2023 Nissan Leaf Owner Complaints

The image displayed on the dashboard when backing up is, occasionally, blank. This only happens sporadically. When it does happen, it is annoying and dangerous.

NHTSA ID

11744473

Incident

May 21, 2026

The vehicle has experienced approximately ten+ incidents while driving at freeway speeds on dry roads where the traction-control indicator illuminated and the vehicle unexpectedly lost power. During these events, the vehicle would not accelerate normally despite accelerator input, and vehicle speed decreased significantly. The incidents occurred under normal driving conditions and were not associated with any apparent loss of traction. The vehicle was inspected by a Nissan dealership, but the concern could not be reproduced and no root cause has been identified. A case has been opened with Nissan North America. I am reporting this because unexpected loss of propulsion at highway speeds creates a potential safety hazard. The speed decreases from 70mph to around 30-40mph on the freeway suddenly.

NHTSA ID

11743717

Incident

Jun 10, 2026

Backup camera image intermittently goes out and just shows a mostly black image. It appears to match a previous recall that does not yet cover our model year (2023): 24V071000. The image can sometimes be restored by slamming the hatchback shut, but it is not a permanent fix.

NHTSA ID

11729340

Incident

Apr 6, 2026

Heat from HVAC system stops working at temperatures below 20 degrees F. It starts blowing cold air and cannot keep up with the cold, to the point that it becomes dangerously cold in the car, especially for my young children.

NHTSA ID

11700046

Incident

Jan 3, 2025

Rear camera sometimes does not work when backing up. When the problem occurs, the screen inside the car that is supposed to show an image of the area in back of the vehicle is completely black. The problem does not occur often. It is not easily reproducible. The vehicle can be made available for inspection upon request. If the rear camera does not work, the car could back into objects or people. The problem is hard to reproduce. The vehicle was last inspected by a Nissan dealer in December 2024 for an unrelated problem. The rear camera problem had not occurred at that time. The vehicle will be inspected by a NY State licensed mechanic (not a dealer) later in March 2025. There were no warning messages.

NHTSA ID

11648495

Incident

Mar 14, 2025

ACCIDENT:Date: [XXX] Time: [XXX] Location: Balboa Park – San Diego – Morley Field Sports Center – Parking lot Parking lot - Google Maps Driver – Geico Insurance coverage || no passengers What: Nissan Leaf 2023 Model SV+ - 8410 miles -- Unintended Acceleration Incident Backing up to leave parking lot – with seat belt on – looked at rear view camera – clear. Backed up slowly – then intersected with the rear bumper of a Honda – slowly I braked – then went into Drive mode to get out of the intersection. Then I lost control of the car. Car went lurching forward fast – zoomed up over parking curb – 5 in – side-swiped the side of a tree with right front bumper – gashed with parts flying all over the grass. Crashing noises from jumping the curb and hitting the tree. I braked hard and got vehicle to stop = approx. 3 feet from another tree – which I would have hit straight on. No airbags were deployed. It all happened at high acceleration in an instant. After I recovered from the shock, I assessed the situation. The dashboard showed a malfunction – right front tire – no air pressure. Contacted my insurance company – GEICO – and opened a claim. GEICO arranged for my vehicle to be towed by ASAP Towing to my home. Took photos of the wreckage – collected all the pieces I could in a bucket – some were too large to fit into my car = air dam or some sort of under side cover – made of gray bendable plastic. Called ASAP - the towing company – asked about a flat bed as my front right tire was flat and the front bumper of the car had fallen off. My Leaf needs to be repaired. It needs to be reprogrammed by Nissan so that I feel safe driving it. Of note, I had to my Nissan dealer – Mossy Nissan Poway – for the recall R23A6 on Sept. 26, 2023. Did they address the recall issue? INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11631293

Incident

Dec 14, 2024

The Electoral System gives a red warning on the Dashboard Stating, " NO POWER SERVICE EV SYSTEM." The EV goes completely dead even with a charged battery it takes several times trying to restart the car aprox 20minutes to more then a hour until finally the car turns over. I believe this is safety risk as it strands its occupants in sometime dangerous or unknown locations or even in the middle of nowhere. It has put me at risk by similar situations. There has been several owners of this vehicle complaining about the same thing so I know im not the only owner that is having this trouble. The vehicle is going to the dealership tomorrow maybe they have answers but for how new this car is a 2023 Nissan leaf S with under 9,000 miles on it, is unacceptable. When the red box comes up there is NO Prior Warnings that the car will restart or will completely die when driving.

NHTSA ID

11622641

Incident

Oct 19, 2024

My front collision system will sporadically start flashing when there is nothing in front of me. One time a dealer was able to read a code saying that it overheated, and told me that was a known issue with no solution. It was 100F, but I have had the same issue at 35F. The dealership and corporate cannot tell me how the safety system will respond with this error, either disabling my crash prevention system or possibly automatically breaking for no reason. I have taken it to the dealership 4 times. One refused to even try to read the code as it was happening. Another read the code but refused to record it. The other times they kept the car for a total of 8 days and didn’t even look at the component. It seems like they know that this safety issue exists and have no plans to address it. They also refuse to answer my question about liability if it causes my car to automatically break and cause an accident. This has happened at speeds between 0 and 75 mph

NHTSA ID

11612153

Incident

Jun 7, 2024

The contact owns a 2023 Nissan Leaf. The contact stated that while her husband was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was swerving to the right and then accelerated unintendedly. The contact stated that the vehicle decelerated as needed upon depressing the brake pedal. Additionally, the contact stated that after the driver pulled over to the side of the road and released the accelerator pedal, the vehicle accelerated unintendedly. The contact stated that the driver immediately depressed the brake pedal, and the vehicle stopped. The contact stated that upon releasing the brake pedal, the failure recurred, and the vehicle accelerated to 45 MPH unintendedly. Additionally, the steering was pulling to the right and to the left independently. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that upon depressing the "Cancel" button on the steering wheel to cancel the driver's assist features, the vehicle failed to respond as needed. The driver was able to control the steering wheel by using physical strength. Additionally, the driver depressed the brake pedal and stopped the vehicle. The driver was able to drive to the residence nearby. The vehicle was towed to the dealer to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 8,000.

NHTSA ID

11610811

Incident

Aug 24, 2024

Mileage

8,000 mi

Rear camera stopped working.

NHTSA ID

11589774

Incident

May 20, 2024

The contact owns a 2023 Nissan Leaf. The contact stated that while driving at low speeds in a parking area, the vehicle suddenly accelerated on its own. As a result, the contact lost control of the vehicle and came to a complete stop after colliding with another vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard and deemed a total loss by the contact's insurance provider. A police report was filed, and no injuries were reported. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 7,000.

NHTSA ID

11588673

Incident

May 14, 2024

Mileage

7,000 mi

After backing up and then putting the car in Drive, without warning the car accelerated uncontrollably accelerted, spun around twice and struck another vehicle before stopping.

NHTSA ID

11587779

Incident

May 8, 2024

I pulled into a parking spot and to ensure I stopped when I wanted to, I braked. The car accelerated, smashing into a building. I always drive in eco mode and generally use the e-pedal which was on at the time. I’m not sure if either or a combination of those may have been a factor in what happened. The car is available for inspection upon request. I was fine, but very shaken. The car is driveable, but the front bumper is mangled and the left blinker no longer works. The headlights are functional. The charger panel releases and I can pry it open, though it no longer pops up. No airbags were deployed. The car was going slow enough, there seems to be no damage to the building. I'm concerned what could happen when we drive into our garage or, worse, if there is a car or pedestrian in front of our car and rather than braking the car accelerates. I have seen several reports of similar experiences, though no resolutions or suggestions. I can imagine this being a one-time occurrence, but I am deeply concerned it is not. I've been at a loss in who and how this can be addressed. I have called several Nissan dealers. The service people that I spoke with were not optimistic about what they could discern and, more importantly, did not seem concerned. As a result, I called my long-time car mechanic who did some initial diagnostics, but they were inconclusive. There have been no other inspections. I have reported this to Nissan USA and have opened a case/claim. I don’t recall any warnings at the time. All recalls have been updated.

NHTSA ID

11578514

Incident

Mar 2, 2024

The contact owns a 2023 Nissan Leaf. The contact stated that while in the drive position, the vehicle erroneously accelerated backward and crashed into a second vehicle that was also parked in the driveway. No injuries were reported and no police report was taken. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed that the vehicle was included in the NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V494000 (Vehilcle Speed Control). The local dealer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 150.

NHTSA ID

11552876

Incident

Oct 30, 2023

Mileage

150 mi

Soon after I leased this Leaf, I noticed shifting interference. It grew steadily worse over the 3 or so months I kept the Leaf. Toward the end of that time period, it took a great deal of maneuvering of the shift knob to get into the correct direction. It would flip back from position before it engaged the forward or reverse motion. I got involved in a fender bender incident which was at least partially a result of the shifting confusion. At one point I put 3-in-1 oil into the top of the shifting pad. It helped for a very short time. Finally, I could not get the car to move either forward or back. I had the car towed to the dealer. The dealer said that foreign something had gotten into the shifting mechanism. I noted that the shifting mechanism in this car is located directly adjacent to a drink cup holder. So, apparently splash from my drink caused problem. If true, at the least, the shifting mechanism ought to be water proofed from outside fluid and particulate travels. An unsafe regular occurrence, I think.

NHTSA ID

11548857

Incident

Jun 15, 2023

The windshield of my Nissan Leaf spontaneously cracked without being hit by anything externally. Upon inspection, it's pretty clear that the windshield didn't crack because of anything hitting it from the outside (which is what the dealer claimed), since the outside of the windshield is still completely smooth. The crack somehow started from the bottom of the inside of the windshield and propagated itself across the entire windshield. When the car was purchased, my dealer recommended warranty purchase because of the fragile windshield, which suggested that the windshield design may be faulty.

NHTSA ID

11538218

Incident

Jul 26, 2023

This car was delivered with no plastic panel covering the area above the driver's feet. The steering column, insulation, wiring, diagnostic port, and structural elements are visible. The selling dealer's initial reaction was that there should be a panel there, but they had not noted it as missing in their inspection. Another, closer, dealer saw photos and agree to install the panel, but did not have the correct part, and told me that another similar car on their lot did not have this panel, so perhaps it was supposed to be missing. My assumption is that it is not safe for these things to be exposed, especially the steering column. I will attach a photo of the area.

NHTSA ID

11525356

Incident

Nov 11, 2022

I am in possession of NHTSA Recall 22V-048 for my Nissan Leaf, received on 04/05/2023. This recall remedy is in my opinion clearly deficient. Although a owner's manual supplement is included, the supplement does not: (1) replace the current, defective owner's manual (2) provide any way to mark the current manual to indicate that there's a problem and to refer to the supplement or (3) Even identify what page the problematic instructions are on. Even if someone follows the recall notice to the letter (which is to place the supplement with the owner's manual), someone looking up the instructions in the owner's manual for defrosting will not know to refer to the supplement instead of the original manual. This recall needs to be re-done, either by sending an entirely new manual (instructing owners to discard the old one) or at the very least to identify the affected page and provide a sticker to cover up the incorrect information and tell people to refer to the supplement instead.

NHTSA ID

11515630

Incident

Apr 5, 2023

The car (2023 Nissan Leaf SV Plus) was being driven down an urban street during daylight hours and in good weather (no precipitation). The car was being driven in the middle lane, between the right lane and the left turn lane, and at slow speed, as it had been stopped for a stop light. There was a truck parked in the right lane with a "cherry picker" on it that was involved in tree trimming. The truck was not moving. As the Nissan Leaf started to accelerate from the stoplight, the car suddenly applied it's brakes, rapidly slowing the car to a stop, and almost causing the car following to strike the Leaf from behind.

NHTSA ID

11499635

Incident

Dec 4, 2022