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2015 Nissan Leaf problems & recalls

NHTSA has issued 4 recalls covering the 2015 Nissan Leaf and owners have filed 110 complaints. The most-reported area is service brakes (86 complaints). 8 complaints describe a crash.

Recalls
4
Complaints
110
Crash reports
8
Fire reports
0
Injuries
3

Recalls (4)

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 13, 2017#17V253000

Air bags

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2015-2017 LEAF and 2014, 2016 and 2017 Sentra vehicles. Due to a manufacturing error within the air bag inflators, the passenger frontal air bag may not properly deploy in the event of a crash.

Risk: In the event of a crash, if the front passenger air bag doesn't deploy properly, it can increase the risk of injury to passengers.

Fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began June 7, 2017. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.

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.

Owner complaints (110)

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

  • Service brakes86
  • Electrical system18
  • Unknown or other9
  • Vehicle speed control8
  • Air bags8
  • Engine3
  • Power train3
  • Electronic stability control (esc)3
  • Fuel/propulsion system2
  • Visibility/wiper2
  • Wheels2
  • Hydraulic1

Complaints over time

Dec 2014: 1 complaintJan 2015: 1 complaintFeb 2015: 2 complaintsMar 2015: 1 complaintApr 2015: 0 complaintsMay 2015: 2 complaintsJun 2015: 0 complaintsJul 2015: 0 complaintsAug 2015: 2 complaintsSep 2015: 1 complaintOct 2015: 2 complaintsNov 2015: 3 complaintsDec 2015: 2 complaintsJan 2016: 1 complaintFeb 2016: 3 complaintsMar 2016: 0 complaintsApr 2016: 2 complaintsMay 2016: 2 complaintsJun 2016: 0 complaintsJul 2016: 0 complaintsAug 2016: 1 complaintSep 2016: 1 complaintOct 2016: 1 complaintNov 2016: 1 complaintDec 2016: 0 complaintsJan 2017: 1 complaintFeb 2017: 0 complaintsMar 2017: 0 complaintsApr 2017: 0 complaintsMay 2017: 0 complaintsJun 2017: 0 complaintsJul 2017: 0 complaintsAug 2017: 2 complaintsSep 2017: 0 complaintsOct 2017: 0 complaintsNov 2017: 2 complaintsDec 2017: 0 complaintsJan 2018: 1 complaintFeb 2018: 1 complaintMar 2018: 0 complaintsApr 2018: 0 complaintsMay 2018: 0 complaintsJun 2018: 1 complaintJul 2018: 0 complaintsAug 2018: 1 complaintSep 2018: 0 complaintsOct 2018: 2 complaintsNov 2018: 0 complaintsDec 2018: 5 complaintsJan 2019: 3 complaintsFeb 2019: 0 complaintsMar 2019: 0 complaintsApr 2019: 0 complaintsMay 2019: 0 complaintsJun 2019: 1 complaintJul 2019: 2 complaintsAug 2019: 2 complaintsSep 2019: 1 complaintOct 2019: 0 complaintsNov 2019: 1 complaintDec 2019: 0 complaintsJan 2020: 2 complaintsFeb 2020: 0 complaintsMar 2020: 0 complaintsApr 2020: 1 complaintMay 2020: 0 complaintsJun 2020: 0 complaintsJul 2020: 0 complaintsAug 2020: 1 complaintSep 2020: 1 complaintOct 2020: 0 complaintsNov 2020: 2 complaintsDec 2020: 0 complaintsJan 2021: 1 complaintFeb 2021: 2 complaintsMar 2021: 0 complaintsApr 2021: 1 complaintMay 2021: 2 complaintsJun 2021: 0 complaintsJul 2021: 1 complaintAug 2021: 0 complaintsSep 2021: 0 complaintsOct 2021: 1 complaintNov 2021: 1 complaintDec 2021: 0 complaintsJan 2022: 2 complaintsFeb 2022: 0 complaintsMar 2022: 4 complaintsApr 2022: 0 complaintsMay 2022: 0 complaintsJun 2022: 0 complaintsJul 2022: 0 complaintsAug 2022: 1 complaintSep 2022: 1 complaintOct 2022: 1 complaintNov 2022: 2 complaintsDec 2022: 2 complaintsJan 2023: 0 complaintsFeb 2023: 1 complaintMar 2023: 0 complaintsApr 2023: 0 complaintsMay 2023: 0 complaintsJun 2023: 3 complaintsJul 2023: 1 complaintAug 2023: 1 complaintSep 2023: 2 complaintsOct 2023: 0 complaintsNov 2023: 2 complaintsDec 2023: 0 complaintsJan 2024: 0 complaintsFeb 2024: 0 complaintsMar 2024: 2 complaintsApr 2024: 0 complaintsMay 2024: 0 complaintsJun 2024: 0 complaintsJul 2024: 0 complaintsAug 2024: 1 complaintSep 2024: 1 complaintOct 2024: 0 complaintsNov 2024: 1 complaintDec 2024: 0 complaintsJan 2025: 1 complaintFeb 2025: 0 complaintsMar 2025: 0 complaintsApr 2025: 1 complaintMay 2025: 1 complaintJun 2025: 0 complaintsJul 2025: 1 complaintAug 2025: 0 complaintsSep 2025: 0 complaintsOct 2025: 0 complaintsNov 2025: 0 complaintsDec 2025: 2 complaintsJan 2026: 0 complaintsFeb 2026: 0 complaintsMar 2026: 0 complaintsApr 2026: 2 complaintsMay 2026: 0 complaintsJun 2026: 0 complaintsJul 2026: 0 complaintsAug 2026: 2 complaintsSep 2026: 1 complaint201620182020202220242026
Complaints filed per month. Peak: 5 in Dec 2018. Hover a bar for its count.
Complaints filed per month
MonthComplaints
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Jan 20151
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Jan 20202
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Recent owner reports

Sep 1, 2026Electrical system, Service brakes

The electrically-driven intelligent brake unit failed on my 2015 Nissan Leaf. The brakes became inoperative: when pressing the brake pedal there is a loud compression/grinding noise and the pedal goes nearly to the floor with little braking force. The failure appeared suddenly after charging the vehicle; it had been working normally before. The vehicle had to be towed to a Nissan dealership. The dealer diagnosed codes U1000 and U110D stored in the ABS module for lost communication with the intelligent brake module, performed an inspection, and confirmed the intelligent brake unit failed. The d…

Aug 13, 2026Service brakes

The contact owns a 2015 Nissan Leaf. The contact stated that while reversing at an undisclosed speed, the brakes failed to engage while the brake pedal was depressed. The brake and master warning lights were illuminated. The failure had occurred on several occasions; however, the contact stated that the vehicle recently failed to return to normal operation. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the brake module booster needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact researched and was made aware of NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V119000 (Service Brakes); howe…

Aug 6, 2026Electrical system, Service brakes

The car was parked in a parking lot, and when we turned it on and pulled out of the space, the brake light, ABS light, and other warning lights came on and the brakes went soft. We pulled back into the space and tried again, thinking it was a fluke and heard a strange noise coming from the car when it started. Again the lights came on and the brakes did not work. We had it towed to our normal mechanic and then to the dealership when the mechanic was unable to figure out what was wrong. The brakes looked to be in good repair. The Nissan dealership was unable to reproduce the problem and found o…

Apr 23, 2026Electrical system, Service brakes

This is the third time my brakes have failed while driving, which seems to have something to do with the 12-volt battery. At least at first, I disconnected my 12-volt battery and reconnected it; this fixed the issue, at least for a while. The other day, I was driving down a road near my house and the brakes failed right before I came around a bend. I had to quickly press the e-brake to slow down, or I would have run right off the road. This is definitely a dangerous issue. Please issue a recall for this because I've noticed many other people complaining about the same issue—the same sound, fee…

Apr 23, 2026Unknown or other

Visor on driver side fall down on face causing blockage. Paint is pealing off of vehicle.

Dec 11, 2025Service brakes

Was driving the car in a neighborhood setting only going 20 mph, ABS light turned on the dashboard, traction control light or some other light regarding traction came on as well, brakes failed. Had to use parking brake to stop the vehicle.

Dec 7, 2025Service brakes

While driving normally, yellow brake warning lights came on but I arrived home without incident. Next time I drove, the warning lights were all off, but suddenly the brakes failed almost completely. I pushed the pedal to the floor and heard a grinding/clicking sound, and barely any stopping power. I was only going 25 mph, and was able to stop after 5 seconds of high foot pressure. At the same time, red brake warning light came on. I was able to get the car home very slowly, and strangely I had adequate braking power for the remainder of the short trip (although red and yellow brake warnin…

Jul 24, 2025Electrical system, Service brakes

My Intelligent Brake Unit failed. I was slowing down at a major intersection to stop. The ABS system activated and the brakes did not respond appropriately. The pedal went soft. Multiple lights on the dashboard lit up. My two year old child was in the vehicle with me, and we are still recovering from this traumatic experience. I considered the car disabled and had it towed to a mechanic. I then brought it to a Nissan dealership who identified that the entire intelligent brake unit needs replacing for $5,500, which is more than half of what I paid for the vehicle.

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.