2015 NISSAN LEAF Complaints

WHEN THE 12-VOLT BATTERY FAILED ON MY 2015 NISSAN LEAF, THE CAR WOULD STILL TURN ON AND WOULD MOVE FORWARD WITHOUT PUSHING ON THE ACCELERATOR. THE BRAKES DID NOT WORK EITHER. THIS HAPPENED TO ME BOTH IN A GROCERY STORE PARKING LOT AT NIGHT AND THEN THE NEXT MORNING ON A RESIDENTIAL STREET. SIMILARLY, WHEN IT TURNED THE CAR ON IN MY DRIVEWAY, I PUT IT IN REVERSE, AND THE CAR MOVED WITHOUT ME PUSHING ON THE ACCELERATOR AND THE BRAKES DID NOT ENGAGE WHEN I PUSHED ON THEM. THE CAR BEHAVED THIS WAY 4 TIMES, INCLUDING ONCE FOR THE NISSAN DEALERSHIP SERVICE WORKER WHO HAD TO PULL THE CAR FORWARD IN THE LINE OF CARS WAITING TO BE SERVICED. AFTER NISSAN REPLACED THE 12-VOLT BATTERY, THE PROBLEM DISAPPEARED. SEVERAL LEAF OWNERS HAVE TOLD ME TO REPORT THE PROBLEM, BECAUSE IT IS A SAFETY CONCERN THAT THE CAR CAN MOVE BUT THE BRAKES DO NOT WORK WHEN THE 12-VOLT IS FAILING. I CALLED NISSAN TO NOTIFY THEM OF THIS PROBLEM BUT DID NOT GET A RESPONSE BEYOND A CALL FROM CONSUMER REPAIRS SAYING SHE WOULD MAKE A NOTE OF IT.

I WAS STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE PEDAL AND THE CAR STARTED TO ROLL FORWARD. I PRESSED HARD ON THE BRAKES AND NOTICED SOME STRANGE NOISE AS IF THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS HITTING SOMETHING. THE INSTRUMENT DISPLAY SHOWED MULTIPLE WARNING SIGNS LIKE A SKID SYMBOL, BRAKE IN RED FONT. FORTUNATELY, THE PARKING BRAKE WORKED AND I WAS GLAD I WAS STOPPED AT THE TRAFFIC LIGHT WHEN THIS HAPPENED.

BRAKES WERE NOT FUNCTIONAL AFTER STARTING THE VEHICLE. THE BRAKES PEDAL WOULD DEPRESS WITHOUT RESISTANCE TO THE FLOOR. THE CAR WAS ABLE TO BE BE PLACED IN DRIVE AND ATTEMPTING TO USE THE BRAKES TO STOP WAS USELESS. HAD TO PLACE CAR IN PARK AND HOLD E BRAKE. BRAKE MALFUNCTION LIGHT WAS PRESENT. ISSUE OCCURRED MULTIPLE TIMES SPORADICALLY IN BOTH COOL AND WARM WEATHER OVER THE LAST ONE WEEK. HAD PRIOR BRAKE RECALL ADDRESSED LAST YEAR AT DEALERSHIP.

MUCH LIKE OTHER COMPLAINTS HERE, JUST AFTER STARTING THE CAR AND PUTTING IT INTO REVERSE FROM A PARKING SPOT, PRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL DID NOT SLOW THE CAR DOWN, EVEN WITH THE PEDAL FULLY DEPRESSED. ONLY AFTER LETTING THE BRAKE UP AND PRESSING IT AGAIN DID IT WORK. FORTUNATELY I DIDN'T HIT ANYONE OR ANYTHING AND WAS ABLE TO GET THE BRAKES TO WORK IN TIME. THE NEXT TIME I WENT TO START THE CAR, THE DASHBOARD DISPLAY KEPT TELLING ME TO PRESS THE BRAKES WHEN PRESSING THE START BUTTON NO MATTER HOW MUCH I WAS PRESSING THE BRAKES. I COULD NOT GET THE CAR TO START. ONLY AFTER PLUGGING THE CAR IN AND RETURNING TO IT AN HOUR LATER DID THE CAR START.

I ACTIVATED MY VEHICLE BY PLACING MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE PEDAL AND PRESSING THE IGNITION BUTTON. I PLACED THE TRANSMISSION IN REVERSE. IMMEDIATELY AFTER, MY VEHICLE BEGAN TO MOVE, BUT THE BRAKE PEDAL WENT ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR. AT THIS POINT MY VEHICLE WOULD NOT STOP AND I FRANTICALLY PUMPED THE BRAKE PEDAL. AFTER ABOUT 5 OR 6 FEET OF DISTANCE IN REVERSE, MY VEHICLE FINALLY STOPPED AND I PLACED IT IN PARK. NOTE: THERE WERE NO PRIOR WARNING LIGHTS OR SOUNDS BEFORE THE BRAKES FAILED. THE INCIDENT I EXPERIENCED WAS A VERY CLOSE CALL. THE PARKING LOT I WAS LOCATED IS FREQUENTED BY MANY PEOPLE TAKING EXERCISE WALKS. IF SOMEONE HAD BEEN WALKING BEHIND MY VEHICLE WHEN IT MALFUNCTIONED, MY VEHICLE WOULD HAVE STRUCK THEM. MOREOVER, ANOTHER PARKED VEHICLE WAS JUST A FEW MORE FEET FROM WHERE I EVENTUALLY WAS ABLE TO STOP. THE DEALERSHIP SAID THE REASON THIS HAPPENED WAS DUE TO 12V AUXILIARY BATTERY FAILURE. I HAVE ASKED NISSAN CONSUMER AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT MULTIPLE TIMES OVER THE PAST MONTH (EMAIL/PHONE) FOR AN EXPLANATION AND THEY HAVE IGNORED ME. I WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT IF THIS IS A PROBLEM THAT MAY OCCUR AGAIN AND/OR HOW IT CAN BE FIXED. THEY WILL NOT RESPOND TO MY EMAILS OR VOICE MAILS. I HOPE YOU CAN HELP IN SOME WAY TO GET INFORMATION. AT THE VERY LEAST, MAKE YOU AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM. NOTE: I HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED THE PROBLEM AGAIN, BUT AM ESPECIALLY CONCERNED NOW BECAUSE NISSAN IS IGNORING ME. *TR

MY DRIVER SIDE INFLATOR FAILED. THE DEALER INITIALLY ADVISED ME TO "KEEP DRIVING THE CAR UNTIL THE PART COMES IN AFTER LABOR DAY." HTTPS://WWW.ADVANTAGENISSAN.COM/ I CITED MY CONCERNS WITH TAKATA AND THE DEALER ASSURED ME THAT THIS CAR DID NOT HAVE TAKATA AIR BAGS. REGARDLESS, A FAILED AIR BAG ACTIVATOR AND THE DEALER ADVISING ME TO KEEP DRIVING THE CAR UNTIL IT COULD BE REPLACED REQUIRES NHTSA INVESTIGATION.

MANUFACTURER HAS EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR RECALL REPAIR. NTHSA RECALL 16V-244 FOR NISSAN LEAF 2015 RECALL WAS ISSUED OVER A YEAR AGO. MANUFACTURER HAS NOT ISSUED PARTS FOR REPAIR.

THIS MORNING AFTER DROPPING MY KID AT DAYCARE, I WAS BACKING UP MY CAR IN THE PARKING LOT. DURING BACKING UP, I PRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL BUT THE CAR DIDN'T SLOW DOWN AND KEPT MOVING. AFTER A COUPLE OF SECONDS, IT FINALLY STOPPED. FORTUNATELY THERE WAS NO ONE IN THE PARKING LOT. NISSAN NEEDS TO INVESTIGATE THE BRAKE ISSUE. I HAVE SEEN SIMILAR COMPLAINTS BUT THERE IS NO RECALL TO FIX IT. *TR

THE OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (OCS) IS DESIGNED TO CLASSIFY THE SIZE AND WEIGHT OF THE FRONT SEAT PASSENGER AND, UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS, AUTOMATICALLY TURN OFF THE PASSENGER AIR BAG. THE OCS SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO ONLY DEPLOY THE FRONT PASSENGER AIRBAG WHEN THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT IS OCCUPIED BY AN ADULT. IN THE AFFECTED VEHICLES, THE OCS SOFTWARE MAY INCORRECTLY CLASSIFY THE PASSENGER SEAT AS EMPTY WHEN IT IS OCCUPIED BY AN ADULT. IF THE OCS DOES NOT DETECT AN ADULT OCCUPANT IN THE PASSENGER SEAT, THE PASSENGER AIRBAG WOULD BE DEACTIVATED. I HAVE HAD THIS HAPPEN 2 TIMES IN MY CAR WITH MY WIFE WHICH IS A SHORT LIGHT WOMAN, I WENT TO NISSAN IN GREENSBORO, NC AND THEY GOT THE PARTS IN, TORE APART CAR BUT NISSAN SENT THEM INCOMPLETE PARTS AND NOW IT IS ON BACK ORDER....HAS BEEN LIKE THAT SINCE AUGUST!

BRAKE RECALL ISSUE NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 16V119000 I HAVE BEEN TO THE DEALERSHIP THREE TIMES TO GET THIS FIXED, BUT EVERY TIME THE DEALERSHIP COMES BACK AND SAYS THAT THEY COULD NOT REPRODUCE IT SO IT IS FIXED. BUT EVERY TIME I PARK IN THE GARAGE AT MY WORK PLACE OR PARK OVERNIGHT OUTDOORS, I RUN INTO THIS PROBLEM WHERE THE EXCLAMATION ICON WOULD LIGHT UP AND THE BRAKES WOULD MALFUNCTION WHERE I HAVE TO PRESS HARDER FOR THE BRAKES TO APPLY. THE WORKAROUND I FOLLOW IS - PRESSING AND RELEASING BRAKE PEDAL WILL MAKE THE EXCLAMATION ICON TURN OFF AND THE BRAKES WOULD FUNCTION NORMALLY. I HAVE HAD ATLEAST TWO INSTANCES WHERE THE CAR WILL START MOVING EVEN WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE. I WAS VERY CLOSE TO RUNNING INTO ANOTHER CAR TWO TIMES! I LIVE IN AUSTIN TX AND THESE INCIDENTS HAPPENED DURING SUMMERTIME WHEN THE TEMPERATURES WERE ABOVE 70F. *TR