How To Protect Your Nissan Leaf Against Corrosion

Nissan Leaf owners can easily prevent most of the rusting problems if they read the owner's manual and use the tips that Nissan recommends against corrosion. Both the Gen 1 and Gen 2 Leafs can hold up to rust pretty well if Leaf owners meticulously follow Nissan's anti-corrosion suggestions.

Nissan's Anti-Corrosion Suggestions for Leaf owners

1. Keep your vehicle clean. Wash your Nissan Leaf regularly using cold clean water and a mild vehicle wash soap.

2. Remove bugs and tars as soon as possible. Nissan says if insects, tar or other similar deposits have accumulated on your Leaf, wash it as soon as possible. Some of the best tar and bug removers are the Turtle Wax Bug and Tar Remover, McKee's Road Kill Bug Remover or just use a 3D Bug Remover Concentrate.

3. Clean your Nissan Leaf's undercarriage monthly if you leave or drive in dust controlled roads or near ocean. Nissan's warranty information booklet for the 2019 Leaf says "if you drive on a salted or dust controlled roads, or if you drive near the ocean hose off the under carriage at least once a month."

4. Keep the door's drain holes clean. The 2019 Nissan Leaf's doors have drain holes in the lower edges. It is important that these drain holes and the rocker panels e kept clean.

5. Touch up paint scratches immediately. Nissan says if you detect any stone chips or scratches in the paint, touch them up immediately. You can use AutoPro scratch eraser or any similar product.

6. Install shields behind your Nissan Leaf's wheel. This is especially important for drivers who drive in cold weathers, rural areas and in areas where there are lots of gravel roads. If you drive your Nissan Leaf a lot on gravel roads simply consider installing mud or stone shields behind each wheel. They will protect your undercarriage and keep it protected against rusting for a longer period of time.

7. If your Nissan Leaf's paint is damaged for any reason, have it repaired as soon as possible. For example, let's say God forbid, your Nissan Leaf is damaged due to an accident or a similar cause and it obviously destroys the paint and its protective coating, have it repaired as soon as possible. Nissan says the cost of such repairs is the responsibility of the Leaf owner and Nissan will not, therefore, be responsible for a corrosion repair, cause by an accident and delayed repair by the owner.

What we discussed above are good anti-corrosion suggestions not only for the 2019 Nissan Leaf, but also can protect any vehicle from undue rusting. Nissan's warranty information booklet for the 2019 Leaf also states that the car's corrosion warranty will only cover genuine sheet metal parts and not cover any non-genuine sheet metal parts or even damage caused by the installation of such non-genuine sheet metal parts. This, obviously, makes sense.

If you are considering the 2019 Nissan Leaf PLUS vs other electric vehicles, also see my previous story discussing the price and range of the 2019 Nissan Leaf PLUS compared to other popular electric cars. Also watch how to improve the 2019 Nissan Leaf's battery maintenance and increase range.

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Armen Hareyan is the founder and the Editor in Chief of Torque News. He founded TorqueNews.com in 2010, which since then has been publishing expert news and analysis about the automotive industry. He can be reached at Torque News Twitter, Facebok, Linkedin and Youtube.