Missoula Nissan Hyundai and Leaf Brakes

Not my car, but can happen with abrupt braking!

Many Leaf owners report that their brakes feel "grabby" at low speeds.  That it to say that the brakes either 1)don't act strongly enough or 2)act too forcefully relative to the amount of pressure applied to the pedal.  It's like you're either slamming on the brakes or barely touching them.  It can make your driving less smooth and potentially exposes the Leaf driver to a rear-ending.  It can also result in your passenger's latte ending up outside the cup.

Nissan has recognized this and has a few service bulletins out to correct it.  Because it's a recognized problem affecting the brakes, I assumed the software update would be no cost for Leaf owners.  Safety first, right?

Yeah, we'll charge for that.

Missoula Nissan Hyundai does not agree and charged me $112 for the service.  Yes, I know, I should have at least had verbal confirmation of the cost before I consented to the work.  Or better yet had it in writing.  But I didn't.  My belief is that two parties doing business can both act reasonably.

I haven't noticed an improvement in brake performance, so I called Missoula Nissan Hyundai today and expressed my desire to return the software for a full refund.  I don't know if the service person took me seriously.  It seems reasonable to me that if a customer pays for some benefit and doesn't receive it, he ought not pay.  I believe attorneys say "no conferred benefit, no consideration."

I'm surprised that Missoula Nissan Hyundai even charged for a brake-related software update...it creates the appearance that it cares more about its bottom line than the safety of its customers.  It is quick to tell me that my brake update was "not a recall", but rather an optional performance upgrade to the brakes.

I might remind Nissan that it's cheaper to put safety first, and that it ought to oblige its dealers to do anything remotely safety-related at no cost.  I don't think anyone outside of Missoula Nissan Hyundai believes that correcting a braking defect is an optional upgrade.

Hyundai tried a similar argument when a barely-defective steering knuckle failure resulted in Trevor Olson's Hyundai Tiburon veering into oncoming traffic on highway 93.  The 19-year-old Olson and his younger cousin died in that accident, and the jury was angered to hear Hyundai try to blame the Olsons for the fatal crash.  The result was a lot of bad publicity and a $150 million-dollar judgement against Hyundai.

Upgrading a stereo or adding comfort features are optional, sure.  But brake performance?  Come on, that's safety.

The bottom line is don't give excuses, just fix it.