Nissan Pre paid maintenance plan, Good deal or not?

Is the Pre paid Nissan maintance plan a good value?
Dealer wanted to charge $1172 for 5/75000.
bring in the car every 6/7500 on this prepaid plan.

Didn't seem like too much maintence was done
on each drop in. Except during the 30,000 & 60,000 visits.

Each visit was a tire rotation, and inspect various points.
Maybe a gear reduction oil change every year. Other than that,
didn't see much else.

Any Leaf owners get the pre paid maintence plan?
Your thoughts....

It's a terrible deal and the dealer should be ashamed of themselves.

The car needs virtually no service over 5 years except a tire rotation every 7,500 miles or so (free at many places), a battery check every year (free the first two years), a cabin air filter change every 1 to 3 years spending on your location, and a brake fluid change every two years. You could pay for all that yourself and have most of $1172 still left over!

djjazzy said:

Is the Pre paid Nissan maintance plan a good value?
Dealer wanted to charge $1172 for 5/75000.
bring in the car every 6/7500 on this prepaid plan.

Didn't seem like too much maintence was done
on each drop in. Except during the 30,000 & 60,000 visits.

Each visit was a tire rotation, and inspect various points.
Maybe a gear reduction oil change every year. Other than that,
didn't see much else.

Any Leaf owners get the pre paid maintence plan?
Your thoughts....

Click to expand...

Total rip off.

Explain to me what other maintenance is required other than rotating tires, changing wipers and changing inside air cabin. Brakes will last 2-3x regular brakes since regenerating power saves brakes.

In any event, it can be bought anytime within the first 36 months, as long as the car is still inside manufacturer's warranty.

What if you total the car before that? Will they refund your money?

Don't think so!

Was that at P.T. Barnum Nissan over in Schmucksville?

The dealer also tried to sell this to me. I explained to him that the Leaf doesn't need maintenance and he assured me "Oh, this car needs a LOT of maintenance, in fact more than a regular car." Then he handed me this list of all of the maintenance items. I don't remember what all of them were but they were basically stuff like "lubricate steering system" etc. These are all things they are supposed to do to regular gas cars when the come in for an oil change, but in 99% of cases, the mechanics never do it as it takes time and they are not paid by the hour. And since the customer is none the wiser, why bother?

I didn't buy this, given the lack of required maintenance. I did buy the extended warranty though. Seems like it worked out.

How do you lubricate an electric steering system? :lol:

uwskier20 said:

I didn't buy this, given the lack of required maintenance. I did buy the extended warranty though. Seems like it worked out.

Click to expand...

Yes, that did work out well for the dealer. They made a lot of money on that :mrgreen:

djjazzy said:

Any Leaf owners get the pre paid maintence plan?
Your thoughts....

Click to expand...

My thoughts? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: I think that about sums it up. As mentioned, the LEAF has minimal maintenance needs. Even if it were an ICE engine, that's still ludicrous. Only way my cars see a dealership is for either free check ups or warranty work. I either do it myself or if I can't, have a private shop I know and trust.

Don't do the extended warranty either...same rip off in different clothing.

braineo said:

How do you lubricate an electric steering system? :lol:

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It's their customers who need the lubrication.

I did buy the pre-paid maintenance plan when I leased my Leaf. It was only $1 or so per month or about $30 over the length of the lease. It's almost paid for itself after the first 7,500 mile/6 month tire rotation & inspection. That normally costs $20 at my dealer. When the "finance guy" first brought it up, it was way more than that. After we acknowledged I was getting somewhat shafted on my lease due to my divorce related credit issues, he sold it to me at their cost. Your mileage may vary.

TonyWilliams said:

uwskier20 said:

I didn't buy this, given the lack of required maintenance. I did buy the extended warranty though. Seems like it worked out.

Click to expand...

Yes, that did work out well for the dealer. They made a lot of money on that :mrgreen:

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Aye, so far it has worked out very favorably for the dealership. I purchased the extended warranty, since owning an EV was a totally unknown quantity for me, and something was bound to break. Nope. 42,400 miles in and everything is going very smoothly, save for the battery, but even that is holding up relatively well.

BiosDude said:

I did buy the pre-paid maintenance plan when I leased my Leaf. It was only $1 or so per month or about $30 over the length of the lease. It's almost paid for itself after the first 7,500 mile/6 month tire rotation & inspection. That normally costs $20 at my dealer. When the "finance guy" first brought it up, it was way more than that. After we acknowledged I was getting somewhat shafted on my lease due to my divorce related credit issues, he sold it to me at their cost. Your mileage may vary.

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If it was only $1/month, then I could see the value in it. But the dealer would charge most people $1/hour if they could get away with it.

I ended up purchasing a lower-level maintenance plan since it covers all electrical components (ex. window regulators, navigation system, sound system, etc.) beyond the initial manufacturer's warranty, but you still end up paying for coverage on items that the Leaf does not have.

Nissan needs to come up with a separate maintenance plan priced just for Leaf owners--they already revised their maintenance plans to prevent Leaf owners from taking advantage of the longest warranty term, so what's another edit to provide separate pricing?

Also, depending on the service level you want, you can probably find the warranty cheaper online through another Nissan dealership. YOU DO NOT NEED TO PURCHASE THE WARRANTY AT TIME OF SALE, and you only need to worry about getting a warranty immediately if your manufacturer's warranty is about to expire (on a used Leaf). Also, if you do end up buying the warranty from your dealership, and if you find a lower rate, you can typically request that your warranty be cancelled and the amount be refunded (my dealership did this at no additional cost to me since I found a warranty cheaper from another Nissan dealership online).

Hope this helps!

I bought every plan they offered because the car is listed under my company and the entire cost is tax deductible.

I bought the Tire & Wheel Protection plan.

I got the extended warranty plan.

I got the remote key dongle replacement plan

Something else called premium plus, I really don't know what I have but I do know I have it all. LOL

PT Barnum would have been proud!

Lasareath said:

I bought every plan they offered because the car is listed under my company and the entire cost is tax deductible.

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The owners manual (2012) says to check the reduction gear oil every 15,000 miles, but nowhere in the 120,000 miles it goes up to does it say to change it.

Lasareath said:

I really don't know what I have but I do know I have it all. LOL

Click to expand...

Minor correction to that. The dealer has it all....your money that is.

My dealer tried to sell me this, as well, and I had a 24 month lease... quite absurd!

I was quite offended by the way the finance lady treated me when I said I didn't want any of that stuff. Acted like I was a total idiot for turning it down. I mentioned my feelings to the manager afterwards on the survey. He gave me a free detail... I'm saving that for after this winter when the car is good and dirty!

I found out later that dealers don't really make much profit on the sale of a new car. Most of the money they make is on the servicing, and in selling your trade in... but the grandaddy of all profit for them is the sales of extended warranties, maintenance contracts, tire and paint protection plans, undercoating... etc. I'm glad I walked away without getting hit. I sure hope the car runs well and I don't regret not getting any of that.