Problems · NHTSA complaints

2022 Nissan Versa problems

Owners filed 20 complaints about the 2022 Nissan Versa with NHTSA between Mar 2023 and Jul 2026. The most-cited component is power train (7).

Complaints
20
Filed with NHTSA
Crashes
0
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
1
People reported injured
Deaths
0
Reported to NHTSA
01 —By component

Complaints by component

One complaint can cite several components
  1. Power train7
  2. Engine6
  3. Electrical system3
  4. Forward collision avoidance3
  5. Fuel/propulsion system3
  6. Back over prevention2
  7. Vehicle speed control2
  8. Service brakes1
  9. Visibility/wiper1
  10. Engine and engine cooling1
  11. Exterior lighting1
  12. Other / unknown4

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API · synced Nov 9, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
02 —Trend

When complaints were filed

Does it get worse with age? Complaints per calendar year filed
View as table
Model yearComplaints filed per calendar year
20234
20249
20251
20266

Mileage at failure isn’t a structured field in NHTSA complaint data, so we don’t chart it. Some owners mention it in their reports below.

03 —Owner reports

Top problems in owners’ words

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first

Power train

7 reports
“At approximately 135,000 miles my automatic transmission began "slipping" or lurching while accelerating. I took the car to a Nissan dealership, as well as 2 local mechanics, and all 3 sources have told me that my transmission is having identical symptoms to the recalled Versa models that previously had transmission issues. I'm now forced to replace the transmission before it hopefully goes out completely (the CVT). The problem has been diagnosed and reproduced by 3 separate auto mechanic shops, including one Nissan dealership in Colerain, Ohio. There have been absolutely no warning lights, messages, or signals from the car. When I accelerate from a stop, the car lurches at about 20-25 MPH. When I'm driving on the highway at a steady, high speed, I don't have the issue.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jul 9, 2026Power trainODI 11749395

Engine

6 reports
“I’m [XXX] with health issues and my mother is [XXX] we bought a car at ( Drive Time ) hoping we would get a good car to go to the dr , I have a [XXX] I can’t afford it though,in my opinion I felt drive time took advantage of us because I look Mexican and indigenous, they sold us a bad car where the engine was bad , as soon as I drove it there’s was a smell I didn’t think k anything about it but the manager at pep boys in pearland tx told me the reason I smelt something is because some liquids were mixing in the engine that are highly toxic when the engine is about to fail , drivetime would not take the car back and get us a good car, I found Nissan Clearlake and they put a new engine in the care I’m thankful but now it has something worse , I was in the freeway and the engine light came on malfunction the car would not move but the engine was still on , it was s wry I had to coast to the side to turn the engine off than turn on and it started , it’s doing this once a day , now Nissan wants to keep it a few days to see what’s wrong because they don’t see isn’t trouble I don’t have money for a rental we need to go to the dr”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jul 24, 2026Electrical system, Unknown or other, EngineODI 11752573

Electrical system

3 reports
“Electrical issues the entirety of owning this car. Now the car has a dead transmission at 88k miles. The car has caused me to almost be t-boned in a intersection twice due to unexpected loss of acceleration and power. Before trans went down it would stall, hesitate, and now it is completely dead and wont move and i have to put a new transmission in my car. Completely unsafe, i could have lost my life or at very least been severely injured.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jul 6, 2026Power train, Electrical systemODI 11748589

Forward collision avoidance

3 reports
“I brought this car in August 2022 and now out of no where the rear breaking collision system is randomly malfunctioning. There will be nothing near my vehicle or in the line of sight and when you reverse it just slams on breaks and will continue to doo so very few seconds causing loud grinding. this will stop for a few days or weeks and randomly starts up again which causes problems when parking or backing up because its continuously slamming on breaks for no reason.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Apr 5, 2026Service brakes, Back over prevention, Forward collision avoidanceODI 11729285

Fuel/propulsion system

3 reports
“I purchased this car from Carvana on 02/25/26, 2022 Nissan Versa S Manual Transmission. On four occasions over the course of two separate days, while under way, I lost power and the car went into a limp mode. Twice I was able to pull off the road, twice I had to stop on the road. After coming to a complete stop I was able to place the car in first gear and continue on driving. This power loss puts me at risk to be rear ended by the following car. I took it to the Nissan Dealer on 03/17/26 expressing my concern. I was told that they could not find any code in the car that indicated the trouble I experienced, nor was there any illumination of the check engine light. Because of that I was told that my car could not be serviced.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Mar 17, 2026Power train, Engine, Fuel/propulsion systemODI 11724965

Back over prevention

2 reports
“I was driving and the car suddenly stopped by itself and I didn't have any obstacle in front of me. After that, I guess is the Parking Collision Warning light turned on, and I heard a beep with no reason.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled May 9, 2023Unknown or other, Back over prevention, Forward collision avoidanceODI 11521190
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 9, 2026

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.