Advice to potential Nissan Ariya purchasers - DON'T!

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Are you satisfied with the products and services that you receive as an Ariya owner?

Yes
4
33%
No
4
33%
The jury is still out
4
33%
 
Total votes: 12

GraceCourt
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2024 11:57 am

Post by GraceCourt »

The messages below have been sent to Nissan Motor GB Limited and are self-explanatory.

Subject: Nissan Ariya [redacted] - VIN JN1TBAFE[redacted]
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2024 23:34:18 +0000
To: Nissan Motor GB Limited - Customer Services <gb@nissan-services.eu>
CC: Nissan Automotive Europe S.A.S. - Product Communications <nreeve@nissan-europe.com>

It's annoying, but not any surprise, that you have neither acknowledged nor responded to my complaints dated 23 October 2024 (copy attached) about the above vehicle, specifically the unexplained breakdown we experienced on 29 September 2024, our inability to get through to Nissan UK Breakdown on the published telephone number 0330 123 1231, your non-response to my complaint left on the "Option 2" answering service on that number when we were unable to obtain breakdown assistance, and the cessation of NissanConnect services for our vehicle after 12 months in stark contrast to the previous policy applied to all Nissan Leaf models, which are (almost?) all cheaper than the Nissan Ariya.

As advised in that message, it has now been published publicly together with the fact that there has been no response from you despite its successful delivery to you. I have also copied this message to Nissan's Product Communications in order that they can be made aware of these problems. They might also be interested that our 12-month Nissan warranty service has confirmed that the vehicle's cam belt, coolant level, exhaust system, and oil level are all OK, which is somewhat puzzling, as the vehicle is fully electric and therefore doesn't have any of these.

Finally, whilst awaiting the completion of this service, I was struck by the schoolboy howlers in the Nissan presentation being displayed in the Service Centre (photographs attached), which helps to show the somewhat lacking level of quality control exercised by Nissan over its vehicles and services. You will not be surprised to hear that our Ariya will now be traded in for a Volvo EX40, as advised in our complaint.

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Nissan Ariya [redacted] - VIN JN1TBAFE[redacted]
Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2024 23:33:12 +0100
To: Nissan Motor GB Limited - Customer Services <gb@nissan-services.eu>

We have today had our 2023 Nissan Ariya serviced by our local Nissan Service Centre in order to maintain the Nissan warranty, but we wanted to give you feedback on why we are now going to replace it with a new Volvo EX40.

With only 4,000 miles on the odometer and being only 11 months old, this vehicle broke down on Sunday 29 September on our journey home after a few days in Wales with our younger daughter and her husband. The car displayed "EV System Failure" and slowed to only a few miles per hour thus enabling us to stop safely at the side of the road, the A51 Chester trunk road. Calls to Nissan UK 24-hour assistance on 0330 123 1231 (option 1) were simply dropped instead of being connected, and after leaving a recorded message using option 2, complaining about being unable to contact your breakdown service, we contacted the RAC directly. There was, of course, subsequently no response whatsoever from you to my complaint. My wife was collected by another family member and taken home.

An RAC patrol attended the breakdown and confirmed the "EV System Failure" fault but could not clear it. He advised that the vehicle is too heavy to tow and therefore it would require removal by a breakdown service to a Nissan Service Centre, but some three hours after the breakdown, whilst awaiting the breakdown vehicle, the "EV System Failure" fault disappeared and I decided to drive the vehicle home. It was subsequently examined by Holdcroft Nissan Crewe on 10 October but no explanation could be given for the breakdown, and my wife now refuses to drive our car on the understandable basis that she is 72 years old and does not feel that she would be safe if the car again breaks down and Nissan UK Assistance is again uncontactable.

In addition, our Intelligent Octopus Go charging system stopped working on 19 October because only the first 12 months of NissanConnect services are included when purchasing a new Nissan... according to the Nissan Shop on the NissanConnect app, it would cost well over £2,400/year (7.96 Euros/day) to renew all four relevant NissanConnect subscriptions. A new Volvo EX40 is around the same price as we paid for the Ariya - £55k - but the equivalent subscriptions are free for four years. Debate on Ariya public forums about Nissan's policy of charging for NissanConnect services after only 12 months for a top-end SUV are largely negative about this although it has been suggested that the renewal prices listed on the Nissan Shop on the NissanConnect app are inaccurate.

Finally, we generally get no response from you to our correspondence, but we reserve the right to publish the above information, together with any response you choose to provide, in the public domain. If you make no response, I shall simply state that "Nissan Motors GB Limited failed to respond".


As stated, Nissan Motor GB Limited has neither acknowledged nor responded to my original message, after one week. As acknowledged on another thread here, many of you will be happy with your Ariyas, but we aren't, and it's only fair for others to read about the service that they can expect from Nissan in the UK.

Nissan 2.jpg

Nissan 1.jpg

Nissan Ariya 178kW Evolve 87kWh (Oct 2023) - Burgundy & Pearl Black

kcp
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2024 3:00 pm

Post by kcp »

Nissan assist, Nissan Customer Services and breakdown issues
This is a lengthy blog but stick with it as it will give you a flavour of what happens when your Aryia breaks down and you have to call Nissan assist ( NA).
• So you have just bought your Nissan Aryia and very nice cars they are to drive.
• The purchase comes with a manufacturer warranty and Nissan Assist breakdown service which you may not have read page to page with its T & C as was the case with me.
• The headline provision for Nissan assist is just that, if you breakdown we will come out and help you, if we cannot do a roadside repair, we will tow the car to a Nissan dealer and assist you with your return journey home.
• The return journey has provision for arranging a hire car, overnight stay or your choice of using public transport the cost of which Nissan will cover, but this has its own T & C so please read.
• This sounds very comforting but in practise it’s not as rosy as it is made out.
• To begin with NA has terms and conditions and the roadside repair is provided by RAC.
• RAC or AA membership is something we are all likely to have through our own purchase via car insurance, corporate freebie through banking etc so NA is not really worth that much from a recovery point of view.
• What is not clear is when you breakdown whether you are compelled to or required to use NA when you breakdown to safeguard your warranty.
• It is unclear to me as I write if you can use a private membership of a recognised recovery service to have the vehicle taken to a Nissan dealership of your choosing.
• I bring this up because under the terms of NA ( and warranry? ) if you breakdown outside a 60 miles ( 100Km) radius and a roadside repair is not possible than RAC will tow your vehicle to the nearest Nissan dealership from the breakdown and will not take the vehicle to your own Nissan dealership.
• Once your vehicle is delivered to a Nissan dealership along with you then for the onward journey back home you are reliant on the NA customer service to arrange transport and this a process, I found most unsatisfactory.
• Using your own private membership of RAC, AA etc does not leave you with a problem of getting back home as you are taken back in the tow truck.
• As things stand this is what happened to me.
• In my case a roadside fix was not possible, and as I had broken down some 200 miles away from home a place which I was not familiar with, RAC had no choice under NA rules but to take me to the nearest Nissan dealership.
• In my case this was only 100 yards across the road.
• Also I did not have to travel in the tow truck as I was able to walk across to the dealership whilst RAC mechanic was loading the car up on his truck.
• The initial RAC mechanic who determined no roadside repair status had arranged for the tow truck and had given me some numbers to dial for assistance to get back home and also said that everything was booked in with the dealer across the road.
• When I arrived at the dealership and explained what had happened, they did not have any request to expect my car and did not know what I was talking about other than to appreciate that I had broken down, and I owned a Nissan Aryia from number plate check.
• I was also informed that RAC do not book in and the dealers only find out when the tow truck arrives.
• I suppose their main concern is who is paying and, in this instance, not too difficult to verify form their own data base that the car is under warranty so Nissan should pay and they obviously have to accept the vehicle I presume as a condition of their Nissan dealership.
• When the tow truck came there was no room in their compound, so RAC had to take my car to a secure compound and bring it back the following day.
• My car is now booked in so I need to get home which is when the fun begins.
• During the wait for the tow truck to arrive I phone the number given to me by the RAC mechanic.
• I found that the number I rang was incorrect, so I was transferred elsewhere.
• From here on it was a case of merry go round with pass the parcel.
• One party says nothing to do with us RAC should organise transport, RAC says no we don’t.
• Eventually I am advised that the dealership where the car is taken should give me a courtesy car.
• By the time my car had registered at the dealership it was getting close to 6pm and as I was told in the merry go round that the dealership would give me the car so I naturally enquired about the courtesy car.
• The look on the receptionist face told me all I needed to know but she politely just said sorry they have no courtesy cars available.
• It is now 6.10pm and I am in unfamiliar territory.
• NA I understand only work office hours and the numbers given if dialled after office hours are redirected to their third party out of hours providers.
• I phone NA out of hours team to explain that Nissan dealer has no cars I therefore need a car now to be told that they will try and arrange one.
• How long will this take I asked, and the response is we are not sure as it’s difficult to arrange a hire vehicle out of hours and that they may have to put me up in a B&B,
• The level of uncertainty you now face is not what you would have anticipated.
• NA out of hours service also said that it’s easier to arrange hire vehicles during normal hours.
• On that basis I advised NA I had access to accommodation locally as my sister lived nearby but I needed assurance that a hire car would be avialble first thing in the morning as I had to be in London before 3pm.
• I was advised to ring them at 8am and they should be able to do something.
• The following morning, I rang to be informed that it’s still out of hours till 9am but they will book in a request at a local branch of Enterprise who would provide a hire car.
• They could not give any timeline on how long Enterprise will take but they were confident that Enterprise should ring me soon as they open at 8am.
• Enterprise did not ring me of course and it’s 9.30am.
• I rang Enterprise, they acknowledged that they are aware of the booking but did not have a car and they are trying to source one for me. What a surprise!
• I then had to pursue Enterprise a number of times and finally they said they have a vehicle but it’s at another location and they do not have staff yet to collect it so cannot tell me when it will be avialble and by the way it’s not a car but a van is that OK.
• In my desperation to get back I agreed.
• I was now told that the vehicle will be ready for collection at 2pm.
• I had cancelled my London appointment earlier.
• I turned up at the showroom 1.55.
• Two members of staff on duty on the phone.
• I did not get served till 2.15.
• I was told that the vehicle is still charging, I was not told it was all electric van earlier.
• I asked the range of charge and was told about 180 miles.
• No good to me as I would now have to stop along the way to recharge.
• I was in no position to argue as it was important for me to get home.
• I left the showroom at 2.50, which is later than 50 minutes after the promised time.
• I was fortunate that my sister lived in the locality and was able to drive me to the location of Enterprise branch, but had I stayed in B & B I would be using taxi’s.
• You can now see clearly see the nuances and permutations involved in trying to secure a journey back to base.
• Clearly Nissan do not have a robust system in place to deal with emergencies resulting from faults with their vehicles
• It would be naïve to assume that machines should not go wrong, and it is accepted that breakdowns are inevitable, but the support structure put in place by Nissan is wanting.
• In choosing the hire company Enterprise it’s a third-rate company. They do not have cars when you need them, and their service is poor. Check on trust pilot and 70% of respondents give them 1 star.
• I am of the view that the dealer network and enterprise will regard you as customer no2.
• As far as the dealer is concerned they are booked up in advance and probably do not need an emergency turning up to be repaired under warranty ( I am assuming the rates given by Nissan are not as attractive as private work).
• As I live 200 miles away, they will never see me again so unlikely to get repeat business from me.
• When I enquired about the status of repair at the dealer the following day, I was told an issue with the 12v battery which they are testing.
• I asked how long the car will be there for, response is don’t know they are doing tests.
• Phoned 2 days later same answer but this time was informed that RAC drop ins are not their priority.
• As I had no idea how long the repair was going to take and I could not put up with the van I insisted with NA to allow me to swap at my local Enterprise.
• A case manager at NA was appointed and she agreed that she will authorise swap at my local enterprise, and I would get a call.
• I did get a call a few days later but it was not from my local branch in Slough but another branch some way away in Uxbridge
• They called me at 6.10pm and expected me to get to their branch before 7pm which was not possible so we agreed to have the booking transferred to the Slough branch and the caller said I should ring them first thing 8am.
• I phoned Slough branch at 8am my booking was confirmed but they had no cars a familiar story.
• When can you get me one, the guy said probably late morning I will phone you.
• No phone call so I called them and no luck yet but should have something this afternoon.
• I said I can’t come in the afternoon can I come tomorrow first thing.
• He said yes that’s fine we will have a vehicle for you just come at 8am.
• I turned up at 8am to be informed they have no cars various excuses given that the truck which brings their cars is delayed and some customers have not returned their cars back on time.
• If I can wait for 30 minutes, they can collect one from nearby.
• I agreed but emphasised that I don’t have much time as I have work arranged.
• 40 minutes later no car.
• Asked at reception what is going on to be informed that the hire car staff went to collect is blocked in by another car whose keys cannot be located but they can deliver the car to my house within the hour.
• I only live 10 minutes away by car so agreed but explained I had appointment to keep and must have the car.
• I got back to my house at 9 am and as at 11am no car.
• I phoned and was assured they are on their way and would be there soon.
• 12pm no car so phoned and I was assured that they would deliver soon the delay was due to an errand the driver had to do on the way
• I said can you tell me how long you keep giving me deadlines none of which you keep,
• We are trying our best was the reply.
• I said I feel I am being bullshitted.
• The guy at enterprise said to me that I was being rude, and they do not tolerate swearing and he will cancel my order.
• I asked for his name which he declined to give me and put the phone down.
• A short while later he phones to confirm that he spoke to his manager and he agreed I was rude, aggressive and swearing is not tolerated.
• I was also on the red list at all enterprise branches, and I will not be served.
• I phoned NA and asked to speak to case manager who was not available.
• I said I have to speak to someone and eventually spoke to someone and explained what happened at enterprise.
• They said they will call the branch and sort things out.
• An hour later I received an email from NA informing me that as I was rude and swore at the staff so that is why they cancelled the order.
• Well, I thought to myself I know why enterprise cancelled my order, but I do not consider in the context of what happened I used a sware word.
• Bullshit means a rebuke in response to communication or actions viewed as deceptive, misleading, disingenuous, unfair or false
• I expected NA to be my advocates and at least request a recording of the call to assess for themselves if I was rude and aggressive I already told NA that I did say I feel I was being bullshitted, I was not hiding that.
• Apparently, it’s above their pay grade of customer services staff to take this extra step.
• The case manager did transfer the booking back to the Uxbridge branch but when I phoned them, I was on the wanted list and they explained that as I was rude and swore they could not deal with me.
• To cut this story short Nissan have no interest in looking after my needs, they are happy to use a third-rate company enterprise who are not fit for purpose.
• My car was moved from the dealer in Manchester to Gateshead.
• This information was not revealed to me in any proactive update from NA, but I had to phone the dealership where the car was taken for repairs to find out.
• I phoned NA who where not aware until I informed them.
• I receive a text message from the dealer on 29th October that I should be able to collect my car from them on 5th November.
• The car went to the dealer on the 8th of October for repairs.
• The car was new and only 5 months old.
• I am 200 miles from where the car went in for repairs.
• I have now to drive the van back to the enterprise dealer who suppled me the van, charging it mid-way.
• From enterprise take a taxi to the dealer or find out how to use local transport, my sister at work that day.
• Then Drive back 200 miles.
• One full day lost at work unpaid of course.
• I would have to leave around 6am, arrive at enterprise depot say 11.30 at the earliest, assuming enterprise staff are not dealing with other customers leave in a timely manner, make my way to dealer in Grater Manchester 1.30 pm, take possession of my car and get home around 7pm if I don’t breakdown.
• The hired car (van) is not ne be used for business purposes it’s written in the T&C which come with NA
• I am not sure how the executives at Nissan expect their customers to get around if it takes nearly a month to affect a repair.
• I am sure a good portion of customers buy their Aryia for business use as well as domestic social and pleasure.
• It is clear if your new Nissan breaks down be prepared for a rough ride and inconvenience.
• Don’t renew your NA policy, I will be disposing of my Aryia before NA runs out and go back to Toyota.
• Just to finish I asked NA why they did not take up the case with Enterprise banning me from hiring cars, clearly NA are relying on the word of a bolshy employee at enterprise.
• I was informed that they have an escalation team to deal with such matters but that person is on annual leave.
ChriZ
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed Mar 23, 2022 10:02 am

Post by ChriZ »

Good on you! Nissan dealers are desperate to achieve 5 star ratings from their customers. It's a shame that the actual customer service department of 'Nissan UK', is actually so 1 star.
Milkfloat
Posts: 169
Joined: Wed May 25, 2022 1:52 pm

Post by Milkfloat »

Above the dealers, Nissan UK are totally useless. I think that might be, partially, because there is very little of it. Technical for Europe (equally useless) is in Belgium and Corporate Europe is in France. I wonder, does anyone have an inkling how many people work in Nissan UK and I don't mean manufacturing (Sunderland), technical (Cranfield) or design (London). (As a customer, one cannot speak to anyone in the 3 groups that I mention)
kcp
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2024 3:00 pm

Post by kcp »

Their customer services ( nissan assist) are based in France but only work 9 to 5 mon-fri after which their third party are suppose to take care of you! This is what I was told when I rang after 5 pm by their out of houirs service.
GraceCourt
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2024 11:57 am

Post by GraceCourt »

Milkfloat wrote: Sun Nov 03, 2024 3:05 pm I wonder, does anyone have an inkling how many people work in Nissan UK...
It's a shame that no-one has supplied an answer to this, the up-to-date answer would have been revealing. According to documents filed at Companies House on 11 April 2024 (the full accounts for the year to 30 March 2023), there were 179 employees of Nissan Motor GB Limited [NMGB], down by three from 30 March 2022... smarter people than I will know whether or not that includes the technical and design people already referred to.

Whether it does or does not, it certainly doesn't include manufacturing at Sunderland, as this total figure refers to 36 managers, 128 marketing/sales, and 15 administration. There are therefore plenty of staff to respond to complaints and it's a black mark on the company that it has never responded to my complaints. Ho hum (or should I say "Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to Volvo we go...").

PS - If anyone's interested, the filing reveals that the highest-paid director of this company "earned" a whisker under £300k for that year - and that doesn't include a further £42k from long-term incentive schemes and company pension contributions! These accounts also reveal that the company made £111m gross profit for the year, an increase of £26m (up 31% on the previous year), but the filing also claims:
The company aims to provide high quality passenger motor vehicles and deliver the best customer experience. Customers' opinion [sic] both of their vehicle and of their experience at Nissan dealerships is essential to delivering continuous [I think they mean continual!] improvement and this is measured using both internal and external surveys, the results of which are regularly reviewed by the board.
This explains why Nissan dealerships are so anxious that you give them five stars if you get a follow-up survey... but obviously neither the board, nor anyone else, is paying any attention to customer complaints sent directly to NMGB, or reading postings on this Web site!
Nissan Ariya 178kW Evolve 87kWh (Oct 2023) - Burgundy & Pearl Black
Cosmyc
Posts: 388
Joined: Fri Jul 08, 2022 6:08 am

Post by Cosmyc »

Strange behavior for those of you on the UK. Here in Spain the Nissan dealers are afraid of you calling or complaining at customer services as I've done so before and customer services moved the threads to make my dealer do a fix to solve my complain, so... maybe here is different.

They even have called me numerous times to do testing by myself and provide several photos and videos of testing results to customer service to research the issue and they were proactive to ask me how the process was going, even after the fix to confirm the issue was solved.
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