Total Complaints
138 filings
NISSAN LEAF · model year
138 NHTSA complaints, 9 crash reports, and 4 active recalls for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
4 / 5 ★
New Car Assessment Program
The 2015NISSANLEAF carries 138 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 9 crashes, 0 fires, 3 injuries, and 0 fatalities. For crash performance, NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program gave this cohort an overall 4/5 rating, with 4/5 front crash, 4/5 side crash, and 4/5 rollover scores derived from standardized barrier and dynamic tests.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2015 LEAF is service brakes with 80 filings, followed by electrical system (14) and air bags (8). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability. This model year has 4 active recall campaigns, which means the manufacturer is obligated to remedy the covered defect at no charge for the life of the vehicle — the full NHTSA campaign numbers are listed below.
NHTSA currently has 54 investigation files overlapping the 2015 LEAF, and 5 remain open. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
138 filings
Crashes Reported
9 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| SERVICE BRAKES | 80 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 14 |
| AIR BAGS | 8 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 8 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 8 |
| POWER TRAIN | 3 |
| ENGINE | 3 |
| ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) | 3 |
| WHEELS | 2 |
| FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 2 |
| VISIBILITY/WIPER | 2 |
| SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:HEAD RESTRAINT | 1 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:12V/24V/48V BATTERY | 1 |
| SERVICE BRAKES, AIR:ANTILOCK:ABS WARNING LIGHT | 1 |
| TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM | 1 |
SERVICE BRAKES
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 LEAF vehicles manufactured November 19, 2012, to July 31, 2015. During very cold temperatures, the relay inside the electronic brake booster may freeze, requiring the driver to exert more effort to slow the vehicle down.
EQUIPMENT:OTHER:OWNERS/SERVICE/OTHER MANUAL
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2013-2017 LEAF vehicles. The Owner's Manual instructions for defroster operation are incorrect and may result in reduced defroster performance under specific conditions. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal
AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Nissan Maxima, 2013-2016 Nissan Altima, NV200, LEAF, Sentra, and Pathfinder, 2014-2016 Nissan NV200 Taxi, Infiniti QX60, QX60 Hybrid, and Q50 Hybrid, 2014-2017 Nissan Rogue and Infiniti Q50, 2015-2016 Nissan Murano, Murano
AIR BAGS
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2015-2017 LEAF and 2014, 2016 and 2017 Sentra vehicles. Due to a manufacturing error within the air bag inflators, the passenger frontal air bag may not properly deploy in the event of a crash.
Was driving the car in a neighborhood setting only going 20 mph, ABS light turned on the dashboard, traction control light or some other light regarding traction came on as well, brakes failed. Had to use parking brake to stop the vehicle.
While driving normally, yellow brake warning lights came on but I arrived home without incident. Next time I drove, the warning lights were all off, but suddenly the brakes failed almost completely. I pushed the pedal to the floor and heard a grinding/clicking sound, and barely any stopping power. I was only going 25 mph, and was able to stop after 5 seconds of high foot pressure. At the same time, red brake warning light came on. I was able to get the car home very slowly, and strangely I had adequate braking power for the remainder of the short trip (although red and yellow brake warning lights remain on). I am happy to provide the car for inspection. This was extremely dangerous to the nearby pedestrians because I could not have stopped the vehicle had one been crossing in front of me. Had this happened at highway speeds, my passenger and I would have been in great danger, as would have other vehicles.
My Intelligent Brake Unit failed. I was slowing down at a major intersection to stop. The ABS system activated and the brakes did not respond appropriately. The pedal went soft. Multiple lights on the dashboard lit up. My two year old child was in the vehicle with me, and we are still recovering from this traumatic experience. I considered the car disabled and had it towed to a mechanic. I then brought it to a Nissan dealership who identified that the entire intelligent brake unit needs replacing for $5,500, which is more than half of what I paid for the vehicle.
My Intelligent Brake Unit failed. I was slowing down at a major intersection to stop. The ABS system activated and the brakes did not respond appropriately. The pedal went soft. Multiple lights on the dashboard lit up. My two year old child was in the vehicle with me, and we are still recovering from this traumatic experience. I considered the car disabled and had it towed to a mechanic. I then brought it to a Nissan dealership who identified that the entire intelligent brake unit needs replacing for $5,500, which is more than half of what I paid for the vehicle.
My 2015 Nissan Leaf is suffering from advanced battery degradation. The car would only charge to 55 miles per charge. The car also has only 85,000 miles only. Nissan refused to address or fix the issue as the car was past the 7 year warranty (even though the book says 8 year warranty). Battery should still go to 150 miles per charge. Dealership claimed degradation from charging at super chargers. Car has only ever been charge at home as it is only driven 2 - 3,000 miles per year. Car stopped in the middle of the highway. Police had to come move to the side of the road. No one was injured although many could have been.
My 2015 Nissan Leaf is suffering from advanced battery degradation. The car would only charge to 55 miles per charge. The car also has only 85,000 miles only. Nissan refused to address or fix the issue as the car was past the 7 year warranty (even though the book says 8 year warranty). Battery should still go to 150 miles per charge. Dealership claimed degradation from charging at super chargers. Car has only ever been charge at home as it is only driven 2 - 3,000 miles per year. Car stopped in the middle of the highway. Police had to come move to the side of the road. No one was injured although many could have been.
I was driving about 30mph and suddenly out of nowhere my brakes went out. They went out for about 1 second and some lights went out - then I slammed on the brakes, skidded to a halt and stopped in the. middle of the road, nearly crashing. We took it to the garage and they ran two codes and told us to take it to the dealer. The dealer quoted us about $8,000 and said it needed to "replace electrically driven brake control unit AND e-harness (engine room harness) (240123nh1d)". This makes the car dangerous to drive due to failures beyond our control or regular maintenance. This is a car failure and should be covered by a recall. It is simply not safe to drive. Looking online, this has happened to other Nissan Leafs of the same year/model as well.
I was driving my vehicle and the brakes suddenly stopped working. Upon failure, the ABS warning light as well as the braking system warning lights came on. I had to use my emergency brake to stop the vehicle. I had my vehicle towed to Nissan. The Nissan dealership mechanic said it was a Master Cylinder Brake Controller malfunction. It is currently at the dealership and available for inspection. The cost to repair the brake system exceeds the value of the car. This put my safety at risk because I could not safely stop my vehicle. I was minutes away from merging onto the freeway. Had I been traveling at high speeds without any braking system, my life and others would have been at risk.
Driving normally when the brake light, abs light, and traction control light came on.Brakes were unresponsiveness unless brake pedal was fully depressed causing a the ABS brakes to engage. This caused difficulty stopping and was required to use parking brake to slow down. Restarted vehicle several times but problem persisted. Nissan dealership stated that the intelligent braking system needed to be replaced as that is what their computer stated as all the codes indicated that the module was defective. Codes and diagnostic report attached.
Unintended Acceleration: Vehicle continue to accelerate even after the gas pedal is released or not slow down as expected.
Unintended Acceleration: Vehicle continue to accelerate even after the gas pedal is released or not slow down as expected.
Unintended Acceleration: Vehicle continue to accelerate even after the gas pedal is released or not slow down as expected.
The intelligent braking system control unit failed. The car is available for inspection, it is at the dealership for repair. I was driving downhill, towards a busy intersection and without any warning, there was no braking when I pushed the brake pedal. It was my two young children and myself in the car, we drove straight through a crosswalk (luckily empty), and towards a very busy intersection (luckily slightly uphill so we were able to stop in time). I cannot imagine what could have happened if losing our brakes would have happened any other time. We could have easily been injured or killed, as well as someone else. The problem has been confirmed by the dealer. The vehicle has been inspected by the local dealer and service center, same one the vehicle was purchased from. No warnings, messages, or other symptoms whatsoever. Afterwards, the ABS warning lights did come on.
The contact owns a 2015 Nissan Leaf. While in the driveway of the residence, the contact started the vehicle with his foot on the brake pedal; however, the vehicle rolled. The contact depressed the brake pedal to the floor, but the vehicle continued rolling until it struck a rock wall. The failure occurred without warning. There were several unknown warning lights illuminated. There were no injuries sustained. There was no Police report filed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the vehicle was diagnosed with an electrical failure, and that the brake booster had failed. The vehicle was not repaired due to a dealer not being in the area where the contact resides. The contact referenced NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V119000 (Service Brakes) as a possible solution however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 34,000.
Mileage: 34,000
Brakes did not engage when depressing the brake pedal. No warning lights in the dash. Car was used a few hours prior with no issues. No other warnings of the failure occurred before or during my attempt to brake, aside from the lack of braking action. Occurred at a stop sign cross traffic, I turned into oncoming traffic, cutting off the other car but avoiding a collision. I confirmed the brakes did not work at the subsequent stop light, used parking brakes to stop at the side of the road. Minimal braking action seem to be present when I fully depress the brake pedal. Brakes worked normally the next day. Dealer service center states the intelligent brake control unit needs to be replaced for $5000, which is around the current value of the vehicle.
Brake pedal goes to the floor with no braking power. Grinding sounds, then finally brakes engage, but feels like the emergency brake. Super dangeraous, happened on the freeway. Checked 12v battery, based on what I read on line, battery had and still has strong charge. Next day, brakes work just fine. No problems. Happened again on highway a few days later, again, no braking power until just at the end, cant drive the car at any speed now, battery still fine. No cold weather here (unlike the many other 2015 leaf owners reporting the same issue. All dash warning lamps come on. Again, car drives fine the next day. Nissan denies any recall being needed, despite the hundreds of reports of similar dangerous problems.
Warning lights, abs light and brake light illuminated out of nowhere. Unable to brake. Used a lot of force to get the car to slow down. Dealership inspected and said module short circuited.
Warning lights, abs light and brake light illuminated out of nowhere. Unable to brake. Used a lot of force to get the car to slow down. Dealership inspected and said module short circuited.
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? The electronic braking system seems to have randomly failed due to some electrical glitch. Mechanically the braking system works fine but during this incident the ABS system kicked in causing the car to shutter and the brake petal went to the floor with 0 braking power. Was forced to put the car in Park and apply the emergency brake in the middle of the road in traffic to ensure it would stop. Cycled the car on and off multiple times to see if that would help reset the car but the problem persisted. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Putting other drivers on the road at risk if we were not able to stop the car could have caused property damage and personal injury to others on the road and my family who was in the car. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? The problem has been reproduced 3 times but the last time bei
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? The electronic braking system seems to have randomly failed due to some electrical glitch. Mechanically the braking system works fine but during this incident the ABS system kicked in causing the car to shutter and the brake petal went to the floor with 0 braking power. Was forced to put the car in Park and apply the emergency brake in the middle of the road in traffic to ensure it would stop. Cycled the car on and off multiple times to see if that would help reset the car but the problem persisted. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Putting other drivers on the road at risk if we were not able to stop the car could have caused property damage and personal injury to others on the road and my family who was in the car. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? The problem has been reproduced 3 times but the last time bei
Driver Airbag Inflator Rupture
Inner Tie Rod Failures
Side curtain air bags may deploy inadvertently
Reduced Power After Engine Stall
Loss of motive power due to broken crankshaft with no ability to restart.
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.