32 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2013 Nissan Leaf cite service brakes, 40% of all 81 complaints for this model year. NHTSA also lists 1 recall on this component.
“On 3 occasions the brakes have randomly failed when traveling. In 2 cases, stopping ability was non-existent except for the use of the parking brake. In the other case, stopping was significantly decreased. 13-Jan-2025, when traveling straight on a 40mph road towards a busy intersection, when the brakes were applied to slow to the intersection they failed and a red indicator light came on. Stopping ability was significantly reduced, but not completely gone. The car was able to safely divert into a parking lot without incident. When the car was powered off then on, the error went away and the brakes functioned. There were 2 other incidents prior to this, traveling at low speeds in residential areas. Braking was completely gone and I had to use the parking brake pedal to stop the vehicle. Again, after powering the car off then on, the braking system functioned normally.”
“I put the car in park as I was pulling in without turning it off to grab trash from the curb and take it to the car, but the car keep accelerating. I jumped in and slammed on the bricks but it hit the brick wall to the house. I see more recent years were recalled for "unintended acceleration" and "brake issues"”
“I was driving and wanted to slow the vehicle to turn on a side street. I pressed the brake and nothing happened. The vehicle did not slow down at all. I pushed harder, still nothing. The brakes completely failed to work. Due to this brake failure, I was unable to make the turn I wanted to make because I was going too fast. I continued going straight, and because the road was slightly uphill, the vehicle eventually stopped and I was able to ease off the road when the vehicle had slowed sufficiently. Fortunately, there were no injuries or accidents. After the vehicle had stopped I looked to see if it was low on brake fluid. It was not. The brake fluid level was at manufactures specification. After I had stopped I did notice several warning lights on the dash, including ABS and other symbols I don't know the meaning of. (I'd have to read the vehicle owner's manual to figure out what they mean). I have not taken the vehicle anywhere to be repaired yet. I thought that maybe the NHTSA might want to inspect it before it was looked at by a mechanic or manufacturer.”
“2013 NISSAN LEAF BRAKES FAILED COMPLETELY AND WITHOUT WARNING WHILE DRIVING 30MPH RESULTING IN NEAR COLLISION AND POTENTIALLY SERIOUS INJURY AND PROPERTY DAMAGE. SPEED VERY GRADUALLY SLOWED WITH ACCELERATOR PEDAL NOT DEPRESSED AND WAS ULTIMATELY BROUGHT TO COMPLETE STOP USING PARKING BRAKE. VEHICLE LURCHED FORWARD WITHOUT ABILITY TO BRAKE WHEN ACCELERATOR PRESSED LIGHTLY AFTER STOPPING. NISSAN DEALER REPORTED A FAILURE OF THE "INTELLIGENT BRAKE CONTROL UNIT" AND REPLACED AT COST OF APPROX. $3,000. INCIDENT OCCURRED IN CLEARWATER, FLORIDA AREA IN LATE AFTERNOON IN DRY WEATHER WITH TEMPERATURES AROUND 80F. TOW TRUCK OPERATOR STATED THAT WHEN THEY ATTEMPTED TO MOVE THE VEHICLE IT LURCHED FORWARD WITHOUT ABILITY TO HALT AND THE OPERATOR WAS EXTREMELY FRIGHTENED AND ALMOST CRASHED.”
“TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 NISSAN LEAF. WHILE THE CONTACT'S WIFE WAS DRIVING 40 MPH, SHE DEPRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL, BUT IT FAILED TO FUNCTION. AS A RESULT, THE CONTACT'S WIFE REAR ENDED THE PRECEDING VEHICLE. THE CONTACT WAS NOT AWARE IF ANY WARNING INDICATORS WERE ILLUMINATED. THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. THERE WERE NO INJURIES. A POLICE REPORT WAS NOT FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS UNABLE TO BE DRIVEN BECAUSE THE BRAKE LINES WERE STUCK. THE VIN WAS ASSOCIATED WITH NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 16V119000 (SERVICE BRAKES) AND NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 16V244000 (AIR BAGS). THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO GLENDALE NISSAN (LOCATED AT 727 S BRAND BLVD, GLENDALE, CA 91204) WHERE THEY RELEASED THE BRAKE LINES AND DIAGNOSED THAT THE BRAKE ACTUATOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO UNIVERSAL CITY NISSAN (LOCATED AT 3550 CAHUENGA BLVD W, LOS ANGELES, CA 90068, (818) 769-8100) AND WAS REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 55,736. *DT*JB”
“WHILE DRIVING ON A WARM DAY AT ABOUT 25 MILES AN HOUR ABOUT TWO MILES FROM MY HOME, MY BRAKES BECAME UNRESPONSIVE AS I APPROACHED A STOP SIGN BEHIND ANOTHER DRIVER. THE OTHER DRIVER DIDN'T STOP IN ORDER TO AVOID BEING HIT. I TRIED MULTIPLE TIMES TO USE THE BRAKE, AND THE CAR DIDN'T SLOW. BEFORE COMING TO A TURN DOWN A VERY LONG STEEP HILL, I PULLED UP THE PARKING BRAKE TO STOP THE CAR. I CALLED AAA. THE AAA TECHNICIAN CONFIRMED THE BRAKES HAD FAILED, AND TOWED THE CAR TO A MECHANIC. THE MECHANIC WAS NOT ABLE TO LOOK AT THE CAR THE SAME DAY, BUT LOOKED THE NEXT DAY AND SAID THEY COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG WITH THE BRAKES. THEY RECOMMENDED TAKING IT TO AN ACTUAL NISSAN REPAIR SHOP, WHICH I DID. THEY SAID THEY COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG, BUT DID SEE THAT THE BRAKING SYSTEM HAD BEEN REPAIRED PREVIOUSLY. I CALLED NISSANUSA AND THEY SAID OUR VIN SHOWED THAT THE CAR HAD ALREADY BEEN REPAIRED FOR AN INTERMITTENT SERVICE BRAKE PROBLEM (ON RECALL) A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO BEFORE WE BOUGHT IT USED, AND THAT IT CAN'T BE FIXED AGAIN FOR THAT. IT'S SCARY THAT NOBODY CAN IDENTIFY WHAT WENT WRONG THIS TIME, AND NOBODY IS WILLING TO SEE IF IT'S THE RECALL FIX ACTING UP SOMEHOW, MAYBE UNPREPARED.”
Showing 6 of 32 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
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.
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.