watched everything very carefully during the 3 mile course I drove. Don't know about training at the NJ dealers; I never talked to any mechanics there. A few of the people at the dealers had seen the LEAF at Philly or NY car shows, but this was the first time any of them actually got a good look under the hood or a chance to sit and/or ride in the car.

Originally I thought "service infrastructure" was the reason Nissan was rolling the LEAF out in waves, but I'm not so sure of that anymore. So far as I can see, there really is no good reason for the "waves" at this point. IMHO they should just let all of us original 20,000 reservation holders order, regardless of our location. As it is, I probably have at least 6 months and maybe 8-9 months from now (beginning of August) until I can take delivery of my LEAF. It will be painful watching those in Maryland and New Jersey who weren't part of the original 20,000 take delivery while I sit here and wait.

tps said:

Stanton said:

I think Nissan's decisions around where/when to launch were very simply based on:

1) Warm weather plus proximity to (Long Beach) port
2) Population size

Having lived for 20 years in northern Indiana, I can definitely say that the weather is much milder here than Chicago. Yet we're in "wave 4" (before the end of the year) whereas Chicago is in "wave 2" (beginning of August). My PD is less than 5 miles from New Jersey, a "wave 3" state.

IMHO they should just let all of us original 20,000 reservation holders order, regardless of our location. As it is, I probably have at least 6 months and maybe 8-9 months from now (beginning of August) until I can take delivery of my LEAF. It will be painful watching those in Maryland and New Jersey who weren't part of the original 20,000 take delivery while I sit here and wait.

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Agree on the Chicago winters, although now that '12 MY will have the cold weather package included its a moot point

Also agree on letting the original 20K place their orders, but without the dealer support you know they won't do it -- PA is right behind IL on population size but perhaps they had a lot lower number of of registrations, I guess we'll never know ---

tps said:

... we have maybe a 2 week advance over those who didn't reserve back then.

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You know difference of 2 weeks doesn't translate into how far ahead of the queue the tier 2 order is compared to others. As long as everyone was able to order before the orders were opened for general population (in T1 & 2 states) it should be fine. That 2 weeks may translate to being 3 months ahead ...

My guess is, that was the calculation behind the 2 weeks. Nissan doesn't want orders to dry up ... they probably thought they won't get that many orders in T2 states.

redLEAF said:

Also agree on letting the original 20K place their orders, but without the dealer support you know they won't do it

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I'll be watching carefully and asking my PD to find out just what changes they make before I am allowed to order, but I'm betting it won't be much they haven't already done.

And I'll asked Nissan directly next weekend when Drive Electric event is in Philly. Of course, I won't pop that question in front of the crowd and put them on the spot, but I'll take them aside at some point and ask why PA has to wait.

you could easily get an orphan 2012 in December from a Va dealer

if you want some help with that let me know

we have delivery too

tps said:

I'm probably not alone in thinking that those of us who reserved last year with the original 20,000 are not feeling good when, after all the waiting, we have maybe a 2 week advance over those who didn't reserve back then. It just seems like such a letdown. I'm not sure exactly what Nissan could do to make it up to us.. I do feel as if Nissan's marketing studies are the main beneficiary of holding my $99 for a year, because as it turns out, I feel I get very little.

I know, in another 8 months I might have my LEAF, and when I do, this will all be quickly forgotten. But I wonder how much effort they really put into trying to reward those of us who have stood by them since the original wave of reservations? (Maybe they did put some thought into it and 2 weeks is the best they could come up with.) I'm not trying to be hard on Nissan so much as get people (and maybe Nissan, too) thinking about what they might do to make us feel better about the reservation process.

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I agree with derkraut, excellent post!

I do have a suggestion for Nissan to reward us for our loyalty and our $99. That is to allow us to order our LEAFs at the SAME MSRP as the 2011 folks! :lol:

Like that will ever happen! But that is my suggestion to Nissan. :ugeek:

As a forgotten 36'er who found alternative means of getting a leaf - I've just passed 2,000 miles (on my way to work this morning), I *LOVE* the car - but how my "reservation" (which is technically still waiting indefinitely) was treated is NOT forgotten.

This car could've given me a huge preference for Nissan, but the fact is you gotta do better than just make a good car, you've got to support it too. And from my experience, Nissan seriously dropped the ball on that part.

So I love my car and I'll drive it 'til it falls apart, but I'll be hoping all the while that by that time Subaru - a company that have given me great support on vehicles - will have an EV. Ooo, I bet it'll be AWD, too! FWD is so disappointing after getting used to the old WRX

Ah well, the wife will probably need another car in 3-4 years, so I guess Nissan has that long to impress me.

defiancecp said:

As a forgotten 36'er who found alternative means of getting a leaf - I've just passed 2,000 miles (on my way to work this morning), I *LOVE* the car - but how my "reservation" (which is technically still waiting indefinitely) was treated is NOT forgotten.

...snip snip...

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Can't you cancel your reservation and get your $99 back? I mean why keep the reservation and not have the $99 in your own pocket, if you already have your car?

I didn't think about it 'til I was posting that! It had already been gone for a year and a few months when I got the leaf, I'd honestly just forgot

Actually, has anyone had luck transferring reservations? If someone in Arkansas wanted my old reservation I'd be happy to give it for the $99, but I don't know if the dealers or Nissan do that. And I guess it probably doesn't even matter anyway with the 2 week difference that's showing up in the other states.

defiancecp said:

Actually, has anyone had luck transferring reservations?

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Reservations are non-transferable.

defiancecp said:

I *LOVE* the car - but how my "reservation" (which is technically still waiting indefinitely) was treated is NOT forgotten.

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They way I see it, Nissan Japan is responsible for the quality of the car. Nissan North America is responsible for the reservation system and the US rollout. So I guess that translates into being happy with Nissan Japan and unhappy with Nissan NA.

I would like to reward my local Nissan dealer, who has been good to me, with my LEAF order. But I'll be seriously tempted to buy one of the orphans which is sure to appear in Maryland around the end of the year, about the same time my dashboard should be opening to order, and thus save myself about 5 months of waiting... Of course, in so doing, I'll be "punnishing" my local dealer, who has has helped me in many ways. Whether I buy an orphan or buy from my local dealer will make little difference to Nissan NA, they will be rewarded with a sale either way.

So I like too like the LEAF which Nissan Japan has built; I like my local Nissan dealer. But I feel as if Nissan NA has somewhat dropped the ball on the reservation and rollout process.

Hearing about the starting flood of deliveries to people who reserved in May 2011 is somewhat depressing. I've still got a wait for ordering and a long wait until delivery...

Looks as if the Tier 3 reservation holders are only getting a 5 day ordering period before reservations re-open to the general public. Given that Nissan's email notification system seems somewhat unreliable, I guess I'll have to check "My Account" every day to ensure that I don't miss the chance that my 1+ year of waiting has earned me. I'll likely be the first LEAF order my dealer has seen, so I guess I've got my work cut out to make sure the get the quote ready ahead of time so when my chance comes I can go from RAQ to order the same day.

No word from Nissan except "before the end of the year". I'm now checking the Nissan site daily; this is probably the only way my 2010 reservation will be worth anything to me. I'm stuck in between Maryland, where LEAFs are now being delivered and New Jersey, where ordering has been open for some time, but still nada for me... I'm beginning to feel I should modify Nissan's slogan: " if it has to do with your Nissan LEAF, it will never happen here". Maybe my Nissan LEAF will end up being a MD orphan...

Can't you cancel your reservation and get your $99 back? I mean why keep the reservation and not have the $99 in your own pocket, if you already have your car?

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I canceled my June 2010 order and reordered in August 2011 and got my 99 bucks refunded and did not have to pay again when I re ordered but that may have been to do with the crap I gave Nissan regarding the crooks at Maroone Nissan in Florida.