4.5

definitely annoying
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
24,833 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2011 Nissan Leaf:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

problem #3

Apr 242021

Leaf

  • 44,000 miles
When I accelerated from a stop on a city street to turn left on my way home the engine lost power even as I pushed the accelerated pedal more till the car almost stopped in the middle of the turn. Engine returned to normal acceleration power after I prepared to pull over out of traffic. No warning lights came on.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #2

Feb 042014

Leaf

  • 25,500 miles
Two months ago I was braking moderately when the car shuttered, there was a bump and the car began coasting. I saw that it had popped into N (neutral) even though I didn't touch the gear shift. I tried to put it back into D (drive) but it wouldn't respond. I pushed the car to the side of the road and tried several times to shut it down. Finally, it responded, then restarted and drove normally. After that, there would be intermittent shuttering and bumping while braking. The recharging lights will pulse and I can feel the regenerative feature grab and then release. One morning recently, along with these symptoms the range plummeted quickly, by about 1 mile per second. After driving only 20 miles I had 17 miles of indicated range. Then, yesterday, the first problem reappeared: The car went into neutral and briefly wouldn't respond. The car is now at the dealer.

- Long Beach, CA, USA

problem #1

Nov 162011

Leaf

  • 5,000 miles
I have run into what I believe is a small design flaw. Scenario: 1) Leaf is parked in condo parking garage with gentle uphill slope on parking space. 2) startup sound is turned off. 2) forget the Leaf is still plugged in to av L2 evse. 3) put foot on brake, push start button. 4) shift into reverse, not looking at dash screen to see warning that Leaf won't start. 5) press down on parking brake lever to disengage parking brake. 6) press accelerator. Result: The Leaf doesn't start since it is still plugged in to evse. The Leaf shifts out of park into neutral after step #4. once parking brake is off and foot is on accelerator, there is nothing to keep the Leaf from rolling back. If it rolls far enough it will damage either the L2 connector to the car or the evse or both. Comment: This is not a hypothetical, it has happened to me 3-4 times in the last year. Fortunately, I quickly realized the Leaf was still connected to the evse and applied the brake so that no damage was done. In my opinion, you should not be able to shift the Leaf out of park or release the parking brake while the Leaf is still plugged in. I would suggest changing the software to avoid potential damage to the Leaf L2 connecter, evse or damage to property in the vicinity.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA