New Leaf lasts 2 days before crashing

[QueenBee]

Ray

Thanks for the good job with the chart! I hope there exists a more direct route from LOCK to OFF? By Locking the doors perhaps?

I don't have a Leaf myself, but this whole 5-state-stuff feel far more complicated than should be necessary...

That chart/manual makes it a whole lot more complicated than it is. I was worried about it as well but so far I've always found it very easy to use and don't ever have think about it. If you want to drive make sure your foot is on the brake

[MsLusty]

I must be the only person who always has the radio on in the car...I always know the car is off because the radio goes off when I power it down. I've been petrified about leaving it on inadvertently , but I just can,'t really understand how it happens. Granted, my last car had pushbutton start too, so I am in the habit of pushing the button to turn the thing off.

My mother's ICE van has a strange key issue that makes it impossible to tell if you've got it off or in ACC mode. It only took one drained battery episode to learn to leave the radio on all the time as a failsafe indicator.

[planet4ever]

That chart/manual makes it a whole lot more complicated than it is. I was worried about it as well but so far I've always found it very easy to use and don't ever have think about it. If you want to drive make sure your foot is on the brake

You are almost right. The chart makes it a whole lot more complicated than it normally is. As you say, keep your foot on the brake and you normally don't have to worry about all those other states. But come the time you are talking to someone when you start it up and forget to use your foot, or the time when your finger jiggles on the power button, or the time you want to have just the radio for half an hour, you are likely to get very confused very quickly.

We got onto this tack because some people couldn't imagine how anyone could not notice the car was still powered up when they left it in the garage for the night. The answer is that it is quite possible, if you get off into one of those other states.

Ray

[RuneW]

So... is there some light or something to check so that you are absolutely sure that the car is off? Just in case you have accidentally ended up in one of those (unnecessary and confusing) states?

[planet4ever]

Yes, look at the center console, though you may have to wait a bit for it to reboot if you accidentally "double-clicked" the power switch. If the center console says off then you are in either OFF or LOCK state, and either is fine. I personally have a problem with that, but I guess I'm weird. I often make fairly short trips without ever touching or looking over there, and my brain has learned to tune out the nag screen. (No, I never say "Yes", so I never get CarWings data, but that's OK with me.) I told you I was weird.

Ray

[chuck58]

Electronic crash, that is. Delivered 6/18 and drove just fine for 2 days, including recharging both with my AV L2 and trickle charging at work with L1 unit. Returned home from work 2 nites ago with approx. 12 residual miles, plugged it back into the L2 and went to bed. As I got up yesterday, the dash charging lights were off and the car would not do anything other than turn on the accessories. Called the EV hotline and the first guy was a total amateur (I could hear him turning pages of a manual) and we mutually gave up. I called a little later from work (took my fully reliable Honda Civic Hybrid, which thankfully I did not trade in) and spoke to a much more knowledgeable guy named Paul Smith. He waited until I got home (staying beyond his structured hours at his desk in Ohio), and walked me through several steps, none of which worked. He contacted my dealer, and the salesman who sold me the vehicle actually drove out to my house after he left work (about a 8-mile drive), confirmed the car was dead in place, and today the car will be towed to the dealer.

I'll let you know what happened. Needless to say, I am not a very happy new owner and am already wondering if these cars are ready for the real world...

Don't be too upset. My first car, a 1978 Ford Mustang (the biggest piece of junk ever to come out Detroit) had to be towed after 95 miles as the fuel line was not secured properly and twisted, choking off the gas supply. I'll never forget riding back in a tow truck with the cute girl I had hoped to impress at college with my new car. i never bought a Ford product again.

A '78 Ford? Now, there was a real piece of junk!

Yes, but in 1978 there weren't many choices back then. Toyota, Honda and Datsun (Nissan) were in their infancy. It retrospect I should have bought the 1978 Toyota Celica.
So many problems they are too numerous to count. Looking back it's pretty funny. Nobody cared on the Ford assembly line in Mahwah New Jersey I suspect. The car was painted in water colors. Every time I washed it, blue paint would be on the rag after drying. Ford was a giant polluter in New Jersey, dumping paints into waterways and down wells. Areas still have not fully recovered. In my book good riddance to Ford. A terrible company, no matter what they say now.
Glad we are entering a new era of hybrids and electric vehicles.

[mwalsh]

A '78 Ford? Now, there was a real piece of junk!

I bought a '78 LTD II when I first moved here in '81. It was a great car!