Owner-reported complaints naming the driver-assistance system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Reports naming forward-collision avoidance, lane keeping, back-over prevention, cruise control and related electronic driver-assistance systems. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2013 Nissan Leaf submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 8 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
I put the car in park as I was pulling in without turning it off to grab trash from the curb and take it to the car, but the car keep accelerating. I jumped in and slammed on the bricks but it hit the brick wall to the house. I see more recent years were recalled for "unintended acceleration" and "brake issues"
2013 NISSAN LEAF BRAKES FAILED COMPLETELY AND WITHOUT WARNING WHILE DRIVING 30MPH RESULTING IN NEAR COLLISION AND POTENTIALLY SERIOUS INJURY AND PROPERTY DAMAGE. SPEED VERY GRADUALLY SLOWED WITH ACCELERATOR PEDAL NOT DEPRESSED AND WAS ULTIMATELY BROUGHT TO COMPLETE STOP USING PARKING BRAKE. VEHICLE LURCHED FORWARD WITHOUT ABILITY TO BRAKE WHEN ACCELERATOR PRESSED LIGHTLY AFTER STOPPING. NISSAN DEALER REPORTED A FAILURE OF THE "INTELLIGENT BRAKE CONTROL UNIT" AND REPLACED AT COST OF APPROX. $3,000. INCIDENT OCCURRED IN CLEARWATER, FLORIDA AREA IN LATE AFTERNOON IN DRY WEATHER WITH TEMPERATURES AROUND 80F. TOW TRUCK OPERATOR STATED THAT WHEN THEY ATTEMPTED TO MOVE THE VEHICLE IT LURCHED FORWARD WITHOUT ABILITY TO HALT AND THE OPERATOR WAS EXTREMELY FRIGHTENED AND ALMOST CRASHED.
I DIDN'T DRIVE THE CAR FOR A FEW DAYS AND THE 12V BATTERY DIED. SO I DISCONNECTED IT FROM THE CAR AND HOOKED IT UP TO MY 12V BATTERY CHARGER. WHEN IT WAS FULLY CHARGED, I RECONNECTED IT AND STARTED THE CAR. BOTH THE YELLOW AND RED WARNING LIGHTS WERE ON AS WERE THE BRAKE, ABS, AND VDC LIGHTS. I STARTED BACKING UP IN THE DRIVEWAY AND AS SOON AS I PRESSED THE BRAKES, STRANGE NOISES CAME FROM THE FRONT OF THE CAR. I SLAMMED ON THE PARKING BRAKE TO STOP.I TRIED BACKING AGAIN AND NOTICED THE BRAKES ONLY ENGAGED WHEN THE PEDAL WAS PRESSED ALMOST ALL THE WAY DOWN. WHILE TROUBLESHOOTING, I NOTICED REMOVING THE VDC FUSE STOPPED THE SOUNDS. ALSO THE BRAKES ARE NOW USABLE, BUT REQUIRE MUCH MORE FORCE ON THE PEDAL THAN NORMAL. THE TROUBLE CODES ARE C118A AND C1A61. (ABS E-DRIVEN INT BRAKE SYSTEM BRC-124 / BRAKE MOTOR POWER SUPPLY BR-46) AFTER AN EXPENSIVE DIAGNOSIS, THE NISSAN DEALER DETERMINED "DIAG. USED CONSULT. C1A61 CURRENT CODE MOTOR POWER SUPPLY. CHECKED FUSES OK. ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN INT BRAKE UNIT HARNESS AND CONNECTIONS OK. 12V PRESENT TO MODULE. BRAKE UNIT INTERNAL SHORTED DUE TO SUSPECTED SURGE. REC REPLACING 12V BATTERY AND UNIT. FURTHER TESTING MAY BE NEEDED.....ESTIMATE TO REPLACE 2817.00 PARTS AND LABOR. PART IS FROM THE FACTORY." I HAVE SEEN MANY OTHER LEAF OWNERS WRITE ABOUT THIS KIND OF PROBLEM AND BELIEVE IT MAY BE A COMMON DEFECT. I ALSO DON'T KNOW WHY IT WASN'T COVERED UNDER THE WARRANTY.
SHORTLY AFTER STARTING THE CAR AND AS I BEGAN TO ACCELERATE FORWARD, SEVERAL WARNING INDICATORS PERTAINING TO THE BRAKE SYSTEM ILLUMINATED AND THE NORMAL BRAKE PEDAL NO LONGER APPEARED TO FUNCTION UPON BEING DEPRESSED. THE CAR WAS ABLE TO BE BROUGHT TO A STOP WITH THE USE OF THE EMERGENCY BRAKE PEDAL BUT THE FAILURE OF THE MAIN BRAKES COULD HAVE EASILY LEAD TO A CRASH.
CAR ACCELERATES ON IT OWN THIS AFTERNOON IN BOTH FORWARD AND REVERSE. HAD TO CONSTANTLY USE BRAKES TO CONTROL IT TO BRING IT BACK TO THE DRIVEWAY. THIS OCCURRED FROM A PARKING POSITION ON A PUBLIC STREET AS SOON AS THE CAR WAS PUT INTO THE DRIVING MODES (BOTH FORWARD AND REVERSE).
THE LEAF WAS IN MOTION ON A CITY STREET IN "B" DRIVE MODE. WHEN ATTEMPTING TO STOP FROM AROUND 45 MPH, THE BRAKE PEDAL BECAME VERY FIRM, AND THE CAR DID NOT SLOW. I RELEASED THE BRAKE AND DEPRESSED IT AGAIN. THIS TIME THERE WAS SIGNIFICANT BRAKE TRAVEL AND THE BRAKES ENGAGED WITH A MECHANICAL MOANING SOUND. THE CAR SKIDDED TO A STOP AS ABS CEASED FUNCTIONING. I PARKED THE CAR AND TOOK A PHOTO OF THE DASH WARNING LIGHTS. SIMILAR SYMPTOMS OCCURS 5 DAYS PRIO, RESTARTING THE CAR RETURNED IT TO NORMAL OPERATION BOTH TIMES. THE WEATHER WAS ABOUT 65 DEGREES F AND DRY DURING ONE OCCURRENCE. A SIMILAR TEMPERATURE ON A MORNING FOLLOWING A RAINY NIGHT IS WHEN THIS OCCURRED THE SECOND TIME. THE CAR NEARLY ENTERED AN INTERSECTION ON A RED LIGHT. THIS PROBLEM LOOKED AND SOUNDED LIKE THE VIDEOS POSTED ON YOUTUBE IN VERY.COLD CLIMATES IN WHICH THE LEAF BRAKING SYSTEMS FAILED WITH THE EXCEPTION THAT THIS WAS IN MILD WEATHER. THIS CAR HAS RECEIVED THE BRAKE MODULE FIRMWARE UPDATE FROM NISSAN PRIOR TO THESE INCIDENTS.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 NISSAN LEAF. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE ATTEMPTING TO PARK, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED WITHOUT WARNING AND CRASHED INTO A CINDER-BLOCK WALL. A POLICE REPORT WAS NOT FILED. THE CONTACT SUSTAINED UNKNOWN INJURIES AND DID NOT REQUIRE MEDICAL ATTENTION. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED. THE CONTACT WAS UNCERTAIN OF THE DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 24,000.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 NISSAN LEAF. WHILE DRIVING 20 MPH, THE VEHICLE INDEPENDENTLY ACCELERATED. THE CONTACT THEN COASTED OVER TO THE EMERGENCY LANE AND OBSERVED THE FLOORMATS WERE NOT THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE AND THERE WERE NO WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER WHO STATED THAT THERE WERE THREE BRAKE CODES PRESENT. THE CONTACT WAS UNCERTAIN OF THE DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 12,670.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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