Yes - I do believe we all had our hopes up when Nissan took all those cars back for testing. Of course, nothing came of that, either.kolmstead said:Yeah, I think we have reason to be skeptical.
I'm still hoping that they do fix the firmware to fix the "intrumentation problem"! Here's some wishful thinking - maybe they will retrofit the battery % gauge into 2011-2012 cars... It really should be just a reflash away, but I'm sure that other logistical issues would prevent such an update.kolmstead said:In fact, my first thought was that Nissan was just going to announce the firmware upgrade to "fix" our instrumentation problem.
If you need close to 80% to make your commute and keep your LEAF usable, it seems that a fresh pack 2.5 years would basically get your car performing to expectations in terms of capacity loss after 5 years.kolmstead said:My car is at 80% capacity in exactly two years and 18K miles. If the standard is 80% in 5 years, then I only got 40% of the years or 36% of the miles that Nissan suggested I would get, so Nissan ought to pay for 60-64% of a new battery.
With about $25K invested in the car at this point, how much more should I pay to get back, at best, three more years of usability?
Buyback or lease conversion is the way to go, then get the car into owners who don't need more than 40 miles of range.kolmstead said:This past summer has proven that the LEAF's battery cannot withstand 100+ degree summers, so I think that a buyback is the best solution for virtually all hot-climate LEAF owners.
I do think that should the general solution prove to not be favorable enough for owners like you, you should be prepared to get Nissan to buy back your LEAF under lemon-law terms as that should be better than selling the car yourself. Then perhaps buy or lease a Volt - you should be able to commute on electricity in the summer and a very small amount of gas in the winter and so far there have been no reports of any significant capacity loss on Volts.kolmstead said:Hope for a general solution has been the only thing keeping me from dumping my LEAF for whatever I can get for it and admitting that buying it was one of the poorest financial decisions I ever made.