Comparison: Why I Chose a Nissan Leaf Plus over a Tesla Model 3

[webeleafowners]

Not that FUD again

Owners were unable to authenticate their login with Tesla servers for 2 hours or so. Regarding getting into the car and driving, It did not affect the valet card (which any sane Tesla owner always carries as backup to the phone) and it did not affect any phone as key using BLE that was already logged in to the Tesla App -- meaning +/- everybody since owners login once and stay logged in. The server glitch did affect remote access.

However, there are a million+ Tesla drivers out there so I don't doubt a fool or 3 figured out how to get confuzzled.

I saw it on a lot of news sites and thought about the same thing, so only a few minutes of online research found out it was minor, you could still get into your Tesla. The problem is, it seems a lot of Tesla owners didn't know the work-around and complained to a bunch of news outlets and well, here we are. News about nothing. :lol:

Yep. Essentially no one was locked out because of the server, they were locked out because they neglected to carry their key card or have a ring. I never take my ring off, and my card is always in my wallet.

 

[knightmb]

Yep. Essentially no one was locked out because of the server, they were locked out because they neglected to carry their key card or have a ring. I never take my ring off, and my card is always in my wallet.

The exact same thing can happen to Nissan, imagine if everyone was unlocking their Leaf with Nissan Connect and it was down for a day (not hard to imagine the down part :lol: ) and no one bothered to go get the key fob but instead just complain online. Because it was Nissan, probably no news site would care, but because it's Tesla, well, front page news! :shock:

 

[alozzy]

I like that Nissan chose to integrate a physical door key into the fob and that close proximity of the fob is all that's needed to power on the car when the fob battery dies - it's a simple and effective solution.

 

[webeleafowners]

I like that Nissan chose to integrate a physical door key into the fob and that close proximity of the fob is all that's needed to power on the car when the fob battery dies - it's a simple and effective solution.

That’s the beauty of the key card or ring. There are no batteries. .

 

[alozzy]

I like that Nissan chose to integrate a physical door key into the fob and that close proximity of the fob is all that's needed to power on the car when the fob battery dies - it's a simple and effective solution.

That’s the beauty of the key card or ring. There are no batteries. .

A key card or ring sounds cool but honestly I'm happy with Nissan's solution. I have never had a single issue with it, even the one time my fob battery died and I had to use the physical door key and then hold the fob right next to the start button to get the car to power on. The LEAF gives plenty of warning when the fob battery is getting low, so that incident was my own fault for being lazy

 

[webeleafowners]

I like that Nissan chose to integrate a physical door key into the fob and that close proximity of the fob is all that's needed to power on the car when the fob battery dies - it's a simple and effective solution.

That’s the beauty of the key card or ring. There are no batteries. .

A key card or ring sounds cool but honestly I'm happy with Nissan's solution. I have never had a single issue with it, even the one time my fob battery died and I had to use the physical door key and then hold the fob right next to the start button to get the car to power on. The LEAF gives plenty of warning when the fob battery is getting low, so that incident was my own fault for being lazy

Yah for sure. Our fob worked fine for us with our leaf. I think now it might be hard to go back because we don’t carry keys of any kind anymore. House door is a keypad as well. Kinda miss the push the button on the door and unlock passengers door thingy on the leaf. It was a great little car. Couldn’t justify two cars in the driveway or we would still have it.

 

[bruceha2000]

...
BATTERY:
...
With the 8-year/100k-mile battery warranty on the Leaf, I personally am betting that the cost of a replacement battery in 8 years, if necessary, will be much lower than today.
...
There are aftermarket options to replace the battery on a Leaf from non-Nissan companies.

That's a interesting bet considering that the battery that fits your car may not be available in 8 years.

i'm not aware of any viable aftermarket options such as you mention.

Personally I would bet on it. Just replaced the traction battery on daughter's 2006 Prius with 200K miles - Green Bean Battery - $1,400. They bring a refurbished battery to your house, install it in about 1.5 hours and take the old one to refurb for the next customer. 2009 was the last model year that Toyota used that specific battery.

 

[miyuki]

Does this 8 Yrs/100K miles warranty include free replacement of water pump/ master cylinder/ pricy parts? The final price after rebate might sound rational, but as far as I know, those repairing fees and parts are crazily priced if you have to get it fixed at Nissan dealers with uncommon parts on the market.

 

[LeftieBiker]

The 8 year warranty is for the traction battery only.

 

[cwerdna]

Does this 8 Yrs/100K miles warranty include free replacement of water pump/ master cylinder/ pricy parts? The final price after rebate might sound rational, but as far as I know, those repairing fees and parts are crazily priced if you have to get it fixed at Nissan dealers with uncommon parts on the market.

If you're the US, you can download the warranty booklet (which should've also come w/your car) at https://www.nissanusa.com/owners/ownership/manuals-guides.html. Example of one is at https://www.nissanusa.com/content/dam/Nissan/us/manuals-and-guides/leaf/2022/2022-nissan-leaf-warranty-booklet.pdf.

 

[OldManCan]

There is an extended warranty available to purchase when buying a new LEAF. After much deliberation on this, I opted to buy in. It cost an additional $3400 and covers the car completely for 7 years - 100K miles. It may be a total waste or a great life saver. Time will tell.

 

[miyuki]

There is an extended warranty available to purchase when buying a new LEAF. After much deliberation on this, I opted to buy in. It cost an additional $3400 and covers the car completely for 7 years - 100K miles. It may be a total waste or a great life saver. Time will tell.

Out of curiosity, does your extended warranty includes a master cylinder which costs $5k for replacement? I would say it is a worthy buy if does include so.

 

[miyuki]

Does this 8 Yrs/100K miles warranty include free replacement of water pump/ master cylinder/ pricy parts? The final price after rebate might sound rational, but as far as I know, those repairing fees and parts are crazily priced if you have to get it fixed at Nissan dealers with uncommon parts on the market.

If you're the US, you can download the warranty booklet (which should've also come w/your car) at https://www.nissanusa.com/owners/ownership/manuals-guides.html. Example of one is at https://www.nissanusa.com/content/dam/Nissan/us/manuals-and-guides/leaf/2022/2022-nissan-leaf-warranty-booklet.pdf.

I just compared my 2012's to 2022's Booklets.
1) There wasn't too much difference except that the 2022's adds one more-- LITHIUM-ION BATTERY CAPACITY COVERAGE.
It is also warranted against capacity loss below nine segments as shown on the vehicle’s battery capacity level gauge for 96 months or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. If possible, the lithium-ion battery components will be repaired or replaced. If necessary, the battery will be replaced with a new, remanufactured, or factory-reconditioned lithium-ion battery.
It is not guaranteed to return your lithium-ion battery to an “as new” condition with all 12 battery capacity segments, but it will provide the vehicle with 9 bars or more on the battery capacity level gauge.

2) They don't mention any coverage for fixing or replacement of the master cylinder kit. It worries me indeed, while a common fuel car only needs hundreds of dollars for replacing it.

3) The booklet says owners should never ever use a fire extinguisher or water if a fire occurs, then, what are we supposed to do for preventing a bigger loss? Especially when it is parking in a garage close to the furnace & water tank.
just call 911 right away?

 

[cwerdna]

'11 and '12 Leaf originally shipped with NO capacity warranty for gradual capacity loss. It got added (https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13192) likely due to a Klee vs. Nissan class action lawsuit and settlement. Then it got improved for 30, 40 and 62 kWh Leaf batteries only from 5 years/60K miles (for 24 kWh packs) to 8 years/100K miles.

As for Nissan replacing it packs that have hit 8 bars or less, yes, they've always left open the option to replace them w/9+ bar packs instead of new ones but we've never heard of a case of them doing that. They had stated back then it was their intention to only replace a pack once, so they wouldn't want to put in a 9 bar pack in say Arizona only to have it need to be replaced again. However, I believe those those folks (may have been Andy Palmer who said that) aren't w/Nissan any longer.

As for master cylinder, I think that's only covered under the 3 year/36K basic warranty.

 

[GerryAZ]

Nissan warranties in USA are 3 years, 36,000 miles bumper-to-bumper; 5 years, 60,000 miles EV systems and powertrain; 8 years, 100,000 miles on traction battery. You can purchase extended warranties that will cover most of the car except maintenance items such as wipers and brake pads for additional cost. I have not found extended warranties that cover traction batteries. The extended warranty I purchased for my 2015 did pay for replacement of the intelligent brake controller after the basic warranty and EV systems/powertrain warranty had both already expired.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I have not found extended warranties that cover traction batteries. The extended warranty I purchased for my 2015 did pay for replacement of the intelligent brake controller after the basic warranty and EV systems/powertrain warranty had both already expired.

Was the extended warranty you got for the '15 the Nissan Gold Preferred Plus, or a different one? The reason I ask is that we had a fellow posting here who posted supposed quotes from that warranty that showed it extending the Nissan battery degradation warranty until 2025. Again, supposedly, that was for 2015 only.

 

[GerryAZ]

I have not found extended warranties that cover traction batteries. The extended warranty I purchased for my 2015 did pay for replacement of the intelligent brake controller after the basic warranty and EV systems/powertrain warranty had both already expired.

Was the extended warranty you got for the '15 the Nissan Gold Preferred Plus, or a different one? The reason I ask is that we had a fellow posting here who posted supposed quotes from that warranty that showed it extending the Nissan battery degradation warranty until 2025. Again, supposedly, that was for 2015 only.

The one I had on the 2015 was an aftermarket one, but I don't remember the company name.

 

[OldManCan]

Was the extended warranty you got for the '15 the Nissan Gold Preferred Plus, or a different one? The reason I ask is that we had a fellow posting here who posted supposed quotes from that warranty that showed it extending the Nissan battery degradation warranty until 2025. Again, supposedly, that was for 2015 only.

I got the Nissan Gold Preferred Plus and I don’t think it adds to or changes the battery degradation coverage that comes as standard. I can check the small print again.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I'm referring to the 2015 version only.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

If you want to disable the forward driving pedestrian warning system, aka VSP, you can do that with LeafSpy Pro and a compatible OBD2 dongle.

No longer an option in new models