2021 Nissan Leaf problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Electrical System (20) · Fuel/Propulsion System (7) · Visibility/Wiper (6)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Nissan Leaf model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (4)
Electrical System:propulsion System:charging:module:software 2025-09-30 · campaign 25V655000 · 19,077 vehicles
Defect: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2021-2022 LEAF vehicles equipped with a Level 3 quick charging port. The lithium-ion battery may overheat during Level 3 charging.
Risk: A quick charging battery that overheats increases the risk of a fire.
Fix: Owners are advised not to use Level 3 quick charging until the remedy is completed. Dealers will update the battery software, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed June 16, 2026. Owners may contact Nissan's Customer Service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall is R25C8. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning October 4, 2025.
Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera 2024-02-02 · campaign 24V071000 · 57,914 vehicles
Defect: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2018-2022 LEAF vehicles. Damage to the camera harness can cause distortion or loss of the rearview camera display image. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 111, "Rear Visibility."
Risk: A rearview camera that does not properly display an image can reduce the driver's rear view, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the rearview camera and harness for damage and replace them as necessary. If no damage is found, the dealer will apply protective tape and reroute the rearview camera harness. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 9, 2024. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall is R23D7.
Vehicle Speed Control 2023-07-17 · campaign 23V494000 · 66,159 vehicles
Defect: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2018-2023 LEAF vehicles. The vehicle may accelerate unintentionally if the driving mode is changed ("D" to "B"; e-Pedal "On"; or "ECO" mode) after disengaging the cruise control.
Risk: Unintentional acceleration can increase the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will reprogram the vehicle control module (VCM), free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed August 30, 2023. Owners may contact Nissan's customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall is R23A6.
Equipment:other:owners/Service/Other Manual 2023-02-02 · campaign 23V048000 · 64,732 vehicles
Defect: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2018-2023 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 Safety Standard number 103, "Windshield Defrosting and Defogging Systems."
Risk: Reduced defroster performance can limit visibility out of the windshield, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: 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 April 1, 2023. Owners may contact Nissan's customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall is R22C5.
Service bulletins (83)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Fuel/Propulsion System 2026-06-03 · Lithium - ion Battery · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
*****dealer announcement***** nissan is committed to delivering the highest levels of product quality and customer satisfaction. in support of this commitment, nissan is implementing a lithium-ion battery post-remedy program for certain model year 2019–2022 nissan leaf vehicles that were previously
Structure:body 2026-04-13 · NTB09-131C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
certification label and vin plate replacement service information because of collision damage or other vehicle repair, a replacement “certification label” or “vin plate/label” may be needed. hint: certification label = fmvss (federal motor vehicle safety standards) label. these items may be availabl
Structure:body 2026-04-13 · NTB09-131C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
certification label and vin plate replacement service information because of collision damage or other vehicle repair, a replacement “certification label” or “vin plate/label” may be needed. hint: certification label = fmvss (federal motor vehicle safety standards) label. these items may be availabl
Electrical System 2026-03-30 · NTB15-049CC · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
telematics service information hint: this bulletin applies to vehicles equipped with a 4g network compatible tcu. tcus compatible with 3g network only are no longer supported. service information the applied vehicles that come equipped with a factory installed sos switch, located near the overhead m
Service Brakes 2025-02-20 · NTB19-042F · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
automatic emergency braking warning light blinking applied systems: vehicles equipped with a lane camera (see figure 1) service information if the automatic emergency braking (aeb) warning light or is blinking (but not illuminated steadily) or the customer states it is blinking, and there are no rel
Service Brakes 2025-02-20 · NTB19-033G · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
intelligent cruise control inoperative and aeb/feb warning light on or radar obstruction message displayed with dtc c1a16 or c2582 if you confirm important: the purpose of action (on the next page) is to give you a quick idea of the work you will be performing. you must closely follow the entire ser
Showing the 6 most recent of 83 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-21 · Vehicle Speed Control“so on october 1st, my car, my nissan leaf went into turtle mode for the first time. and then yesterday, while i was on the highway, it went into turtle mode, dropped down to 50 miles per hour, and i got off the highway, and the car wouldn't move anymore. i had to turn off the car, wait a couple minutes, and turn it back on, and then it worked again…”
2026-09-29 · Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking“the automatic emergency braking system on my 2021 nissan leaf s plus engaged erroneously (phantom braking) twice. one time was on a sunny day in august 2026 when i had just backed out of my driveway onto my residential street. there was a person walking well to the right side of the road about 100 feet ahead of me. i had just finished backing out a…”
2026-09-13 · Fuel/Propulsion System“incident summary & ineffective recall remedy: i am reporting an acute high-voltage battery cell collapse on my 2021 nissan leaf (vin: [xxx]). the vehicle previously received the software update for nhtsa recall #25v655 (nissan recall #r25c8) at kings nissan. the software patch failed to repair the underlying defective battery hardware. following a…”
2026-08-31 · Engine · 25,000 mi · 🔥 fire“the contact owned a 2021 nissan leaf. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 25v655000 (electrical system). the contact stated that while at a dealer charging the vehicle for approximately 15- 20 minutes, there was a fire coming from the front of the vehicle. the fire was extinguished by the fire department after several hours.…”
2026-08-24 · Unknown Or Other“a recall fix was done for the back up camera about a year ago. that was a national recall for an issue with the system. my car started the same exact issue about 3 weeks ago. no back up camera, pink or blue screen, glitchy. i contacted nissan about it and it didn't seem like they wanted to make the repair again or fix the issue at no cost. i was w…”
2026-07-26 · Unknown Or Other · 🔥 fire“our vehicle was affected by recall 25v655 for defective battery. the vehicle was serviced at the nissan dealer and the software update to resolve the recall was applied. yesterday the vehicle spontaneously combusted during dc fast charging despite the software update. it appears that the software update was ineffective at mitigating the fire hazard…”
2026-06-22 · Engine“recall for fast charge level 3 chademo has been issued for over 6 months. i am advised not to fast charge due to risk of devastating fire. very dangerous to continue to use this car in an urban setting. buyback was denied and told to wait for a fix. no fix yet! i can't get out of philadelphia in this car. tesla wouldn't let this happen!…”
2026-06-11 · Electrical System“level 3 quick charging was not working, and only level 2 charging is working now. that creates a risk of not working if level 2 charging does not work as well. nissan issued the letter on 3/18/2026 to recall but not yet provided the detailed repair plan as of today. please advise. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of informati…”
2026-05-03 · Unknown Or Other“i own a 2021 nissan leaf with an open safety recall (nhtsa recall 25v-655, nissan recall r25c8) issued on september 30, 2025. the recall involves a battery defect that creates a safety risk during dc fast charging (level 3). as a result, i am unable to use public fast-charging networks such as evgo. the recall currently has no remedy available an…”
2026-04-24 · Electrical System“the contact owns a 2021 nissan leaf. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 25v655000 (electrical system); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. the contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the dealer was not made aware of the issue. the manu…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.