What are the details?
EDIT: If you own a Nissan LEAF and are looking for roadside assistance in the United States, please call 1-877-NO GAS EV (1-877-664-2738).
First of all, the LEAF Roadside Assistance Benefits are nowhere to be found in the Roadside Assistance Guide, provided with your new LEAF. Silly us, for thinking to look there. According to Nissan’s Manuals and Guides website for the LEAF:
This manual describes roadside assistance operations and related warnings and cautions for this vehicle.
So this manual is really a guide for the folks providing assistance so they don’t harm themselves, or damage the vehicle. So where does one find information about the roadside assistance plan? Not in the Owner’s Manual either. If you go to the “In case of emergency” chapter in the LEAF owners manual, you would find this:
In the event of a roadside emergency, Roadside Assistance Service is available to you. Please refer to your Warranty Information Booklet (U.S.) or Warranty & Roadside Assistance Information Booklet (Canada) for details.
Which is why we have displayed the Warranty Information Booklet at the head of this article. In the Table of Contents, which is organized by page number, after Page 30 it simply states “Roadside Assistance”. Benefits are available 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Benefits are available to anyone operating the LEAF with the authorization of the owner or lessee. Benefits are available in the 48 contiguous states and Hawaii, but not Alaska.
What is covered?
Coverage is provided for:
- Mechanical Breakdown
- Tire FailureAccident/Collision (One-way tow, loaner vehicle not included)
- Out of charge
- Lock-out service
Whenever possible, flatbed towing service will be requested, if towing is necessary. If a mechanical breakdown is experienced over 100 miles from home the following reasonable (though Nissan does not define reasonable) trip interruption benefits are available:
- Meals
- Lodging
- Substitute transportation
- Costs to reunite the vehicle and owner, after warranty repairs have been completed
These services are transferable upon resale for the time remaining on the Nissan New Vehicle Limited Warranty, which on the LEAF is three years or 36,000 miles. During this three year or 36,000 mile warranty period, a complimentary rental vehicle will be provided when a warrantable repair is performed, subject to availability. We can’t imagine that a Nissan dealer will not make a rental available to you in some fashion – whether from dealer inventory or via arrangements with a rental agency.
We find it odd that Nissan chooses to place this information in the Warranty Information Booklet as it makes this statement:
Note: This program is NOT a warranty, and is NOT part of the Nissan New Vehicle Limited Warranty and is subject to change without notice at any time.
Be that as it may, this program will come in handy for those that do not have their own roadside assistance plan in place. We do want to emphasize one thing – we have read in other places that Nissan will tow you home or to the dealership. According to the language of the plan, they are only responsible for towing you to the dealership. This is why we suggested driving home, if possible, prior to turning your car off. If it does restart, no problem. If it doesn’t, you are at home and can at least be comfortable while awaiting the tow truck.
Thanks for the info! I was looking for that info before but like you said, it wasn’t immediately obvious.
Daniel (Leaf owner in San Diego)
Daniel – welcome to Living LEAF. And thanks for the feedback. We are trying to make LEAF information more accessible.
I used this roadside assistance once. I drained my battery to zero….about two blocks from my home which I have a Blink charger waiting. My car stopped in the evening and I was hoping it might recharge just a little to turn on for the 2 block trip home the next day. So I walked home that night and checked the next day. Still no juice to move at all. Lights worked and so did the interior but no drive. Just like the night before…. So I called the number in the book. Told them I was out of power and they sent a flatbed truck free of charge to tow me home. My only problem the tow truck took about a hour to come. But they towed me to my garage and I pushed it in and charged up!!
Rick – welcome to Living LEAF. The LEAF EV battery (also referred to as a traction battery) is only used to turn the electric motor to move the vehicle. And I’m afraid that once it’s drained, it is truly drained. It must be recharged to move the vehicle under its own power. The accessories (interior lights, audio system, air conditioning, etc) are all powered by the 12-volt battery, which in your case still had plenty of juice. At least you could listen to the audio system while waiting for the flatbed! I’m glad everything worked out okay.
why will the not tow to a tire shop and insist on towing to dealer
RS – welcome to Living LEAF. According to the language in the owner’s manual: Roadside Assistance will arrange to transport the vehicle to the nearest Nissan LEAF certified dealer. We know of some owners that have had their LEAF towed to their home instead. I’m sure if you wanted to tow it to a tire shop that the service provider that Nissan sends will be happy to oblige.
I have 2013 Nissan Leaf SV
and charger cord is stuck in charging port
I have tried all the methods
should I call roadside assistance or Dealer?
Thanks
DJ
DJ – Welcome to Living LEAF. Sorry for the delayed response as I have been unavailable. I’m sure that you’ve resolved this by now, but roadside assistance will only send a tow truck driver that knows nothing of your car. I would call the dealer when future similar issues arise.
I was struck by another vehicle while waiting for my light to turn green. Upon impact the airbag on my drivers side deployed. My car went off and will not turn on. What happened? The car is at a body shop and the body shop people were not able to get my car to start.
Efren – Welcome to Living LEAF. When an airbag is deployed in a LEAF the traction battery is disconnected automatically to protect the occupants and first responders from possible high voltage electrical shorts. I suggest using a Nissan collision repair center to repair your LEAF as they will know the proper procedure for this situation.
My Leaf battery died and now I cannot open mt charging port. How can I open to charge
mark – Welcome to Living LEAF. Open your hood and either connect a 12-volt battery or battery charger to your dead battery. This will allow you to open the charge port.
I called on a sunday morning and asked for assistance due to car not charging, roadside assistant says they could only tow the car to nissan. Well its Sunday and no dealership is open. You guys should have someone to be able to help us in emergencies 24/7, not 24/6, bottom line your services SUCK!!!!
Brilliant – was towed home last night couldn’t get charger lid open
It is Sunday ! So will try the battery to open – if I can find a charger
At least I can try something now – Firstly try tto open hood ! Penny UK
Penny – Welcome to Living LEAF. To open the hood, remove the mechanical key from your Intelligent Key, open your driver’s door and pop open the hood. Now you can recharge your 12-volt battery. Good luck!
I have bottomed out my leaf. Leased less than 30 days ago. Was pulling over and parked on a steep slope. The carriage is millimeters from the ground and the car isnt moving. Would the roadside assistance cover a tow or jack for this? It is blocks from my home…
Jenny – Welcome to Living LEAF. Somehow I missed your comment. My suggestion is to always call the Nissan customer service number (1-800-Nissan1 in the US) to explain the situation and see what they say. My suspicion is that your event would not have been covered as it was not caused by a vehicle failure.
Hi my 2015 Nissan Leaf ran out of charge this weekend and my portable charging adapter wouldn’t work when I tried using it at the spot I pulled over at (comcAst service center was nice enough to let me use their plug). At first the charging adapter worked but I re plugged in to readjust the cord and it stopped working. I’ve read that this is an issue for other people to in a forum so I called my nissan dealer and he said my car is covered under warranty and I might not have to pay to get it towed/repaired. Well when I got done at the dealership today the Nissan representative still quoted me the towing bill because “he didn’t find anything wrong with the car” and simply charged it up for me. Because he wasn’t able to repair anything he told me I was responsible for the towing bill and that he can’t have nissan warranty cover it. I’m suppose to pay the bill this week but I feel like my warranty should cover it since I did try to charge the car but my adapter wasn’t working. Also I feel like it states pretty obviously they towing us coveered if you ran out of charge. Am I ultimately responsible for the towing bill?? Thank you, Serge.
Serge, welcome to Living LEAF. I suggest you ask to speak to the service manager to see if they might cover your bill. If you did not call the Nissan Roadside Assistance phone number in your Owner’s Manual Nissan may be under no obligation to pay the bill as you did not request the tow through Nissan’s Roadside Assistance program. Good luck.
Hello,
My name is eyad from jordan I bought a nissan leaf 2015 before tow days , its second hand vehicle , I want to ask please if its covered under warranty or not.
The milage is 20640 mile , I want to ask please before I contact nissan dealler in jordan.
Thank you for your support.
Eyad – Welcome to Living LEAF. According to the official Nissan website for Jordan, the warranty is 3 years or 100,000 km, so it seems that your car will still be under warranty.
Thank you for your reply
Thank you for your reply
I lost a tire to an unanticipated extended curb in a large parking lot. I called CSAA and had my car towed (flatbed) 12 miles to my home. CSAA pays for 5 miles only. I paid $70 for the remaining 7 miles. Can I file a claim for any or all of the $70 with NLRA?
thanks
John