Oh! Dometer
(Click to enlarge)
First Maintenance Checkup
for my Nissan Leaf

February 12, 2013

Mark D Larsen



The maintenance schedule for my Nissan Leaf states that the first checkup is due at 6 months or 7,500 miles, whichever comes first. Last October I had reached the 6 month threshold, and therefore made an appointment with my local dealer for the checkup. However, when the service technicians saw that I only had a little over 5,000 miles on the odometer, they suggested that I wait until it hit 7,500. After all, the only real service they perform for a Leaf at his stage depends upon the miles driven —not the age of the vehicle. It makes sense: there is no oil to change, no carburetor, no spark plugs, no transmission, no muffler. Other than rotating the tires and visually inspecting the wiper blades, brakes, lights, struts, and axle boots... there is no maintenance to perform! Another benefit of driving an electric vehicle.

This past week, I noticed that my odometer was only a few miles short of the 7,500 threshold, as shown in the photo above, so I made another appointment for the first checkup. Rotating the tires and the visual inspection took about 10 minutes, for the minimal charge of... $19.95, plus tax. That was it: the entire cost. Can’t beat that!

Since my Leaf will hit its one-year anniversary at the end of next month, the mechanics then suggested that I might as well also have them perform the battery analysis covered for free under warranty. Gladly! I had wanted that service performed ever since the capacity loss kerfuffle last fall. That took another 20 minutes to connect my Leaf to the computer and run the checkup.

Below is the printout of the results. As you can see, my Leaf received all five stars for the relevant factors that can affect the battery pack:

Looking good! We’ll see how the next checkup goes at 15,000 miles, when the maintenance will also include... replacing the cabin’s air filter. Oh, my... Ohm My!