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.
Drove home at 7PM mild day (65-70 degrees). Stopped the car and turned it off for an hour. Had to leave home at 8PM. Turned on the car and backed up the driveway. Tried to stop but break wasn't working.. Pressed all the way that ABS started trickling. Used the hand break to stop the car. Turned off the car and turned it back on. This is when I noticed all the dashboard lights are on including break and ABS and had the same break not working issue.. Pulled the car into the driveway slowly and turned it off till tomorrow morning.. Started the car tomorrow morning and everything was back to normal and driving without an issue.
The contact owns a 2016 Nissan Leaf. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to stop as intended. The brake pedal had to be pushed to the floor to activate the service brakes. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a failed electronically driven intelligently braking unit and the electronically driven intelligently braking unit needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 93,000.
Vehicle is 2016 Nissan Leaf. Odometer reading 42,537. On August 28, 2022 in a shopping center parking lot under fair weather conditions and temperatures in the 80s, upon starting car, brake system control light and ABS indicator light both illuminated. Pulled car back into parking spot. Brakes did not work. Used emergency brake to stop vehicle. 9/11/2022 Inspection by Melloy Nissan. [XXX], Service manager, reported that vehicle has two faulty components: brake control assembly and actuator assembly that require replacement. Stated that technician called Nissan USA. Other vehicle on East Coast had same problem that was fixed with this repair. Cost of parts $4,099. Cost of labor $900. Total repair cost $5,000. Service manager advised owner that vehicle is not safe to drive. 9/27/2022 Inspection by Reliable Nissan. [XXX], Service manager, reported that vehicle has error codes for electrically driven intelligent brake system. Stated that other Nissan Leaf had recently been repaired for same problem at Reliable Nissan. Cost of part (brake control assembly) $2,792. Cost of labor $700. Total cost $3,854. Service manager advised owner that vehicle is not safe to drive. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
The Nissan Leaf was being driven on a 35 mph road in a hilly area. While going approximately 25 mph on a downhill curve coming up to a red light the driver applied the brakes and they did not engage with normal pressure. The driver then pushed the brake peddle all the way down to the floor before the vehicle begin to slowly stop causing the vehicle to go 10 feet past a red light into an intersection. The driver drove out of the intersection and tested the brakes again with the same results. The drivers spouse arrived to test the vehicle and verified the same results. The only way home was a very steep down hill so tow truck was called to pick up the vehicle and bring it to the Nissan dealership the tow truck driver also verified the brakes were not engaging when he loaded the vehicle on the flatbed. When the vehicle arrived at the dealership and unloaded from the tow truck the brakes started working. The dealership tested the vehicle and verified the brakes passed inspection. Feeling unsafe to drive the vehicle the owner tried to convince the dealership to test more. They were not able to reproduce the issue. The owners reported to Nissan of America customer service. Nissan of America said they had not heard of this type of issue and that if the dealership couldn't find anything there was nothing they could do. Since the dealership and corporate can not fix the car and do not want to further investigate the vehicle was towed to the owners house where it now sits unused.
During conditions of low 12V battery charge, the vehicle will occasionally start, go into a drive mode ("R" or "D") but the brakes will not operate. I stress that this only happens when the 12V battery has low charge, but not too low that the vehicle will refuse to start. I am not the only person to report this. Note the comment about brakes failing in this posting: Https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?F=30&T=12959&P=588304#P587949
- Fremont, CA, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
Brake stopped working while I was driving on san thomas expressway in santa clara city in California; I immediately switched to "park" and also used manual brake, eventually I managed to stop it; since it's blocking a lane, police came and towed the car to the dealership. Mileage is estimate since the car is still being repaired in the dealership.
I haven't had an accident due to the brakes not working, but I have had similar issues that others are reporting. I've learned to not follow close at all. Mine is only at low speeds that I've noticed the lack of brakes. Seems random, cannot determine a specific speed or conditions that are common. It has happened since the beginning. Only at 13700 miles currently.
The contact owns a 2016 Nissan Leaf. While driving in reverse, the brakes failed to engage when the brake pedal was depressed. The vehicle was towed to premier Nissan of metairie (located at 6636 veterans memorial blvd, metairie, la 70003, (504) 455-5800) to be diagnosed, but a failure code could not be found. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided case number: 33554796. The approximate failure mileage was 14,000.
I had a brake failure at power on issue on my 2016 Nissan Leaf sl. Nothing on the dash alerted me. The brakes did work, but it seemed like no vacuum assist, so had to press really hard. Towed to a dealer. Replaced the 12V battery. Very scary, I rolled out into an intersection and luckily I was not in an accident or ran over a pedestrian.
My 2016 Leaf sl was damaged in a fairly low speed collision during heavy office rush traffic (around 7:30am in the morning). When the car in front of me suddenly stopped, I also braked hard. At that time I heard ABS like sound but the car did not actually stop, it kept on going and hit the car in front of me. I was too stressed out at the moment therefore I did not have time to think. Later on, I spent some time searching internet with search queries like 'Nissan Leaf brake problem' or 'Nissan Leaf did not brake' etc. I found multiple mentions of experiences very similar to mine. If you perform google search, you will see what I mean. Is there a way to look at the Leaf onboard data to see what may have happened?
Car lost all break capabilities as I approached a traffic light. Brake pedal was loose and car would not engage breaks, loud crack sound on first pump before break was lost. Since I was going at low speed (30mph) I could employ manual break to stop vehicle. Break remain in failure state till on hour later when it seem to have returned.
On 6 occasions the brakes failed to work on first contact when attempting to come to a full stop at either a stop light or a stop sign on city streets. Releasing the brake pedal and reapplying the brakes finally brought the car to a stop. This happened to both my husband and myself and happened on both straight flat roads and downhill roads. This happened in both regenerative and non-regenerative braking but the worst failure happened in non-regenerative braking.
While approaching an intersection in a busy area of san diego county, the brakes failed on my Nissan Leaf. The brake shuddered under my foot, much like anti-lock brakes do when they're engaged. After I felt the shuddering, the brake pedal went down but the vehicle did not decelerate as it normally would in response to braking. I tried the brake pedal a few times with no response, but the vehicle's momentum slowed enough for me to avoid a collision and continue on the road. As I came to a second intersection, I again tried the brakes and the vehicle did not respond. I used the emergency brake to stop the Leaf at the intersection. I located an uphill driveway to a corporate parking location, and drove the vehicle very slowly to a parking spot. I intended to park the car and call a towing service, but when I once again tried the brake pedal the Nissan Leaf responded to the brakes and stopped in the parking spot. Because I was close to work and the brakes had re-engaged, I drove the vehicle to the parking lot at my office and later that day called Nissan's Consumer Affairs line for the Leaf (877-664-2738). I reported the issue to Nissan, and they had the vehicle towed to a nearby Nissan dealership. At this point in time, Nissan is working with mossy Nissan in poway, ca to try to diagnose the problem. Nissan opened case #27170321 on the issue. This is a fairly new vehicle (bought in September 2016), and I don't think there are any physical problems with the brake pads or mechanism. My best guess is that an electric/controller failure occurred with regenerative braking.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Los Altos, CA, USA