Chicagoland area

[dutchinchicago]

prolix74, I just double checked with Nissan and they said that Martin Nissan is definitely not certified. they said that your car might be behind mine and they have not gotten to the point yet where they do that check.

Maybe you can check with Deben at Nissan (extension 458003) tel. 1-877-6642738.

 

[dutchinchicago]

Furthermore I spoke to Adelita at Mid City Nissan (773-2826200). She said she would be happy to take care of the delivery under the terms I agreed with my previous dealer. I am trying to get hold of Nissan now to see if they can arrange that.

 

[OldQuadDog]

It is great to be here! It will be nicer when my Leaf arrives!
I have just had updates..... VIN received JN1xxxxxxxxxxxxxx6. CARWINGS ready.
Delivery for week of Dec 16. So like a lot of us we get to learn about our Leafs in the worst months for the vehicle.

First thing I will do is re-shoe this one with true snow tires. We often have problems getting our cars up the driveway without snows (or four wheel drive on one of the cars). Then I need to find wheels to fit for easy seasonal tire swapping.

Daily commute is 42 miles round trip. Currently traffic moves well in excess of speed limit on Route 53 (or it stops). It will be interesting to see if on the coldest days it is best to take the surface streets for a slower commute but then the heaters are on longer or run with hwy traffic but save on the duration of the heater time, although the increased speed means increased rate of heat loss.

My wife has agreed to give up her summer car to make room for the Leaf (BMW 325Ci convertible - low miles). She is the best!
Not a good time of year to sell/trade so we may hold on to it til spring.

Anxiously waiting..... OQD

 

[bigtlb]

Good news, I now have my VIN and Carwings!

Also, my date has now changed to week of December 16th. The VIN starts with JN1AZ.

Me too! I think they are looking at the last digits of the VIN (mine are 15839).

I have logged on to the Nissan Owners Site. But, it doesn't look like we get to play with the CARWINGS dashboard until we activate the car. Is this right? Or did I miss a link on the site.

 

[lukati]

So like a lot of us we get to learn about our Leafs in the worst months for the vehicle.

So true. My inaugural trip will be 65 miles to bring the car home from the dealer. I am definitely going to bring along a heavy winter coat, gloves, and a warm hat, so I can turn the heater off if need be. I am hoping for nice weather and not too cold.

 

[EdmondLeaf]

That is right, you have to put userid and password in the car, as described in "using Carwings"

I have logged on to the Nissan Owners Site. But, it doesn't look like we get to play with the CARWINGS dashboard until we activate the car. Is this right?

 

[bigtlb]

That is right, you have to put userid and password in the car, as described in "using Carwings"

I have logged on to the Nissan Owners Site. But, it doesn't look like we get to play with the CARWINGS dashboard until we activate the car. Is this right?

I thought they would have a demo mode like the android app has. Oh well. :roll:

 

[radryan]

Picked up today. Car looked great, cold drive home 79 miles with no heater the whole way, my feet about froze but my forehead was sweating about halfway home when the car started saying I could not make it and it was pouring off for the last 4 miles when the distance to empty was ---.

Also anyone when picks up from now on and gets the EL plates will pay nothing for 2011 and just pay the $35 and get plates thru 2013.

 

[lukati]

Picked up today. Car looked great, cold drive home 79 miles with no heater the whole way, my feet about froze but my forehead was sweating about halfway home when the car started saying I could not make it and it was pouring off for the last 4 miles when the distance to empty was ---.

Also anyone when picks up from now on and gets the EL plates will pay nothing for 2011 and just pay the $35 and get plates thru 2013.

Good job!! A little too dicey for my taste. Definitely no heat for my 65 miles home. Maybe I will also pack the long johns and the winter boots.

Still no call from my dealer, so probably no car tomorrow. I am busy Monday and Tuesday, so I guess I won't pick up until Wednesday at the earliest.

 

[prolix74]

prolix74, I just double checked with Nissan and they said that Martin Nissan is definitely not certified. they said that your car might be behind mine and they have not gotten to the point yet where they do that check.

Maybe you can check with Deben at Nissan (extension 458003) tel. 1-877-6642738.

Thanks for the info. I am sure that the dealer is a problem so I will give Nissan a call to see if they can speed things up.

My dashboard seems to be updating every few hours. In the last 24 hours, I have gone from 12/15, 12/19, 12/16, and now 12/20.

 

[bigtlb]

prolix74, I just double checked with Nissan and they said that Martin Nissan is definitely not certified. they said that your car might be behind mine and they have not gotten to the point yet where they do that check.

Maybe you can check with Deben at Nissan (extension 458003) tel. 1-877-6642738.

Thanks for the info. I am sure that the dealer is a problem so I will give Nissan a call to see if they can speed things up.

My dashboard seems to be updating every few hours. In the last 24 hours, I have gone from 12/15, 12/19, 12/16, and now 12/20.

Mine just changed to Dec 20th as well.

 

[redLEAF]

Validated first IL delivery was November 19th -- other dates getting spread out in December, all regular Chicago area forum members who post here now have their VIN's so those who have their cars delivered can update the massive Google spreadsheet on the forum with their details if they so choose; let's hopefully switch to Chicago area LEAF sightings (other than dealer plated cars) before year end; those in waiting should keep us up to date on when their cars finally get delivered (my status remains unchanged since 11/18 -- still sitting at 12/10); I'd hope we'll see new forum members posting for the first time as we should finally start seeing more LEAF's in IL, it also may be a while but keep on the look out for the 'EL' plates which is a sure sign of an IL EV:

jimjudy --- VIN !!! LEAF delivered Nov 19th !!
wcbrauneis --- VIN !!! – LEAF at dealer, Nov 30th
Tardis -- VIN !!! – LEAF at dealer, Dec 1st
radryan --- VIN !!! - Bloomington, IL – LEAF delivered, Dec 2nd
Ramesh --- VIN !!! – LEAF delivered Dec 5th
YashuV – VIN !!! (cancelled order – possible ‘orphan’?) – week of Dec 5th
redLEAF --- VIN !!! – week of Dec 10th
dino -- VIN !!! – week of Dec 13th
bzzzzz -- VIN !!! – week of Dec 13th
OldQuadDog --- VIN !!! - week of Dec 16th
bigtlb -- VIN !!! – week of Dec 20th
prolix74 --- VIN !!! – week of Dec 20th
willnotbuygas -- VIN !!!– week of Dec 20th
dutchinchicago -- VIN !!! – pending
lukati -- VIN !!! – pending
benleafexpert -- Thomas Nissan Joliet, dealer rep
chijayhawker – cancelled order
joleta -- (only 2 posts -- assume no VIN)
leafinthepark -- from MN, but would like to buy in IL
scottf200 -- Volt owner
ualdriver -- Volt owner
portableal -- few posts ??
tech01 -- no VIN

 

[wcbrauneis]

On Thursday I went to Al Piemonte to get the Leaf at 3:00 pm. They were having problems downloading the latest Carwings program update. After waiting around for more than an hour, they said someone will bring in the program in on their computer in the morning. Friday morning Dec. 2nd the salesman call saying the car is ready and volunteer to pick me up. Everything went well. I have temporary Illinois plates. They will let me know when the EL plates arrive.

 

[derkraut]

On Thursday I went to Al Piemonte to get the Leaf at 3:00 pm. They were having problems downloading the latest Carwings program update. After waiting around for more than an hour, they said someone will bring in the program in on their computer in the morning. Friday morning Dec. 2nd the salesman call saying the car is ready and volunteer to pick me up. Everything went well. I have temporary Illinois plates. They will let me know when the EL plates arrive.

IMHO, carwings is a pile of C**P. I gave up on it a month or so after taking delivery in June. Now,I just drive and enjoy my Leaf. It's really a fine automobile.

 

[Tardis]

Marked me as delivered please. Needed extra dy to sell day to carmax. Anywho, I set the timer to charge to 80% since it is the weekend and I'm sure that is sufficient. I must admit I've been driving without climate control on for most of my trips. It seems o be the 'x factor' as to whether I can tried charger car to 80% and successfully travel 60 miles in cold Chicago temps.

Any insights from new Chicago owners?

 

[lukati]

My dashboard changed back to "week of December 10". Plus an email from Nissan arrived this morning. Delivery is imminent!

 

[Ramesh]

Was out of town all of last week. The car arrived at the dealer a few days back. Picking up tomorrow.

 

[prolix74]

prolix74, I just double checked with Nissan and they said that Martin Nissan is definitely not certified. they said that your car might be behind mine and they have not gotten to the point yet where they do that check.

Maybe you can check with Deben at Nissan (extension 458003) tel. 1-877-6642738.

I chatted with Nissan CS today and they stated that Martin Nissan is now Leaf certified as of December 1st. Dutch, it looks like when you were notified, they were certainly not certified but it now looks like they are good. I am still on schedule to get my car around 12/20.

 

[Ramesh]

We have a Leaf. Looks pretty sweet. The dealer - Mid City Nissan was on a steep learning curve and this was their 1st delivery. They couldn't get Carwings activated because to start the unit the appropriate SD card with the Navigation information and VIN etc had to be inserted. They placed the wrong one in and had to call Nissan to reset the system. Else we were in and out in less than 2 hours.

 

[redLEAF]

Put in an inquiry at my dealer as we're getting real close -- thinks my car should arrive this Friday or Saturday but perhaps a bit early, if so they'll call so hopefully will have a new delivery to report this weekend. I've still only see dealer demo LEAF's around the NW 'burbs these days (was driving by Arlington Heights Nissan after work -- already after dark and saw those distinctive tail lights of a LEAF as some one appeared to have just finished a test drive); shouldn't be long now!