Nissan Leaf brake failure problems

Filed Oct 21, 2026 · Electrical · 5,000 miles · MD · crash · 1 injury

The contact’s daughter owns a 2026 Nissan Leaf. While the owner was driving 70 MPH with the ProPILOT Assist engaged, a semi-truck merged into the lane and crashed into the vehicle. Following the impact and the deployment of the front air bags, the driver was able to safely maneuver the vehicle to the side of the highway. The button to engage the parking brake was activated, the vehicle was shifted in park(P) and turned off. However, after exiting the vehicle, the vehicle failed to shut off and the electronic parking brake failed to hold as intended, and the vehicle rolled back onto the highway and crashed with two other vehicles. The vehicle had damages to the hood, front bumper, windshield, and the front bumper reinforcement bar was bent. A Police report was filed. The owner sustained injuries to the face, neck, and shoulder due to the force of the seat belt and air bag deployment. The driver was currently receiving physical therapy for the injuries. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 5,000.

Filed Sep 1, 2026 · Brakes, Electrical · WA

The electrically-driven intelligent brake unit failed on my 2015 Nissan Leaf. The brakes became inoperative: when pressing the brake pedal there is a loud compression/grinding noise and the pedal goes nearly to the floor with little braking force. The failure appeared suddenly after charging the vehicle; it had been working normally before. The vehicle had to be towed to a Nissan dealership. The dealer diagnosed codes U1000 and U110D stored in the ABS module for lost communication with the intelligent brake module, performed an inspection, and confirmed the intelligent brake unit failed. The dealer quoted $5,131.10 to replace the unit, which approaches the value of the vehicle. This is the same electrically-driven intelligent brake system that was the subject of safety recall 16V119000; the federal safety agency VIN lookup shows zero unrepaired recalls for this vehicle, indicating the recall remedy was previously completed, yet the unit failed catastrophically anyway. This failure mode is widely reported by other Leaf owners. Loss of braking without warning is a serious safety risk. The vehicle and failed component are available for inspection at the dealership.

Filed Aug 13, 2026 · Brakes · CO

The contact owns a 2015 Nissan Leaf. The contact stated that while reversing at an undisclosed speed, the brakes failed to engage while the brake pedal was depressed. The brake and master warning lights were illuminated. The failure had occurred on several occasions; however, the contact stated that the vehicle recently failed to return to normal operation. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the brake module booster needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact researched and was made aware of the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 16V119000 (Service Brakes); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

Filed Aug 6, 2026 · Brakes, Electrical · NC

The car was parked in a parking lot, and when we turned it on and pulled out of the space, the brake light, ABS light, and other warning lights came on and the brakes went soft. We pulled back into the space and tried again, thinking it was a fluke and heard a strange noise coming from the car when it started. Again the lights came on and the brakes did not work. We had it towed to our normal mechanic and then to the dealership when the mechanic was unable to figure out what was wrong. The brakes looked to be in good repair. The Nissan dealership was unable to reproduce the problem and found only old codes in the system. The codes listed on the receipt were FFD high key cycle counts, C118A, U1000 (ABS, EV/HEV), P3195, B29C1 However, after I saw similar complaints related to the battery in this car and told them about it, they found that the 12V battery was leaking. They replaced the battery and flushed the brake line to be safe, but did not charge us the diagnostic fee since they were unsure if they fully fixed the issue. I had recently felt like the brakes took more pressure than normal (all the way to the floor) to stop on the highway once recently and so did my husband but we both thought we were imagining things. 2 years ago we had a similar issue happen but the mechanic just sent us back home after not being able to find anything. The codes on the receipt from 2024 are not very legible but I think they say "41000Gn Comm Circuit" "C118A EAS System" and "41100 Electronic Back Return."

Filed Aug 3, 2026 · Brakes · OH

vehicle brakes went out on the driver during normal operation.

Filed Jul 28, 2026 · Brakes · NV

This has happened to me intermittently at first ... Now permanently and cannot be diagnosed by nissan. Ihad total brake failure while on the fwy at 60mph, the dash lights for all brake componenets came up with tire as well...almost all warnings lit up and the brake pedal went to the floor and I had to press the brakes very hard and car would not stop but eventually did on side of road. Very bad loud grinding malfunctioning sound. When I was getting it towed I tried to turn on just to confirm still broken status, however car ran perfectly till the next incident with same diagnosis. Nissan 777 has given me 4 different diagnostic problems with estimates at $5,900 master cylander, $3,800 brake assemble and a verbal one saying it is the actuator. Their parts dept is incompetent as nissan has been about this issue for 6 months now. This is by far a traffic safety issue and nissan is failing to recognize the problems with this nissan leaf. Reddit has several people claiming same issue and nissan is ignoring it.

Filed Apr 23, 2026 · Brakes, Electrical · NJ

This is the third time my brakes have failed while driving, which seems to have something to do with the 12-volt battery. At least at first, I disconnected my 12-volt battery and reconnected it; this fixed the issue, at least for a while. The other day, I was driving down a road near my house and the brakes failed right before I came around a bend. I had to quickly press the e-brake to slow down, or I would have run right off the road. This is definitely a dangerous issue. Please issue a recall for this because I've noticed many other people complaining about the same issue—the same sound, feeling, and symptoms. It appears the brakes are malfunctioning due to a communication error, or a low voltage issue to the brake computer systems?

Filed Dec 11, 2025 · Brakes · IL

Was driving the car in a neighborhood setting only going 20 mph, ABS light turned on the dashboard, traction control light or some other light regarding traction came on as well, brakes failed. Had to use parking brake to stop the vehicle.

Filed Dec 7, 2025 · Brakes · CA

While driving normally, yellow brake warning lights came on but I arrived home without incident. Next time I drove, the warning lights were all off, but suddenly the brakes failed almost completely. I pushed the pedal to the floor and heard a grinding/clicking sound, and barely any stopping power. I was only going 25 mph, and was able to stop after 5 seconds of high foot pressure. At the same time, red brake warning light came on. I was able to get the car home very slowly, and strangely I had adequate braking power for the remainder of the short trip (although red and yellow brake warning lights remain on). I am happy to provide the car for inspection. This was extremely dangerous to the nearby pedestrians because I could not have stopped the vehicle had one been crossing in front of me. Had this happened at highway speeds, my passenger and I would have been in great danger, as would have other vehicles.

Filed Apr 9, 2025 · Brakes · ME

I was driving about 30mph and suddenly out of nowhere my brakes went out. They went out for about 1 second and some lights went out - then I slammed on the brakes, skidded to a halt and stopped in the. middle of the road, nearly crashing. We took it to the garage and they ran two codes and told us to take it to the dealer. The dealer quoted us about $8,000 and said it needed to "replace electrically driven brake control unit AND e-harness (engine room harness) (240123nh1d)". This makes the car dangerous to drive due to failures beyond our control or regular maintenance. This is a car failure and should be covered by a recall. It is simply not safe to drive. Looking online, this has happened to other Nissan Leafs of the same year/model as well.