AutoUtility currently tracks 66 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2018 Nissan Leaf. Driver Assistance & Safety Tech issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 23 complaints (34.8% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 9 filings cite a crash, 1 cites a fire, 3 report one or more injuries.
Factual proportion of owner complaints categorized by automotive subsystem in NHTSA records
23 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
20 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
18 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
12 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
Formal engineering analyses and preliminary evaluations opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
"vehicle brakes went out on the driver during normal operation."
"vehicle was being driven like normal with no warning lights or icons. vehicle was bring driven at 35 miles an hour when suddenly the ABS fault message appeared on the dash, the dash started beeping and brakes became very hard to press."
"This is the second high-voltage traction battery failure on this vehicle. The original HV battery failed and was replaced by Nissan under warranty at an authorized dealer on XXX, at approximately 59,000 miles. The Nissan-manufactured replacement pack has now failed after approximately 16 months in..."
"Car was fast charged on July 9th. 2026. After fast charging from 13% to 80%, and driving for a few miles, the overheating warning came on and car was forced to stop on the side of a busy highway until the engine cooled off. While there is an active recall for a similar problem (24V700), my car is..."
"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..."
Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)
| Model Year | NHTSA Complaints | Crash Reports | Safety Recalls | Detailed Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 Nissan Leaf | 109 | 8 | 4 | View 2015 Problems → |
| 2016 Nissan Leaf | 36 | 1 | 4 | View 2016 Problems → |
| 2017 Nissan Leaf | 0 | 0 | 2 | View 2017 Problems → |
| 2018 Nissan Leaf Current Page | 66 | 9 | 4 | Current |
| 2019 Nissan Leaf | 253 | 4 | 5 | View 2019 Problems → |
| 2020 Nissan Leaf | 162 | 1 | 6 | View 2020 Problems → |
| 2021 Nissan Leaf | 53 | 2 | 4 | View 2021 Problems → |
| 2022 Nissan Leaf | 90 | 7 | 4 | View 2022 Problems → |
| 2023 Nissan Leaf | 19 | 6 | 3 | View 2023 Problems → |
| 2024 Nissan Leaf | 5 | 0 | 0 | View 2024 Problems → |
| 2025 Nissan Leaf | 7 | 0 | 0 | View 2025 Problems → |
| 2026 Nissan Leaf | 0 | 0 | 2 | View 2026 Problems → |
Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 36 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications
| Vehicle Component / System | Total Complaints | Crash Reports | Fire Reports | Injury Entries | Fatality Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forward Collision Avoidance NHTSA category: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Steering NHTSA category: STEERING | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Equipment & Accessories NHTSA category: EQUIPMENT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SERVICE BRAKES,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,AIR BAGS,WHEELS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tires NHTSA category: TIRES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Cross-reference safety recalls, crash test safety ratings, and EPA fuel economy for this model year
Key performance indicators, EPA fuel economy specs, powertrain variants, and summary ratings.
Official recall campaigns, safety defect descriptions, and manufacturer free remedy instructions.
NHTSA 5-Star NCAP crash test results, driver assistance systems, and rollover resistance ratings.
EPA fuel economy ratings, electric range, and annual energy cost benchmarks.
Direct, deterministic answers synthesized from verified United States government databases for the 2018 Nissan Leaf
In official NHTSA consumer records, the most frequently cited issue area for the 2018 Nissan Leaf is Driver Assistance & Safety Tech, appearing in 23 records (34.8% of submitted filings).
Secondary reported categories include Brakes & Traction Control (20) and Electrical System (18).
AutoUtility does not issue subjective reliability scores or commercial ratings. In official United States government records, NHTSA tracks 66 consumer defect complaints and 4 safety recall campaigns for the 2018 Nissan Leaf.
Reviewing documented component complaint distributions, recall remedy notices, and active federal investigations provides an objective, evidence-based view of the vehicle's historical safety and defect record.
Among consumer complaint records on file with NHTSA for the 2018 Nissan Leaf, 9 filings cite a crash, 1 cite smoke or fire, and 3 report one or more injuries.
Incident entries represent consumer descriptions at the time of submission to federal authorities and do not establish mechanical causation or legal liability.
NHTSA ODI records list 1 formal defect investigation involving the 2018 Nissan Leaf (all closed).
Federal defect investigations are formal engineering evaluations opened when safety defect trends emerge, and do not by themselves establish a confirmed defect or mandatory recall.
The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database under 49 CFR Part 576.
Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.