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2013 Nissan Leaf Recalls & Complaints

5

open safety recalls on record

Serious

120 owner complaints filed · Severity Index 0.53 · updated 2026-08-07

The recalls

Serious16V119000

Service Brakes

If the brake relay fails, longer distances or additional brake effort would be required to stop the vehicle, raises the risk of a crash.

Remedy & full details

Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the Intelligent Brake Control Unit software, free of charge. The recall began on March 28, 2016. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.

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.

Serious14V138000

Electrical System:Software

If the OCS does not detect an adult occupant in the passenger seat, the passenger airbag would be deactivated.

Remedy & full details

Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will update the OCS software, free of charge. The recall began on April 14, 2014. Owners may contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Altima, LEAF, Pathfinder, and Sentra, model year 2013 NV200 (aka Taxi) and Infiniti JX35 and model year 2014 Infiniti Q50 and QX60 vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the occupant classification system (OCS) software may incorrectly classify the passenger seat as empty, when it is occupied by an adult.

Serious16V244000

Air Bags:Sensor:Occupant Classification

If the passenger frontal air bag does not deploy as intended in the event of a crash, the passenger is at an increased risk of injury.

Remedy & full details

Nissan will notify their owners. Chevrolet City Express owners will be notified by General Motors. Dealers will reprogram the Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) and OCS Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in Altima, Maxima, Murano, Rogue, and Sentra vehicles, and replace the OCS ECU in LEAF, NV200, NV200 Taxi, Pathfinder, Infiniti Q50, JX35, and QX60 and Chevrolet City Express vehicles, free of charge. Interim notices were sent to owners on May 31, 2016. Owners will receive a second notice when remedy parts become available. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669, Infiniti customer service at 1-888-833-3216 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020.

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 Hybrid, and Chevrolet City Express, 2014-2015 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid, and 2013 Infiniti JX35 vehicles. In these vehicles, the front seat passenger Occupant Classification System (OCS) may incorrectly classify an adult passenger as a child or classify the seat as empty despite it being occupied. As a result, the passenger frontal air bag may be turned off and not deploy in the event of a crash.

Serious13V069000

Air Bags

If the vehicle is involved in a crash necessitating airbag deployment and the passenger airbag is suppressed, there may be an increased risk of personal injury.

Remedy & full details

Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the ODS sensors and replace them as neccessary, free of charge. The recall began on May 6, 2013. Owners may contact Nissan Customer Service at 1-800-647-7261.

Nissan is recalling certain model year 2013 Altima, LEAF, Pathfinder, Sentra, and Infiniti JX35 vehicles. Sensors within the passenger Occupant Detection System (ODS) may have been manufactured out of specification. This may cause the system to malfunction and permanently suppress the passenger airbag.

Serious23V296000

Equipment:Other:Owners/Service/Other Manual

Reduced defroster performance can limit visibility out of the windshield, raises the risk of a crash.

Remedy & full details

Nissan will mail an addendum with updated instructions on how to operate the defroster, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed May 26, 2023. Owners may contact Nissan's customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall is R23A1.

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 Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 103, "Windshield Defrosting and Defogging Systems."

Complaint volume

120 this model-year 9 median, same year

Volume alone is not a fault rate — popular vehicles attract more reports. Read it next to the severity mix below.

What owners reported happened

17Crashes
2Fires
6Injuries
0Deaths

Across 120 complaints. Severity Index 0.53.

Severity Index weights each complaint's reported outcome (death ×10, injury ×4, fire ×3, crash ×2) and divides by total complaints. It measures how severe reports are, not how often faults occur.

What owners report most

Service Brakes32 · 27%Electrical System18 · 15%Air Bags17 · 14%Unknown Or Other10 · 8%Vehicle Speed Control5 · 4%Fuel/Propulsion System4 · 3%Visibility/Wiper4 · 3%Wheels4 · 3%
  1. Service Brakes — 32 reports
  2. Electrical System — 18 reports
  3. Air Bags — 17 reports
  4. Unknown Or Other — 10 reports
  5. Vehicle Speed Control — 5 reports
  6. Fuel/Propulsion System — 4 reports
  7. Visibility/Wiper — 4 reports
  8. Wheels — 4 reports
  9. Steering — 4 reports
  10. Seat Belts — 4 reports

What to do

  1. Find your 17-character VIN on the driver's door jamb or the base of the windscreen.
  2. Check it against NHTSA's official lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls — the authoritative record for your exact car.
  3. Book the repair with any franchised dealer. Safety recall work is free, with no time limit and regardless of who owns the car now.

Other model years

2011 · 2012 · 2013 · 2014 (6) · 2015 (4) · 2016 (4) · 2017 (2) · 2018 (4) · 2019 (5) · 2020 (6) · 2021 (4) · 2022 (4) · 2023 (3) · 2024 · 2025 · 2026 (2)

Numbers in brackets are open recall campaigns for that year.

Questions

Does an open recall mean the car is unsafe to drive?

Not usually. NHTSA issues a "do not drive" or "park outside" advisory when a defect is dangerous enough to keep you out of the car — those are flagged Critical above. Everything else should be repaired promptly but is not an immediate stop-driving order.

Do I pay for recall repairs?

No. Federal law requires the manufacturer to fix a safety recall free of charge, including parts and labour, whether or not you are the original owner.

Why are there complaints but no recalls?

Complaints are unverified reports filed by owners. They can prompt an investigation, but many never become recalls — either the fault isn't safety-related or it isn't widespread.