3.7

definitely annoying
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
34,000 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2013 Nissan Leaf brakes problems

brakes problem

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2013 Nissan Leaf Owner Comments

problem #3

Oct 162017

Leaf

  • 29,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

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.

- Spanish Fork, UT, USA

problem #2

Jan 012018

Leaf

  • 37,000 miles
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.

- Rochester, MN, USA

problem #1

Oct 172016

Leaf

  • 36,000 miles
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.

- Bakersfield, CA, USA

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