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 in somewhat heavy traffic in an urban setting at 25mph when, unexpectedly, I had great difficulty applying the brakes to stop at an intersection. It took considerable effort, including swerving, to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of me, and I pulled into a parking lot as soon as I was able, again having great trouble stopping. The loss of control of the brakes felt like I was skidding on snow or ice, despite the fact that it was a fairly warm August day. There was an accompanying loud, unpleasant sound coming from the brakes when I stomped on them. I had also noticed that a number of warning lights on the dash had come on all at the same time when the problem started. After coming to a complete stop in the parking lot, I turned the vehicle on and off many times, and each time, there was a low but clearly audible thrumming sound, plus a vibration I could feel in the brakes. The sound was particularly surprising to hear, given that the vehicle is otherwise an extremely quiet (100% electric) vehicle. After attempting to restart the vehicle about ten times, I decided to leave to wait for awhile before attempting to start it again. After about 20 min., I started the vehicle without trouble and cautiously drove it home on largely empty side-streets.
When the 12-volt battery failed on my 2015 Nissan Leaf, the car would still turn on and would move forward without pushing on the accelerator. The brakes did not work either. This happened to me both in a grocery store parking lot at night and then the next morning on a residential street. Similarly, when it turned the car on in my driveway, I put it in reverse, and the car moved without me pushing on the accelerator and the brakes did not engage when I pushed on them. The car behaved this way 4 times, including once for the Nissan dealership service worker who had to pull the car forward in the line of cars waiting to be serviced. After Nissan replaced the 12-volt battery, the problem disappeared. Several Leaf owners have told me to report the problem, because it is a safety concern that the car can move but the brakes do not work when the 12-volt is failing. I called Nissan to notify them of this problem but did not get a response beyond a call from consumer repairs saying she would make a note of it.
I was stopped at a red light with my foot on the brake pedal and the car started to roll forward. I pressed hard on the brakes and noticed some strange noise as if the brake pedal was hitting something. The instrument display showed multiple warning signs like a skid symbol, brake in red font. Fortunately, the parking brake worked and I was glad I was stopped at the traffic light when this happened.
Brakes were not functional after starting the vehicle. The brakes pedal would depress without resistance to the floor. The car was able to be be placed in drive and attempting to use the brakes to stop was useless. Had to place car in park and hold E brake. Brake malfunction light was present. Issue occurred multiple times sporadically in both cool and warm weather over the last one week. Had prior brake recall addressed last year at dealership.
Much like other complaints here, just after starting the car and putting it into reverse from a parking spot, pressing the brake pedal did not slow the car down, even with the pedal fully depressed. Only after letting the brake up and pressing it again did it work. Fortunately I didn't hit anyone or anything and was able to get the brakes to work in time. The next time I went to start the car, the dashboard display kept telling me to press the brakes when pressing the start button no matter how much I was pressing the brakes. I could not get the car to start. Only after plugging the car in and returning to it an hour later did the car start.
- Shorewood, WI, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
I activated my vehicle by placing my foot on the brake pedal and pressing the ignition button. I placed the transmission in reverse. Immediately after, my vehicle began to move, but the brake pedal went all the way to the floor. At this point my vehicle would not stop and I frantically pumped the brake pedal. After about 5 or 6 feet of distance in reverse, my vehicle finally stopped and I placed it in park. Note: There were no prior warning lights or sounds before the brakes failed. The incident I experienced was a very close call. The parking lot I was located is frequented by many people taking exercise walks. If someone had been walking behind my vehicle when it malfunctioned, my vehicle would have struck them. Moreover, another parked vehicle was just a few more feet from where I eventually was able to stop. The dealership said the reason this happened was due to 12V auxiliary battery failure. I have asked Nissan Consumer Affairs department multiple times over the past month (email/phone) for an explanation and they have ignored me. I would like to find out if this is a problem that may occur again and/or how it can be fixed. They will not respond to my emails or voice mails. I hope you can help in some way to get information. At the very least, make you aware of this problem. Note: I have not experienced the problem again, but am especially concerned now because Nissan is ignoring me.
This morning after dropping my kid at daycare, I was backing up my car in the parking lot. During backing up, I pressed the brake pedal but the car didn't slow down and kept moving. After a couple of seconds, it finally stopped. Fortunately there was no one in the parking lot. Nissan needs to investigate the brake issue. I have seen similar complaints but there is no recall to fix it.
Brake recall issue NHTSA campaign number: 16V119000 I have been to the dealership three times to get this fixed, but every time the dealership comes back and says that they could not reproduce it so it is fixed. But every time I park in the garage at my work place or park overnight outdoors, I run into this problem where the exclamation icon would light up and the brakes would malfunction where I have to press harder for the brakes to apply. The workaround I follow is - pressing and releasing brake pedal will make the exclamation icon turn off and the brakes would function normally. I have had atleast two instances where the car will start moving even with my foot on the brake. I was very close to running into another car two times! I live in austin tx and these incidents happened during summertime when the temperatures were above 70F.
The contact owns a 2015 Nissan Leaf. The contact stated that the brakes failed to function while driving 20 mph. The failure occurred without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that there was a software malfunction with the ABS. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.
I was driving down a busy street at approximately 25 mile per hour. I pressed the brake pedal to slow down for a stop light. The pedal went all the way to the floor and the car did not slow down. I tried to put the car into "B" mode to slow it down and that did not have any effect (normally it would slow the car down through regenerative braking). I then continued to drive the car slowly (15-20mph) for ~ 3 more minutes until I was in a safe place to pull off the road. I pressed the brake pedal again and it felt "normal" (pedal did not go all the way to the floor) and the brakes operated normally. I called Nissan customer service and they opened a case number, told me to either call roadside assistance, or if I feel comfortable, drive the car to a Leaf-certified dealership. This was a very dangerous situation that could have had a tragic ending. Since I did not (luckily) get into an accident, the Nissan representative did not seem too worried about it. I was extremely disappointed in her reaction. This is an incredibly serious safety-related issue that the company should investigate.
Brakes failed upon starting the car, though I didn't know it when I began to drive the car. I had several error lights come on, but I couldn't figure out what the error was, but then figure out as soon as put the car in reverse. I couldn't stop using the brakes and only got myself to stop by using the emergency brake. I was backing out of a parking spot onto a city street, but fortunately there were no cars parked behind me or any moving cars on the street. I also attempted to drive forward, albeit very carefully, assuming it was a strange one-time occurrence. But the brakes simply did not work. Upon inspecting and repairing the car (after being towed to a Nissan dealership) Nissan informed me that the ABS brake controller failed.
I've only had the car for 2 months, and the brakes have failed repeatedly, once about every 5 days on average. Every time they have failed, it was when I start up the car, and put it in either forward or reverse. I usually pull forward into a parking spot, so I go in reverse much more frequently after starting up, but it has happened when going forward too. This is the failure mode. I start the car, while holding down the brake pedal, and then I put it in reverse. At that point the car starts rolling backwards, even though I'm still holding down the brake pedal. The brake pedal gets soft and when I floor the brake pedal, the car finally slows down and stops. Another way to stop it is to put it back in park, but that causes it to jerk to a halt. Needless to say, this is a scary scenario, and this frequently happens at my kids' school, where there are many kids and parents walking through the parking lot. In addition, the car also has some other problems. It sometimes starts a long uninterrupted beep when I turn off the car to get out. The beep goes on for minutes, and sometimes I see a warning light on the dashboard. Finally, the card completely stopped working today. An error message of "T/M system malfunction" appeared on the dashboard, and I was not even able to put the car into neutral for the tow truck. The driver window did not work anymore. After attaching a battery charger to the 12V battery, I was able to put it into neutral, but not able to put it in reverse or drive, or even back in park. The car had more than half of its battery cells full, so the problem was not because it ran out of charge.
The contact owns a 2015 Nissan Leaf. While driving 35 mph and attempting to park, the brake pedal was depressed and traveled to the floorboard. The brakes failed to respond after the ABS warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the brake sensors needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 6,200. The VIN was not available.
The contact owns a 2015 Nissan Leaf. The contact stated that while driving at 5 mph and attempting to park, the brake pedal was depressed and traveled to the floorboard causing the contact to crash into a brick wall. The brakes failed to respond. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries sustained. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was to be diagnosed and repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 3,000...updated 01/13/16 updated 05/03/18
Purchased a brand new 2015 Nissan Leaf on September 12th, 2015 3 weeks later on Oct 5th, 2015 brakes failed on this brand new car while driving in traffic on the freeway. As a result I ended up hitting a truck in the rear end at 55 mph. Inuries sustained in the accident and 2015 Nissan Leaf was totaled. I called this into Nissan and was told there was a service notice for this car for brake failure. This was never disclosed to me and the dealer had not performed this service work on the car prior to selling it to us. Please report and have all brake issues with the 2015 Nissan Leaf investigated.
It was early morning of Nov 13 Friday around 5:30 am, I was about to leave the house to work. I backed up the car about 10-15 ft away from original parking position and stopped because I forgot something in the house. At that time my foot was still on break pedal however, as soon as I changed to drive mode, the car move forward quickly even though my foot was on the break pedal. I pressed harder on the pedal to stopped the car unfortunately, the car immediately hit the filing cabinet, shoe rack and penetrated the house wall. It was a terrifying experience for me. My husband arrived home couple of hours later. He assessed the car and came into conclusion that the break pedal is totally reaching the floor. We immediately notified our insurance company on the same day.
Upon backing out of my garage, I found that the brakes did not work. I was only able to stop the car by applying the parking brake. Note that I had the car serviced on 11/11/2015, and one of the service items was "P5327 - Leaf electric brke ntb15-089......7594 reprogram electrically-driven intelligent brake control unit......perform campaign P5327, ECM part #46007-3nf9B"
As I turned into a parallel parking spot and applied the brakes, the brakes went to the floor and the car never slowed. My car hit the parked car in front of me.
Whenever we come to a stop for a traffic light or a stop sign, and the speed of the car is < 3 miles, we noticed that when we apply brakes, they do not get applied immediately. There is a sudden surge in acceleration before the car comes to a complete stop. This is very noticeable especially when we apply brakes to slow the car before a traffic signal or stop sign and also in bumper to bumper traffic conditions. As a result, we tend to stop the car atleast couple of meters before the stop line or the car in front to buffer the acceleration by the car. Thank you
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Cleveland Heights, OH, USA