...Ok so slight exaggeration, but going from 2 3/4 years of seamless driving to what so far has been a shambles - it certainly feels like when a BEV goes wrong they don't know how to fix it at nissan, and worse still as an organisation their customer service don't want to help.
So, 2 March I went to the car at 10pm and it lit up like a Christmas tree. As you can see from the dash below there is a big red box saying 'Warning. Service EV System. No power.' You can also see I have 17% battery. There was a loud alarm noise and when I tried to start/stop the car the ignition would not start. Sounded pretty serious to me. As I was at home and it late I thought I would ring it through in the morning.
![141732]( "141732")
3 March - I went the car first thing in the morning to check I was still having the same issue and low behold - the ignition started. It was almost as if nothing had ever gone wrong! I now have a car that is fine one minute and broken down the next - not good.
1st phone call was to Nissan Bolton – which is part of the Retail Group. Was given an appt in 2 weeks! I think I was speaking to reception, but was not that impressed. Telling me that ‘because the issue has disappeared, we may not get to the bottom of it’ – is cobblers.
2nd phone call was to Nissan UK (Customer Service). The first lady I spoke to said ‘just call breakdown, they will collect your car and take it to the garage.’ I did question this as it wasn’t broken down. I also asked if they could do remote diagnostics and she confirmed they could, so she put me through to the breakdown line. Of course, they advised they only attend breakdowns and can’t do battery diagnostics.
3rd phone call to Nissan UK (Customer Service). This agent told me whatever the previous agent said was rubbish, but then said my only options were either to breakdown again or get a service dealer to look at the car. When I explain that the dealer appt was 2 weeks away and that I didn’t want to get stranded as I have a 5 month baby, the only help that was offered was to send me a list of dealerships to ring round. The agent did confirm that the error was going to happen again. So now you can see my situation – very low chance of getting a dealer to look at the car and in order to get a closer date I need to look farther afield, not ideal with a baby. Other option to wait till I breakdown …effectively I can’t use the car – I can’t get stranded with the baby or without.
In the meantime I’m tweeting @nissanuk to see that this will achieve. They are replying to give the team a call so they can ‘look into it.’ I make 4th call Nissan UK (Customer Service). The agent asks me if I have checked the manual for the error. I haven’t. reading 400 pages of manual isn’t a hobby of mine. They look for the error and can’t find anything. We end up having the same conversation.
That evening about to go shopping and there is a new error on the dash - 'Warning. When Parked Apply Parking Brake.' When I put the car in park, the error is still there. When I turn the ignition off, it briefly turns off, but then the ignition starts up. Try this a few times, but there is no way I can turn the ignition off. I make a video and go indoors. The car ignition is on car is unlocked – have to leave it in this state all night.
![141733]( "141733")
4 March - Call breakdown. They don’t have my vehicle details but they dispatch a vehicle once I explain all the crap I have been through. They tell me will take 90 minutes, but an engineer rings me after 10 minutes. RAC engineer arrives. I explain the history. Without even looking at the vehicle he says it needs to go to the dealer. He confirms they don’t have tools/training to do battery diagnostics. He asks if I can drive the car to the dealer, but I am home alone with the young one. He drives the car to the dealer for me! He is back shortly after being given a lift back from a colleague. Says the dealer didn’t have a courtesy car, so RAC will get Enterprise to deliver a car to me. He leaves – I must say I was impressed with RAC.
Enterprise call, but I need to collect the vehicle. The depot is 8 miles away. It is also a 4 day lease. I advise I’ll speak to the dealer as I cannot collect and may need a car longer than 4 days. I’m still tweeting and Nissan Customer Service advise me that a case has been raised and that I have been assigned a case manager!
5 March – I get an email from my case manager. It is a rather long email, but most importantly:
they can’t even get through to the dealer for an update
Enterprise will organise the courtesy car
I ring the dealer and have no issue getting through. In fact, I speak the with the lead engineer. I give him the background of the 2 errors and he advises this is useful as they were not aware of this. They are just beginning their investigation.
I give Enterprise a call. They have found a branch closer to me and I’m able to get there to pick up the courtesy car.
…so here we are. I have a courtesy car to keep me going, but as of yet have no idea what is going on with my car. I will post updates as I receive them.
So, 2 March I went to the car at 10pm and it lit up like a Christmas tree. As you can see from the dash below there is a big red box saying 'Warning. Service EV System. No power.' You can also see I have 17% battery. There was a loud alarm noise and when I tried to start/stop the car the ignition would not start. Sounded pretty serious to me. As I was at home and it late I thought I would ring it through in the morning.
3 March - I went the car first thing in the morning to check I was still having the same issue and low behold - the ignition started. It was almost as if nothing had ever gone wrong! I now have a car that is fine one minute and broken down the next - not good.
1st phone call was to Nissan Bolton – which is part of the Retail Group. Was given an appt in 2 weeks! I think I was speaking to reception, but was not that impressed. Telling me that ‘because the issue has disappeared, we may not get to the bottom of it’ – is cobblers.
2nd phone call was to Nissan UK (Customer Service). The first lady I spoke to said ‘just call breakdown, they will collect your car and take it to the garage.’ I did question this as it wasn’t broken down. I also asked if they could do remote diagnostics and she confirmed they could, so she put me through to the breakdown line. Of course, they advised they only attend breakdowns and can’t do battery diagnostics.
3rd phone call to Nissan UK (Customer Service). This agent told me whatever the previous agent said was rubbish, but then said my only options were either to breakdown again or get a service dealer to look at the car. When I explain that the dealer appt was 2 weeks away and that I didn’t want to get stranded as I have a 5 month baby, the only help that was offered was to send me a list of dealerships to ring round. The agent did confirm that the error was going to happen again. So now you can see my situation – very low chance of getting a dealer to look at the car and in order to get a closer date I need to look farther afield, not ideal with a baby. Other option to wait till I breakdown …effectively I can’t use the car – I can’t get stranded with the baby or without.
In the meantime I’m tweeting @nissanuk to see that this will achieve. They are replying to give the team a call so they can ‘look into it.’ I make 4th call Nissan UK (Customer Service). The agent asks me if I have checked the manual for the error. I haven’t. reading 400 pages of manual isn’t a hobby of mine. They look for the error and can’t find anything. We end up having the same conversation.
That evening about to go shopping and there is a new error on the dash - 'Warning. When Parked Apply Parking Brake.' When I put the car in park, the error is still there. When I turn the ignition off, it briefly turns off, but then the ignition starts up. Try this a few times, but there is no way I can turn the ignition off. I make a video and go indoors. The car ignition is on car is unlocked – have to leave it in this state all night.
4 March - Call breakdown. They don’t have my vehicle details but they dispatch a vehicle once I explain all the crap I have been through. They tell me will take 90 minutes, but an engineer rings me after 10 minutes. RAC engineer arrives. I explain the history. Without even looking at the vehicle he says it needs to go to the dealer. He confirms they don’t have tools/training to do battery diagnostics. He asks if I can drive the car to the dealer, but I am home alone with the young one. He drives the car to the dealer for me! He is back shortly after being given a lift back from a colleague. Says the dealer didn’t have a courtesy car, so RAC will get Enterprise to deliver a car to me. He leaves – I must say I was impressed with RAC.
Enterprise call, but I need to collect the vehicle. The depot is 8 miles away. It is also a 4 day lease. I advise I’ll speak to the dealer as I cannot collect and may need a car longer than 4 days. I’m still tweeting and Nissan Customer Service advise me that a case has been raised and that I have been assigned a case manager!
5 March – I get an email from my case manager. It is a rather long email, but most importantly:
they can’t even get through to the dealer for an update
Enterprise will organise the courtesy car
I ring the dealer and have no issue getting through. In fact, I speak the with the lead engineer. I give him the background of the 2 errors and he advises this is useful as they were not aware of this. They are just beginning their investigation.
I give Enterprise a call. They have found a branch closer to me and I’m able to get there to pick up the courtesy car.
…so here we are. I have a courtesy car to keep me going, but as of yet have no idea what is going on with my car. I will post updates as I receive them.
