Nissan Leaf car owners complain about battery wearing down prematurely; company responds

They bought cars thinking they would save money and become less dependent on foreign oil. But the savings promised by the battery-powered Nissan Leaf may not be as great as some car owners expected... at least not those in hot, desert areas like Phoenix.

Ads for the 2013 Leaf model state that the vehicle can get the equivalent of 106 miles per gallon.

Owner Randy Miller says he gets many less miles than he thought per battery charge. He says he was promised 100 miles. After just 15 months, he says he gets 67.3 miles per charge.

Owner John Noble says he was promised his battery would have 80 percent life after five years. But he says it's already down 30 percent after 10 months.

9 On Your Side Scripps sister station ABC15 talked with three Phoenix owners who all say they can't drive where they want, because of battery issues.

And they say that Nissan did little to help. With a price tag of around $30,000, upset owners wanted action.

Miller started a complaint website, wiltingleaf.com .

A class action lawsuit claims Nissan made "misleading representations and omissions regarding the Leaf's battery capacity and mileage."

Owners blame the heat from the desert sun and say Nissan miscalculated that.

Eventually, all three owners were able to get Nissan to repurchase their Leafs.

And just recently, Nissan announced it will finally give some of these owners what they want.

Nissan says it will offer a warranty to "protect against capacity loss in Leaf batteries."

The warranty will involve the first 5 years or 60,000 miles. And Nissan says it will affect 2011, 2012 and 2013 models.

You can read Nissan's full statement at http://media2.abc15.com/html/pdf/Nissandoc.pdf .

Nissan says it does have happy Phoenix Leaf owners and that owners will get all of the details on the warranty soon.

Have you had an issue with the Nissan Leaf in the Tri-State area? Let us know with an email to newsdesk@wcpo.com .