The 2016 Nissan Leaf has 4 NHTSA recall campaigns affecting an estimated 3,425,683 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 49 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the service brakes. Last updated July 5, 2026.
Recall campaigns
EQUIPMENT23V2960002023-04-2694,343 affected
Defect
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…
Consequence
Reduced defroster performance can limit visibility out of the windshield, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy
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.
AIR BAGS17V2530002017-04-1330,038 affected
Defect
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.
Consequence
In the event of a crash, if the front passenger air bag doesn't deploy properly, it can increase the risk of injury to passengers.
Remedy
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began June 7, 2017. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.
AIR BAGS16V4360002016-06-154,355 affected
Defect
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2016 LEAF vehicles manufactured February 24, 2016, to March 23, 2016, and Sentra vehicles manufactured February 9, 2016, to March 4, 2016. The wiring harness connector may disconnect from the dual-stage passenger air bag.
Consequence
If the wiring harness disconnects, the passenger air bag may not to deploy during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Remedy
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the wiring harness connector for proper engagement and, if necessary, replace the passenger air bag module and main body harness, free of charge. The recall began on August 9, 2016. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.
AIR BAGS16V2440002016-04-263,296,947 affected
Defect
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…
Consequence
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
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,…
Complaints by component
SERVICE BRAKES
15
1crashes
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
11
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
8
AIR BAGS
3
ENGINE
3
POWER TRAIN
3
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:12V/24V/48V BATTERY
2
1fires
STEERING
2
STRUCTURE:BODY
1
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
1
1fires
Total complaints49
What owners report
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal
information removed.
“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…”
“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…”
“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…”
“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…”
“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…”
“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…”
“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…”
“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.”
Defect investigations
InvestigationDP22005 Opened 2023-01-27 · closed 2023-08-07
Pedestrian alert sounds
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for…
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL,
FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 2016 Nissan Leaf as of
July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page
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