NissanConnect EV / Telematics Hardware Update, for the post-2G world

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Roadburner440 said:
I have to say for me the magic number is less than $1k as well.
Wait, what?
$1k???

I think I have significantly different expectations than some other people.. ;-)
Around $1k is a "not even in the ballpark" for me...
Not even in the city the ballpark is in in fact.. ;-)

This is an upgrade that involves a new cell modem and maybe some firmware.

desiv
 
desiv said:
Roadburner440 said:
I have to say for me the magic number is less than $1k as well.
Wait, what?
$1k???

I think I have significantly different expectations than some other people.. ;-)
Around $1k is a "not even in the ballpark" for me...
Not even in the city the ballpark is in in fact.. ;-)

This is an upgrade that involves a new cell modem and maybe some firmware.
++1

...and some labor.
 
Thanks for posting - went to my spam folder as well. Nissan really needs to work on that - I probably would've signed up to reserve my Leaf much earlier back in 2010 as well had their email not gone to spam...

And yeah, anywhere near $1k for this feature is laughable. <$50 and maybe I'll do it, but I expect they'll try to tack on some monthly/annual fee as well, in which case no thanks.
 
2015 Model year here. Got a physical letter offering full cost of replacement (parts and labor). Psyched!
 
This is exactly what I expected from a legal point of view: vehicles under warranty must be fixed for free.

I even mentioned it a week ago:
http://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=21544&start=50#p454008

I was wrong about warranty period: it is 3 years. So vehicles up to 3 years should have free fix and all others
get some discount. This is the first acceptable news from Nissan. Though free fix to continue crappy service is not
the best case scenario.
 
So here's a dumb question that I will ask anyway. I have a 2015 Leaf S and I received the same email from Nissan saying my upgrade to 3G would be covered. But I have an S, so no Carwings and I thought no NissanConnect. Am I wrong about that, can I get NissanConnect in an S? Or did Nissan simply send the email to everyone regardless of model?
 
desiv said:
Roadburner440 said:
I have to say for me the magic number is less than $1k as well.
Wait, what?
$1k???

I think I have significantly different expectations than some other people.. ;-)
Around $1k is a "not even in the ballpark" for me...
Not even in the city the ballpark is in in fact.. ;-)

This is an upgrade that involves a new cell modem and maybe some firmware.

desiv

New cell modem + firmware. But now integrate that into the previous car's electronics. It would be nice if they thought about this ahead of time, but if that was the case then they would have just spent the extra few pennies on a radio capable of 2G/3G/4G/LTE since they don't cost much more. My guess is that an entire ECU of some kind will need to be replaced, and perhaps even the headunit because of how integrated they are. Considering the MSRP on most of these headunits is $2K or so, and an ECU a couple hundred bucks, without labour, I am guessing their "inflated cost to the customer" is in the $2K to $3K range. If us as customers only have to pay $1K, then they will make some profit but not lose any money.

In my opinion $1K is not an unreasonable amount for an upgrade. But it better be 4G capable at least so that we are not stuck again in a few years when 5G rolls out and they decommission the 3G bands to make way.
 
2k1Toaster said:
Thanks for sharing. Mine was in spam, I would have never seen it.

I am completely surprised that they are even offering one, and I am happy again. I was ready to roll my own, but as long as my portion that isn't covered by Nissan is less than $1K, I'll be happy.

It better be less than $1k. Tesla performed the upgrade for their customers for $500, and Nissan is indicating that they will bear the majority of the cost.

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/50933-LTE-upgrade-is-on-the-way?p=1096488&viewfull=1#post1096488
 
palmermd said:
2k1Toaster said:
Thanks for sharing. Mine was in spam, I would have never seen it.

I am completely surprised that they are even offering one, and I am happy again. I was ready to roll my own, but as long as my portion that isn't covered by Nissan is less than $1K, I'll be happy.

It better be less than $1k. Tesla performed the upgrade for their customers for $500, and Nissan is indicating that they will bear the majority of the cost.

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/50933-LTE-upgrade-is-on-the-way?p=1096488&viewfull=1#post1096488

Yeah but Tesla is a good company... Nissan is well, Nissan. Tesla has designed their cars from the ground up to be upgradeable. Nissan designed it like a "normal" car and it is very locked down.

And if Nissan could charge $20K for it, they would. They'll crank up the price until people will really consider buying it or not because it is too high. Then run a special that discounts it just enough that people will think it is a deal, and buy it. Nissan and the other car makers know what they're doing...
 
palmermd said:
It better be less than $1k. Tesla performed the upgrade for their customers for $500, and Nissan is indicating that they will bear the majority of the cost.
Yep, $500 is absolutely the upper limit I'd even consider paying. Half that amount would get me to at least seriously consider it.
 
TomT said:
Mine was in spam too, not that I care at this point...

So they don't 'miss' you they also snail mailed it; my letter arrived yesterday -- exactly the same as the email -- as far as the cost, as simple car-based GPS map updates typically can run a few hundred, those who speculate around a $1K are probably not far off -- 'goodwill' from Nissan on this may however prevail to get it down under $500 but if closer to $1K would think they might make more features included to get people to update for the next owner
 
When GM had to do it a few years ago for OnStar, they charged 200 bucks... If I was keeping the car, that would be my close to my limit...

2k1Toaster said:
In my opinion $1K is not an unreasonable amount for an upgrade. But it better be 4G capable at least so that we are not stuck again in a few years when 5G rolls out and they decommission the 3G bands to make way.
 
2k1Toaster said:
desiv said:
Roadburner440 said:
I have to say for me the magic number is less than $1k as well.
Wait, what?
$1k???

I think I have significantly different expectations than some other people.. ;-)
Around $1k is a "not even in the ballpark" for me...
Not even in the city the ballpark is in in fact.. ;-)

This is an upgrade that involves a new cell modem and maybe some firmware.

desiv

New cell modem + firmware. But now integrate that into the previous car's electronics. It would be nice if they thought about this ahead of time, but if that was the case then they would have just spent the extra few pennies on a radio capable of 2G/3G/4G/LTE since they don't cost much more. My guess is that an entire ECU of some kind will need to be replaced, and perhaps even the headunit because of how integrated they are. Considering the MSRP on most of these headunits is $2K or so, and an ECU a couple hundred bucks, without labour, I am guessing their "inflated cost to the customer" is in the $2K to $3K range. If us as customers only have to pay $1K, then they will make some profit but not lose any money.

In my opinion $1K is not an unreasonable amount for an upgrade. But it better be 4G capable at least so that we are not stuck again in a few years when 5G rolls out and they decommission the 3G bands to make way.

This. Automakers don't yet build their cars like computers. Things just aren't as modular as they should be.

Hopefully Nissan has learned something, and the upgrade will actually be an upgrade, not just a continuation of a mediocre service.
 
TomT said:
When GM had to do it a few years ago for OnStar, they charged 200 bucks... If I was keeping the car, that would be my close to my limit...
Yeah, that's closer to what I'm thinking. Maybe $300, but that's really pushing it..

I'm not saying that it might not be a major job and they have to charge $1000, but if so, I think they'll be looking at a handful of people actually doing it...

desiv
 
Hi all,

I'm surprised that the tone of this thread seems so accepting of the situation. I think it's crazy to have to pay anything to have this problem fixed, and that's really for one simple reason:

Nissan knew about this well before they sold the car to most of us.

AT&T announced that they were discontinuing 2G in August, 2012. And it wasn't exactly a secret at the time. If you Google it you'll see that it was covered by every major tech news outlet. Here's CNET as an example:

http://www.cnet.com/news/at-t-to-kill-off-2g-network-in-2017/

As a consumer that didn't care less about 2G, I don't remember hearing about it. But Nissan surely knew.

Yet they sold us the cars anyway with a ticking time bomb inside.

If AT&T had surprised them with this action, I'd say "eh, what can you do?"

But it was no surprise. They knowingly sold you a car with a faulty component.

(OK - I know that the TCU was designed well before AT&T made the announcement and that it was a surprise in that sense. But for those of you with 2014s, they had ample time to implement a fix before they sold you that vehicle.)

At the very least this looming issue should have been explicitly disclosed at the time of sale.

I know that perhaps I'm being over dramatic and that other manufacturers have already addressed this issue without much fuss, but is it not ridiculous nonetheless?

Some of you said you'd spend under $1K on this repair? My threshold is free.

(OK, to be completely honest with you guys I'd go to $200 just because I really want to be able to turn on my heat and AC remotely.)
 
Looks like Nissan is working on an update, I got this via e-mail and paper mail yesterday,

If you desire to continue to utilize NissanConnect EV after the 2G network becomes unavailable, you will need to have the Telematics Control Unit (TCU) in your vehicle updated. For owners of model years 2011-2014 LEAF vehicles who are interested in continuing to use NissanConnect EV, Nissan plans to cover a substantial portion of the costs for parts and installation of the updated hardware. Nissan expects to be able to communicate details regarding the options to update your vehicle in late summer 2016.
 
Good to finally see they are addressing this design deficiency. With a 2015 I'm satisfied, of course. Hopefully the charge for older vehicles will be reasonable.
 
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