Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2013 Nissan Leaf owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
I put the car in park as I was pulling in without turning it off to grab trash from the curb and take it to the car, but the car keep accelerating. I jumped in and slammed on the bricks but it hit the brick wall to the house. I see more recent years were recalled for "unintended acceleration" and "brake issues"
I was driving and wanted to slow the vehicle to turn on a side street. I pressed the brake and nothing happened. The vehicle did not slow down at all. I pushed harder, still nothing. The brakes completely failed to work. Due to this brake failure, I was unable to make the turn I wanted to make because I was going too fast. I continued going straight, and because the road was slightly uphill, the vehicle eventually stopped and I was able to ease off the road when the vehicle had slowed sufficiently. Fortunately, there were no injuries or accidents. After the vehicle had stopped I looked to see if it was low on brake fluid. It was not. The brake fluid level was at manufactures specification. After I had stopped I did notice several warning lights on the dash, including ABS and other symbols I don't know the meaning of. …
On 3 occasions the brakes have randomly failed when traveling. In 2 cases, stopping ability was non-existent except for the use of the parking brake. In the other case, stopping was significantly decreased. 13-Jan-2025, when traveling straight on a 40mph road towards a busy intersection, when the brakes were applied to slow to the intersection they failed and a red indicator light came on. Stopping ability was significantly reduced, but not completely gone. The car was able to safely divert into a parking lot without incident. When the car was powered off then on, the error went away and the brakes functioned. There were 2 other incidents prior to this, traveling at low speeds in residential areas. Braking was completely gone and I had to use the parking brake pedal to stop the vehicle. Again, after powering the car off then on, the braking system functioned normally.
Tl* the contact owns a 2013 Nissan Leaf. While the contact's wife was driving 40 MPH, she depressed the brake pedal, but it failed to function. As a result, the contact's wife rear ended the preceding vehicle. The contact was not aware if any warning indicators were illuminated. The air bags did not deploy. There were no injuries. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was unable to be driven because the brake lines were stuck. The VIN was associated with NHTSA campaign number: 16V119000 (service brakes) and NHTSA campaign number: 16V244000 (air bags). The vehicle was towed to glendale Nissan (located at 727 s brand blvd, glendale, ca 91204) where they released the brake lines and diagnosed that the brake actuator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was taken to universal city Nissan (located at 3550 cahuenga blvd w, los angeles, ca 90068, [phone]) and was repaired. …
I was driving the car on a one-way street at around 25-30 MPH and needed to apply the brakes to stop quickly. I hit the brakes with all the force I could with my leg---the brakes did not engage and the car did not stop in time. It seemed like some kind of weird glitch because I understand that the car has electric support for the brakes. At other times the brakes didn't respond in the correct time. Note I had the brakes inspected several times by a puente hills Nissan and the brake pads were fine. There was also a strange clicking noise coming from the brakes when they disengaged. It seems to be some kind of time delay in the software. I also read that since the car has regenerate braking it's like the car gets confused when it supposed to apply the brakes and not slow down from the engine. I had trouble braking other times when I wore light shoes or sandals.
Tl* the contact owns a 2013 Nissan Leaf. While driving 50 MPH, the vehicle failed to stop when the brake pedal was depressed. As a result, the contact crashed into the preceding vehicle. The front driver's air bag deployed. The vehicle was towed to an independent facility. A police report was filed. There were no injuries. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 16V119000 (service brakes). Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer were notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 36,000.
I was traveling at 25 MPH when I was forced to make a sudden stop due to the school bus in front of me stopping abruptly. I engaged the brakes and they went straight to the floor with no resistance. The brakes did not engage in anyway. I swerved but ended up hitting the rear of school bus.
I didn't drive the car for a few days and the 12v battery died. So I disconnected it from the car and hooked it up to my 12v battery charger. When it was fully charged, I reconnected it and started the car. Both the yellow and red warning lights were on as were the brake, ABS, and vdc lights. I started backing up in the driveway and as soon as I pressed the brakes, strange noises came from the front of the car. I slammed on the parking brake to stop.I tried backing again and noticed the brakes only engaged when the pedal was pressed almost all the way down. While troubleshooting, I noticed removing the vdc fuse stopped the sounds. Also the brakes are now usable, but require much more force on the pedal than normal. The trouble codes are c118a and c1a61. …
While driving on a warm day at about 25 miles an hour about two miles from my home, my brakes became unresponsive as I approached a stop sign behind another driver. The other driver didn't stop in order to avoid being hit. I tried multiple times to use the brake, and the car didn't slow. Before coming to a turn down a very long steep hill, I pulled up the parking brake to stop the car. I called aaa. The aaa technician confirmed the brakes had failed, and towed the car to a mechanic. The mechanic was not able to look at the car the same day, but looked the next day and said they could find nothing wrong with the brakes. They recommended taking it to an actual Nissan repair shop, which I did. They said they could find nothing wrong, but did see that the braking system had been repaired previously. …
I charged the Leaf the night before and went downtown. It was winter in maine and around 10 degrees. After going into a store and coming out when I started the car and put it in d the brakes didn't work. I slammed the pedal down to the ground but it didn't seem to do much. I almost hit the parked car in front of me but I put the emergency brake down and luckily stopped. I turned the car on and off but the problem was still happening. The brakes made a weird clicking and electronic noise. I turned the car off for about 5 minutes to call aaa and when I turned it back on it worked. I've done some research and this has happened to other owners. There was a voluntary recall (p5327?) which was already done on the vehicle but this still happened. My leafspy app showed the DTC codes of c118a 0109 ABS e-driven int brake system brc-124 and c1a61 0109 brake motor power supply br-46. …
Related recalls
Service brakes
Nissan 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 slow the vehicle down.
Remedy: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the Intelligent Brake Control Unit software, free of charge. The recall began on March 28, 2016. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.
Brake complaints in other Leaf years
Frequently asked questions
How common are brake problems on the 2013 Nissan Leaf?
NHTSA has 32 complaints about the brakes of the 2013 Nissan Leaf, 40% of the model year's 81 complaints.
Is there a recall for 2013 Nissan Leaf brake problems?
Yes — NHTSA recall 16V-119 (service brakes, Feb 29, 2016). Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers.
At what mileage do 2013 Nissan Leaf brake problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 36,000 miles, and 36% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 7 crashes, 0 fires and 1 injury to brakes problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.