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2014 Nissan Leaf problems & recalls

NHTSA has issued 6 recalls covering the 2014 Nissan Leaf and owners have filed 34 complaints. The most-reported area is service brakes (18 complaints). 2 complaints describe a fire and 3 complaints describe a crash.

Recalls
6
Complaints
34
Crash reports
3
Fire reports
2
Injuries
2

Recalls (6)

Apr 26, 2023#23V296000

Equipment › Other › Owners/service/other manual

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2013-2017 LEAF vehicles. The Owner's Manual instructions for defroster operation are incorrect and may result in reduced defroster performance under specific conditions. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 103, "Windshield Defrosting and Defogging Systems."

Risk: Reduced defroster performance can limit visibility out of the windshield, increasing the risk of a crash.

Fix: Nissan will mail an addendum with updated instructions on how to operate the defroster, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed May 26, 2023. Owners may contact Nissan's customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall is R23A1.

Apr 26, 2016#16V244000

Air bags › Sensor › Occupant classification

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Nissan Maxima, 2013-2016 Nissan Altima, NV200, LEAF, Sentra, and Pathfinder, 2014-2016 Nissan NV200 Taxi, Infiniti QX60, QX60 Hybrid, and Q50 Hybrid, 2014-2017 Nissan Rogue and Infiniti Q50, 2015-2016 Nissan Murano, Murano Hybrid, and Chevrolet City Express, 2014-2015 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid, and 2013 Infiniti JX35 vehicles. In these vehicles, the front seat passenger Occupant Classification System (OCS) may incorrectly classify an adult passenger as a child or classify the seat as empty despite it being occupied. As a result, the passenger frontal air bag may be turned off and not deploy in the event of a crash.

Risk: If the passenger frontal air bag does not deploy as intended in the event of a crash, the passenger is at an increased risk of injury.

Fix: Nissan will notify their owners. Chevrolet City Express owners will be notified by General Motors. Dealers will reprogram the Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) and OCS Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in Altima, Maxima, Murano, Rogue, and Sentra vehicles, and replace the OCS ECU in LEAF, NV200, NV200 Taxi, Pathfinder, Infiniti Q50, JX35, and QX60 and Chevrolet City Express vehicles, free of charge. Interim notices were sent to owners on May 31, 2016. Owners will receive a second notice when remedy parts become available. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669, Infiniti customer service at 1-888-833-3216 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020.

Feb 29, 2016#16V119000

Service brakes

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 LEAF vehicles manufactured November 19, 2012, to July 31, 2015. During very cold temperatures, the relay inside the electronic brake booster may freeze, requiring the driver to exert more effort to slow the vehicle down.

Risk: If the brake relay fails, longer distances or additional brake effort would be required to stop the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.

Fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the Intelligent Brake Control Unit software, free of charge. The recall began on March 28, 2016. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.

May 16, 2014#14V263000

Hybrid propulsion system › Inverter

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2014 Nissan LEAF vehicles manufactured April 15, 2014, through April 24, 2014. Due to a problem with the motor control circuit board, the inverter may fail, causing the vehicle shut down.

Risk: An unexpected vehicle shut down increases the risk of a crash.

Fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the inverter, free of charge. The recall began in July 2014. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.

Apr 16, 2014#14V192000

Structure

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2014 LEAF vehicles manufactured February 28, 2014, through March 12, 2014. The front structural member assembly may be missing welds, which could reduce the structural integrity of the vehicle if the vehicle is involved in a crash. As such, these vehicles fail to meet the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection," and 305, "Electric-Powered Vehicles: Electrolyte Spillage and Electrical Shock Protection."

Risk: Missing welds may effect the vehicle's integrity in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury to the vehicle's occupants.

Fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect to see if any of the welds are missing. Any vehicle missing welds will be replaced, free of charge. The recall began on June 2, 2014. Owners may contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.

Mar 25, 2014#14V138000

Electrical system › Software

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Altima, LEAF, Pathfinder, and Sentra, model year 2013 NV200 (aka Taxi) and Infiniti JX35 and model year 2014 Infiniti Q50 and QX60 vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the occupant classification system (OCS) software may incorrectly classify the passenger seat as empty, when it is occupied by an adult.

Risk: If the OCS does not detect an adult occupant in the passenger seat, the passenger airbag would be deactivated. Failure of the passenger airbag to deploy during a crash (where deployment is warranted) could increase the risk of injury to the passenger.

Fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will update the OCS software, free of charge. The recall began on April 14, 2014. Owners may contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.

Owner complaints (34)

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

  • Service brakes18
  • Electrical system6
  • Air bags4
  • Unknown or other3
  • Steering2
  • Vehicle speed control2
  • Visibility2
  • Seats2
  • Seat belts1
  • Fuel/propulsion system1
  • Power train1
  • Electronic stability control (esc)1

Complaints over time

May 2014: 1 complaintJun 2014: 1 complaintJul 2014: 0 complaintsAug 2014: 1 complaintSep 2014: 0 complaintsOct 2014: 0 complaintsNov 2014: 0 complaintsDec 2014: 0 complaintsJan 2015: 0 complaintsFeb 2015: 3 complaintsMar 2015: 0 complaintsApr 2015: 1 complaintMay 2015: 0 complaintsJun 2015: 1 complaintJul 2015: 0 complaintsAug 2015: 1 complaintSep 2015: 0 complaintsOct 2015: 0 complaintsNov 2015: 0 complaintsDec 2015: 0 complaintsJan 2016: 1 complaintFeb 2016: 0 complaintsMar 2016: 1 complaintApr 2016: 0 complaintsMay 2016: 1 complaintJun 2016: 0 complaintsJul 2016: 0 complaintsAug 2016: 0 complaintsSep 2016: 0 complaintsOct 2016: 0 complaintsNov 2016: 0 complaintsDec 2016: 1 complaintJan 2017: 1 complaintFeb 2017: 0 complaintsMar 2017: 0 complaintsApr 2017: 0 complaintsMay 2017: 0 complaintsJun 2017: 0 complaintsJul 2017: 1 complaintAug 2017: 0 complaintsSep 2017: 0 complaintsOct 2017: 0 complaintsNov 2017: 0 complaintsDec 2017: 1 complaintJan 2018: 0 complaintsFeb 2018: 1 complaintMar 2018: 1 complaintApr 2018: 0 complaintsMay 2018: 0 complaintsJun 2018: 0 complaintsJul 2018: 0 complaintsAug 2018: 0 complaintsSep 2018: 1 complaintOct 2018: 0 complaintsNov 2018: 0 complaintsDec 2018: 1 complaintJan 2019: 0 complaintsFeb 2019: 0 complaintsMar 2019: 1 complaintApr 2019: 0 complaintsMay 2019: 0 complaintsJun 2019: 0 complaintsJul 2019: 1 complaintAug 2019: 0 complaintsSep 2019: 1 complaintOct 2019: 1 complaintNov 2019: 0 complaintsDec 2019: 0 complaintsJan 2020: 0 complaintsFeb 2020: 0 complaintsMar 2020: 0 complaintsApr 2020: 0 complaintsMay 2020: 0 complaintsJun 2020: 0 complaintsJul 2020: 0 complaintsAug 2020: 0 complaintsSep 2020: 0 complaintsOct 2020: 0 complaintsNov 2020: 1 complaintDec 2020: 0 complaintsJan 2021: 0 complaintsFeb 2021: 1 complaintMar 2021: 0 complaintsApr 2021: 1 complaintMay 2021: 1 complaintJun 2021: 0 complaintsJul 2021: 0 complaintsAug 2021: 0 complaintsSep 2021: 0 complaintsOct 2021: 0 complaintsNov 2021: 0 complaintsDec 2021: 1 complaintJan 2022: 0 complaintsFeb 2022: 1 complaintMar 2022: 1 complaintApr 2022: 0 complaintsMay 2022: 0 complaintsJun 2022: 0 complaintsJul 2022: 0 complaintsAug 2022: 0 complaintsSep 2022: 1 complaintOct 2022: 0 complaintsNov 2022: 0 complaintsDec 2022: 0 complaintsJan 2023: 0 complaintsFeb 2023: 0 complaintsMar 2023: 0 complaintsApr 2023: 1 complaintMay 2023: 0 complaintsJun 2023: 0 complaintsJul 2023: 0 complaintsAug 2023: 0 complaintsSep 2023: 0 complaintsOct 2023: 0 complaintsNov 2023: 0 complaintsDec 2023: 0 complaintsJan 2024: 0 complaintsFeb 2024: 0 complaintsMar 2024: 0 complaintsApr 2024: 0 complaintsMay 2024: 0 complaintsJun 2024: 0 complaintsJul 2024: 1 complaint2015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Complaints filed per month. Peak: 3 in Feb 2015. Hover a bar for its count.
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Recent owner reports

Jul 9, 2024Electrical system, Service brakes⚠ Crash

[XXX] - I was on the way to work on a clear and sunny morning. After stopping at a traffic light, vehicles started moving forward through the intersection. Traffic was building and the lady in front of me stopped very quickly. When I pressed the the brake pedal to stop behind her nothing happened. The brakes did not brake! The pedal went all the way to the floor. It didn't even try to slow down. I just rolled right into the back of her. The front end of my 2014 Nissan LEAF sustained significant damage and the rear bumper of her SUV sustained minor damage. Both of us had minor neck/back pain a…

Apr 12, 2023Service brakes

The contact owns a 2014 Nissan Leaf. The contact stated that while his wife was reversing from the garage, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to stop immediately. Additionally, several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000. The contact noted that the failure mileage was approximately 50,100 and speed was approximately 5 mph.

Sep 19, 2022Service brakes

Complete braking system failure. After putting the car into reverse, only the emergency brake and parking system were functional. Once taken out of park, the vehicle was effectively free-rolling and nearly hit a structure. While in-gear, the brake sensation was that of having ABS actively working, and the brake needed to be smashed to the floor to get any functional braking. The fearful part was the car was still applying powertrain effort, without any accelerator input. Yellow Brake Warning Light, Red BRAKE light, VDC Warning Light, Red/Yellow Master Warning Light were all illuminated. Th…

Mar 15, 2022Steering, Electrical system

The power steering has intermittently been de-activating. There is a warning light that comes on (yellow triangle with an exclamation mark). When this happens it causes the steering wheel to feel like it’s pulls in a direction. After we suddenly lose power steering with no warning we’re left to drive a car with no power steering until it suddenly re-engages. There has been no rhyme or reason to when this happens. The issue has been diagnosed at a factory dealership. The car has not sustained any accident (ever) in the +/- 4 years we’ve owned it

Feb 3, 2022Seat belts

1) start the vehicle 2) exit the vehicle 3) Unplug the vehicle 4) re-start the vehicle 5) put in drive Seat belt chime does not ring. I found that I can also 1) Start the vehicle 2) Put in drive 3) Put in park 4) exit the vehicle 5) enter the vehicle w/o seatbelt buckled 6) put in drive. No seatbelt chime.

Dec 1, 2021Service brakes

Brake Failure - ABS noise, there is zero brake action. Pedal goes all the way to the floor and nothing happens. Car makes an ABS noise but there is zero brake action. I reported this to Nissan dealer twice at first, they couldn't find a problem now their saying it maybe the ABS Control Unit. They want to replace the ABS Control Unit at $2,200 but does not guarantee that's the problems. The Nissan dealer states that the car is not safe to drive. even if I pay them $2,200 to replace the ABS control unit.

May 28, 2021Vehicle speed control, Fuel/propulsion system⚠ Crash

My car suddenly accelerated out of my control and my car was totaled in a supermarket parking lot. Amazingly no serious injuries though two other cars were damaged by this event. No warnings and no time to act. I demanded that Nissan do an inspection. The email I got from them this morning said they found nothing wrong with the vehicle BUT that the accelerator was at 100% at the time of the accident. I was parked and getting out of my car when this occurred but Nissan did not think it suspicious that my car accelerated to 100% without any reason for me to accelerate and my foot not on the…

Apr 20, 2021Service brakes

I WAS DRIVING MY 2014 NISSAN LEAF SL AT A LOW SPEED (5-10 MPH) WHEN THE BRAKES HAD A SUDDEN AND UNANTICIPATED TOTAL BRAKE FAILURE. WHILE PULLING UP TO A STOPLIGHT TO MAKE A RIGHT TURN, I WAS UNABLE TO STOP THE CAR FOR APPROXIMATELY 10 FEET BEYOND WHERE I HAD INTENDED. FORTUNATELY, THERE WERE NO OTHER VEHICLES OR PEDESTRIANS IN MY PATH. THIS EVENT HAPPENED IN DOWNTOWN SALT LAKE CITY. FROM THE POINT OF FAILURE, I WAS ABLE TO PREDICTABLY STOP THE CAR WITH SOME EXERTION. BUT CLEARLY, A FUNDAMENTAL MAJOR COMPONENT OF THE VEHICLE FAILED. IT WAS NOT PART OF THE BRAKES THEMSELVES, OR THE ROTORS, O…

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.