What IF there was another option?

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Long4Leaf

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 2, 2010
Messages
139
To start, I am extremely excited about the LEAF and high high regard for Nissan taking the bold step to make a mass production EV available to the market. I have been following the progress of the LEAF for a couple of years, I was one of the ones who waited for the reservation email, I put in my reservation as fast as I could when the email arrived (about 15 minutes), and while hoping for the Aug 31 RAQ date, got a Sep 1 RAQ date.

Since then it has been a frustrating, disappointing, very negative experience I am sorry to say. I could not complete my RAQ until Sep 14 because of website problems. CS, while sympathetic, had no ability to help me and have not been of any use. Now I am having more troubles with trying to apply for the EV project in SF Bay Area. Delivery dates, communication, delays, ...

SO, if today I had another option, I would not be buying a LEAF from Nissan. My experience with Nissan has left me very unhappy and concerned about my future dealing with them as I plan to own my LEAF for a very long time.

This does not really matter because I do not have an option and I am fully committed to getting a pure EV. But in the not so distant future, there will be other options. So I am curious, all other things being equal, how many people would choose to buy their EV from another company based on their experience from putting in a reservation until now?
 
At the end of the day, it has to be about the car, not the ordering process. And this is a very good car.

Is it the best car? Well over the last six months I've driven EVs which I've found better for various reasons (or at least EVs I've liked more), but the LEAF has to be in the top three, and it's here now (for some of us at least). As of right now, without driving the Focus EV, I think the VW Blue E-motion takes the number one spot for me, with the LEAF as number two, and the electrified Volvo C30 as number three.
 
If there WERE another option, which there isn't, I would have considered it because I reserved on 4/20 at 3 PM MST/PDT, am in one of the initial five roll out states (AZ), AND have the EV Project, yet received a Sept.29th order date and a May delivery date! I've seen so many other people with date/time reservations LATER, order dates Oct., Nov., Dec., and Jan., and they are getting April or May deliveries. What's up with that!? The only good thing about it is that MAYBE the tax credit will become a rebate and then I can buy instead of leasing. But I would like to know why Nissan is punishing me and now all bets are off. I'm going to reveal what the director of marketing, Trisha has been telling us. It's been just bullshit! I know she reads this forum because she asked me for the website url. In fact, almost everything I've heard from Nissan has been bullshit. They've lied to me so many times just to keep me as a customer. If they don't change the delivery to April, I'm going to bug them EVERY day with calls and emails. If anyone at Nissan can tell me how I've been treated fairly, I surely would like to know! Are you listening Trisha?
 
Not me. Sure, it could have been smoother, but this is the first mass-market EV after all... Kudos to Nissan for having the balls to take the plunge!
 
If there were other options available now, I'm sure we would all consider them. Nobody here is too much a Nissan fanboy --- I think most of us are BEV fanboys.

That being said, the Leaf is priced right at my max. And the 60 mile usable range is about my min. So if another option covered least those two factors, I would definitely consider it.
 
I would still buy the car that had the best value for my intended use.
I would not rule out any car maker just because the last purchase did not exactly go as planned.
 
Saying if there were other options is just wishful thinking. There was always going to be a first, and that first would have had issues.

Let us remember that this is a V1 product and the first time an EV has been rolled out like this. A simple thing for Nissan to do would have been to let the dealers handle all the order processing the traditional way - like Volt did. That would have not been a happy situation as well.

With early adoption comes uncertainties. In real world there is no way to get away from this fact.
 
LEAFfan said:
I've seen so many other people with date/time reservations LATER, order dates Oct., Nov., Dec., and Jan., and they are getting April or May deliveries. What's up with that!? It's been just bullshit!
Hope you feel better now after venting, but IMO based on your timing information your delivery data looks to be on par with everyone else.

Unless you live near Los Angeles, your car is going to get to the dealer later.

Back on topic - IF there were another option - you'd have to be dumb not to consider it... But I don't see anything coming out in the next year that I'd get over the LEAF at this point...
 
I'm not a Nissan fan, I am a fan of BEV. Nissan has the first one that is being mass produced at a reasonable price. That's the only reason they have my business. If someone else had the first one (or a better one), that company would have my business. That said, a slow roll out of a version one product like this with some wrinkles is to be expected. In a few months that will be water under the bridge, as the cars become more widely available.
 
My curiosity is not whether you would consider it, I think we would all do that. It is more who would make a choice NOT to buy a Nissan EV (all other things being equal) essentially because they have lost confidence in the company itself. I have lost confidence.

Maybe this is not fair for good reasons that have been stated and maybe my experience is not typical. But one bump, who cares. Couple of bumps, uncomfortable, but you can live with them. Constant bumps through the whole ride, would rather take a different route. :(
 
I would only buy an EV from a Japanese manufacturer-- My experience is that first year models from US Brands are never sufficiently reliable-- too often they allow their early customers to do their R&D. So, if there was an alternative, right now, from Toyota or Honda I would consider it. I think an electric Honda Fit would be more desirable than the Leaf-- it is a better looking car. I don't necessarily think a purpose built EV is a necessity, I would buy a Fit even though it would be a converted ICE car.
 
LEAFfan, chill a bit.

Remember the 5 year rule: If it doesn't matter in 5 years, IT DOESN'T MATTER.

We have all had to wait longer than we would have liked, but I am still glad to be getting a LEAF.

My delivery date is APRIL 2011. Would have liked 12/2010 or earlier in 2011.

But looking back from APRIL 2016, I am sure I will be glad I got a 2011 Nissan LEAF.

Note: If it wasn't for the LEAF, and this forum, I also wouldn't have a 5.52 Kw PV System.

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
 
The online reservation process never worked for me past the first email. Now, long after cancelling my reservation, I get TWO of every Nissan Leaf announcement. :roll:

Still, I really like what they've done with the car, even if they really need to clean house in their IT department.

I'm still planning on buying in 2012. Now, if something competitive comes along sure I'll take a look. I'd have to think long and hard about getting a Tesla, because I still don't think they're going to be around long-term. If the LEAF takes hold in the market (and I think it will surpass most expectations), the flood of R&D in the auto industry will be awesome to behold.
 
I think Nissan made some serious marketing mistakes: Critical Mass for the website, Aerovironment for the charging dock, a very opaque front to customers, and there's got to be something wrong with either the quality of the call center folks or the knowledge base they have to work with. But the initial design of Nissan's rollout plan was inventive and very good.

More important, I think Carlos Ghosn's strategy was inventive and brilliant, and the engineers did a great job putting together an excellent car on an aggressive schedule. So, no, I'm not down on Nissan as a whole. And, no, I'm not a Nissan fanboy, either. Shucks, I barely realized the company existed before I got interested in the LEAF. I usually don't pay much attention to other vehicles on the road, and I was amazed by the number of Nissan's I saw when I started looking. I don't think I had ever noticed one before a year ago.

Ray
 
Long4Leaf said:
Maybe this is not fair for good reasons that have been stated and maybe my experience is not typical.
I think all of us have had problems (like in my case, they thought I had cancelled the reservation and didn't send me the "you can order in the month of" mail).

What you don't seem to get is the fact that V1 products & new processes - irrespective of the company - will have a lot of hiccups. Is this the first time you are being an early adopter ?
 
I've been hoping all along that Hyundai would come out with an EV. For several reasons, they're my favorite manufacturer. Well, they've finally come out with a hybrid, and an awesome one at that - but I promised myself years ago that I would buy the first reasonable fully electric vehicle I could afford, and would not settle for a hybrid :cool: In another year, I'm sure there will be choices ... but who can wait? ;)
 
johnr said:
I've been hoping all along that Hyundai would come out with an EV. For several reasons, they're my favorite manufacturer.
You wouldn't say that if you had the same problems we did. Whenever it rained the alarm would go off. It took them 4 or 5 tries to get it corrected. Fuel gauge has never been reliable. Rear seat belt stopped working ...
 
I don't have a big issue with the ordering process - I've taken it with a grain of salt from the start. I'm in no immediate need for a new car, so can afford to wait and would prefer to have any bugs worked out rather then have one of the first few Leafs.

As planet4ever notes - there have been plenty of low points and things that could/should have been done better, and plenty of high points. The strangest part to me has been - since this whole thing has been perhaps the biggest marketing exercise in car selling history, you'd think the issues pointed out - which are almost all marketing related - would have been dealt with quickly. The technical side of the program seems to be hitting much higher notes in the deliveries so far.

If there were other options - I'd choose the one(s) that has two M/G - front and rear axle - so that I could have on-demand AWD when needed. Of course - such a vehicle would also have a several hundred mile range on a charge. :)
 
johnr said:
I promised myself years ago that I would buy the first reasonable fully electric vehicle I could afford
I made myself that same promise and am now about to honor it. :)
 
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