2003 NISSAN FRONTIER — Complaint #1278556
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SUSPENSION:REAR:SPRINGS:LEAF SPRING ASSEMBLY filed April 27, 2016
NHTSA complaint #1278556 (ODI reference 10861752) concerns a 2003 NISSAN FRONTIER and was filed on April 27, 2016. The owner reports the failure occurred on March 23, 2016. The vehicle had 135,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to North Carolina based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as suspension:rear:springs:leaf spring assembly, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: yes, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. A complaint that flags a crash, fire, or fatality is escalated on NHTSA's internal review queue and factors more heavily into any Preliminary Evaluation decision on this make and model. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same NISSAN FRONTIER cohort independently describe similar suspension:rear:springs:leaf spring assembly failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2003 NISSAN FRONTIER shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
TL* THE CONTACT OWNED A 2003 NISSAN FRONTIER. WHILE DRIVING 30 MPH, THE CONTACT HEARD AN ABNORMAL NOISE AND THOUGH IT WAS DUE TO A FLAT TIRE. THE CONTACT COASTED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND NOTICED ALL THE TIRES WERE NORMAL. THE CONTACT CONTINUED TO DRIVE AND THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE DETACHED. THE CONTACT LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE FLIPPED OVER AND CRASHED INTO A DITCH. THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE LEAF SPRING FRACTURED, PULLING ALL CABLES AND CAUSED THE REAR END TO DETACH. THE CONTACT WAS NOT INJURED. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS DESTROYED AND TOWED TO THE CONTACT'S RESIDENCE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 135,000.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1278556 |
| ODI Number | 10861752 |
| Date Filed | April 27, 2016 |
| Failure Date | March 23, 2016 |
| VIN | 1N6ED26Y13C |
Similar SUSPENSION:REAR:SPRINGS:LEAF SPRING ASSEMBLY Complaints for 2003 NISSAN FRONTIER
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.