Nissaan dealer in San Jose wants $250 to look at my Leaf

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sako

Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2020
Messages
6
s this charge normal? I had the car leased for 3 years then at the end of lease I bought it, since the residual cost was lower than the market value. This is actually the first time I need the car checked ( Leaf 2019 SV Plus). I'm thinking of buying the extended warranty, but do they really charge that much to just look at it? the car makes some clicking noise when start driving, the noise comes from underneath the car around the left wheel.
 
It sounds about right for the San Jose, CA area.

In my area, the Nissan dealer I've been seeing lately wants $174.99 as an initial charge just to look at the car to investigate any issues. If it's a quick fix, then they don't charge beyond that initial amount.

Dealers charges have been on the rise over the last few years.
 
The clicking noise may be improperly torqued axle nuts. There's been quite a bit of discussion about this in other threads on this forum. My impression is that it is not serious, at least in the short term.

I also live in San Jose, and yes, $250 is the going rate for a diagnostic these days.
 
If they are only charging $250 for an hours worth of service, then they would be going out of business slowly if not for subsidy from Nissan.

The loaded overhead rate for an automobile service business is much higher than that--it was documented to be around $250 in San Jose 30 years ago in an auto service trade magazine.

Independent shops will try to price slightly below the dealer in order to attract some business, but unless they can cover the overhead it is a slow path to bankruptcy.
 
I paid something similar in San Jose recently to diagnose my 2013 leaf (determined correctly faulty PDM). You may check to see if they credit you back the $250 against the final repair bill... I think they would have reduced the PDM replacement bill by $250 if I had gone forward with the repair.
 
As Bill said, if it's a clicking noise it's likely the hubs needing lubed. I just had the same service done on my 2019 SL plus, and mine was covered under the powertrain warranty 100% by the dealer. Depending on your mileage, your car is probably still covered under that powertrain warranty, talk to the dealer.

Oh and the diagnostic fee from my Dallas dealer would have been $150 had it not been a warranty repair. And that diagnostic fee would have been deducted from the repair cost.
 
Interesting. Others have stated being a TSB fault that it wasn't covered under warranty. So I didn't even check with my dealer or pursue it. I did it myself. It probably saved me time in driving there and back, either waiting for it to be done or another round trip to get the car.
 
but do they really charge that much to just look at it? the car makes some clicking noise when start driving, the noise comes from underneath the car around the left wheel.
What do you mean, "to look at it"? If you are taking it in check a problem, they usually have a minimum check out charge of 1/2 to one hour labor. $250 an hour for Mercedes or BMW, but for Nissan that sounds ridiculous. I took a Honda in to dealer to check a transmission problem and I thought $175 charge was excessive. For clicking noise I'd take it to any general repair shop. Sounds like a drive axle, or wheel bearing.
 
What do you mean, "to look at it"? If you are taking it in check a problem, they usually have a minimum check out charge of 1/2 to one hour labor. $250 an hour for Mercedes or BMW, but for Nissan that sounds ridiculous. I took a Honda in to dealer to check a transmission problem and I thought $175 charge was excessive. For clicking noise I'd take it to any general repair shop. Sounds like a drive axle, or wheel bearing.
What do you mean, "to look at it"? If you are taking it in check a problem, they usually have a minimum check out charge of 1/2 to one hour labor. $250 an hour for Mercedes or BMW, but for Nissan that sounds ridiculous. I took a Honda in to dealer to check a transmission problem and I thought $175 charge was excessive. For clicking noise I'd take it to any general repair shop. Sounds like a drive axle, or wheel bearing.
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2022/MC-10222714-0001.pdf
 
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