powersurge said:
I really feel that it is a lazy thing for people to post their potentially serious car problems on this site rather than pay the money to have a mechanic look at the car....
Do you really think that anyone on the entire site is actually going a) diagnose the problem (even the most experienced mechanic will not diagnose a problem until he SEES it)and b) the poster is going to be able to "fix" the problem by going on a cell phone app? NO...
Please do not post significant/ serious car problems to save $$$ from going to a mechanic....
I resent that. Although I can see where you are sort of right, that doesn't mean that it applies to everybody and every situation. We need to support each other with our Leaf problems. If for every problem the answer is "take it to a mechanic" then what's the point of having a forum about the car? I agree that there are things that we can't fix without a qualified shop or mechanic. But I sure would hate to take my Leaf some 300 miles to the closest EV certified Nissan dealership just to be charged a few hundred dollars for changing a fuse or something similar: something I could have done at home.
Besides that I personally I have had a terrible experience with many shops and am reluctant to take my car to a mechanic. I'd rather do the work myself if I can. There have been times that certified mechanics have even left my car dangerous to drive after a simple repair procedure. For an example, once a local shop replaced some strut bolts and nuts during an alignment job with the lowest quality nuts and bolts available. The struts came apart from the steering knuckles just a few days later. Another time at another shop they couldn't get the right shims in time and used pieces of plastic for shimming the suspension, again for a simple alignment. You can imagine how long that alignment job lasted? Not long! At another shop they accidentally cut a metal brake line on my dad's car when simply installing new tires and for some reason didn't notice it. He crashed into the back of his landlord's pickup at the first stoplight. Another time I made an appointment to simply have a key fob programmed for the Leaf at the closest Nissan dealership that is 68 miles away. I drove the whole way in a snow storm, making it there with less than 10% left on the battery (I did start out with 100% too). And when I got their I was then informed that they couldn't program my new key fob because they didn't have anyone there that was qualified to work on electric cars. To this day I still have only one key fob for my Leaf. I could go on and on about other shops too.
I could actually go on and on about mistakes mechanics have made on my family's vehicles, but the worst thing is that many haven't stood behind their work. And for $100 or more per hour, they really should. When those strut bolts and nuts were changed on my VW, for an example, it was obvious, because the orignials were hardened and flanged and used a 17mm wrench, and the new ones weren't hardened nor flanged and used a much smaller 14mm wrench. I had the proof and they had to fix their error. But after making them fix their mistakes, I've been told by many of these shops to never come back. And the same has happened to my Dad at a few different shops.
Now it's not that I hate mechanics or think there is some sort of conspiracy going on. I am a nice guy and don't yell or whine. I try to be as polite as possible. But I do ask that they fix their mistakes. I understand that everyone is imperfect and that mechanics aren't the exception. But if you mess up something as important as the suspension or brakes, I expect the problem to be fixed without being told that they did nothing wrong when it's obvious they did. I prefer that a qualified shop do work requiring expensive or bulky equipment that I don't have, like for doing alignments or balancing tires or rotating assemblies and such or resurfacing brakes or bearing races. There are a few shops I trust, and even recommend and am loyal to. But one only specializes in tires and balancing. They don't even do alignments. The closest shop that does generalized mechanic work, including alignments, that I and my family trust is 60 miles away. And actually both of these shops have made mistakes in the past; the local tire shop once forgot to clamp down the wheel weights after balancing a tire and the other shop bent some cotter pins the wrong way on my Golf that then made the hub caps pop off as the car went down the road. But both shops were very nice about fixing their mistakes and I still trust and recommend them.
Still, the situation is getting to where I'm seriously thinking of selling the Leaf and sticking to classic cars that I can fix easily. A lot of the mechanic shops around here need to be closed for malpractice. And I don't really feel like experimenting with shops that are over 60 or 100 miles away just to try to find one that can do a good job. And signing up to a forum who's only answer to problems with the Leaf is "just take it to a mechanic" is very discouraging. Yes, this may be something that only an EV certified shop or Nissan dealership can work on. But at least let's try to be supportive and direct these ones with Leaf problems to the best shops and dealerships we can. We can also thank these ones for posting their problems and ask them to help the Leaf community on the forum by please following up with how it turned out after visiting whatever mechanic they ended up visiting. Yes, not everyone has had as many bad dealings with shops and dealerships as I have. But if someone is posting a problem indicating that taking it to a shop is not their first choice, there must be a reason for that, and I highly doubt it's just laziness.