Spreadsheet : VINs, Delivery Dates, Order Dates etc

[LEAFfan]

After looking at this data, I've lost all confidence in Nissan's entire ordering system. I did my reservation on April 20 at about 1:30 pm (give or take 10 minutes) and received my RAQ on September 7. I'm still Pending. People who reserved an hour or two after I did are scheduled to receive their LEAFs January 5, 2011. What gives? Oh well. There is nothing that can be done to change it now. It is, what it is.

If you reserved at about 1:30 PM, then why does your signature say you reserved at 3:20? I reserved around 3 PM, yet I received a late Sept. order date.

 

[LEAFfan]

Personally I like VIN order. But that doesn't mean everyone else has to..that's the beauty of the collaborative environment.

The cars are not produced in VIN order. Some guy from Nissan told me that at tonight's LEAF celebration. That explains why some have higher VIN numbers, but receive their cars earlier.

 

[mwalsh]

Now week of January 6, 2011

 

[evnow]

Me too. It is weird that they give themselves some leeway in the delivery date ("week of..."), and yet they continue to adjust the day back and forth as if it matters.

The date I guess is the actual date of delivery they have estimated. "Week of" is just to account for unplanned things.

The delivery date depends on when the ship will land etc. My guess is that these variables change on a daily basis - which automatically changes the delivery date.

 

[garygid]

I thought VIN serial numbers HAD to be assigned in production order.
But, maybe not.

 

[Gonewild]

What we where told is they made lots of cars in VIN order. Then assigned the cars to markets and by order date. That is why VIN's seem to be out of order that is they are out of order. That is all I will say I was asked not to say or post what we talked about. I hope this is not to much already.

 

[garygid]

Looks like the cars are made in a "lot", but that the "first order" in that group is not necessarily the first one in the "lot".

It might even be possible that the cars are finally assigned to the end customer after production, or even after arriving in the USA, when the accessories are added?

 

[Jimmydreams]

Looks like the cars are made in a "lot", but that the "first order" in that group is not necessarily the first one in the "lot".

It might even be possible that the cars are finally assigned to the end customer after production, or even after arriving in the USA, when the accessories are added?

Produced on the line in VIN order, not necessarily shipped/delivered in that order. Sounds like a logistics nightmare on the shipping/delivery end, but when you're making a hundred or more cars a day, you have that figured out.

 

[stanley]

A key question is how many Leafs are they producing each week. That will tell us more on whether it will be 4 or 7 months between ordering and delivery

 

[garygid]

Maybe they use "computer databases" to help them keep it all straight? :lol:

Actually, they are certainly well computerized over there, and even at the port. Each car probably has (already on or in it) a paper with the Option(s) and Accessories listed.

The NEW database system in the USA to handle the Interested Folks, Reservations, EVSE, Options, Preferred Dealer, RAQs, Order, Status, Delivery, etc. ... is NEW and ... well, still "maturing" is the kind way to phrase it.

 

[garygid]

It looks like this first "lot" might have been only about 100 cars, from 151 to 258. Probably produced in just an hour or so.

Then, a pause to examine them all for any needed production changes, and then ship them off while making any desired "tweeks" to the line (in between producing large lots of other models, I suspect).

Then, test the tweeks and schedule a bit larger lot, that is probably on the ocean as we type.

So, it is not a matter of how many a week, but how often the lots, and how big the lot is. The result is quite variable.

Apoarently Nissan will keep the lot size down to a quantity that they can "fully" inspect during Q1 of 2011, and then ramp up when they have found NO defects for several batches.

 

[stanley]

Garygid, your response and other responses on this thread helps me understand what Nissan is doing and why. Most of the issues we all raise usually have good explanations. Nissan`s reputation would be better handled if they would give people informed answers rather the non answers given by their help desk.

Nissan overall is doing a terific job but a sharpening up of their communications process would in the long run help them sell more cars. They have a huge oportunity to enhance their reputation. Hideing behind non answers when there are good answers is not helpful.

 

[garygid]

Yes, when Nissan says "expected delivery 3 to 4 months" and people read "PROMISED me EXACTLY 3 OR 4 months delivery" ...

Perhaps Nissan should write "approximate delivery estimate, a "best" guess, as of today only, "things" can change at any time, not a promise, is around 3 to around 4 months, give or take a bit, or even more than a bit"? Would that help?

But, perhaps Nissan is expecting us to be smarter than we are, and not "read" what is NOT written.

 

[sdbonez]

I've worked on and led quite a few product rollouts. What I always find works best is to set a reasonable expectation and then beat it. In fact, I actually plan to beat our plan because the net is that we beat the expectations we set and our customers are happier as a result. I always prefer to take my lumps up front and then deliver to plan vs. over-promising up-front and then being late.

Looking at what's transpired around dates, I have to say that I've seen a bit of that from Nissan as well. So if I hear 'March' for a delivery, I'm going to believe that they're shooting for mid-to-end of February and if they run into unforeseen issues, it's early March...and end of March is only reserved for big problems in the E2E scheme of things. Even if they deliver the last day of the month (or you get to order on the last day of the month ) they've still delivered.

 

[TRONZ]

Well I have talked to more Nissan people in the last week than in the entire past year. They say the car we ordered was manufactured in Nov. BUT, and this is the real scary part, they cannot tell me what the VIN number is?!? Our PD also does not have a VIN even though, according to him, "we should be in the front of his line". Their sales manager has contacted Nissan. I would like to think that our car is secure and this is just a Dashboard glitch. BUT why does our dealer not even have a VIN for us on a car that lands in about 5 days? He has VINs for everyone on 8/31-9/1 but not us. Are others having this happen as well??? The Nissan CS Supervisors now have screen shots from our dealer but have no explanation for what is going on. Congratulations to everyone with a VIN and delivery date. For us, I guess being at the front also means being the first with problems. I can see this playing out several different ways but all of them begin with Nissan Corp saying " Why didn't someone tell us about this!!!???". Hopefully I will get it sorted fast and spare others from having to go through this.

 

[LEAFer]

I am in the same boat with you TRONZ ... if that makes you feel any better. (Probably not.)

 

[garygid]

We all very much appreciate those like you who go first ...
and occasionally discover the land mines.

Is this something like "walk softly and carry a big stick"? :lol:
(Yes, talk.)

 

[Gonewild]

Your order and VIN's are not assigned from your orders. I talked to Mark and other Nissan reps at the show last night and they said cars are all SV or SL with minor items they put on in LA. They assign x amount of car to each market then put names on the cars from there. So you can see you car could be in LA and just waiting for your name and color to be assigned to your market. I asked Mark Perry last night if the car will be just like a VCR or audio system you by today and tomorrow you find that a new and cheap better model come out, and Mark said not this time the distance and price will not drop real fast that they priced it right to make money going forward I guess like the prius

 

[wsbca]

The dates are bouncing around regularly now - I went from 1/5 to 1/7 to 1/6 over the course of the last 3 days. I'm assuming that all the 1/5's (and 1/7's) on the spreadsheet are now 1/6 as well since they've been in lockstep for a while including the jump to 1/10 and back last week, but perhaps they will start to diverge at some point.



wsbca
Blue E-TEC
Ordered 8/31
3KW AC SunPower Solar

 

[derkraut]

Well I have talked to more Nissan people in the last week than in the entire past year. They say the car we ordered was manufactured in Nov. BUT, and this is the real scary part, they cannot tell me what the VIN number is?!? Our PD also does not have a VIN even though, according to him, "we should be in the front of his line". Their sales manager has contacted Nissan. I would like to think that our car is secure and this is just a Dashboard glitch. BUT why does our dealer not even have a VIN for us on a car that lands in about 5 days? He has VINs for everyone on 8/31-9/1 but not us. Are others having this happen as well??? The Nissan CS Supervisors now have screen shots from our dealer but have no explanation for what is going on. Congratulations to everyone with a VIN and delivery date. For us, I guess being at the front also means being the first with problems. I can see this playing out several different ways but all of them begin with Nissan Corp saying " Why didn't someone tell us about this!!!???". Hopefully I will get it sorted fast and spare others from having to go through this.

Easy big fella....it's only a car, for Chrissake! :roll: