anyone having issues with that low speed noise maker?

**post removed**

Are you saying it is a new car that has a speaker failure? The LEAF were certified for sale in the US with it functional. I am not sure precisely where the legal lines are drawn but no, it can not be sold from the dealer without all it's certified highway equipment functioning.

**post removed**

are you sure the speaker is inoperative?

are you comparing it to other Leaf cars you have driven on your lot?

Many people have said the noise is not something you can hear easily.

how many have you sold already?

Probably the easiest way to tell if it's working or not is to put the car into reverse. On my car the forward noise is very low, and can't be heard while you're in the car at all unless you're in a closed building, like a parking garage, with the windows down.

mwalsh said:

On my car the forward noise is very low, and can't be heard while you're in the car at all unless you're in a closed building, like a parking garage, with the windows down.

Click to expand...

This has been our experience as well. My wife's co-workers were telling her the car wasn't making any noise. We did a sound-check on a quiet street. It's no louder than a typical modern ICE car at idle.

I can hear the forward noise clearly from in the car with the windows up (and stereo off, which it is most of the time)... it sounds like the brakes dragging. I have it in my routine to hit that button on start-up. Looking at the service manual error diagrams and wiring diagrams there is no feedback to the main computer (BCM) from either the pedestrian warning speaker or the start-up sound speaker. From what I see they could both be unplugged with no errors or OBD codes showing up.

Many (especially older) people (like myself) have (severe) high frequency hearing loss.

When around a "real" LEAF, I have not yet been able to hear the Pedestrian Annoying-Noise (PAN), but I try to "Look All Directions" (LAD) instead of "blindly" stepping into (or walking in areas) where cars are likely to be driving.

Sure, I could sue from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) if hit, but that is not the quality of life I want for myself. However, it does appear, from their behavior, that many people around here do not care very much about themselves, or their children.

Also, I have not yet been able to hear the Backup-Occuring Tone (BOT), especially from behind the LEAF, but only a few were backing up. I do think a well implemented BOT can be very useful, at least in some more-congested public locations. But, Nissan's seemingly too-quiet, front-facing implementation might be a BOT-buster.

Perhaps the mostly-Blind-with-Hearing-Loss (MBWHL) will lobby Congress to legislate a lower-pitched, or louder, more annoying, more noise-polluting sound?

The horn is not really very "aggressive", so maybe we should all just drive with the horn on whenever a "partially-deaf, mostly-blind person without a guide-dog or sighted-companion" (PDMBPWAGDOSC) is present?

But, yesterday, for the first time in several years, I did see a man with white stick (with a red tip) and a guide dog, but I was too startled to think to honk. It was also not clear if he intended to cross the street. He seemed to be standing there, near but not at the corner, waiting for something. Maybe he was waiting for "no car noises"? For safety, I think I would do some "stick signals" (like waving the stick up and down) to indicate that I was intending to cross the street.

I turn it off when I get in too. I can clearly hear the forward sound in the car with the windows up as well.

and I find it annoying to back into my garage with a backup beep late at night. Everyone is used to a small rumble from an ICE, but a beep like that will "disturb" people more IMO.

kingwindwardnissan said:

Got in our leaf today, but Nissan said that I cannot sell it till we replace the speaker for the low speed noise??? don't see why is required?? gonna delay our delivery!!!!!

Click to expand...

Let me guess...4-7 months for delivery of the new speaker. Wow, that really bites. I can't believe you are not allowed to sell the car and then just require the owner to return to have the speaker installed once it arrives. I don't believe there are any laws that require this speaker right now. The law is "PENDING".

garygid said:

Many (especially older) people (like myself) have (severe) high frequency hearing loss.

Click to expand...

Where I work, we have yearly hearing tests. I have been found to have deficient hearing in the wife hearing interest, none exists (WHINE) range. They say not being able to hear females WHINE is common in married males and there is no known cure.

kingwindwardnissan said:

Got in our leaf today, but Nissan said that I cannot sell it till we replace the speaker for the low speed noise??? don't see why is required?? gonna delay our delivery!!!!!

Click to expand...

You are from Hawaii, right ... do you know which ship Leaf came in ?

Wonder if Nissan decided to boost the sound and that is the reason for Feb delivery delays ?

kingwindwardnissan said:

Got in our leaf today, but Nissan said that I cannot sell it till we replace the speaker for the low speed noise??? don't see why is required?? gonna delay our delivery!!!!!

Click to expand...

It's not a defect, it's a running improvement in the production process!
Congratulate Nissan, inform the dealer of this new feature, and pick up your LEAF.

**post removed**

Are you sure that it is the speaker that is defective? You can have the one off my LEAF... I'd donate it to help somebody get his/her car months earlier.

-Karl

kingwindwardnissan said:

sorry for the late reply guys.....
From my DOM for Nissan, I cannot sell the vehicle. The reason we are screwed more than u contiguous Nissan guys are that we do not have a VPC (port for installation) that would have fixed the problem before we got it.

Click to expand...

Wow.. that sucks. I never thought about that.. no Port means no PIO. You'll have to get your Barbie GlitterShine Console applique from eBay.

Bummer about the speaker. Maybe someone could say "I heard it!", deliver the car, and then make a service appointment later if it fails again?

kingwindwardnissan said:

Still do not know why we cannot sell it and bring it back, but even our sales contracts need to be changed to reflect a date after the part is replaced.

Click to expand...

Why can't you just sell the car with a Due Bill indicating that you are promising something to the customer that is not currently on the car. That's the usual method. Then when the part arrives you call the customer back to install it. Same as if the customer ordered floor mats and you did not have any in stock, you'd sell him the car and have him sign a Due Bill indicating you still owe the customer the floor mats.

Well, I was able to pick it up today ... nice car ... was certainly worth the wait ... so Marc, aren't you glad I'm not one of these irate people who would have given you a hard time? The ironic thing was the battery on my ICE car died on Sunday so my wife had to take the bus to work when she would otherwise have been driving the new LEAF ... she will be driving it in tomorrow though. I'll be riding my bicycle ...

Has anyone actually located where the speaker is? I would like to "verify" the connection to mine as soon as I get it home.
Can someone post a picture? If the connector was "accidently" disconnected does it generate an error in any of the computers or displays?

From the Service Manual:

(Note that the VSP speaker is also used for the "charge sound")

• The VSP speaker is located on the left inside of the front bumper.
• The VSP speaker outputs the approaching vehicle sound for
pedestrians (VSP) and charge sound according to the VSP
speaker signal from the VSP control unit.

• The charge sound system is a function that notifies of the charge connector status and the charge acceptance
status.
• The charge sound system operates when the power switch is OFF.
• The charge sound system consists of the following 2 types and operates through a link with the charging status
indicator.
- Plug-in detection sound.
- Charge acceptance sound.
PLUG-IN DETECTION SOUND
• The plug-in detection sound notifies that the charge connector is engaged normally.
• During quick charge, the plug-in detection sound does not operate.