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2011 Nissan Leaf problems & recalls

NHTSA lists no recalls for the 2011 Nissan Leaf and owners have filed 95 complaints. The most-reported area is air bags (35 complaints). 5 complaints describe a crash.

Recalls
0
Complaints
95
Crash reports
5
Fire reports
0
Injuries
5

Recalls (0)

NHTSA lists no recalls for the 2011 Leaf.

Owner complaints (95)

What owners reported to NHTSA, by component. One complaint can name several components.

  • Air bags35
  • Electrical system29
  • Service brakes22
  • Seats7
  • Vehicle speed control5
  • Unknown or other4
  • Fuel/propulsion system4
  • Hydraulic4
  • Power train3
  • Structure3
  • Engine2
  • Electric2

Complaints over time

Jul 2011: 3 complaintsAug 2011: 0 complaintsSep 2011: 1 complaintOct 2011: 1 complaintNov 2011: 2 complaintsDec 2011: 0 complaintsJan 2012: 1 complaintFeb 2012: 0 complaintsMar 2012: 0 complaintsApr 2012: 0 complaintsMay 2012: 1 complaintJun 2012: 1 complaintJul 2012: 1 complaintAug 2012: 8 complaintsSep 2012: 3 complaintsOct 2012: 0 complaintsNov 2012: 0 complaintsDec 2012: 0 complaintsJan 2013: 0 complaintsFeb 2013: 1 complaintMar 2013: 0 complaintsApr 2013: 1 complaintMay 2013: 0 complaintsJun 2013: 1 complaintJul 2013: 0 complaintsAug 2013: 0 complaintsSep 2013: 0 complaintsOct 2013: 1 complaintNov 2013: 0 complaintsDec 2013: 0 complaintsJan 2014: 0 complaintsFeb 2014: 1 complaintMar 2014: 1 complaintApr 2014: 0 complaintsMay 2014: 3 complaintsJun 2014: 0 complaintsJul 2014: 1 complaintAug 2014: 0 complaintsSep 2014: 3 complaintsOct 2014: 1 complaintNov 2014: 0 complaintsDec 2014: 0 complaintsJan 2015: 0 complaintsFeb 2015: 0 complaintsMar 2015: 0 complaintsApr 2015: 0 complaintsMay 2015: 1 complaintJun 2015: 0 complaintsJul 2015: 0 complaintsAug 2015: 0 complaintsSep 2015: 1 complaintOct 2015: 3 complaintsNov 2015: 0 complaintsDec 2015: 0 complaintsJan 2016: 1 complaintFeb 2016: 0 complaintsMar 2016: 0 complaintsApr 2016: 2 complaintsMay 2016: 2 complaintsJun 2016: 0 complaintsJul 2016: 1 complaintAug 2016: 0 complaintsSep 2016: 0 complaintsOct 2016: 0 complaintsNov 2016: 0 complaintsDec 2016: 0 complaintsJan 2017: 0 complaintsFeb 2017: 0 complaintsMar 2017: 0 complaintsApr 2017: 0 complaintsMay 2017: 1 complaintJun 2017: 1 complaintJul 2017: 2 complaintsAug 2017: 0 complaintsSep 2017: 0 complaintsOct 2017: 1 complaintNov 2017: 0 complaintsDec 2017: 1 complaintJan 2018: 0 complaintsFeb 2018: 0 complaintsMar 2018: 0 complaintsApr 2018: 0 complaintsMay 2018: 0 complaintsJun 2018: 3 complaintsJul 2018: 0 complaintsAug 2018: 2 complaintsSep 2018: 0 complaintsOct 2018: 0 complaintsNov 2018: 1 complaintDec 2018: 0 complaintsJan 2019: 2 complaintsFeb 2019: 2 complaintsMar 2019: 1 complaintApr 2019: 2 complaintsMay 2019: 1 complaintJun 2019: 0 complaintsJul 2019: 1 complaintAug 2019: 0 complaintsSep 2019: 0 complaintsOct 2019: 0 complaintsNov 2019: 1 complaintDec 2019: 3 complaintsJan 2020: 1 complaintFeb 2020: 1 complaintMar 2020: 0 complaintsApr 2020: 0 complaintsMay 2020: 1 complaintJun 2020: 0 complaintsJul 2020: 1 complaintAug 2020: 0 complaintsSep 2020: 0 complaintsOct 2020: 0 complaintsNov 2020: 1 complaintDec 2020: 1 complaintJan 2021: 0 complaintsFeb 2021: 0 complaintsMar 2021: 0 complaintsApr 2021: 3 complaintsMay 2021: 0 complaintsJun 2021: 0 complaintsJul 2021: 0 complaintsAug 2021: 0 complaintsSep 2021: 1 complaintOct 2021: 1 complaintNov 2021: 0 complaintsDec 2021: 0 complaintsJan 2022: 0 complaintsFeb 2022: 0 complaintsMar 2022: 0 complaintsApr 2022: 0 complaintsMay 2022: 1 complaintJun 2022: 0 complaintsJul 2022: 1 complaintAug 2022: 1 complaintSep 2022: 0 complaintsOct 2022: 0 complaintsNov 2022: 0 complaintsDec 2022: 0 complaintsJan 2023: 0 complaintsFeb 2023: 0 complaintsMar 2023: 0 complaintsApr 2023: 0 complaintsMay 2023: 1 complaintJun 2023: 2 complaintsJul 2023: 1 complaintAug 2023: 0 complaintsSep 2023: 1 complaintOct 2023: 0 complaintsNov 2023: 0 complaintsDec 2023: 0 complaintsJan 2024: 0 complaintsFeb 2024: 0 complaintsMar 2024: 0 complaintsApr 2024: 0 complaintsMay 2024: 1 complaintJun 2024: 0 complaintsJul 2024: 1 complaintAug 2024: 0 complaintsSep 2024: 0 complaintsOct 2024: 0 complaintsNov 2024: 0 complaintsDec 2024: 0 complaintsJan 2025: 0 complaintsFeb 2025: 0 complaintsMar 2025: 1 complaintApr 2025: 1 complaint2012201420162018202020222024
Complaints filed per month. Peak: 8 in Aug 2012. Hover a bar for its count.
Complaints filed per month
MonthComplaints
Jul 20113
Aug 20110
Sep 20111
Oct 20111
Nov 20112
Dec 20110
Jan 20121
Feb 20120
Mar 20120
Apr 20120
May 20121
Jun 20121
Jul 20121
Aug 20128
Sep 20123
Oct 20120
Nov 20120
Dec 20120
Jan 20130
Feb 20131
Mar 20130
Apr 20131
May 20130
Jun 20131
Jul 20130
Aug 20130
Sep 20130
Oct 20131
Nov 20130
Dec 20130
Jan 20140
Feb 20141
Mar 20141
Apr 20140
May 20143
Jun 20140
Jul 20141
Aug 20140
Sep 20143
Oct 20141
Nov 20140
Dec 20140
Jan 20150
Feb 20150
Mar 20150
Apr 20150
May 20151
Jun 20150
Jul 20150
Aug 20150
Sep 20151
Oct 20153
Nov 20150
Dec 20150
Jan 20161
Feb 20160
Mar 20160
Apr 20162
May 20162
Jun 20160
Jul 20161
Aug 20160
Sep 20160
Oct 20160
Nov 20160
Dec 20160
Jan 20170
Feb 20170
Mar 20170
Apr 20170
May 20171
Jun 20171
Jul 20172
Aug 20170
Sep 20170
Oct 20171
Nov 20170
Dec 20171
Jan 20180
Feb 20180
Mar 20180
Apr 20180
May 20180
Jun 20183
Jul 20180
Aug 20182
Sep 20180
Oct 20180
Nov 20181
Dec 20180
Jan 20192
Feb 20192
Mar 20191
Apr 20192
May 20191
Jun 20190
Jul 20191
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Sep 20190
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Nov 20191
Dec 20193
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Recent owner reports

Apr 17, 2025Air bags, Seats

Car throws a B1018 DTC, which is for the passenger seat occupancy sensor. The seat occupancy sensor failing poses a major safety risk, as it causes the airbags to not deploy properly in the event of a crash. This is a very well known issue for the 2011-2012 LEAF, and the only option Nissan gives to fix this is a full seat replacement, which is cost prohibitive at over $3000. Previously, a recall was issued for 2013-2016 LEAFs for a similar issue, but the 2011-2012 was not included in that recall.

Mar 25, 2025Air bags

Air bag sensor fault, passenger seat warning on dashboard. Confirmed sensor failure at repair shop. Notified by Nissan that sensors are DISCONTINUED parts. No alternative solution suggested. This means all airbags in this vehicle are disabled. Car has less than 40,000 miles and has years of service life left. How is Nissan allowed to discontinue supply of an essential safety component?

Jul 17, 2024Air bags, Seats

Please see thread: [XXX] My 2011 Nissan Leaf's OCS has failed randomly. I pulled the code via an Bluetooth OBD reader and the LeafSpy Pro app installed on my phone: B1018-00 09 AIR BAG Occupant Sens [Unit Fail] SRC-41. I took the car to a local dealership and was quoted over $4k for a full seat replacement with no ETA as the part is on back order. There is no option to simply replace the OCS alone and there is no workaround from Nissan to re-enable the passenger airbag without paying the $4k for the new seat. Opened a case with Nissan Consumer Affairs who advised they could do nothing for me…

May 31, 2024Electrical system, Service brakes

When applying brakes, at a point in the pedal travel the vehicle deceleration goes from too little to vastly too much. This makes the vehicle challenging to drive in traffic without colliding into the vehicle in front and not stopping so quickly as to cause the trailing vehicle to collide. The dealer has confirmed the behavior. There is a TSB to supposedly address the problem, and a receipt is attached of that TSB software update being applied. However, this has not changed the behavior. This is at least partially a software issue, since the vehicle blends physical brakes with EV regenera…

Sep 25, 2023Air bags, Seats

Supplemental air bag warning light started blinking on 9/24/2023. It blinks regardless of whether the front passenger seat is occupied. The OCS sensor for the passenger seat failed. This should have been covered by a recall. The dealer wants over $3,000.00 to replace the seat cushion. I declined the repair. Dealer assured me that driver air bag isn't affected, so I'll operate the car without a front passenger. Dealer Estimate: Denied Repair Step Step Total: $3,687.14 Correction: inspected system, dtc b1018 for occupant sensor unit failure is present. Cleared dtc, when sitting in passeng…

Jul 14, 2023Vehicle speed control

Vehicle doesn't slow down when taking foot of the acceleration pedal. Same both power settings. It will continue to move at slow speed on level ground. It behaves as though the minimum pedal.motor speed is too fast. My concern.is that it might get very fast without any pedal. Thank you.

Jun 20, 2023Air bags

My airbag sensor light went off for no reason. I took it into the dealership and was told that it would cost $3,700 to get it repaired/replaced since the seat needs to be removed. I am concerned that this safety issue is not taken care of and have read that many 2011 Leaf's are having this same issue.

Jun 4, 2023Vehicle speed control⚠ Crash

On 05/28/23 while i was trying to park my 2011 Nissan Leaf in a parking lot, the car accelerated unexpectedly and hit a pole and fence and scratched an already parked car. Applying break did not slow down my car. I own this car since 2011 and never had an experience like this.

Nissan Leaf news

Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recall and complaint records, updated Oct 1, 2026. Complaints are owner reports and are not verified by NHTSA. Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.