The battery replacement/buyback thread.

[BillaBong]

Just thought I'd share my experience with Nissan's battery warranty.

My 2017 Nissan Leaf hit 8 bars recently, so I went to a dealership and applied for a replacement battery back in February of this year. They've allowed me to keep my car in the meantime, but it's been about 8 months and still no word on when a replacement battery will be available. I've called the dealership a couple times over the past several months to check on the status of the replacement, but they always just tell me that there are no battery shipments in sight, and that they have no idea when they'll be able to get me a replacement.

Eventually I got tired of waiting, so I called Nissan CA to inquire about a buyback. They called me back the very next day and said that they were going to decline to offer a buyback, citing that my car was not in bad enough condition to qualify for one or something, and that I should just continue waiting for a battery. I asked them if they knew when a battery would be available and they said they had no idea. I didn't bother arguing with them, and I instead just opened a case with BBB Auto Line. Hopefully this'll get resolved soon, 'cuz I'm tired of just waiting around. I'll post an update here if anything significant happens.

[LeftieBiker]

Nissan has in the past generally abided by BBB decisions, IIRC.

[SageBrush]

They called me back the very next day and said that they were going to decline to offer a buyback, citing that my car was not in bad enough condition to qualify for one or something,

That is Nissan customer support BS. Write them a letter

Nissan continues to amaze me just how bad it is, and that is saying something since I've put them in the awful basket for years now. In general I think class action lawsuits only enrich lawyers but in this case Nissan should be sued by the entire group getting jerked around and stomped on.

[dean]

There's a report on reddit of a 2018 getting a new warranty replacement in 3 weeks.
https://www.reddit.com/r/leaf/comments/ ... ith_86000/

Lends credibility to the theory that there are batteries available, and that they are prioritizing Gen2 cars.

[DaveinOlyWA]

There's a report on reddit of a 2018 getting a new warranty replacement in 3 weeks.
https://www.reddit.com/r/leaf/comments/ ... ith_86000/

Lends credibility to the theory that there are batteries available, and that they are prioritizing Gen2 cars.

Could have been waiting 9 months for it...

[crimsona]

There's a report on reddit of a 2018 getting a new warranty replacement in 3 weeks.
https://www.reddit.com/r/leaf/comments/ ... ith_86000/

Lends credibility to the theory that there are batteries available, and that they are prioritizing Gen2 cars.

Could have been waiting 9 months for it...

Post says 3 weeks, and submission history concurs.

Only went shopping and purchased 7 months ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/leaf/comments/ ... _only_15k/

https://www.reddit.com/r/leaf/comments/ ... e_with_me/

Brought it into dealer only 2 weeks ago and was quoted 2 weeks https://www.reddit.com/r/leaf/comments/ ... t_luckily/

[SpaceCadet]

Okay, so here’s my goodbye post. I no longer own a Leaf. I got a check from Morely about a month ago and figure the statute of limitations has passed. Here’s my story and two cents for anyone it helps:
Bought a used 2017 in February for $11,200 at 8 bars from a Non-Nissan dealer who didn’t know what they had (golden ticket).

Took it to a Nissan dealer to get in line for a battery repair or replacement. Waited 3 months and kept driving the car.

Asked the dealer for the number for Nissan Corporate in late June and called to ask when I could expect the repair to be completed. Vehicle had dropped to 7 bars in the meanwhile.

They referred my case to consumer relations. I got a buyback offer of ~10,000 after about two weeks. I negotiated them up to 14,500 over the course of a day or two and accepted the buyback.

It took about 2 more weeks to get cleared to meet with Morely. Then that meeting was scheduled 1 week out from when the deal was cleared and I was given the number for Morely.

I turned over the car in late August and deposited the check the same day.

I appreciate Nissan paying me a few thousand dollars to drive an EV for a few months. All told, I probably spent 10 hours of my time buying/moving/calling/negotiating the car and buyback, so that’s a pretty good payout.

It was a fun car, but I learned that I prefer PHEVs. I got turtled for the first and last time on the way to the meeting with Morley because I was accelerating hard on the freeway, no longer concerned about battery life or having enough juice to make my commute. I noticed that the battery had been rapidly degrading (and acting weird) over the last few weeks I owned it.

This is my opinion: Look up your state’s lemon laws to know what to expect from a buyback offer. Nissan will likely offer you the minimum required by law. If you bought used, you probably saved them a bundle. Keep in mind that if you insist on holding out for a battery, that means they will have to pay out for a more expensive car which takes the buyback. I don’t know if you can negotiate as well in states with weak lemon laws, but I would assume so. I expect most of the battery replacements are going to states like California.

From their language, I suspect--with no proof--that they have batteries coming out, but they want to put them in the vehicles that will cost more to buyback. If I had bought mine new, they would have had to pay ~16,000 per the lemon laws in my state, so I figure it was a good deal for all involved. I also got some local incentives for buying a used EV. I didn’t wait to get the federal used EV tax credit, because that can only be taken once every 3 years, and I intend to buy a different qualifying used PHEV before the end of this year.

Anyway, that’s my story. Use it for a data point if you like. Good luck to all those waiting for batteries or negotiating with Nissan!

[dean]

Bought a used 2017 in February for $11,200 [...]
[...] I negotiated them up to 14,500 over the course of a day or two and accepted the buyback.

Wow... congrats. You got more than you paid for the car...

So, I'm sure you paid tax/tag/title above and beyond the purchase price, is that how you got up to the $14,500? Or were there other factors to account for the increased payout?

[mitrals]

After waiting for months I got fed up And called nissan. They were quick to offer a buyback. The buyback was exactly what I paid for the car when I bought it. It was hardly driven so there was no mileage deduction. I should be able to buy a Gen 2 for a tad bit more than what I am getting for my 16 sl

[jolijokan]

Hello,

I just wanted to share my experience as well in the hope others can at least have more information as they deal with their situations.

I live in Missouri, and my 2016 Leaf SL hit the 8 bar warranty state at the beginning of May. After being approved for a replacement battery, I waited 4 months before beginning to actively contact the dealership and Nissan Consumer Affairs for updates. Last week, I was contacted by an arbitration specialist with a buy back offer.
I purchased my Leaf used in 2021 for $11,300.00 and the initial offer was the purchase price minus usage, which they calculate to be $1968.23, so the offer was $9331.77.
I declined stating that it was nowhere near replacement cost and after a few back and forth emails, the offer was raised to the full purchase price of $11,300.00.
I declined again, stating that there was no way I could get a replacement electric vehicle with only 50,000 miles, still almost 2 years on a battery warranty, and with all the premium features of the SL.
I proposed an offer of $15,000.00 that included expenses I'd incured on the vehicle (new tires, new 12v. battery, annual battery checkup fee, and a hardship fee for having to deal with a warranty violated battery situation for these past 5 months).
The arbitrator refused to budge on the offer and I refused with the case being closed today.
For reference, my arbitrator's name was Sherry.
For me personally, I was not looking for a gold mine-- I simply wanted to "be made whole" with the opportunity to get a replacement vehicle that would be comparable to my current vehicle with warranty coverage.
I am now attempting to pursue getting a loaner EV vehicle while I wait for a battery replacement.