44 of the
1,497 complaints filed about the Nissan Leaf
are about the glass, mirrors and wipers —
3% of everything owners reported.
The worst model year for it is 2019.
44
Complaints
3%
Share of all complaints
0
Crashes
0
Fires
Windows, Mirrors & Wipers complaints by model year
Fail component: mechanical linkage (transmission rod) between the motor and the wiper arms. The ball pops out of the socket resulting in the wipers not working despite motor running. This happened with full speed wipers running. I repaired it, and two weeks later it disconnected again while running wipers at full speed in heavy rain. This left me without windshield wipers in heavy rain on a road with a 55mph speed limit. If I had not been able to quickly exit this would have resulted in significant risk to myself and other motorists. I was able to drive home on slower side roads, but the lack of wipers remained a safety issue. I have not taken in into a dealer or shop to have it reproduced. I will take photos while fixing. No incident or police reports were filed. There were no warning lights or alarms before or after this occurred. It seems this is a known issue that is common to Nissan vehicles including the leaf.
NHTSA complaint #11741152 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Backup camera image intermittently goes out and just shows a mostly black image. It appears to match a previous recall that does not yet cover our model year (2023): 24V071000. The image can sometimes be restored by slamming the hatchback shut, but it is not a permanent fix.
NHTSA complaint #11729340 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Heater will start to intermittently blow cold air when air temperatures are below ~18F. This started happening after I took vehicle in to fix recall P4A17 in December 2024. I had no issues prior to this recall "fix". In addition to being uncomfortable with cold air being blown on me at cold temperatures, this leads to the front and side windshields to start to fog up, impairing visibility. I have not taken it into a dealer to be examined as there are numerous reports already on-line that this is a known issue after the P4A17 "fix" and yet Nissan has not yet released an actual fix for the current problem of blowing cold air with cold temperatures. There are no warning lamps or messages.
NHTSA complaint #11707458 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The front windshield wipers on this car fail in light ice or snow. They've broken every winter I've owned this car (four years). This results in me driving around without front windshield wipers until I can get it fixed, watching the weather forecast and hoping I don't get caught in rain or snow. It happens despite my best efforts not to use the wipers in freezing weather unless absolutely necessary, going so far as to drive in light snow or rain without wipers to avoid breaking them. I've fixed it myself (not easy, especially in winter weather) and paid a mechanic to fix it for me at least three times. Most recently, the mechanic replaced the entire motor and linkage assembly which was extra expensive, but the right wiper broke again this Thanksgiving. (Until this last time, both wipers have always broken together.)
NHTSA complaint #11706140 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Vehicle battery drains significantly after being charged, passenger wiper will not work impairing visibility, back up camera blurs and fails, bright lights would not turn on, I was in a huge rain storm unable to see. Inability to use level 3 charger is disallowing me to be able to use vehicle due to amount of time to charge and battery drain has caused me to be broken down requiring a tow twice due to inaccurate mileage readings, leaving me stranded at night without access to phone service, placing me in an unsafe area/situation.
NHTSA complaint #11704216 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The dealership without our knowledge or approval did an update on our car last November that makes the heater and more importantly defroster not work when it's colder than about 17F degrees outside. This causes the vehicle to fog up all over including the windshield making it dangerous to drive. After about 10 minutes it finally starts working. We've told them about it numerous times and even saw other Leafs at the dealership for the exact same thing on the first cold day last winter after the update. They haven't yet gotten a fix for it and said it's on purpose. As far as us owners can tell they aren't looking into any sort of fix. They say we should just start the car for 10 minutes without driving but that doesn't work. You can leave it run for 30 minutes and the heat doesn't turn on. It only works after 10 minutes of dangerous driving. Besides we shouldn't have to run a vehicle for 10 minutes before driving. There are numerous examples of emergencies that require immediate driving. Please look into this as every Leaf owner is dealing with the same dangerous conditions in the northern states and I assume Canada.
NHTSA complaint #11699598 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
After the dealership has checked the rear view camera after manufacturer recall R23D7, the camera image is sometimes not displayed. Sometimes it helps to open and close the rear tailgate to reactivate the display of the rear view camera. The issue also seems to be dependent on ambient temperature. The manufacturer has failed or is unable to remedy this safety recall permanently. Before the recall was checked by the dealership, the vehicle never had an issue with the rear view mirror image not being displayed. When asking the dealership to fix it they told me that I need to pay for the repair of the wiring harness and it is not covered anymore by the recall.
NHTSA complaint #11693725 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
While driving during rainy conditions on January 19, the windshield wipers stopped working, resulting in obstructed view through front windshield while driving in the rain. Following, they worked intermittently for a week and then stopped working altogether. The exact failure has not been identified but is either a damage rod or non-functional motor; likely the motor as there is no noise coming from motor when the wipers are turned on. No warnings. We do not have a dealer within driving distance.
NHTSA complaint #11645826 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I was just at Empire Lakewood Nissan Dealership in Colorado on [XXX] for a few things. During my visit recall P4A17 was performed. I now notice on my drive in to work my heater isn't working now. It just blows cold air through the defroster and not at my feet as the HVAC indicator shows. I always have my auto climate feature set to 68 degrees F. It didn't finally come on until I'm almost to work. One of the best things about an electric car is I don't have to wait for the engine/coolant to warm up. My car was always warm by the time I left my neighborhood. Now I'm pulling into work and it's finally warm? What did P4A17 do to my car? INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11643667 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The rear view camera picture on the display is grey and does not display any video signal at temperatures below about 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Backing up without the rear view camera picture causes a safety hazard.
NHTSA complaint #11641602 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The defrost in my Nissan Leaf with does not function at all when the temperature is below around 10 degrees Fahrenheit. I found this out by having my windshield rapidly frost over while driving down the highway at over 65 MPH, almost causing a multi-vehicle accident because I could not see out of any of my windows. When I departed for my trip the vehicle had defrost functionality, but the ambient temperature must have dropped during my trip to the point where I can only assume the heat pump became disabled by the vehicle control systems, leaving only the Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) heater to supply defrost functionality. I assume that my PTC heater is somehow inoperative and thus resulted in the rapid frosting without any warning or indication to the driver. I see this as a critical safety concern as it affects vehicle visibility and defrost performance to where the vehicle no longer meets FMVSS Standard 103. Driving in ambient temperatures around the point at which the heat pump becomes disabled can cause rapid frosting of the vehicle windows with zero warning or indication of the defrost functionality being compromised. Since it only happens in extreme cold, I assume the issue is related to the Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) heater that is supposed to kick in when the vehicles heat pump becomes ineffective below a specific ambient temperature. I tried the process outlined in NTHSA recall 22V-048, but it still does not supply any defrost functionality. Conducting a quick internet search has resulted in numerous other Leaf owners experiencing similar issues with their loss of defrost functionality and vehicle heat in extreme cold ambient temperatures. The vehicle has not yet been inspected by a dealer or the manufacturer. I was lucky and did not get into an accident, but other owners of this vehicle may not be so lucky. I feel that Nissan is hiding a known defect here since there was already a recall related to Defrost performance.
NHTSA complaint #11637211 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
VISIBILITY:DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER/HVAC SYSTEM:ENGINE COOLANT HOSES AND FITTINGS
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Leaf. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was a whistling sound coming from the engine compartment. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the failure was unofficially diagnosed as a failed air condition hose or a failed air condition line connector. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, however, the contact declined to pay the diagnostic fee. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact was advised to have the vehicle diagnosed by the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 29,000.
NHTSA complaint #11590324 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
When placing the vehicle in reverse, the display screen shows either a distorted view or no view at all, or a solid pink color across the screen. This result in zero visibility out the rear of the vehicle.
NHTSA complaint #11557148 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The rearview camera stopped working. It works intermittently when backing up (<10%), but otherwise just shows a black screen for the rear backup camera. No warning lamps. As a result the rear blind spot warning does not work, posing a risk to kids or pedestrians crossing behind me. The vehicle has not been inspected by anyone at this point but a service appointment is scheduled. It is available for inspection.
NHTSA complaint #11545959 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The back up camera does not work half of the time. When the car is put in reverse, the screen in the console shows only black. Because the car has many blind spots and a small back window, this makes backing up difficult. The other day I almost ran over my neighbors kid and I was being extra cautious. Every time we've taken the car to the dealership for repair the camera start working again. Other Nissan Leafs from this same year were recalled for a similar issue, but ours was not. Nissan needs to expand the recall to more vehicles. We have picture evidence that the camera does not work, but because the dealership can't replicate the issue they will not cover the cost of repair even though this problem is identical to issues from a previous recall.
NHTSA complaint #11544734 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The windshield of my Nissan Leaf spontaneously cracked without being hit by anything externally. Upon inspection, it's pretty clear that the windshield didn't crack because of anything hitting it from the outside (which is what the dealer claimed), since the outside of the windshield is still completely smooth. The crack somehow started from the bottom of the inside of the windshield and propagated itself across the entire windshield. When the car was purchased, my dealer recommended warranty purchase because of the fragile windshield, which suggested that the windshield design may be faulty.
NHTSA complaint #11538218 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Nissan claims that a previous recall for Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, Rear Visibility could be fixed with a system update (recall 20V412000). This does not appear to be the case. I had the system update run already in December 2022 and it didn't fix the problem. The rear backup camera still goes pink and is not visible. I believe this is a hardware issue and should be fixed because it is a major safety problem.
NHTSA complaint #11531755 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My vin number say 0 recalls which same problem with 2019 nissan leaf problem. NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V654000 Manufacturer Nissan North America, Inc. Components BACK OVER PREVENTION Potential Number of Units Affected 1,228,830 Summary Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Nissan Altima, Armada, Frontier, Kicks, Leaf, Maxima, Murano, NV, NV200, Pathfinder, Rogue, Rogue Sport, Sentra, Titan, Titan Diesel, Versa Note and Versa Sedan vehicles, as well as Infiniti Q50, Q60, QX30 and QX80 vehicles. Additionally included are 2019 Nissan GT-R and Taxi and Infiniti QX50, QX60, Q70, Q70L vehicles. The back-up camera and display settings can be adjusted such that the rear view image is no longer visible and the system will retain that setting the next time the vehicle is placed in reverse. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, "Rear Visibility." Remedy Nissan will notify owners in phases, having dealers update the back-up camera settings software, free of charge. The recall began November 11, 2019 and all affected VINs should be activated. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669 or INFINITI customer service at 1-800-662-6200. Notes Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
NHTSA complaint #11521942 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My vehicle (VIN [XXX] )remains listed as subject to a recall on the NHTSA website even though the remedy/repair was executed on April 3, 2023 by an authorized dealer/service center: Nissan of Downtown LA. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
NHTSA complaint #11521774 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2019 Nissan Leaf. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the defroster was activated; however, the defroster fan motor became inoperable, causing the front and rear windshields to become foggy. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The dealer was contacted and stated that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V048000 (Equipment, Visibility). No further assistance was provided. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and confirmed that the vehicle was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was 55,000.
NHTSA complaint #11519524 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.