First of all, I want to thank everyone for replying my post. I want to give everyone a timeline of what happened so nobody will make the same mistake as I did. The only reason it took me two years to post this is because I just saw this video on YouTube (
https://youtu.be/iz2gSKl1oLg) that Nissan raised the price of Leaf replacement battery from $6500 to $8500 to reward early Leaf adopters as myself, and after owning 3 Nissans, I am fed up with how they treat their customers.
This Leaf was my first electric car and I didn't do any homework about electric cars before I bought it. I was driving a 1999 4WD Lexus RX300 that was getting 12 miles per gallon and was fed up with high gas prices, so I sold it and bought the Leaf which the owner told me was getting 65 miles per charge. Little did I know that was not realistic driving range, and I was lucky to get 55 miles without AC and with eco-mode in city driving, which was ok with my daily commute.
I took my Leaf to the dealer a month later in July 2016 for service and asked about battery replacement, they told me since my Leaf has 9 bars, it'll cost $6500 + $1000 for tax and installation. They said I can get a free battery replacement when my car hits 8 bars before my warranty expires on October 10th.
I started searching the web for Leaf battery replacement and came across this website and read many threads that early Leaf owners got free battery replacement or discounts even after their warranty had expired more than 6 months or over 1000 miles, but I was not optimistic and knew I will be lucky if I can get a free battery.
I did have a flight to China on October 3rd for an important business meeting, and that was more important to me than getting a free battery. I drove from San Diego to Norwalk that day and stopped at Nissan of San Juan Capistrano for a quick charge. 20 minutes after I left San Juan Capistrano, I noticed my battery gauge went to 8 bars. I drove to Cerritos Nissan and they told me I needed to make an appointment for a battery test, and the website to check if my Leaf was still under warranty was down. I told them I have a flight to catch and asked them if they can document the 8 bars, but they said they can't do that without checking if it's still under warranty. I knew if I stayed any longer, I will miss my flight, so I made the decision to leave the dealer and parked my car at Norwalk Metro and took the Metro to LAX. If anyone who knows LA traffic, you know it's faster to take Metro than driving or taking Uber, even though the parking at Metro costs more than Uber. When I came back from my trip, I emailed Nissan along with my airline ticket and a photo I took on 10/3 showing my battery gauge at 8 bars. They replied my email to call their customer care center. When I called, they explained to me that since no dealer documented my battery at 8 bars before the warranty expired, they can't give me the battery under warranty. I asked if I can get $1000 or $2000 discount for a replacement battery because it was so close to the warranty expiration date, they also refused. I asked the rep if he can email our conversation so I have it in writing, but he refused. I asked if I can get a copy of the taped conversation, since he said our conversation will be taped, he also said no.
If you all think I'm greedy, that's your opinion, and I'm fine with it. I accept the outcome of my mistake and I'm not here to ask you to feel sorry for me. I only posted this because I don't like how Nissan is treating their customers by raising their battery replacement from $6500 to $8500 and offering my car $1000 for trade in when I went to the dealer this summer for the 2018 model. I just want everyone who's getting a Leaf to hear my story and not make the same mistake I did. I gave my Leaf to my parents who drives less than 20 miles a day, and got a 2015 Tesla Model S for $45000 with over 220 miles of range, free super charging, and 5 years and unlimited miles on the battery warranty. Nissan simply doesn't care about customers like me and I will never own another Nissan again!