2016 Nissan Leaf Complaints

STEERING — Filed 01/01/2024

When turning left there is a plasticky sticking feeling and sound like a plastic bushing is coming apart. this causes the steering to momentarily bind. this happens most often when making gentle curves on the highway. the feeling causes you to overcorrect the steering wheel. there are many complaints online of similar issues from 2016 Nissan leafs. The issue occurs near daily since purchasing the car back in 2023. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

STEERING,POWER TRAIN,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM — Filed 01/09/2025

On January 9, a little after 12:30 pm, on Indian Head Highway (MD route 210) northbound near the Manokeek exit, after limiting drive power owing to battery degradation and cold weather (about 30 F) drive power and power steering failed entirely. There was no warning to pull over so I suspect this is an undocumented failure mode. After the car was towed home, it would not charge when plugged in until after I disconnected the 12 v battery and reconnected it after about ten minutes. It would then charge and after a few minutes I checked and it would send power to the wheels and power steering again. The state of charge of the lithium ion battery was about 86% throughout. This was not a failure of the on board 12 v battery charging system or 12 v battery which the tow truck driver tested as good, it is quite new. After the reset of disconnecting the 12 v battery and reconnecting, the terminals show higher voltage when the car is on than when it is off. Attached please find a picture of the warning lights after the car failed. Note that the battery light is for the 12 volt battery but there is nothing wrong with it. Also atteched, voltmeter readings when the car is off and on showing that the 12 volt battery recharging system is working. This car may or may not have an optional battery warmer, but its range of operation is well below the 30 F temperature when the failure occured. The car is more that two years overdue for warranty lithium ion battery replacement owing to manufacture delay.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 11/01/2024

On Friday, November 1, at about 3 pm, the brakes failed pulling away from the curb in a forward direction after loading equipment into the vehicle. Really stomping the brakes as though they had a fluid problem did get them to engage. I think the problem occured again backing out of my driveway prior to Monday the 4th when I fixed the problem. Again, really slamming the brake peddle got the brake to engage. You may look at the vehicle if you wish. On Friday, I was at a large senior center party and there were many pedestrian with limited mobility near the exit. An out of control vehicle could have been very dangerous. I applied experience from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles with brake problems and that fortunately worked, but brake fluid was NOT the problem and there is no clear documentation of the problem in the owner's manual. This problem is an EV problem. I can't really take the vehicle to the dealership because they have failed to perform warranty service and refused to do so in the time required by MD law. To determine the cause of the problem, I checked the brake fluid level which was normal, brake wear, which was little, checked the owners manual in detail (nothing clearly stated) and then searched the internet. By Monday the 4th, I had seem a reditt post that said a dead cell in the 12-volt battery could cause a confusion in the vehicle between the regenerative braking system and the hydrolic braking system. There had been some odd behavior at startup. The dash info would flash up with missing numbers then come on normally. And, at shutdown a few time, the lights left on buzzer would sound even though the lights were off. I checked the 12-volt battery voltage and it was low, about 10 volts consistent with a bad cell. I ordered a NAPA battery said to fit the vehicle, and replaced the defective battey which seems to have fixed the problem. The NAPA store confirmed a bad cell in the old battery. No clear warnings of the problem showed.

SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 04/21/2024

Drove home at 7PM mild day (65-70 degrees). Stopped the car and turned it off for an hour. Had to leave home at 8PM. Turned on the car and backed up the driveway. Tried to stop but break wasn't working.. Pressed all the way that ABS started trickling. Used the hand break to stop the car. Turned off the car and turned it back on. This is when I noticed all the dashboard lights are on including break and ABS and had the same break not working issue.. Pulled the car into the driveway slowly and turned it off till tomorrow morning.. Started the car tomorrow morning and everything was back to normal and driving without an issue.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM — Filed 11/27/2023

While climbing the incline section of the San Mateo Bridge in the fast lane, the Leaf shifted itself into Neutral and would not shift back into Drive. With no power, driver was forced to change lanes to the right with no power, but luckily made it over the top and down the decline to pull over. Vehicle did not want to shut off or shift. Dealer confirmed bad battery. This occured Nov. 27th, 2023. And the car is still at the dealership as of March 24, 2024, waiting for a replacement battery.

SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 03/18/2024

The contact owns a 2016 Nissan Leaf. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to stop as intended. The brake pedal had to be pushed to the floor to activate the service brakes. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a failed electronically driven intelligently braking unit and the electronically driven intelligently braking unit needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 93,000.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE — Filed 01/10/2024

Goes into neutral in a matter of seconds while driving at highway speeds and goes into turtle mode while on highway. A scan of the vehicle showed a number of low battery voltage codes (P0AA0, P3180, P3182, P08AF) stored when the battery was disconnected. Nissan gave no ETA on battery replacement.

POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM — Filed 01/08/2023

While driving at highway speeds (65mph) on a cold day (10-20F), the car lost all drive power with no warning. Driver was able to coast to the road margin. In another situation this could have been a catastrophic accident. Driver called 911 for police protection and tow. At this point car was completely unresponsive but still on. The car could not be turned off, turned on, shifted into drive, or any other action performed. The car has shown at least 3 other cold weather failures at highway speeds with various error states (ranging from turtle mode, a complete loss of the info display, and sudden power losses). Our mechanic said "I almost died today, this car is not safe to drive on the highway".

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM — Filed 03/08/2023

On March 8, 2023, my 2016 NISSAN LEAF main EV battery failed at 75% charge power going up an incline on the freeway. The car shut down in the center lane with no warning at 60mph and could not be moved or shifted to be driven off the freeway. The car is available for inspection. My safety and the safety of others was put at EXTREME risk. I could have been killed or rear ended. I called 911 for the highway patrol and a county or city tow truck got me off the freeway. Previously, the main EV battery was diagnosed by the dealer as dropping in capacity to 8 bars in December 2022. I was told the car was safe to drive still although they did put in a warranty claim for a new battery which I was told was on back order and could take up to one year. Yet, I was told the car was 100% safe and drove it from December 2022 until this week. After the March 8 incident I had the car towed immediately to the dealer repair facility and the dealer service again confirmed the battery was compromised and told me not to drive the car anymore. So far NISSAN corporate has not asked to inspect the vehicle. The only warning the car gave was it was having a loss of power going up hills from December 2022 to this week but the car never showed a warning or gave a warning light on the dash.

POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM — Filed 01/27/2023

Car shifted into neutral at highway speeds and would not go back into drive on 3 separate occasions over the past 6 days. Car is an EV and there was no warning and the battery SOC was 50% or more on all occasions. Can can be shifted from neutral to park only, not drive or reverse. Very unsafe to have to cruise to a stop on busy highways without much or any shoulder depending on where the car stops with snow banks. Had to have car towed. The incidents happened separately on 1/27, 1/28, and 2/2 all on the highway at ~60mph. I will upload some pictures of the dtc codes and battery stats for the vehicle. After the incident on 1/27, I replaced my 12v battery with a new one (having done some searching for possible cause), but the issue happened again on 1/28 and 2/2 after the 12v replacement.