2018 Nissan Armada Brakes Problems

There is a common known issue with the Armadas that Nissan has not addressed, where you will randomly get a "BCI Malfunction" warning, sometimes corresponding to a warning about the ABS System. The car will not shift out of the current gear when this happens, until you turn it off and back on again. If you are really unlucky, like I am, this will progress to the car randomly applying the brakes and initiating hard stops, in traffic. This happened to me two days ago in traffic and I narrowly escaped an accident. I had to get the car towed home and it still intermittently does this. The brakes locked up so badly that the car was covered in smoke and appeared to be on fire. This is terribly unsafe, and Nissan needs to fix it, because it is more likely that an Armada owner WILL encounter this, than that they won't, and people are going to be injured and/or killed, if they have not already. This is very serious. Please help.

NHTSA ID

11682708

Incident

Aug 22, 2025

No start, no codes. Have replaced brake switch several times and it fixes it for a bit and then happens again. I have read several forums and it seems to be a commen issue but no recalls for fault. 2018 nissan armada platinum. Shouldn't have to keep replacing switch.

NHTSA ID

11667327

Incident

Jun 14, 2025

Break pressure sensor is bad, the car will intermittently not crank. If car is in park it will not go into gear. It’s as if the break system can not build up enough pressure for the car to register the breaks are being pressed

NHTSA ID

11660939

Incident

May 14, 2025

BCI (Back-up Collision Intervention) Malfunction. It's random when this comes up on the dashboard warning lights. It lights up several other things as well. It doesn't allow you to use the cruise control, or the 4-wheel drive. It disables the ABS and traction control. I don't know how this is not a recall, because I see several forums talking about this issue for this vehicle specifically in this year. We took it to the dealership, and they brushed it off, and claimed they didn't know how to fix it. It has caused multiple problems and has put my family at harms risk due to it disabling the safety features.

NHTSA ID

11654459

Incident

Feb 15, 2023

The vehicle won't start all the dashboard lights come on but the truck will not start I got a warning alarm message that the CBI has a malfunction .

NHTSA ID

11639268

Incident

Jan 21, 2025

I own a 2018 Nissan Armada that is getting ready to have its 4th brake switch replaced in this vehicle. This car is completely unsafe and an accident waiting to happen! This is a known problem in the 2018 Nissan Armada and it is a huge safety concern.

NHTSA ID

11493213

Incident

Nov 11, 2022

My Nissan Armada is 4 years old with 42,000 miles and has needed two brake switches replaced on it to date. This is RIDICULOUS! This car is completely unsafe. It has failed to start more times than I can count, and it most recently broke down on my on New Years Day. I had to have it towed. I have reported this issue to Nissan and they have done nothing to help make this right! I am now starting a FaceBook group (of other Nissan Armada owners that are experiencing the same issue) to file complaints against Nissan for this. This is a serious safety issue and needs to be resolved.

NHTSA ID

11446458

Incident

Dec 31, 2021

SEVERAL TIMES THE ENGINE WILL NOT CRANK AND WILL NOT START. CAN TAKE UP TO 10 MINUTES SOMETIMES BEFORE VEHICLE WILL START, LEAVING DRIVER STRANDED. TWICE NOW THE BCI MALFUNCTION (BACKUP COLLISION INTERVENTION) ERROR CAME UP ON THE DASH ALONG WITH OTHER LIGHTS IMMEDIATLY AFTER ENGINE STARTUP. FIRST TIME AT 23,027 MILES, AND NOW RECENTLY AT 32,081 MILES. THE FIRST TIME, DEALERSHIP SAID THEY "COULD NOT REPLICATE THE PROBLEM." THIS RECENT TIME, THE DEALERSHIP SAID THERE WAS A SERVICE BULLETIN TO REPLACE A STOP LAMP SWITCH (NTB20-065). WE'LL SEE IF THE PROBLEM IS ACTUALLY FIXED. THIS SHOULD REALLY BE A RECALL CONSIDERING THE SHEAR NUMBER OF SIMILAR COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS ISSUE. PLUS THE BRAKE LAMPS MAY NOT WORK CONSISTENTLY, ELEVATING THE RISK OF A COLLISION IF OTHER DRIVERS AREN'T AWARE THE VEHICLE IS SLOWING DOWN.

NHTSA ID

11394840

Incident

Jan 26, 2021

Mileage

32,000 mi

YESTERDAY I WAS SITTING IN A DRIVETHRU AND ALL OF A SUDDEN THE BCI WARNING LIGHT CAME ON THE DASH AND A COUPLE OF OTHER DASH LIGHTS. DROVE STRAIGHT HOME AND NOW THE VEHICLE WILL NOT START. I WILL HAVE TO GET A TOW TO THE NEAREST DEALER. GOOD THING I DROVE STRAIGHT HOME OTHERWISE I WOULD HAVE BEEN STRANDED SOMEWHERE. MY ARMADA ONLY HAS 38,000 MILES ON IT.

NHTSA ID

11385174

Incident

Dec 28, 2020

DURING NORMAL DRIVING, BCI LIGHT WILL APPEAR AND THEN ALL DASH WARNING LIGHTS AND CAR WILL HANDLE SLUGGISHLY. UPON STOPPING AND ATTEMPTING TO RESTART CAR, VEHICLE WILL NOT START FOR UPWARDS OF 30 MINUTES. ONCE VEHICLE IS IN PARK AND VEHICLE IS RESTARTED...GEAR SHIFT CANNOT BE MOVED FROM PARK TO DRIVE. THIS HAS ENDANGERED MY FAMILY BY OCCURING AT TRAFFIC LIGHTS AT BUSY INTERSECTIONS AND UNPROTECTED RAILROAD CROSSINGS. PLEASE INVESTIGATE THIS BEFORE SOMEONE IS KILLED BECAUSE OF THIS DEFECT.

NHTSA ID

11364524

Incident

Oct 15, 2020

Mileage

55,000 mi

WHILE DRIVING CAR WILL START ACTING WEIRD AS THOUGH I'M HAVE A LITTLE DIFFICULTY ACCELERATING. THEN A LIGHT WILL COME ON THAT LOOKS LIKE A CAR WITH A WINDY ROAD. THEN AFTER A MINUTE OR TWO A TON OF OTHER LIGHTS WILL COME ON AND AN ALERT OF BCI MALFUNCTION WILL APPEAR. TRIED TO GOOGLE TO SEE WHAT OTHER PEOPLE HAVE DONE TO RESOLVE AND SOME HAVE SAID THAT THEY HAVE TO PULL OVER BECAUSE THE CAR HAS ACTUALLY SHUT OFF ON ITS OWN. SO, I ALWAYS TRY TO PULL OVER AND TURN THE CAR OFF AND BACK ON. SOMETIMES THE CAR WILL NOT TURN BACK ON AND IT WILL LEAVE ME STRANDED. I ALSO HAVE BEEN IN PARK WHEN THE ALERT CAME ON AND IT WOULD NOT ALLOW ME TO SHIFT INTO DRIVE, AGAIN LEAVING ME STRANDED. PARTS OF THIS DOCUMENT HAVE BEEN REDACTED TO PROTECT PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

NHTSA ID

11349777

Incident

Nov 1, 2019

Mileage

25,000 mi

WE HAVE ALMOST HAD A COUPLE OF ACCIDENTS DUE TO BRAKES AUTOMATICALLY ENGAGING. FIRST WE WERE BACKING OUT OF DRIVEWAY WITH NOTHING AROUND BUT THE VEHICLE IMPLIED BRAKES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. LUCKILY THE VEHICLE THAT CAME BARRELING DOWN OUR ROAD SLOWED DOWN UNTIL THE VEHICLE FINALLY LET THE BRAKE OFF. THEN 4 MORE TIMES WHEN DRIVING APPLYING BRAKES RANDOMLY! THIS IS NOT SAFE. LUCKILY, WE WERE NOT ON THE HIGHWAY. BRAKES CONTINUE TO APPLY RANDOMLY WITHOUT THE SAFETY SURROUND SENSORS ACTIVATED! VEHICLE IS AT DEALER TODAY!

NHTSA ID

11343815

Incident

Aug 6, 2020

7/25/2020 NISSAN ARMADA PLATINUM RESERVE - WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE CANYON, I HAD THE BRAKES START APPLYING THEMSELVES THEN ALL THE LIGHTS ON THE DASH CAME ON WITH A MESSAGE "BCI MALFUNCTION." WE WERE ABLE TO GET PULLED OVER SAFELY AND TURN THE CAR OFF. WE THEN RESTARTED THE CAR AND THE LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN, SO WE REPEATED THE STEPS AND THE LIGHT WENT OFF. AT OUR NEXT STOP, THE CAR WOULD NOT START NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES WE TRIED FROM THE NORMAL PUSH BUTTON START. WE WERE FINALLY ABLE TO GET IT START BY USING REMOTE START ON THE KEY FOB. THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY CONCERN THAT IS AN ONGOING ISSUE WITH NISSAN ARMADAS AND INFINITY QX MODELS, BASED ON MULTIPLE FORUMS ONLINE. THIS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED IMMEDIATELY BEFORE SOMEONE GET SEVERELY INJURED OR EVEN KILLED. 60K VEHICLE WITH 40K MILES ON IT.

NHTSA ID

11341450

Incident

Jul 25, 2020

Mileage

40,000 mi

VEHICLE SUDDENLY WOULD NOT START ON 12/21/2019, THUS LEAVING MY FAMILY AND I STRANDED IN A BRAND NEW VEHICLE. (REPORTED TO NISSAN ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE) BCI MALFUNCTION WARNING (SEE PHOTO) AND THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO AUTOMATICALLY APPLY THE BRAKE AS I WAS DRIVING AND I COULD NOT OVERRIDE IT. I FEEL THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE, AS I HAD NO CONTROL OVER THE VEHICLE WHATSOEVER. VEHICLES AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING SYSTEM APPLIES THE BRAKES WHILE IN MOTION AND WHEN I DO NOT INTEND FOR THE BRAKES TO BE APPLIED, CAUSING SEVERE ANXIETY AND FEAR OF DRIVING MY BRAND NEW $60K VEHICLE

NHTSA ID

11307430

Incident

Jan 19, 2020

Mileage

7,000 mi