2013 Nissan Leaf problems and recalls

Owners have filed 81 complaints on the 2013 Nissan Leaf, and NHTSA has issued 5 recalls. The most cited component is the Service Brakes (32 complaints).

81
Complaints
5
Recalls
11
Crash reports
1
Fire reports
4
Injuries
79.0
Severity index

Severity index 79.0 Medium. The index weights crashes, fires, injuries and fatalities per 100 complaints. How it is calculated.

Middle half of all tracked vehiclesThis vehicle: 79.0p25 46p75 80cleanestworst
Severity index against the quartile range for all tracked vehicles.

Ranked 46 of 145 by severity index among 2013 vehicles with at least 40 complaints, highest first. 68% of those vehicles scored lower. Full 2013 ranking.

Components cited in complaints

Service BrakesService Brakes: 32 complaints (39.5%)32 40%Electrical SystemElectrical System: 18 complaints (22.2%)18 22%Air BagsAir Bags: 17 complaints (21.0%)17 21%Unknown Or OtherUnknown Or Other: 10 complaints (12.3%)10 12%Vehicle Speed ControlVehicle Speed Control: 5 complaints (6.2%)5 6%Seat BeltsSeat Belts: 4 complaints (4.9%)4 5%Visibility/WiperVisibility/Wiper: 4 complaints (4.9%)4 5%Fuel/Propulsion SystemFuel/Propulsion System: 4 complaints (4.9%)4 5%
A single complaint can cite more than one component, so shares total over 100%.
ComponentComplaintsShare of complaints citing it
SERVICE BRAKES3239.5%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM1822.2%
AIR BAGS1721.0%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER1012.3%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL56.2%
SEAT BELTS44.9%
VISIBILITY/WIPER44.9%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM44.9%

Complaints filed per year

07142013: 112014: 132015: 82016: 62017: 82018: 92019: 142020: 22022: 12023: 62024: 22025: 113141516171819142022232425
Complaints by the calendar year they were filed. The hatched bar is the current year to date.
YearComplaints
201311
201413
20158
20166
20178
20189
201914
20202
20221
20236
20242
20251
Filings in 2023 to 2025 ran 0.5x those in 2019 to 2022 (9 against 17).

Recall campaigns

CampaignReportedComponentSummary
16V11900029/02/2016SERVICE BRAKESNissan 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 slo
14V13800025/03/2014ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:SOFTWARENissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Altima, LEAF, Pathfinder, and Sentra, model year 2013 NV200 (aka Taxi) and Infiniti JX35 and model year 2014 Infiniti Q50 and QX60 vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the occupant classification system
16V24400026/04/2016AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATIONNissan 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 N
13V06900001/03/2013AIR BAGSNissan is recalling certain model year 2013 Altima, LEAF, Pathfinder, Sentra, and Infiniti JX35 vehicles. Sensors within the passenger Occupant Detection System (ODS) may have been manufactured out of specification. This may cause the system to malfunction and permanently suppr
23V29600026/04/2023EQUIPMENT:OTHER:OWNERS/SERVICE/OTHER MANUALNissan 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 req

Other Nissan Leaf model years

Severity index for every other model year on file. Compare all 9 years side by side.

Source. NHTSA public complaint and recall APIs (api.nhtsa.gov), retrieved 2026-07-25. Complaints are unverified consumer reports. Totals vary with units sold and years on the road. Not affiliated with NHTSA or any manufacturer.