RecklessMaker
Member
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2023
- Messages
- 9
Howdy All,
At the beginning of August I picked up a used 2016 S (30kWh). It's in good shape, but the battery was below 9 bars so I took it in for a warranty replacement. The dealer ran their tests, confirmed that the battery was indeed eligible for warranty replacement, and submitted the claim to Nissan. They said it could be up to 10 months for a new battery, so I could have the car in the meantime. However, when I went to pick it up, the traction battery was completely dead and would no longer charge. Plugged in my OBD scanner and the reason is an isolation fault. (P0AA6, codes attached
)
Here's where things get dicey. The dealer has been no help whatsoever at this point. When I asked what they did to the car that made it no longer charge, they essentially couldn't tell me. My service writer just kept repeating "the battery is bad" and threatened to charge for additional diagnostics when I pushed further. Basically "you're getting a new battery for free, what more do you want from us?"
The thing is that it looks like I won't be getting a new battery. Nissan called on 9/29 to request some paperwork so they could make a buyback offer. The possibility of getting a 40 kWh G1 Leaf is incredibly tantalizing given what I paid for the car, but the Nissan rep was letting nothing slip regarding any potential ETA on a new battery. She wouldn't even say whether it was even possible. In the meantime I'm still making payments on the car and paying for insurance even though it's undriveable and the dealer is either unable or unwilling to provide a loaner.
I have been back to the dealer multiple times since, but it has been aggravating to say the least. Went back on Saturday 9/30 to pull codes and get photos for the buyback, only to find that they had moved the car to the back lot. They said to come back at 10AM Monday (10/2) and they'd have the car moved the car out front for photos. Went back on Monday to find that they hadn't moved the car, and the service writer was now threatening to charge an hour of labor to do so. Thankfully the service manager came over and he seemed more amiable. He made me an appointment to speak with the Leaf tech first thing the next morning, and in the meantime he promised to try charging the car on 110V (only tried 240 and CHAdeMO at the dealer).
I arrived at 8AM sharp on 10/3, but the service writer was a no-show (I suspect he realized he was outmatched). After waiting for half an hour, the service manager comes out. He had forgotten to put the car on 110 and the Leaf tech was busy. I asked that he still ask the tech a) what did they do to the car? and b) why won't the car charge? After several more minutes, he came back with 'answers'. Supposedly they did nothing to the car other than read the reported capacity from the computer. And the car won't charge because the car locks out charging once the battery degrades below 75% capacity for safety reasons.
Needless to say, I don't believe either answer. What he might have meant by the second one is that the car disables charging if the voltage of one or more cells drops too low. While one of the cells was significantly lower than the others (2.797V), LeafSpy still says 'All Cells OK'. Either way, he was adamant that there was nothing they did that would have cause this issue. He did promise to have the tech pull and charge the 12V battery then try charging the car on 110V, but I wasn't confident. I have been unable to reach them since.
So now my questions. Beyond the obvious 'what should I do?', I'd like to know what the capacity test procedure is. Are they required to drive the car or disconnect anything or was the service manager correct?
I'd also like to know what the chances might be of actually getting a new battery. Has anyone actually gotten one recently or is that a thing of the past?
At the beginning of August I picked up a used 2016 S (30kWh). It's in good shape, but the battery was below 9 bars so I took it in for a warranty replacement. The dealer ran their tests, confirmed that the battery was indeed eligible for warranty replacement, and submitted the claim to Nissan. They said it could be up to 10 months for a new battery, so I could have the car in the meantime. However, when I went to pick it up, the traction battery was completely dead and would no longer charge. Plugged in my OBD scanner and the reason is an isolation fault. (P0AA6, codes attached
Here's where things get dicey. The dealer has been no help whatsoever at this point. When I asked what they did to the car that made it no longer charge, they essentially couldn't tell me. My service writer just kept repeating "the battery is bad" and threatened to charge for additional diagnostics when I pushed further. Basically "you're getting a new battery for free, what more do you want from us?"
The thing is that it looks like I won't be getting a new battery. Nissan called on 9/29 to request some paperwork so they could make a buyback offer. The possibility of getting a 40 kWh G1 Leaf is incredibly tantalizing given what I paid for the car, but the Nissan rep was letting nothing slip regarding any potential ETA on a new battery. She wouldn't even say whether it was even possible. In the meantime I'm still making payments on the car and paying for insurance even though it's undriveable and the dealer is either unable or unwilling to provide a loaner.
I have been back to the dealer multiple times since, but it has been aggravating to say the least. Went back on Saturday 9/30 to pull codes and get photos for the buyback, only to find that they had moved the car to the back lot. They said to come back at 10AM Monday (10/2) and they'd have the car moved the car out front for photos. Went back on Monday to find that they hadn't moved the car, and the service writer was now threatening to charge an hour of labor to do so. Thankfully the service manager came over and he seemed more amiable. He made me an appointment to speak with the Leaf tech first thing the next morning, and in the meantime he promised to try charging the car on 110V (only tried 240 and CHAdeMO at the dealer).
I arrived at 8AM sharp on 10/3, but the service writer was a no-show (I suspect he realized he was outmatched). After waiting for half an hour, the service manager comes out. He had forgotten to put the car on 110 and the Leaf tech was busy. I asked that he still ask the tech a) what did they do to the car? and b) why won't the car charge? After several more minutes, he came back with 'answers'. Supposedly they did nothing to the car other than read the reported capacity from the computer. And the car won't charge because the car locks out charging once the battery degrades below 75% capacity for safety reasons.
Needless to say, I don't believe either answer. What he might have meant by the second one is that the car disables charging if the voltage of one or more cells drops too low. While one of the cells was significantly lower than the others (2.797V), LeafSpy still says 'All Cells OK'. Either way, he was adamant that there was nothing they did that would have cause this issue. He did promise to have the tech pull and charge the 12V battery then try charging the car on 110V, but I wasn't confident. I have been unable to reach them since.
So now my questions. Beyond the obvious 'what should I do?', I'd like to know what the capacity test procedure is. Are they required to drive the car or disconnect anything or was the service manager correct?
I'd also like to know what the chances might be of actually getting a new battery. Has anyone actually gotten one recently or is that a thing of the past?