Problems Charging at Nissan Dealerships?

[TomT]

Yes, when you are most likely going to need a charge from a Nissan dealer is when they are least likely to be open... Having docks only available during business honors is completely counter-productive. You'd think Nissan and the dealers would realize this and act accordingly.

If the guessometer says I have 5 miles of range, and I'm 10 miles from home, I'd like to have the option to stop and charge for 45 minutes, even if it is Sunday afternoon.

 

[DaveEV]

Our first trip after purchasing our Leaf was a 90 miles round trip to the inlaws. We picked up about 3 hours of L1 charging at the inlaws, and headed back home.

Best thing to do is to upgrade your portable EVSE to handle 240V and then plug into a dryer outlet while you're there. 3 hours will get you at least 30 miles instead of 12 miles which should give you plenty of room and then you won't have to wait out on the road.

 

[HoustonFlier]

Went to Sterling McCall dealer to TD a Leaf.

Has 2 spots, one occupied by non-Leaf.

Had impression they did not want to offer courtesy charging either.

Nissan better crack down on the dealerships, and it's a bogus statement saying they have no control over the dealers!
Simply delay shipment of cars and other "well get back to you next week, maybe" statement!

Common Nissan!

 

[Herm]

Went to Sterling McCall dealer to TD a Leaf.
Had impression they did not want to offer courtesy charging either.

You really should verify that before accusing them.. its free advertising for them when you plug your Leaf in.

 

[HoustonFlier]

Went to Sterling McCall dealer to TD a Leaf.
Had impression they did not want to offer courtesy charging either.

You really should verify that before accusing them.. its free advertising for them when you plug your Leaf in.

Ah, wrote it badly.

When I saw the dealers stations I asked about it and they made a short comment about I could use it to charge my Leaf.
It was only after I asked at the end of a lot of talk about Leaf, and then it was brief. I had the impression they did not want to talk about it.

 

[caffeinekid]

Went to Sterling McCall dealer to TD a Leaf.
Had impression they did not want to offer courtesy charging either.

You really should verify that before accusing them.. its free advertising for them when you plug your Leaf in.

Ah, wrote it badly.

When I saw the dealers stations I asked about it and they made a short comment about I could use it to charge my Leaf.
It was only after I asked at the end of a lot of talk about Leaf, and then it was brief. I had the impression they did not want to talk about it.

I have been to 5 of the Houston Nissan dealers to test the charge atmosphere or "willingness" to allow charging without having to hassle or possibly get outright rejected. Only 2 were what I would call interested and helpful- one of which was where I bought one of my Leafs, but the charger was at the back in the service area and not out front and accessible- and the other took a little while but eventually got me parked and charging, although the service rep had to drive the car into a service bay to get it done since the outdoor chargers were either locked or blocked.

Generally speaking, over the course of 20 years and at least that many new cars that I have purchased from dealerships, I have only once or twice gotten the impression that ANYTHING other than moving a vehicle and/or getting their survey card returned mattered to them. Overall, fleet buying has been the best experience. IMO they could care less about the brand or the image; some are better at playing make-believe and some don't even work too hard to mask the fact. Looking at the larger picture, I would be so bold as to say that neither Nissan or their distributors are truly concerned with making sure the Leaf is a success. If they were, for the first 5 years they would have assigned the Leaf to the luxury category and trained/supported accordingly.

 

[Phoenix]

I am in love with my LEAF all over again. And, it is because of Santa Rosa Nissan (Sonoma County, California) which has been SO WELCOMING to LEAF owners! Not only are they the first dealership (that I know of) that has installed a Blink Fast Charger, but they actually make you feel welcomed using it there.

Signs tell you that the charging is free during the beta period. You can use one of their Blink cards if you don't have one. You are welcomed to use their restrooms, spend time in their air-conditioned waiting room with TV and magazines. Use their vending machines. What an enjoyable way to charge and go. The versatility of my LEAF just got better.

If EVs are low maintenance, then Nissan dealerships are missing out on how to make money off LEAF owners down the road by not installing Quick Chargers in addition to being certified as a LEAF dealership.

 

[HoustonFlier]

I am in love with my LEAF all over again. And, it is because of Santa Rosa Nissan (Sonoma County, California) which has been SO WELCOMING to LEAF owners! Not only are they the first dealership (that I know of) that has installed a Blink Fast Charger, but they actually make you feel welcomed using it there.

Good for you!

I recall Saturn earned an excellent reputation and incredible growth with their bend over backwards customer service. Really made you feel PROUD to buy American!

Nissan is doing OK, but as you said, if they really bent over backwards, likely do much better.

My wife was quite discouraged by the salesman lack of knowledge on Leaf, I knew more then he did!

 

[surfingslovak]

Tracy Nissan is fantastic too. They allow any EV to charge up with zero fuss. Wish all dealers were like that!

 

[bsavall]

DON"T TRUST QUALITY NISSAN IN TEMECULA, CA!!!

I don't expect free juice from anyone, anywhere. But when I call ahead the day before and I am told by a dealership that I am welcome to charge a the dealership, well that is what I expect to be able to do.

Quality Nissan in Temecula, CA is antagonistic to LEAF owners. They unplugged our LEAF while it was charging and did not understand that when you plug it back in, the LEAF won't continue to charge. The net result was when we returned 5 hours later the car had not charged. They justified this by saying that the chargers are provided for customer convenience and so they were justified to unplug a vehicle while charging.

Hey, we called ahead and asked them if we could get a full recharge for our trip back to San Diego...we only had 11 miles of range left. NISSAN MOTOR COMPANY...if you are reading, get control of your dealerships.

P.S. I escalated this to from the service department, to the LEAF "expert" to the general manager. and was told to pound sand. After the fact I found out through yelp and several other review sites, that this place is a pit or horrid service. LEAF owners avoid....Those thinking of buying a LEAF...look elsewhere.

 

[abasile]

They unplugged our LEAF while it was charging and did not understand that when you plug it back in, the LEAF won't continue to charge. The net result was when we returned 5 hours later the car had not charged. They justified this by saying that the chargers are provided for customer convenience and so they were justified to unplug a vehicle while charging.

This is exactly why I try to make a habit of turning off the charging timers whenever I leave the LEAF charging, unattended, in public. You never know when someone who doesn't know any better might unplug the car and then plug it back in again. If the charging timers are off, then the car will resume charging with no problem. That is not to excuse unplugging a car in need of a charge, however.

 

[bsavall]

I have been meaning to get one of those luggage locks...but it wouldn't have helped as this dealership plug can't be locked.

So help educate me since I don't do a lot of charging "in the wild". Do I need to go to the touchsceren and turn off all timers? I pushed the timer off button near the door before I charged....but I don't know the trick you metioned. We will be "in the wild" for Thanksgiving weekend and don't want a repeat of today.

 

[abasile]

So help educate me since I don't do a lot of charging "in the wild". Do I need to go to the touchsceren and turn off all timers?

Yes. With no timers turned on, the car will immediately start charging to 100% whenever it gets plugged in.

I pushed the timer off button near the door before I charged....

That is the "timer override". It only remains in effect for one charging session. If the car gets unplugged then plugged in again, the override is no longer in effect.

 

[bsavall]

Good to know...I will remember that for Turkey Day.

Thanks for the help.

 

[planet4ever]

So help educate me since I don't do a lot of charging "in the wild". Do I need to go to the touchscreen and turn off all timers? I pushed the timer off button near the door before I charged....but I don't know the trick you mentioned.

I had this happen to me once at a dealer, and had a very stressful time making it home. Since then my hard and fast rule is that the override button is only for use at home.

Of course "all timers" is a bit of an exaggeration, since there are only two, and only one of them is in effect for a given day.

Zero Emission button -> Charging Timer

The timer currently in use will have a lighted dot. Touch it and you will get a pop up asking if you want to turn it off. Say yes, and you are done. (Exception: If you have set the timers in some unusual way such that both list the same day, you will have to turn both of them off.)

So four quick finger pokes is all it takes to turn the timer off. Four more just like them will turn it back on, and all your settings are remembered.

Ray

P.S. When this was discussed on another thread, someone pointed out that you can have CarWings send a text message to your cellphone if charging is stopped. Depending on how far away you were, and how interruptible, that might also prevent a disaster.

 

[mwalsh]

I have been meaning to get one of those luggage locks...but it wouldn't have helped as this dealership plug can't be locked.

Why can't they be locked? I assume they're AV units? There is provision for a lock on the J1772 of those.

I use a combination lock whenever I feel it necessary. But I also leave my charging protocol card on the dash, with a second note attached to the lock telling whoever comes along to check my protocol card and see what time I need to charge to, along with my name and cell phone number, saying that I'll give the lock combination if necessary.

 

[bsavall]

Yes, the note with contact info is a good idea...I will make that standard practice from now on. The plug at this dealership did not have the little hole where one could insert a luggage lock.

Hmmm....regarding the carwings text message. That is a good question. I thought that I had texting enabled; I used to get texts when I first set the system up but now I don't. Must be a setting somewhere that I need to reset. But agree with the stressful bit for sure. We have not had too much range anxiety....but now it is like a raw nerve. The plan for the day was to run a 5K in the morning while the car charged at the dealer and then take dinner to friends with a brand new baby daughter....well, the 5K was fun, but then the day went kaput.

 

[bsavall]

UPDATE: OK, now that I have spent the last 40 min messing with CarWings settings, I see why we stopped using the carwings software. The system is configured such that it will only send a text if you select the station where you are charging, and there is a built in 5 minute delay...but I have still not received a text saying that I was unplugged (I set my home charger as the station and started charging, then unplugged...that was over 10 min ago, and still no text??)

I want a setting (service?) where when the car is unplugged I get a text; regardless of where I am or what type of charger I am plugged into. The CAR should talk directly to me; "Hey, I have stopped charging...my current charge is xx%" . Does that functionality exist and I am just too dense to figure it out?

Thanks.

 

[planet4ever]

I use a combination lock whenever I feel it necessary. But I also leave my charging protocol card on the dash, with a second note attached to the lock telling whoever comes along to check my protocol card and see what time I need to charge to, along with my name and cell phone number, saying that I'll give the lock combination if necessary.

I do have a lock, but the only time I have ever felt it necessary to use it was when using my own EVSE plugged into the wall. I would consider it extremely rude to use it at a Nissan dealer. They are really being gracious by giving you free electricity. And you want to "thank" them by locking up their equipment so they can't use it for something more important? My lock is not a combination, though. I can see Mike's approach as somewhat reasonable if I was sure I could be contacted.

I do want to underscore the use of the charging protocol card. I keep two or three of them in my car at all times, use one whenever I charge at a public station, and leave one with any car that prevents me from charging.

Ray

 

[planet4ever]

UPDATE: OK, now that I have spent the last 40 min messing with CarWings settings, I see why we stopped using the carwings software. The system is configured such that it will only send a text if you select the station where you are charging, and there is a built in 5 minute delay

That "select a station" business isn't designed for what you think it is. That is for a location (such as home) where the car will send you a message saying, in effect, "Hey, you forgot to plug me in."

What you do need to have on in that same area is "Send Charging Status to Data Center". You also have to have a CarWings notification for "Charge Complete/Stopped" checked under "Edit/add vehicle information" in "Edit Vehicle Profile" at the Nissan Owners website. And, of course, you have to be parked where the car can make a cellular connection to AT&T.

Ray