VIN on battery?

[lindzmukd]

I'm considering purchasing a pre-owned 2014 Leaf that was traded in a few months after purchase. The problem is that in an older photo on the dealer's website, the battery capacity level gauge was short a few bars. But currently, the dash is showing full bars. I'm thinking they may have replaced the battery. My question is, does the battery have a VIN on it to match the car? Typically ICE vehicles have a VIN on the engine, so I thought it might be similar.

Follow-up questions: is Nissan required to track and/or disclose battery replacements? And if I find out the battery was replaced, would that be a reason to avoid the car, or is this not something I should be worrying about? Thanks in advance!

 

[aarond12]

Watch out for this one. This sounds suspiciously like another car talked about on this site. Someone... whether the dealership, a reseller, etc., reset her battery management software, making the battery look like a 12-segment (read: perfect) battery. After a month she lost a segment. Another month, another segment. Another and another. Finally someone did some sleuthing on this site and found out that car had a 9-segment (down 3 bars) battery.

See if you can either acquire LEAFSpy or borrow someone's and check the battery before buying.

 

[essaunders]

would leafspy even detect a 'reset' battery? does the dash display read from a different computer register than the leafspy data comes from?

 

[Moof]

Make sure you are are looking at the small capacity bars in the picture, not the longer charge bars.

A 2014 that is down multiple capacity bars would be surprising, which is why I suspect you may be confusing the two.

There is no harm in asking for a carfax report and a list of all recorded work the dealer has performed. If they balk at all just walk away.

 

[TimLee]

would leafspy even detect a 'reset' battery? does the dash display read from a different computer register than the leafspy data comes from?

No on both questions.
If the CLEAR BATTERY GRADUAL CAPACITY LOSS DATA function was done it should be documented in the Nissan maintenance records system.
Should be.
But that was the concern on the other vehicle as to whether it would.

 

[TomT]

Actually, indirectly it will. All you have to do is a full charge and then note the Gid reading...

would leafspy even detect a 'reset' battery? does the dash display read from a different computer register than the leafspy data comes from?

No on both questions.

 

[johnrhansen]

All the car sees is the voltage on each cell. I suspect if the car's computer thought the battery was in better shape than it was, it would indicate the gids incorrectly too. I would just drive the car more than 20 miles and see if the charge drops off faster than expected. there is no way you can hide that. I'd do it on the sly too, so if this guy is actually resetting the battery you can tell on him and have him caught red handed.

 

[lindzmukd]

Hi guys, thanks for the input so far. I should have included the photos. Here's a link to the dealer's site. As you scroll through the pictures, you can see the two dash displays that don't match. I also wondered if this might be a photo from a different vehicle. I'm not a Leaf owner yet, but am I correct in looking at the skinny line of bars all the way to the right? The dealer said the previous owner wanted to trade in for the 2015 model, and hasn't responded yet to my question asking if the battery has been replaced. I was hoping to arm myself with information from you guys before going back to speak with him

 

[camasleaf]

The first picture showing the bars was taken on the car start up.

 

[lindzmukd]

At start up, does it take some time for the bars to fill up?

 

[dan2112]

I'm considering purchasing a pre-owned 2014 Leaf that was traded in a few months after purchase. The problem is that in an older photo on the dealer's website, the battery capacity level gauge was short a few bars. But currently, the dash is showing full bars. I'm thinking they may have replaced the battery. My question is, does the battery have a VIN on it to match the car? Typically ICE vehicles have a VIN on the engine, so I thought it might be similar.

Follow-up questions: is Nissan required to track and/or disclose battery replacements? And if I find out the battery was replaced, would that be a reason to avoid the car, or is this not something I should be worrying about? Thanks in advance!

At 3500 miles I doubt the battery would have been replaced and it looks perfectly reasonable to have 12 bars. My 2014 has 4500 miles and has 12 bars as well. That being said it never hurts to check using LeafSpy. It would be interesting to see when it was manufactured and when the original owner took possession. Did it sit on the lot in extreme temps, etc.. Look to see if it's been repainted that would indicate the battery may have been "baked".

 

[TomT]

Perhaps not... When I had my P3227 update done I temporarily gained back a bar and some additional range but my full charge Gid reading did not change much...
But, yes, a drive is the best method.

All the car sees is the voltage on each cell. I suspect if the car's computer thought the battery was in better shape than it was, it would indicate the gids incorrectly too. I would just drive the car more than 20 miles and see if the charge drops off faster than expected. there is no way you can hide that. I'd do it on the sly too, so if this guy is actually resetting the battery you can tell on him and have him caught red handed.

 

[Moof]

At start up, does it take some time for the bars to fill up?

It goes through a short little animation that lasts about 2 seconds. The giveaway is that the capacity bar and charge bars are identical, the guess-o-meter is reading the same 74 miles, and the low outside temperature warning is up. Just an unlucky camera grab.

A 2014 certified will have plenty of warranty coverage as well. The BMS reset is mostly a concern if you pick up a 2-4 year old car and end up with a nasty surprise, and it will get even stickier as there get to be more and more 60k+ mile used Leafs out there that have battery warranty left and a sucker could get stuck with a 60-70% battery when they thought they bought a 80-90 % one and have no recourse short of trying to sue the dealer.