Will Nissan replace my battery more than once under warranty?

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azleafowner

Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2022
Messages
7
Quick history on my car, it's a 2016 Nissan leaf SL. The original owner had the battery replaced under warranty in 2018 after only 15,000 miles, it had gotten down to seven bars. They replaced the battery under warranty and I purchased the car shortly after.

Since taking ownership in 2018, the new battery just hit eight bars again this month. The car only has 29,000 miles on it, so to me the battery degradation seems way too high.

I did some searching on the forum but I could not find a thread about a situation like mine. Can someone help me determine if Nissan would still potentially replace my battery under warranty? I'm trying to do as much research as I can on my own before going to Nissan.
 
Welcome. I'm not certain of this, but if I recall correctly, warranty replacements have something like a 1 year warranty. If the previous owner had bought the battery outright, then it would have the full warranty. If I have that correct, then you have my sympathy. Others will correct or confirm what I wrote.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Welcome. I'm not certain of this, but if I recall correctly, warranty replacements have something like a 1 year warranty. If the previous owner had bought the battery outright, then it would have the full warranty. If I have that correct, then you have my sympathy. Others will correct or confirm what I wrote.

Hoping that's not the case! Yikes 😬
 
Since you have a 2016 SL, it should have a 30 kWh battery which should have the 8-year, 100,000-mile factory warranty which covers capacity loss at 8 bars or lower. If so, then it would be under Nissan warranty until 8 years after the car was first placed into service or 100,000 miles on the odometer, whichever comes first (regardless of the number of battery replacements). I don't know where you are located in Arizona, but I have had good sales and service experiences with Pinnacle Nissan in Scottsdale. They have done numerous battery replacements (including on my 2011 which was done in one day--dropped off in the morning and picked up in the afternoon).
 
Good point, Gerry. I think that what I was remembering was what happens in cases where the factory warranty on the 24kwh packs expires after the replacement is installed but before it drops to 8 bars.
 
GerryAZ said:
Since you have a 2016 SL, it should have a 30 kWh battery which should have the 8-year, 100,000-mile factory warranty which covers capacity loss at 8 bars or lower. If so, then it would be under Nissan warranty until 8 years after the car was first placed into service or 100,000 miles on the odometer, whichever comes first (regardless of the number of battery replacements). I don't know where you are located in Arizona, but I have had good sales and service experiences with Pinnacle Nissan in Scottsdale. They have done numerous battery replacements (including on my 2011 which was done in one day--dropped off in the morning and picked up in the afternoon).

I'm in Chandler so it's not too far of a drive, although with my current range I won't be able to make it home unless they give me a charge up or new battery 😂

I'll give them a shot, thanks! I'll report back here eventually with my outcome just in case anyone else runs into the situation.
 
azleafowner said:
GerryAZ said:
Since you have a 2016 SL, it should have a 30 kWh battery which should have the 8-year, 100,000-mile factory warranty which covers capacity loss at 8 bars or lower. If so, then it would be under Nissan warranty until 8 years after the car was first placed into service or 100,000 miles on the odometer, whichever comes first (regardless of the number of battery replacements). I don't know where you are located in Arizona, but I have had good sales and service experiences with Pinnacle Nissan in Scottsdale. They have done numerous battery replacements (including on my 2011 which was done in one day--dropped off in the morning and picked up in the afternoon).

I'm in Chandler so it's not too far of a drive, although with my current range I won't be able to make it home unless they give me a charge up or new battery 😂

I'll give them a shot, thanks! I'll report back here eventually with my outcome just in case anyone else runs into the situation.

They will need to do some testing and order the battery, but install is a one-day deal after it arrives. They have DCQC and L2 charging so they should be able to make sure you can get home. There are also a couple of EVgo stations along the route between Chandler and Scottsdale.
 
Quick update here - I ended up taking my Leaf up to Pinnacle Nissan in Scottsdale. They confirmed it qualified for replacement under warranty and ordered the new battery. They said the replacements were running 4-8 weeks out, and they'll reach out to schedule the installation once they get it in.
 
Better luck with your new battery. It should start at 40 kWh this time, and last four years. :lol:
 
SageBrush said:
Better luck with your new battery. It should start at 40 kWh this time, and last four years. :lol:
AZleafowner got 4 years out of the first replacement (30 kWh) battery so the better chemistry and larger initial capacity of the 40 kWh battery should make it last a lot longer.
 
GerryAZ said:
SageBrush said:
Better luck with your new battery. It should start at 40 kWh this time, and last four years. :lol:
AZleafowner got 4 years out of the first replacement (30 kWh) battery so the better chemistry and larger initial capacity of the 40 kWh battery should make it last a lot longer.
At this point, I think we can say there's a night and day difference between the 30kWh packs and the newer packs; I bet the 30kWh pack is even worse than my original 24kWh pack.
I think you will get many years/miles of use out of the 40kWh pack.
 
I would say the 30kWh packs vary widely. I have one in my 2017 S and it is doing great. 31k miles, almost 5 years old, 91.5% SOH last I looked about 2 weeks ago. IIRC, DaveinOlympia also had a 30kWh pack that was doing very well until the car was crashed.
 
goldbrick said:
I would say the 30kWh packs vary widely. I have one in my 2017 S and it is doing great. 31k miles, almost 5 years old, 91.5% SOH last I looked about 2 weeks ago. IIRC, DaveinOlympia also had a 30kWh pack that was doing very well until the car was crashed.

Yes. There seem to be good 30kwh packs, poor ones, and fair examples. It's either one of the most egregious examples of poor quality control I've seen, or there was some issue beyond Nissan's quality control at their battery factory.
 
LeftieBiker said:
goldbrick said:
I would say the 30kWh packs vary widely. I have one in my 2017 S and it is doing great. 31k miles, almost 5 years old, 91.5% SOH last I looked about 2 weeks ago. IIRC, DaveinOlympia also had a 30kWh pack that was doing very well until the car was crashed.

Yes. There seem to be good 30kwh packs, poor ones, and fair examples. It's either one of the most egregious examples of poor quality control I've seen, or there was some issue beyond Nissan's control at their battery factory.

Or, just very/more sensitive to degradation at high temperatures. The OP, (and me too) are in Phoenix Metro area.
My 30kw 2017 has lost so far only two bars at 31,000 miles but I've babyed it to a ridiculous extent... (e.g. rarely drive on the highway, I charge it outside overnight because it's way cooler than in the garage, never use heat, rarely use AC, I keep it charged between 20 and 80 percent,

I'm definitely looking forward to getting a 40 KW replacement under warranty someday 😁
 
Battery capacity is measured in kWh, not kw or KW.

The blazing hot temps in Phoenix combined w/no battery cooling are the problem.
 
Quick update - just dropped off the car today to get the replacement installed. It took 11 weeks for the dealership to receive the replacement after it was ordered. They confirmed its the new 40kWh pack :D

Even with the better chemistry of the new battery, I've been considering adding a mini ductless A/C like this https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ductles...nverter-220V-60Hz-DA1221-H2/300696598#overlay to my garage to take the edge off at night while charging. I just can't imagine it's good for any car battery to be kept at sustained high temps for so many months of the year.

Curious if anyone else has considered/done this and if it would be worth the cost in the long run
 
I have an old window A/C unit in the garage, and I used that on a timer in hot weather for a few years. It made less difference than Nissan's Gen II BMS algorithm. Not to say that what you propose is a bad idea, just suggesting that you can do the minimum with it, running it overnight only on the hottest nights, and maybe for an hour or so on normally warm nights.
 
I mean that cooling the garage did not stop my car from experiencing the typical Gen II first year ~5% drop in SOH. The Gen II battery BMS seems to be programmed to 'pretend' to monitor and report the actual SOH, but to actually, at least at first, more or less follow a programmed set of readings.
 
Final update from me here. New battery was installed without any issues. Range shows 143 miles now when fully charged! We're thrilled, it feels like a brand new car.
 
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