Heater Out & 3 week turn around??

[dceyoung]

2013 leaf with 7k miles on it. Heater coil burt out. In for repairs and the dealer est. is 2-3 weeks to get the part with another week to do the repair. I've had a heater core out of a gas car before and while it's not an easy job it's doable in a day if you have the parts. Does time fram from Nissan seem like way too long to anyone else? Shouldn’t Nissan be rush shipping these and be getting you in/out within a week or so? The dealer gave me a Qube for a loaner. Anyone have luck getting Nissan to refund gas money for warranty work that took this abnormal amount of time? If so what did you do (write / email?).

 

[ksnogas2112]

Unfortunately there are many, many reports of limited availability of parts across the board for Leaf's. I don't know if the heater core is a common part across multiple models but I seriously doubt it. If it actually turns out to be 2-3 weeks I would count myself lucky that the estimate was correct. There have been others who were out for months because of parts availability. As far as the fuel refund, I am not aware of anyone that has been able to do that. Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[Berlino]

Anyone have luck getting Nissan to refund gas money for warranty work that took this abnormal amount of time? If so what did you do (write / email?).

For a month, go for a months payment towards a loan or lease.

Do you have the S, or SV/SL? Just curious, because their heaters are slightly different. It seems both types are having some issues.

 

[dceyoung]

Anyone have luck getting Nissan to refund gas money for warranty work that took this abnormal amount of time? If so what did you do (write / email?).

For a month, go for a months payment towards a loan or lease.

Do you have the S, or SV/SL? Just curious, because their heaters are slightly different. It seems both types are having some issues.

I have an SV. I will deffinently take the time for save fuel recipts and write a nice complaint letter to Nissan if it take more than 2 weeks.

 

[ksnogas2112]

I think you'd have better luck getting a free payment on the financing from Nissan corporate than you would get gas $$.

 

[epic]

these are new cars.What will happen in 5 years when Nissan really cant come up with a vital part.1-3 weeks is totally unacceptable.Nice they give free loaner,though.In my industry law requires we service with in 72 hours.There should be some type of time limit to warrenty work?

 

[cstambaugh]

My leaf has 140 miles on it and the heat already went out. If its weeks, I'll be returning it. 100% unacceptable

 

[planet4ever]

1-3 weeks is totally unacceptable. Nice they give free loaner,though.

Required, not nice. The Warranty Booklet says:

Complimentary rental car program

During the first 36 months/36,000 miles of service, your participating Nissan LEAF certified dealer will provide you with a complimentary rental vehicle when a warrantable repair is performed, subject to availability and the eligibility requirements listed below.*

The eligibility Requirements for complimentary rental vehicle are as follows:

• Only available for warrantable repairs during the first 36 months/36,000 miles of service, Basic Warranty coverage period
• You must be 21 years of age or older with a valid U.S. drivers license.
• You must provide proof of primary insurance
• Other restrictions may apply to loan car including mileage use and days use limitations.**

*Rental vehicle model subject to dealer availability.
**Ask your dealer for details.

However, it does also say, "This program is NOT a warranty, and is NOT part of the Nissan New Vehicle Limited Warranty and is subject to change without notice at any time." So the dealer is required to provide a loaner until or unless Nissan changes the policy, but Nissan has no commitment.

Ray

 

[planet4ever]

I don't know if the heater core is a common part across multiple models but I seriously doubt it.

dceyoung said heater coil, not heater core. The core might be common, but the coil would clearly only apply to EVs.

I do have to wonder, though, why the heat pump wouldn't work for a 2013 SV, or, if it does, why dceyoung wouldn't continue to use the car until the part arrives.

Ray

 

[dceyoung]

I don't know if the heater core is a common part across multiple models but I seriously doubt it.

dceyoung said heater coil, not heater core. The core might be common, but the coil would clearly only apply to EVs.

I do have to wonder, though, why the heat pump wouldn't work for a 2013 SV, or, if it does, why dceyoung wouldn't continue to use the car until the part arrives.

Ray

Dealer hasn't called me to tell me if its just the coil or more. Heat would warm enough with outside temps of 30 degrees to defrost the front window but i could still see my breath in the car (so still pretty cold). Not sure how efficent the heat pump is do you know? It definitely was not a confortable temp for my 1hr travel time for each way of my commute so I'm happy to have a loaner..

 

[dceyoung]

I think you'd have better luck getting a free payment on the financing from Nissan corporate than you would get gas $$.

If it ends up taking more than a 2 or so weeks nissan will definently be getting a letter though. I am glad the dealer had a decent loaner available.

 

[PAsolarEV]

2 degrees on the east coast - is there an easy way to tell if my Leaf Heater is working? it below cold air the whole time today ... I have my check-up appointment at the dealer next week - any easy diagnostic for me to check before i bring it in?

 

[r1234567]

If you turn the heat up all the way up, can you get warmth or is just cold air blowing? With mine, it used to send out hot air and then one day it only sent out cold. My car is going on week#2 with no updates from the dealership. Although with the extreme cold here in Chicago my ICE loaner does heat up better.

 

[dceyoung]

In Dec we had some 14-15 degree weather and the Leaf got toasty toasty hot very quickly with the heat on and up. This was PRIOR to my heater issues. But if it’s not getting hot something is wrong. Funny thing about the heater issues prior to it going out I loved the leafs heater coil because it would get warm before I’d even had time to pull out of the parking lot at work.

 

 

[ALearned]

Brought my 2013 S with 4500 miles on it in on Friday, Jan 3rd for the same problem-no heat. No word on how long it will take for the part to arrive. Dealership said the last heater repair took over a month. Once they get the part from Japan, then its about a 2 day repair, apparently they have to remove the whole dashboard. They gave me a loaner and said for me to keep My gas receipts and they would reimburse me for gas-pretty nice of them-they could see my disappointment when they told me they didnt have a Leaf for me to use. This is the dealer we had a great experience with during the leasing process. I called a dealer closer to me because it would have been more convenient and they said they would only provide a loaner for the time it is actually being repaired, not while waiting for the part. The car is drivable but it can difficult/impossible to defrost. Sounds like it may depend on the dealership. We are in the Portland, Or area.
Update: Heater fixed, picked up on January 21st seems to work great now.

 

[planet4ever]

2 degrees on the east coast - is there an easy way to tell if my Leaf Heater is working? it below cold air the whole time today ... I have my check-up appointment at the dealer next week - any easy diagnostic for me to check before i bring it in?

Which model do you have, please? It would be ever so helpful if you put that in your signature. (User control panel -> Profile -> Signature.) If you have an S model, no. If you have an SV or SL, yes.

Ray

 

[voganni]

Actually, you can tell when an S heater comes on by observing the segment circle around where the big tree grows. When coasting with no power, all the segments will be lit. One will go away when the heater starts. In D or if you turn the heat up more, sometimes 2 segments will go off. If I set my heat at 66° or so, I can watch the heater cycle on and off by observing the segments. I've found in cold weather the heater works best, and uses less energy, if I leave the car in recirc mode. I cycle the middle defrost button every 5 minutes or so to keep the windows defrosted.

 

[PAsolarEV]

Sorry - 2013 SL. Today I turned the air on recirculate, but even with the recirc on and the temp set to 73 degrees, I'd estimate the air temp at 40 degrees (better than yesterday, when it was just blowing exterior air at 2 degrees). That was with 20 minutes pre-heating. No change after driving 20 minutes to work. I have an appointment at the dealer on Saturday so we'll see what the next few days bring...

 

[planet4ever]

Sorry - 2013 SL.

In that case, Zero Emission button (like an "e") to the right of the console display, then Energy Info -> Energy Usage. Watch the Climate Control pie chart on the right. I'm not sure what numbers you should see with the 2013, which has both a heat pump and a resistive heater, but for my 2011 it would start up around 4.5kW when I turned the heater on (unless I was in Eco, which I think limited it to 2.5kW) then drop as it believed the cabin was approaching the desired temperature. Your numbers may be different, but if the car is cold, and you don't see a substantial energy draw there, your heater is broken.

Ray

 

[markley268]

This is exactly what i'm seeing. I've NEVER seen the energy info screen say more than 1.5KW for he climate control, and yesterday my wife said it was only blowing cold air the whole time on her 20minute drive to another part of town. I tested in the garage last night and it was able to produce luke warm air, with the garage temp @ 45F, but never got HOT, and i had the temp up to 90, and cycled through the different modes. I'm dropping it off tomorrow to have them look at it.

I was surprised that the leaf tech couldn't tell me that there was or wasn't a problem if i've never seen the energy info draw more than 1.5KW when the heat was on.