Call 12: Report juices Nissan to refund car

[ruimegas]

Call 12: Report juices Nissan to refund car

"A lot of Americans want to pay less at the pump, and Nissan gave them the means with a sporty new electric car called the Leaf.

But the car manufacturer this month released a Phoenix man from a $37,000 loan in order to resolve claims that the car was a lemon.

And this is not the first time. Nissan repurchased three other cars this year from Arizona residents who also complained that the car’s batteries were unable to hold charges.

Phoenix resident John Noble contacted Call 12 for Action after Nissan initially refused to buy back the car after a series of problems with the battery.

Nissan advertises that its Leaf can run 100 miles per charge. Noble said he was sold on the alternative-energy car and bought a blue one in November 2011.

Noble said he soon realized his battery life was depleting in the hot Arizona sun. He first started noticing changes in May, and his issues lasted all summer long. Noble estimates he lost 30 percent of his charge capacity in one year.

Nissan said only 20 percent of battery life will be lost after the first five years of ownership.

“It was extremely aggravating driving the car and (watching) mileage disappearing from it,” Noble said.

Other Nissan Leaf owners, including Randy Miller, have gotten the carmaker’s attention. Miller owns the website wiltingleaf.com. It’s where Leaf owners can go to complain about their battery-range issues.

In California, Leaf owners have filed a class-action lawsuit accusing Nissan of the same battery-depletion problem. Nissan officials said that lawsuit lacks merit.

Miller and three other former Leaf owners in the Valley were allowed to return their electric cars for a refund, but Noble wasn’t getting anywhere.

On Oct. 1, Call 12 for Action put Noble’s story on the air.

“I tried to work with Nissan for four months, and two days after the story aired, all of a sudden, Nissan was calling me,” Noble said.

The Japan-based carmaker used Arizona’s lemon law, which allows consumers to get their money back if they’ve bought a defective car, to buy back Noble’s car. Nissan gave him a check for nearly $7,000 and erased his $30,000 car-loan debt.

But the automaker insists its product is not a lemon. In a statement, Nissan Vice President David Reuter said the repurchase of vehicles was “in the interest of owner satisfaction” and described it as a “non-Lemon Law repurchase.”

He said the repurchase reflects no fault on the manufacturer.

“Just as with Mr. Miller, we used a buyback formula modeled on an Arizona state repurchase law, given its established criteria,” Reuter said in his statement. “The Arizona state repurchase law was only used for formula guidance in determining appropriate terms and conditions of the repurchase, including calculation of the repurchase amount.”

Noble accepts Nissan’s explanation. In fact, he bought another Nissan: a Versa, which is not an electric car.

Noble said Call 12 for Action made the difference in his case.

“We now have a new car, and thank you, Channel 12, for solving this, “ Noble said."

Em: http://www.azcentral.com/business/artic ... ck_check=1