10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 1 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 17,868 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.
The Nissan Leaf was being driven on a 35 mph road in a hilly area. While going approximately 25 mph on a downhill curve coming up to a red light the driver applied the brakes and they did not engage with normal pressure. The driver then pushed the brake peddle all the way down to the floor before the vehicle begin to slowly stop causing the vehicle to go 10 feet past a red light into an intersection. The driver drove out of the intersection and tested the brakes again with the same results. The drivers spouse arrived to test the vehicle and verified the same results. The only way home was a very steep down hill so tow truck was called to pick up the vehicle and bring it to the Nissan dealership the tow truck driver also verified the brakes were not engaging when he loaded the vehicle on the flatbed. When the vehicle arrived at the dealership and unloaded from the tow truck the brakes started working. The dealership tested the vehicle and verified the brakes passed inspection. Feeling unsafe to drive the vehicle the owner tried to convince the dealership to test more. They were not able to reproduce the issue. The owners reported to Nissan of America customer service. Nissan of America said they had not heard of this type of issue and that if the dealership couldn't find anything there was nothing they could do. Since the dealership and corporate can not fix the car and do not want to further investigate the vehicle was towed to the owners house where it now sits unused.
- San Pedro, CA, USA
During conditions of low 12V battery charge, the vehicle will occasionally start, go into a drive mode ("R" or "D") but the brakes will not operate. I stress that this only happens when the 12V battery has low charge, but not too low that the vehicle will refuse to start. I am not the only person to report this. Note the comment about brakes failing in this posting: Https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?F=30&T=12959&P=588304#P587949
- Fremont, CA, USA
No brakes at startup. No previous problems. Drove 20 miles night before. Brake pedal went to floor while backing out of garage.
- Tampa, FL, USA
Brake stopped working while I was driving on san thomas expressway in santa clara city in California; I immediately switched to "park" and also used manual brake, eventually I managed to stop it; since it's blocking a lane, police came and towed the car to the dealership. Mileage is estimate since the car is still being repaired in the dealership.
- Sunnyvale, CA, USA
I haven't had an accident due to the brakes not working, but I have had similar issues that others are reporting. I've learned to not follow close at all. Mine is only at low speeds that I've noticed the lack of brakes. Seems random, cannot determine a specific speed or conditions that are common. It has happened since the beginning. Only at 13700 miles currently.
- Saint Charles, IL, USA
The contact owns a 2016 Nissan Leaf. While driving in reverse, the brakes failed to engage when the brake pedal was depressed. The vehicle was towed to premier Nissan of metairie (located at 6636 veterans memorial blvd, metairie, la 70003, (504) 455-5800) to be diagnosed, but a failure code could not be found. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided case number: 33554796. The approximate failure mileage was 14,000.
- New Orleans, LA, USA
I had a brake failure at power on issue on my 2016 Nissan Leaf sl. Nothing on the dash alerted me. The brakes did work, but it seemed like no vacuum assist, so had to press really hard. Towed to a dealer. Replaced the 12V battery. Very scary, I rolled out into an intersection and luckily I was not in an accident or ran over a pedestrian.
- New Braunfels, TX, USA
My 2016 Leaf sl was damaged in a fairly low speed collision during heavy office rush traffic (around 7:30am in the morning). When the car in front of me suddenly stopped, I also braked hard. At that time I heard ABS like sound but the car did not actually stop, it kept on going and hit the car in front of me. I was too stressed out at the moment therefore I did not have time to think. Later on, I spent some time searching internet with search queries like 'Nissan Leaf brake problem' or 'Nissan Leaf did not brake' etc. I found multiple mentions of experiences very similar to mine. If you perform google search, you will see what I mean. Is there a way to look at the Leaf onboard data to see what may have happened?
- Kirkland, WA, USA
Car lost all break capabilities as I approached a traffic light. Brake pedal was loose and car would not engage breaks, loud crack sound on first pump before break was lost. Since I was going at low speed (30mph) I could employ manual break to stop vehicle. Break remain in failure state till on hour later when it seem to have returned.
- San Jose, CA, USA
On 6 occasions the brakes failed to work on first contact when attempting to come to a full stop at either a stop light or a stop sign on city streets. Releasing the brake pedal and reapplying the brakes finally brought the car to a stop. This happened to both my husband and myself and happened on both straight flat roads and downhill roads. This happened in both regenerative and non-regenerative braking but the worst failure happened in non-regenerative braking.
- Bloomington, MN, USA
While approaching an intersection in a busy area of san diego county, the brakes failed on my Nissan Leaf. The brake shuddered under my foot, much like anti-lock brakes do when they're engaged. After I felt the shuddering, the brake pedal went down but the vehicle did not decelerate as it normally would in response to braking. I tried the brake pedal a few times with no response, but the vehicle's momentum slowed enough for me to avoid a collision and continue on the road. As I came to a second intersection, I again tried the brakes and the vehicle did not respond. I used the emergency brake to stop the Leaf at the intersection. I located an uphill driveway to a corporate parking location, and drove the vehicle very slowly to a parking spot. I intended to park the car and call a towing service, but when I once again tried the brake pedal the Nissan Leaf responded to the brakes and stopped in the parking spot. Because I was close to work and the brakes had re-engaged, I drove the vehicle to the parking lot at my office and later that day called Nissan's Consumer Affairs line for the Leaf (877-664-2738). I reported the issue to Nissan, and they had the vehicle towed to a nearby Nissan dealership. At this point in time, Nissan is working with mossy Nissan in poway, ca to try to diagnose the problem. Nissan opened case #27170321 on the issue. This is a fairly new vehicle (bought in September 2016), and I don't think there are any physical problems with the brake pads or mechanism. My best guess is that an electric/controller failure occurred with regenerative braking.
- Oceanside, CA, USA
- Albuquerque, NM, USA