I purchased a 2021 Nissan Leaf used on 9/9/2026 from CarMax Burbank with unrepaired NHTSA recalls 25V-655 and 24V-700 documented in my sale paperwork. The salesman told us they were simple recall repairs, nothing to worry about. When I took the car in, the authorized dealer's service advisor warned that the recall reprogramming could likely leave the vehicle inoperable if a battery fault code appeared, and recommended returning the car to CarMax because it was on a stop sale with no batteries available. A CarMax...
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service consultant dismissed the warning as a scare tactic from that specific location, said they couldn't consider taking the car back unless we tried the recall repairs, and sent us to a different "partnered" Nissan dealer. On 10/21/2026, that dealership location recommended the LBC/VCM recall reprogramming, kept the vehicle eight hours, and released it as repaired and drivable. Less than 24 hours later, on 10/22/2026, while driving on the highway in heavy rain in moving traffic, the battery failed with [Warning, Service EV System, Power Reduced]. The vehicle was towed to the dealership on 10/23/2026, where the dealer confirmed the EV battery failed, the vehicle cannot be operated without a battery replacement, and batteries are unavailable nationwide. The vehicle has remained at Nissan since. Safety risk: sudden, complete loss of propulsion on a highway in rain creates an immediate crash and injury risk to occupants and surrounding drivers. The failure occurred one day after the recall remedy was completed and the vehicle was released as repaired, indicating the remedy process can leave affected vehicles in an unsafe state on the road. The recall at issue concerns battery cells prone to rapid heating and fire during Level 3 charging, so this vehicle carried an active fire risk as well. The manufacturer has since initiated a vehicle repurchase. The recall bulletin promises a complimentary rental during the remedy process. No rental was ever provided.