Bay Area: San Jose Leaf test drive

[evnow]

I asked why they changed and got the surprising answer that the original paint was to costly.

Interesting - but not surprising.

The Auto Show cars have special paint - applied several times. Only luxury cars get that kind of treatment in production.

 

[mxp]

We went today, Saturday.

Signed up for 11am, but when we showed up before 11am, we were told to just wait for the queues to filter through. I was surprised they did not honor the times one had signed up prior. Anyways, from the time we got there to the point we were allowed into the vehicle, it was 2 hrs 30 mins. The San Jose test drive was a short 5 -7 minutes tops.

Note: According to the guy gatekeeping the queues, Saturdays were the worst. Fridays/Sundays were the least crowded.

Observations:
1) I was not able to hear the artificial engine noise generator. (and, I also turned the switch to off but I heard nothing changed)

2) ECO mode was definitely driveable in the city.

3) With sunlight directly coming down, the primary dash display was a bit dim to my liking. I wasn't sure if you could increase the brightness overall. e.g. when switching from D to ECO mode, I had to look for a couple of seconds to finally see where the icon changed. Maybe I wasn't used to the display and where icons were located...

4) The steering wheel was definitely a bit lighter than what I am used to... (coming from an Audi S4)

 

[Ready2plugin]

I was there today, Saturday. Had a 1:30 appointment and didn't get to drive until almost 3:30. The worst part was that they shortened the drive to around the block...no cones, just around the block...took about 2 minutes tops. :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: . What a total waist of time. Could not get a feel for the car at all. I still like it, but I feel I wasted the day. Oh, and to top it off, I talked to the rep from PG&E to find out that since I have a PV system, I am REQUIRED to put in a second meter AND a second utility box before I get the car. :x :x :x :x

 

[EVDRIVER]

I was there today, Saturday. Had a 1:30 appointment and didn't get to drive until almost 3:30. The worst part was that they shortened the drive to around the block...no cones, just around the block...took about 2 minutes tops. :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: . What a total waist of time. Could not get a feel for the car at all. I still like it, but I feel I wasted the day. Oh, and to top it off, I talked to the rep from PG&E to find out that since I have a PV system, I am REQUIRED to put in a second meter AND a second utility box before I get the car. :x :x :x :x

Sure, they can really enforce that. As if they even know you are buying the car. Another irony is that in SF they forbid the E9B and will NOT allow anyone to have two meters in the city as an SF rule. I won't be telling PGE I have an EV until I decide which rate plan I want with my existing solar.

 

[evnow]

The worst part was that they shortened the drive to around the block...no cones, just around the block...took about 2 minutes tops. :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: .

I'm going to start reducing my expectations ... looks like the drive event is useful essentially to sit in and play around with the (static car's) controls.

Thats the good thing about Volt, fewer people - so yo get longer drives ;-)

 

[Ready2plugin]

The worst part was that they shortened the drive to around the block...no cones, just around the block...took about 2 minutes tops. :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: .

I'm going to start reducing my expectations ... looks like the drive event is useful essentially to sit in and play around with the (static car's) controls.

Thats the good thing about Volt, fewer people - so yo get longer drives ;-)

Nope, they only had one display and it's battery was DEAD. You could only sit in it.... :x

 

[cordero]

I went Saturday and I now want to change my color. I think the Red looks much better in person more "expensive" if you will. I ordered black but now regret it. I talked to a few other people who now want to change the colors also. It seems they wanted to change from red to silver or other combos... LOL the joy of ordering sight unseen. All the visitors were cool and fun to talk to. The "guide person" let me drive as hard as I wished. He did warn me that tomorrow the Marathon will hamper the drive. I dont think many who are on this board are going to learn much more than they already know. I was laughing at how many bay area people are buying in Petaluma... One gent told me that one dealership was trying to charge 2-3K over sticker? I overheard over 800 people were scheduled for Saturday alone. What fun even the rain did not affect the enthusiasm.

 

[Ready2plugin]

I went Saturday and I now want to change my color. I think the Red looks much better in person more "expensive" if you will. I ordered black but now regret it. I talked to a few other people who now want to change the colors also. It seems they wanted to change from red to silver or other combos... LOL the joy of ordering sight unseen. All the visitors were cool and fun to talk to. The "guide person" let me drive as hard as I wished. He did warn me that tomorrow the Marathon will hamper the drive. I dont think many who are on this board are going to learn much more than they already know. I was laughing at how many bay area people are buying in Petaluma... One gent told me that one dealership was trying to charge 2-3K over sticker? I overheard over 800 people were scheduled for Saturday alone. What fun even the rain did not affect the enthusiasm.

Yes, I tried to change mine from Silver to Red since the first of the month , especially wish I could have done it after seeing it today....but at least the Silver is still my second choice. I had to order on August 31st, so Nissan will not allow me to change since my car is now in "production". I think they have improved the system to allow color changes if your production date will allow it. Back on October 1st when I made the request they had no clue how to do it.

 

[cdub]

The worst part was that they shortened the drive to around the block...no cones, just around the block...took about 2 minutes tops. :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: .

I'm going to start reducing my expectations ... looks like the drive event is useful essentially to sit in and play around with the (static car's) controls.

Thats the good thing about Volt, fewer people - so yo get longer drives ;-)

My drive in Anaheim was awesome. Nice longish drive with straighaways to really punch it. (compared to the others)

Century City and Santa Monica were so so.

It changes from event to event.

 

[evnow]

Nope, they only had one display and it's battery was DEAD. You could only sit in it.... :x

What - haven't they got it corrected yet ? Was it working on Friday .... anyone ?

 

[Glenn]

Nope, they only had one display and it's battery was DEAD. You could only sit in it.... :x

What - haven't they got it corrected yet ? Was it working on Friday .... anyone ?

Yep, EV, there were 2 at the start of the show on Friday, but they pulled one out shortly before noon to add to the "drive queue." Things actually went very smoothly for the two hours we were there; spouses even got a full turn driving if you asked nicely! I must say the guy answering questions at the booth after the drive was both incompetent and full of himself to boot. "I'd suggest you just call this 800 Nissan number to get that answer!" Totally useless. But I had low expectations which were totally met.

Glenn

 

[greenleaf]

Nope, they only had one display and it's battery was DEAD. You could only sit in it.... :x

What - haven't they got it corrected yet ? Was it working on Friday .... anyone ?

There were a red and a black on display on Friday. Then while I was waiting, they pulled out the red, leaving only the black behind.

 

[Glenn]

Nope, they only had one display and it's battery was DEAD. You could only sit in it.... :x

What - haven't they got it corrected yet ? Was it working on Friday .... anyone ?

There were a red and a black on display on Friday. Then while I was waiting, they pulled out the red, leaving only the black behind.

We must have been in line at the same time; I was in the passenger's seat when the techies came over to get the red one.

 

[Glenn]

I was there today, Saturday. Had a 1:30 appointment and didn't get to drive until almost 3:30. The worst part was that they shortened the drive to around the block...no cones, just around the block...took about 2 minutes tops. :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: . What a total waist of time. Could not get a feel for the car at all. I still like it, but I feel I wasted the day. Oh, and to top it off, I talked to the rep from PG&E to find out that since I have a PV system, I am REQUIRED to put in a second meter AND a second utility box before I get the car. :x :x :x :x

Sure, they can really enforce that. As if they even know you are buying the car. Another irony is that in SF they forbid the E9B and will NOT allow anyone to have two meters in the city as an SF rule. I won't be telling PGE I have an EV until I decide which rate plan I want with my existing solar.

Actually, it appears they will know! Looks like the dealers may be reporting sales to utility companies under some PUC guidelines (or something like that, according to a PGE rep in San Jose.)

And I'm pretty sure the "forbidden" second meter is the reason E9B usage will be restricted to EV charging only, possibly with a one-circuit-only panel. City officials don't want furtive in-law units sneaking in and will no doubt try to closely monitor or even prevent their installation.

Glenn

 

[leaf561]

Took the test drive today. Fortunately, it went very well. It was california sunny day in 70s Just waited for a few minutes before they called us for the overview session. After the overview, the queue for the test drive was for around 30 minutes. I used that time to talk with PG&E and onsite AV rep.

The drive was long enough to get a good feel of the car. Both wife and I drived, and we both loved it. Liked everything in the car. Nissan did a good job. It had a same familiar feeling of a regular car, but added the cute gear shifter (drive stick), electronic park button, hand brake and tilting screen for CD player as a differentiator.

All the colors looked good. We are going to stay with Blue.

During the overview, the Nissan guy said that the 12V battery is used for the lights and other accessaries. Which seemed to be a little odd initially, but made sense after he gave the reason. Nissan is just reusing the existing technology where the 12V battery powers all the electronics.

Another interesting (at least for me) thing he mentioned was that the car Solar Panel is used to charge the 12V battery.

Had a good time. Can't wait to order in November :mrgreen:

 

[MaryC]

Took my turn behind the wheel today and all I can say is "This is a very nice car" The A/C felt very good on this warm fall day. Hopefully my car will show up sometime in February/March.

 

[palmermd]

I was there today, Saturday. Had a 1:30 appointment and didn't get to drive until almost 3:30. The worst part was that they shortened the drive to around the block...no cones, just around the block...took about 2 minutes tops. :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: . What a total waist of time. Could not get a feel for the car at all. I still like it, but I feel I wasted the day. Oh, and to top it off, I talked to the rep from PG&E to find out that since I have a PV system, I am REQUIRED to put in a second meter AND a second utility box before I get the car. :x :x :x :x

My experience was the same. I had a 3:00 appointment, arrived at 3:00 and did not get called into the "battery room" until after 5:00. Then when we got to the test drive they said we could only go around the block. It was less than 1/2 mile around the block. I drove over an hour to take a drive in this car, with an appointment, arrived on time, and then after waiting over 2 hours go to drive the car for 3 minutes tops. No real driving experience. I was trying to get a feel for some of the controls before I drove off the lot, and they just rushed me out and said I had to get going, and I could not do anything but adjust the seat and mirrors for safety and take a trip around the block. I'm really "pissed" to say the least. On top of that the display car that was there to use for playing with the buttons and screens was dead. There were plenty of people trying to figure out how to charge the accessory battery. Shouldn't they just plug the demo car in permanently for the road show? Seems like a simple solution for a vehicle that will be "on" all day long with people getting in and out and pushing buttons. There were plenty of people around to answer questions, but none of them seemed to know anything.

I was going to try and get a reading from the charging of the car with a trickle charger with my kill-a-watt, but the car being charged was across the lot and they would not let me over there to speak with anybody. Needless to say at this point I was a bit miffed and I did not want to press the issue.

What I can say is that I did like what I saw for the limited exposure I got. Heck this is the first time I got to touch the car. The previous two times I've seen the car it was behind velvet ropes and I could not even touch it.

NIssan really needs to do a better job of scheduling these test drives. What they had on display Saturday afternoon was a terrible display of organization. Nobody there knew anything and would not direct me to somebody who had any answers. Test drives were nothing more than the ability to put your foot on the brake and accelerator pedal a few times. I'm not sure if all the people who were there were reservation holders, but they definitely need to treat reservation holders different than non-reservatino holders. The entire presentation was geared more for somebody who has never heard of the leaf. Maybe they could put reservation holders on different days than non, and give reservation holders longer drives than non. The whole thing would probably been perfectly acceptable if I was just there to get an introduction to the Leaf.

 

[leaf561]

Seems there were 500 test drivers on Friday, 700 on Saturday and today there were suppose to be only 400.

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

I have to agree that these Drive events are not aimed at "us". They seem primarily aimed at the folks walking by, with no idea how they got there.

Even those people who take the time to make a Drive reservation on-line are given exactly the same treatment as walk-ins. Appointment means nothing. At the San Diego event, as the drive line got really long, there were quite a few disappointed people making this observation before leaving.

And if Nissan can't keep a 12v battery charged during an exhibit, they have incompetent road techs. Sorry, it's true.. the whole reason people made a reservation to be there is to experience the car. Keep the damn thing powered on so people can try it out.

And don't get me started on the pedestrian sounds -- the one sensory thing you can't find on the web.

 

[Ready2plugin]

I have to agree that these Drive events are not aimed at "us". They seem primarily aimed at the folks walking by, with no idea how they got there.

Even those people who take the time to make a Drive reservation on-line are given exactly the same treatment as walk-ins. Appointment means nothing. At the San Diego event, as the drive line got really long, there were quite a few disappointed people making this observation before leaving.

And if Nissan can't keep a 12v battery charged during an exhibit, they have incompetent road techs. Sorry, it's true.. the whole reason people made a reservation to be there is to experience the car. Keep the damn thing powered on so people can try it out.

And don't get me started on the pedestrian sounds -- the one sensory thing you can't find on the web.

I totally agree. I can see why they would not want the car "started" when you cannot tell it's running and someone hits the "go pedal"....that could be a disaster. BUT, to not keep the 12v going with either a charger, or just have two 12v's one that's being charged while the other is in the car....I believe the "techs' are more demo people than car people...the one that did our "tour" told us his last job was going to different retail outlets selling juice machines.