Annual battery check cost? (yes I know the 1st 2 are free)

I had the third year battery check done yesterday at Premier Nissan of San Jose. They charged $45. I also had the P3227 update done. All other suggested maintenance (cabin filter, brake fluid) and car wash declined. It took 1 hr and 10 minutes.

Metro Nissan of Redlands, CA initially told me my three-year battery check would be free. When I got there, they told me they were sorry for the mistake, but they would have to charge. They did give me a discount in light of this, so I paid only $39. The included carwash was nice since I had just driven dirt roads the day before. They had the battery check done in less than an hour while I waited and used their wifi. All 5 stars as usual. I then stayed almost another hour adding more charge before heading to Home Depot for a bunch of 8' 2x4, 2x6, and 1x4 boards which fit diagonally with all of the seats folded down. Drove back up the mountain (4900' climb) at full speed like a "normal" car.

Just dropped my car @ Nissan of Duarte for the 3rd year annual check. They wanted to charge $120 and when I balked, they said that it is NOT REQUIRED to maintain the battery warranty ... only recommended. I asked if they were sure of that, and they said yes. So I declined the check and am only getting the free tire rotation from a coupon I got in the mail. Should I believe them, or am I going to get my warranty voided?

You NEED the annual battery check to maintain your battery warranty.

It cost me $65 at Mossy Oceanside a few weeks ago. At least they QCd the car back up to ~90% for me!

lincomatic said:

They wanted to charge $120 and when I balked, they said that it is NOT REQUIRED to maintain the battery warranty ... only recommended. I asked if they were sure of that, and they said yes. ...

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Completely wrong.
Nissan has already put B1033 No Capacity Warranty notation against someone who was more than three months late having annual test done.
Some legal people on here claim Nissan could not enforce that.
But it would be an expensive legal hazzle for you.

$120 is crazy. Go somewhere else :!: Most have paid in the $50 to $65 range. Mine was a little under $60.

I paid $40 yesterday for my 3 year battery check at Gladstone Nissan. They also did the multi-point inspection and a 12V battery inspection included in that $40.

Thanks for all the replies. I just called Leaf Customer Service, and they verified that Nissan of Duarte indeed is giving out bad information, that the battery checks ARE IN FACT REQUIRED in order to maintain the battery warranty. Since every one else is paying less than half of what Nissan of Duarte charges, I'm going to take it elsewhere.

lincomatic said:

Thanks for all the replies. I just called Leaf Customer Service, and they verified that Nissan of Duarte indeed is giving out bad information, that the battery checks ARE IN FACT REQUIRED in order to maintain the battery warranty. Since every one else is paying less than half of what Nissan of Duarte charges, I'm going to take it elsewhere.

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i hope shopping around works as well for the new battery install.

Called Glendale Nissan this morning .. they charge $57
and Ross Nissan charges $46.
Alhambra Nissan charges $89.
Nissan of Duarte is crazy to charge $120.

$50 at Mossy Poway for battery check #3. 25K miles, 3+ years old, 5 stars across the board, though we are down one bar. Never QC'd (unless they gave us some that day). Tech implied that we were lucky to be only down one bar, I attribute that to some sort of institutionalized attempt at reverse psychology, since obviously we'd rather be down zero bars, and with our climate/use profile I'd be pretty chapped if we were down two at this point.

We had the brake fluid flush and cabin filter done at time of check #2 (Mossy Kearny Mesa) so we declined those services this time. We had replaced our tires with new Ecopias at Discount a few months and very few miles ago. They asserted that there was some 'feathering' on the front tires and that we should get an alignment, but mainly just pointed out that 30K service was coming up soon.

Got P3227 as well. Regen seems fine so far, though ambient temp hasn't gotten much below 68F - in fact it seems like we've got MORE available regen bubbles at higher SOC (>80%) than before.

Service included shuttle (a Leaf!) for my wife to get back and forth to her nearby work, and I think they washed it.

Overall thumbs up - fair price, courteous staff, shuttle/wash amenities. Can't ask for more than that.

Valdemar said:

^^^ OT but I think $30 for tire rotation is actually reasonable. .

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How does the math on this work out? For well made tires can we optimistically assume 50,000 miles? On a 5,000 mile rotation schedule, that is 10 rotations or $300. Will a new set of tires cost $600, installed and balanced? If so, then 50% of that is around the $300 you spent on tire rotations. Will they really extend the life of your tires by that much? I seriously doubt it.

I'd love to hear from those who have driven far enough to be able to supply real numbers.

My $0.02.

baumgrenze

baumgrenze said:

Valdemar said:

^^^ OT but I think $30 for tire rotation is actually reasonable. .

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How does the math on this work out? For well made tires can we optimistically assume 50,000 miles? On a 5,000 mile rotation schedule, that is 10 rotations or $300. Will a new set of tires cost $600, installed and balanced? If so, then 50% of that is around the $300 you spent on tire rotations. Will they really extend the life of your tires by that much? I seriously doubt it.

I'd love to hear from those who have driven far enough to be able to supply real numbers.

My $0.02.

baumgrenze

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A floor jack, a lugnut wrench, and 30 pleasant minutes in my garage. Free lifetime tire rotations. :roll:

derkraut said:

A floor jack, a lugnut wrench, and 30 pleasant minutes in my garage. Free lifetime tire rotations. :roll:

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Bought this a few months ago, because a standard jack won't fit under the Volt. Got it on sale for like $80. It's pretty awesome!

Done my own rotations for years, mostly because I don't want to pay to have it done, but also so my wheels don't get wrecked and the lug nuts over torqued.

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-ton-low-profile-steel-heavy-duty-floor-jack-with-rapid-pump-61282.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

consider my case. Got my leaf new in June 2013. Now it has 26,000 miles on it, about 8 percent battery degradation. Got the first year, will get the second year, this puts the estimated miles in June of 2016 at about 55,000 miles. The capacity warranty runs out at 60,000. approx. degradation by then 17 percent. There is no way my battery will need the capacity warranty as far as I can see. It still will be valid until the third battery check is due and if I see a problem I could have it done to keep the warranty up. Do you think the battery warranty itself is worth preserving? I have till 100000 miles, which would mean I will need to do the 3rd, 4th and 5th check to keep it active. What could go wrong with the battery except for capacity degradation, which is not covered after 60,000 miles. Is it worth me wasting the 160 bucks to keep it in force?

johnrhansen said:

... What could go wrong with the battery except for capacity degradation, which is not covered after 60,000 miles. Is it worth me wasting the 160 bucks to keep it in force?

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Individual cells could fail.
My battery is only 43 months old, Ah 53.5, Hx 77%. But the Cell Voltage Loss Inspection shows more than eight cell pairs weak at Very Low Battery Warning.
Still unclear how Nissan is going to handle these but it is possible some repairs or replacements are done on the standard warranty beyond the capacity warranty limits.
I plan to keep having the annual "test" done until all the warranties have expired just in case.
Battery cost is much lower than expected, you might get one for $4,200 at the right dealer.
But that is still a lot more than annual battery "tests".

Just had my third battery check done and was charged $27.60, based on 0.3 hours. While they were at it they also did the "P2501 Lower Apron Campaign" which I hadn't had done before.

My car loses the 36 month warranty on Monday but there just weren't any things for me to have them fix. Besides the battery being down more than 14% in capacity, the only major annoyance is the reduced regen after the P3227 software update and it doesn't appear that Nissan will ever fix that bug (I don't believe for a minute that the reduced regen actually protects the battery in any useful way).

dgpcolorado said:

Just had my third battery check done and was charged $27.60, based on 0.3 hours. While they were at it they also did the "P2501 Lower Apron Campaign" which I hadn't had done before.

My car loses the 36 month warranty on Monday but there just weren't any things for me to have them fix. Besides the battery being down more than 14% in capacity, the only major annoyance is the reduced regen after the P3227 software update and it doesn't appear that Nissan will ever fix that bug (I don't believe for a minute that the reduced regen actually protects the battery in any useful way).

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I agree with you, unlikely that Nissan will fix P3227.
We should all complain on the new LAB topic.
They are meeting with Nissan at some point, soon.

What is P2501?
Is that the fix for snow accumulation that Nissan chose to selectively apply?
If you live in Chattanooga where we only get a blizzard once in 25 to 100 years, they chose not to offer the fix :?:

TimLee said:

What is P2501?
Is that the fix for snow accumulation that Nissan chose to selectively apply?

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Yes.

TimLee said:

I agree with you, unlikely that Nissan will fix P3227.
We should all complain on the new LAB topic.
They are meeting with Nissan at some point, soon.

What is P2501?
Is that the fix for snow accumulation that Nissan chose to selectively apply?
If you live in Chattanooga where we only get a blizzard once in 25 to 100 years, they chose not to offer the fix :?:

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I got offered that fix several years ago but when I asked about it at the dealer they didn't know what I was talking about (back then). Several months ago the dealer sent me a postcard to the effect that it was an unfinished campaign for my car. I guess they are getting better about finding things to repair on the handful of LEAFs serviced at this remote location.

My LEAF sure has been a trouble free car thus far... I plan to keep the LEAF until the Model III comes out, assuming it is really affordable and Supercharger capable. If not, I'll have to decide between a new battery for the LEAF or a new, and presumably much longer range, LEAF.

I'm bringing my LEAF in the day before its 36 month anniversary so no charge for this 3rd battery check -- although this time no loaner (they switched back to rental cars at $30/min per day); basically they said if it needed additional warranty related work they would still provide a free one but not just for this ... I believe all other TSB's and campaigns have been taken care of (got the 'snow shield' and software that ruins the regen a bit one); someone mentioned a grabby brakes one but don't think that applies to my '12 SL but will check on the forum a bit more. We've only got a little over 26K at almost 3 years so perhaps 8,800 miles/year. Had a 'free' tire rotation that was offered by the dealer awhile ago and the brake fluid is still fine so that's it --- has anyone had to pay for the 3rd check at a Chicago area Nissan dealer yet?

As far as battery degradation --- quite close to losing the first bar (at an 80% charge, the next bar is gone in only 3 or 4 miles of driving; quite a bit longer if I go 100%; go figure?) so I'm sure our 'moderate' climate and low miles helps. All in all, quite inexpensive to maintain; just wish the heater in my '12 didn't take so long to warm up but the heated seats and steering wheel help a lot.