Hi, I'm a new member, and recent purchaser of a pre-owned 2012 Gen 1 G Leaf in New Zealand. The Leaf is still very uncommon in NZ, so there is a very limited second-hand market, and most of those available have been directly imported from Japan by interested car dealers.
One "problem" that this poses is that the dashboard display functions are all in Japanese Kanji, and there is no facility to change the language, as there apparently is in Leafs manufactured specifically for the non-Japanese market. The navigation system (possibly made by Clarion) does not work in NZ. Even with a (US) handbook in English, it took me an hour yesterday to adjust the clock! While I'm sure we will adapt to this impediment with time, I'm trying to explore options for improving the system.
It occurred to me that it may be possible to swap out the dashboard monitor, etc, with a unit from an English-speaking country. However, an apparently knowledgeable person I have spoken with in NZ claims that the "Japanese-made" Leaf is significantly different from other varieties, even having differences in wiring looms, colour coding and other basic technical aspects. If this is correct, it would seem to preclude the possibility of simply swapping the dashboard components, even if this proved not to be prohibitively expensive.
I wonder whether anyone has specific knowledge of this "problem", or could give me advice or suggestions on the matter? Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Peter
One "problem" that this poses is that the dashboard display functions are all in Japanese Kanji, and there is no facility to change the language, as there apparently is in Leafs manufactured specifically for the non-Japanese market. The navigation system (possibly made by Clarion) does not work in NZ. Even with a (US) handbook in English, it took me an hour yesterday to adjust the clock! While I'm sure we will adapt to this impediment with time, I'm trying to explore options for improving the system.
It occurred to me that it may be possible to swap out the dashboard monitor, etc, with a unit from an English-speaking country. However, an apparently knowledgeable person I have spoken with in NZ claims that the "Japanese-made" Leaf is significantly different from other varieties, even having differences in wiring looms, colour coding and other basic technical aspects. If this is correct, it would seem to preclude the possibility of simply swapping the dashboard components, even if this proved not to be prohibitively expensive.
I wonder whether anyone has specific knowledge of this "problem", or could give me advice or suggestions on the matter? Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Peter