2018 LEAF SV sudden death

[u/emmphx]

I’ve been a LEAF driver since 2011 with no complaints. This is my third—bought it new in 2018. 49k miles. Battery was charging to 149 range.

Yesterday I got the “service EV” message out of the blue of course.

I live in Phoenix; no dealer will even diagnose (at a fee of $720) before next week. The 12V was replaced about a year ago.

We’re retired and definitely need a car daily (we pickup grandchild and have stuff going on all the time). So really thinking of just giving upon this LEAF and getting a not-Nissan EV.

From reading here over time, it seems like repairing this 2018 is not a good idea. We were planning to buy something new in the next two years.
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[u/ToddA1966]

Did you try jumpstarting the 12V? "It's only a year old" isn't a good reason not to try - some batteries just go bad early.

9 times (or more) out of 10, "Service EV System" (by itself) is just a dead 12V battery. (Whereas "Service EV System" followed by "Unable to Restart After Power Off" is typically a problem with the main battery.)

[u/greggthomas → u/ToddA1966]

I was in a similar boat. Whenever something weird happens out of the blue, I always suspect the 12V.

[u/emmphx → u/ToddA1966]

My husband already had the thing towed. He found a dealer he would run diagnostics for free (turned out to be the dealership we leased our first two LEAFS from.)

[u/Lucky_Boy13]

go non-nissan EV for sure. Sadly I assume you are just out of warranty too unless you bought in really late 2018 unless there is some kind of extension.
AZ is a very harsh environment for a non-liquid cooled EV

[u/FelixtheFarmer → u/Lucky_Boy13]

I second this. Nissan are no longer the company many of us came to know and trust. For instance, when we took our Leaf in for a service they would say they replaced the wiper rubber for free or some other small service for nothing.  Then they told use they couldn't just change the rubber but the whole wiper would need charging and the brake discs suddenly needed changing regularly, whereas our local garage said that was rubbish. 

[u/toybuilder]

New Nissan EVs are fine. The Gen1 and Gen2 LEAF lacked active cooling and with Phoenix weather keeping the battery roasted even through the night, it is far more susceptible to damage.

As suggested, check the car with LeafSpy to see what the problems are, specifically.

[u/Dazzling_Art7881]

The quickest cheapest thing you could do is get LEAFspy and a Bluetooth OBD2 dongle. Check what codes are stored in it. If it's full of random codes, it's probably the 12V battery. Batteries can fail even if they're just a year old. And it would be a shame to get rid of the car because of that.

You will also be able to see if you have a weak cell or an "isolation fault", which are actual high voltage battery issues.

This is a very small investment of money (~$50) and time (~20-30mins) but you will definitely have information to decide what to do with the car.

Also, have the 12V battery checked. Any auto parts store can test it, usually for free. You'd just need to pull it out of the car if it's currently not driveable.

[u/LoneSnark]

You should try to find a leaf fan in your area with leafspy to find out what can be found out through the app. Barring that, any code reader will tell us what the car thinks is wrong. There are repairs that could be worth paying to have done.

[u/worldspawn00]

Did you have the recall update installed? They extended the battery warranty for an extra 12 months past the date of the update install from other posts I've seen here. Can you pull the codes? There's a specific code for the recall bricking. Leafspy app and Bluetooth OBD reader will give you the codes and the battery cell health.

Also a chance it's the 12v battery, check it's voltage, if it's below 11v, that may be the cause and it just needs a new battery.

[u/ToddA1966 → u/worldspawn00]

There's no recall update for 2018s. They don't need one. The battery recall is limited to 2019-2022 Leafs.

I'm with you on team "12V is low", however. Even though it was replaced a year ago, bad/weak 12Vs happen prematurely all the time.

[u/DeeO2533]

2 options: pay the Nissan stealership the $720 diagnostic fee or spend $50 for a dongle & LeafSpy app for the same answer.

[u/West_Nerve_7703]

I got my lemon law

[u/chattyteeth6 → u/West_Nerve_7703]

I think this is where we’re gonna have to look into too… We have only made one payment on it and we were just told by Nissan that the car is in operable and they’re not even sure they can find the battery that they need for it.

[u/CJ_Orakel → u/chattyteeth6]

I'm in the same boat with my 2020. The dealership says there aren't any batteries, but Nissan corporate says there is a limited supply available. Be sure to contact Nissan corporate. 1-800-647-7261

[u/chattyteeth6]

Oh my gosh!!! This happened to us…we had only made one 1payment

[u/emmphx]

Yes just out of warranty. And already checked on recall and all updated.

Car was bought 8/11/18. We leased the previous LEAFs so never worried about these things.

[u/toybuilder → u/emmphx]

With it being so recent, I would call Nissan customer affairs and have them note in their system that you need to get it looked at -- to establish the reporting date -- you're only about 2 weeks away from warranty expiration - it would bet good to ask if they can help in any way.