This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
I was driving and wanted to slow the vehicle to turn on a side street. I pressed the brake and nothing happened. The vehicle did not slow down at all. I pushed harder, still nothing. The brakes completely failed to work. Due to this brake failure, I was unable to make the turn I wanted to make because I was going too fast. I continued going straight, and because the road was slightly uphill, the vehicle eventually stopped and I was able to ease off the road when the vehicle had slowed sufficiently. Fortunately, there were no injuries or accidents. After the vehicle had stopped I looked to see if it was low on brake fluid. It was not. The brake fluid level was at manufactures specification. After I had stopped I did notice several warning lights on the dash, including ABS and other symbols I don't know the meaning of. (I'd have to read the vehicle owner's manual to figure out what they mean). I have not taken the vehicle anywhere to be repaired yet. I thought that maybe the NHTSA might want to inspect it before it was looked at by a mechanic or manufacturer.
2013 Nissan Leaf brakes failed completely and without warning while driving 30mph resulting in near collision and potentially serious injury and property damage. Speed very gradually slowed with accelerator pedal not depressed and was ultimately brought to complete stop using parking brake. Vehicle lurched forward without ability to brake when accelerator pressed lightly after stopping. Nissan dealer reported a failure of the "intelligent brake control unit" and replaced at cost of approx. $3,000. Incident occurred in clearwater, Florida area in late afternoon in dry weather with temperatures around 80F. Tow truck operator stated that when they attempted to move the vehicle it lurched forward without ability to halt and the operator was extremely frightened and almost crashed.
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Leaf. While the contact's wife was driving 40 mph, she depressed the brake pedal, but it failed to function. As a result, the contact's wife rear ended the preceding vehicle. The contact was not aware if any warning indicators were illuminated. The air bags did not deploy. There were no injuries. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was unable to be driven because the brake lines were stuck. The VIN was associated with NHTSA campaign number: 16V119000 (service brakes) and NHTSA campaign number: 16V244000 (air bags). The vehicle was towed to glendale Nissan (located at 727 S brand blvd, glendale, ca 91204) where they released the brake lines and diagnosed that the brake actuator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was taken to universal city Nissan (located at 3550 cahuenga blvd w, los angeles, ca 90068, (818) 769-8100) and was repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 55,736.
While driving on a warm day at about 25 miles an hour about two miles from my home, my brakes became unresponsive as I approached a stop sign behind another driver. The other driver didn't stop in order to avoid being hit. I tried multiple times to use the brake, and the car didn't slow. Before coming to a turn down a very long steep hill, I pulled up the parking brake to stop the car. I called aaa. The aaa technician confirmed the brakes had failed, and towed the car to a mechanic. The mechanic was not able to look at the car the same day, but looked the next day and said they could find nothing wrong with the brakes. They recommended taking it to an actual Nissan repair shop, which I did. They said they could find nothing wrong, but did see that the braking system had been repaired previously. I called nissanusa and they said our VIN showed that the car had already been repaired for an intermittent service brake problem (on recall) a couple of years ago before we bought it used, and that it can't be fixed again for that. It's scary that nobody can identify what went wrong this time, and nobody is willing to see if it's the recall fix acting up somehow, maybe unprepared.
I filed this complaint previously on 2/4/19 - confirmation # ODI 11174255. You sent me some follow-up paperwork, but I have unfortunately misplaced it. Any way to resend that paperwork, so I can pursue this complaint?
- Vernon, CT, USA
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I was driving the car on a one-way street at around 25-30 mph and needed to apply the brakes to stop quickly. I hit the brakes with all the force I could with my leg---the brakes did not engage and the car did not stop in time. It seemed like some kind of weird glitch because I understand that the car has electric support for the brakes. At other times the brakes didn't respond in the correct time. Note I had the brakes inspected several times by a puente hills Nissan and the brake pads were fine. There was also a strange clicking noise coming from the brakes when they disengaged. It seems to be some kind of time delay in the software. I also read that since the car has regenerate braking it's like the car gets confused when it supposed to apply the brakes and not slow down from the engine. I had trouble braking other times when I wore light shoes or sandals.
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Leaf. After the vehicle was started, the contact noticed that the brake pedal was very soft and traveled halfway to the floorboard. The contact stated that the failure was evident in extremely cold weather. The vehicle was taken to manchester city Nissan (30 tolland turnpike, manchester, ct 06042, (860) 643-4165) to be diagnosed, but the mechanic was unable to retrieve a fault code or duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 16V119000 (service brakes). The failure recurred twice. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The approximate failure mileage was 36,000.
Brake failure on a city street. The electric brake control unit failed while the car was in motion in a straight line. I was able to stop the car without an accident. The hazard light, warning light, brake light and ABS light were all illuminated. I recycled power to the car but the error did not reset. I took the car to the Nissan dealership in murray Utah for an assessment. Nissan said the electric brake control unit was bad. Also the car had a can bus error. The car's warranty expired in July of 2018 and Nissan refused to fix the car. According to Nissan the electric brake control unit is $2000 and $480 to install. I refused to pay. I opened a case with Nissan electrical vehicle support (877 664-2738) to see if they would fix the car. They also refused to fix the issue.
Driving about a mile away from my house on a local street this morning, I was approaching an intersection at about 35 mph, the lights were about to turn red, tying to brake to stop...all the brake lights lit up after I push the brake pedal, brake pedal came all the way to the floor, car had no brakes, complete brake failure, threw it in neutral and slammed on the emergency brake to stop, this vehicle has only about 42K miles on it. Avoided a collision with oncoming traffic by swerving the car.
I didn't drive the car for a few days and the 12V battery died. So I disconnected it from the car and hooked it up to my 12V battery charger. When it was fully charged, I reconnected it and started the car. Both the yellow and red warning lights were on as were the brake, ABS, and vdc lights. I started backing up in the driveway and as soon as I pressed the brakes, strange noises came from the front of the car. I slammed on the parking brake to stop.I tried backing again and noticed the brakes only engaged when the pedal was pressed almost all the way down. While troubleshooting, I noticed removing the vdc fuse stopped the sounds. Also the brakes are now usable, but require much more force on the pedal than normal. The trouble codes are C118A and C1A61. (ABS E-driven int brake system brc-124 / brake motor power supply br-46) after an expensive diagnosis, the Nissan dealer determined "diag. Used consult. C1A61 current code motor power supply. Checked fuses ok. Electrically driven int brake unit harness and connections ok. 12V present to module. Brake unit internal shorted due to suspected surge. Rec replacing 12V battery and unit. Further testing may be needed.....estimate to replace $2817 parts and labor. Part is from the factory." I have seen many other Leaf owners write about this kind of problem and believe it may be a common defect. I also don't know why it wasn't covered under the warranty.
I charged the Leaf the night before and went downtown. It was winter in Maine and around 10 degrees. After going into a store and coming out when I started the car and put it in D the brakes didn't work. I slammed the pedal down to the ground but it didn't seem to do much. I almost hit the parked car in front of me but I put the emergency brake down and luckily stopped. I turned the car on and off but the problem was still happening. The brakes made a weird clicking and electronic noise. I turned the car off for about 5 minutes to call aaa and when I turned it back on it worked. I've done some research and this has happened to other owners. There was a voluntary recall (P5327?) which was already done on the vehicle but this still happened. My leafspy app showed the dtc codes of C118A 0109 ABS E-driven int brake system brc-124 and C1A61 0109 brake motor power supply br-46. I took it to the dealership and they said that power wasn't being supplied to the brakes. Dangerous! they did not really have a fix for it other then put in a $2300 part and then do more tests.
Shortly after starting the car and as I began to accelerate forward, several warning indicators pertaining to the brake system illuminated and the normal brake pedal no longer appeared to function upon being depressed. The car was able to be brought to a stop with the use of the emergency brake pedal but the failure of the main brakes could have easily lead to a crash.
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Leaf. While driving 50 mph, the vehicle failed to stop when the brake pedal was depressed. As a result, the contact crashed into the preceding vehicle. The front driver's air bag deployed. The vehicle was towed to an independent facility. A police report was filed. There were no injuries. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 16V119000 (service brakes). Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer were notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 36,000.
Oct 2017, Leaf pulled out of parking lot from shopping trip ok, drove pass 1 stop sing ok (right turn, stopped) then lost brake function at up coming right light stop, no ABS, no traction control, no normal brake feedback, no 'engine brake' (simulation or re-generative braking), without any noticeable warning such as beeping sound. Panic, tried to press 'park' no reaction, the car feel like accelerating towards upcoming stopped traffic, looked down, make sure foot is on brake pedal, confirm no brake action but it didn't accelerate the car. Try hard brake to floor and steer car to between lane, all wheel locked with sqeeeeki noise, car slipped and stop between 2 stopped car. Speed limit of the road 35miles/hr outside temperature 91F clear sky. The car was at 49249 miles. Managed to pull the car to roadside parking lot, called tow truck tow back to dealer I got it from just 30days ago, svc dept. Checked said they found no mechanical issue with brake system and 12V battery ok. Turn over the car to autonation Nissan tempe AZ. Initial check said 12V battery not passed test and voltage dropped below 10V, they said drop or unstable 12V may cause this. I brought to their attention driver window control is abnormal which may also cause 12V unstable, and another dealer checked the battery and it passed. Replaced 12V battery as requested, old battery core measured with volt meter at 12.56V. Tech came back stated 'brake master cylinder and brake control system bus need replacement. Parts will take 1 weeks to order. Nissan ev customer relation involved. 7days later called dealer again, told parts just arrived. Customer relation guy related dealer will still take a look on window switch but they think the new battery stabilized the 12V and window motor should not affect 12V voltage. (they still have not put in the replacement part and test yet?!) will update result if I can.
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Leaf. While driving 40 mph, the brake pedal was depressed, but the vehicle did not stop. The contact engaged the push start button and turned off the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to Nissan of elk grove in elk grove, California, but the source of the failure was not determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was approximately 48,000.
Having undergone a previous recall to fix a brake issue several months ago, at 50000 miles on December 23, 2016 the vehicle experienced complete brake failure narrowly avoiding a serious collision. While driving straight on a city street in traffic at approximately 35 miles an hour the driver removed his foot from the accelerator in preparation to apply the brakes to stop the car for the stopped traffic ahead. The car's regenerative braking ability was already slowing the car when the driver's foot attempted to push the brake pedal and found it solid and unmoving. The driver removed his foot from the brake pedal and reapplied his foot, attempted to depress, and again found the pedal unmoving. With the car continuing toward stopped traffic ahead the driver began to repeatedly and very forcefully attempt to depress the pedal. After 4 or 5 very strong kicks the brake pedal broke loose, went all the way to the floor without the drivers pressure, with no resistance or response. The driver retracted his foot and the pedal did not come back up. The driver attempted to begin to "pump the brakes" and with the first touch on the pedal which was still all the way down, the car's wheels locked and came skidding to a stop with no ABS modulation inches before hitting the car in front. The car was shut down and restarted, the brake pedal returned to the undepressed position but when depressed had no resistance and was ineffective at stopping the car (as though the brakes were not being applied). The parking brake was unaffected and would slow/stop the car. The car was taken to a Nissan dealer for repair, they indicated that they had never seen anything like it and had to talk with the Nissan engineers. 1/3/17 the owner/driver was told that the entire "brake brain booster controller" would have to be replaced with a replacement part from the Nissan factory in Kentucky.
On Nov 18. 2016, my wife was driving Nissan Leaf 2013 on the highway under a rainy day, the vehicle suddenly gradually stopped (highway 680 to highway 580 at California state). My wife couldn't make it move even press accelerator until she stopped the engine and restarted again. It is very dangerous for her to have such experience on the highway. Later I checked the manual, it is said because of Nissan's vdc function. However it is not proper to stopped the car when it is driving. Today, I also experienced the same problem. When I drove back my car, the car didn't allow to move until I pressed "vdc off" button. I believe this is a serious problem by Nissan. I have contacted them to check and repair my car. However I think it is safe to government to check with Nissan to see whether they have issues on any vehicles with vdc feature.
The Leaf was in motion on a city street in "B" drive mode. When attempting to stop from around 45 mph, the brake pedal became very firm, and the car did not slow. I released the brake and depressed it again. This time there was significant brake travel and the brakes engaged with a mechanical moaning sound. The car skidded to a stop as ABS ceased functioning. I parked the car and took a photo of the dash warning lights. Similar symptoms occurs 5 days prio, restarting the car returned it to normal operation both times. The weather was about 65 degrees F and dry during one occurrence. A similar temperature on a morning following a rainy night is when this occurred the second time. The car nearly entered an intersection on a red light. This problem looked and sounded like the videos posted on youtube in very.cold climates in which the Leaf braking systems failed with the exception that this was in mild weather. This car has received the brake module firmware update from Nissan prior to these incidents.
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Leaf. After hitting an obstacle in the road, the power brakes ceased to function without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the cause of the failure could not be determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 85,000.
Started car by pressing brake and ignition. Put the car in reverse. Car started moving at 2-5 mph with the brake still pressed. Brake lost resistance and had to press hard to floor to stop car. No brake pressure. Took atleast 10-15 feet for the car to complete stop. Same thing happened when moved to drive forward. Fortunate that no one was close to car when this happened. Tik-tok-tik-tok sounds from car, pedal pulses rapidly and ABS and brake lights came on. Dealer replaced the 12V battery 2 weeks before this happened. Dropped the car at the dealership again. I see exact same complaints on this website from at least 10 other people. Not sure when this will become an issue that will be addressed by the manufacturer. Not sure if I can update this complaint later once I hear back from the dealer. If I can I will update it.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Tucson, AZ, USA