Airbag complaints by model year
Mileage when the problem started
What owners report
Hello NHTSA: I purchased a 2018 Nissan Leaf from Carvana on December 29, 2022. Within a short period of time the car experienced seat belt and air bag warning lights. The car was repaired under factory warranty by HGreg Nissan in Cutler Bay Florida but continued to display warning lights. The satellite communications system was not able to be repaired. This failure deactivated certain convenience and safety features. On March 16, 2023 a warning message and display indicated there was a high voltage battery malfunction and the car needed to be repaired by the dealer, On March 20, 2023 the car was taken to the dealer. The dealer informed me that the car was unsafe to drive and would not, nor did they ever, return the car to me [with the exception of a one-week test drive that did not correct the reported issues]. …
After four years of owning this vehicle purchased new, the passenger side seatbelt warning light came on the dash. It indicated the seatbelt was not buckled while no one was sitting in the passenger seat. When buckled the light went out. Brought it to the attention of Nissan, Service every year when they would clear the code and it would be good for a month or two, and the light would come back on like before. Last month on May 9, I brought the vehicle in again and asked for a thorough assessment. Nissan service said to make the light go out they would have to replace two passenger side occupancy sensors, totaling $1800 parts and labor. They did not have the parts on hand, I left with the vehicle only to find out that the intermittent seatbelt light that would go out when buckled, stayed on continuous now. Also noticed the illuminated airbag light stating the airbag was off. …
My son and I were in a major crash on a freeway, we were hit by a semi-truck, sent into a spin, hit by another vehicle and stopped by slamming into freeway guardrail. The car was totaled. My son was driving and airbags on the drivers side all deployed but nothing deployed on the passenger side at all.
My Nissan LEAF's airbag warning light is flashing, so I took it to the local dealer called Mike Rezi Nissan in Atlanta, GA area. They inspected it, and came back with the OCS control unit & sensor failure report, and wanted a thousand dollars to replace them. While there is a OCS recall for multi Nissan models, and my car is left out, and the VIN# is not included in this recall... ** also called Nissan custome affair, and I was told the same thing about my VIN# has no OCS recall, and was provided no explanation ** ** the LEAF's been driving normal, no accidents, and clean record **
December 07, 2016 I bought Nissan Leaf 2016 in June 30, 2016. On November 29, 2016, it just stopped and not going in reverse or forward, just stay on neutral and park. It has two recalls issued by transport Canada (# 2016179 an # 2016302). Nissan Canada never send my any notification about recalls. On November 29, 2016 it was towed to the dealership, 401/dixie mississauga, on Canada.since then service department is working and after repeated call, they are unable to tell me whats wrong with the vehicle. They do not know how long it will take to fix the problem. I requested a replacement vehicle while they are fixing my vehicle and the request was denied. It look like a manufacturing defect associated with safety issue. Service department is not releasing any information about the problem.it is more than one week now. …
Tl* the contact owns a 2016 Nissan Leaf. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 16V244000 (air bags); however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Tl* the contact owned a 2015 Nissan Leaf. While driving approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle was involved in a front end three vehicle collision. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was towed to a towing yard where it was deemed destroyed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. There was one injury that did not require medical attention. The contact suffered from back pain and pain to the right hand and thumb pain. A police report was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 25,000.
The passenger air bag turns on at random times when a passenger (over 140 pounds) is in the seat. This happens randomly, but consistently. We've tried different configurations; getting in the seat after the car has started, hoping up and down (trying to trigger the weight sensor), changing occupants, un-buckling and re-buckling the seat belt. Nothing seems to make the issue go away. Car is at the dealership, so far they have no leads.
Related recalls (4)
Air bags
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2015-2017 LEAF and 2014, 2016 and 2017 Sentra vehicles. Due to a manufacturing error within the air bag inflators, the passenger frontal air bag may not properly deploy in the event of a crash.
Remedy: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began June 7, 2017. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.
Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2016 LEAF vehicles manufactured February 24, 2016, to March 23, 2016, and Sentra vehicles manufactured February 9, 2016, to March 4, 2016. The wiring harness connector may disconnect from the dual-stage passenger air bag.
Remedy: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the wiring harness connector for proper engagement and, if necessary, replace the passenger air bag module and main body harness, free of charge.
Air bags › Sensor › Occupant classification
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Nissan Maxima, 2013-2016 Nissan Altima, NV200, LEAF, Sentra, and Pathfinder, 2014-2016 Nissan NV200 Taxi, Infiniti QX60, QX60 Hybrid, and Q50 Hybrid, 2014-2017 Nissan Rogue and Infiniti Q50, 2015-2016 Nissan Murano, Murano Hybrid, and Chevrolet City…
Remedy: Nissan will notify their owners. Chevrolet City Express owners will be notified by General Motors. Dealers will reprogram the Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) and OCS Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in Altima, Maxima, Murano,…
Air bags
Nissan is recalling certain model year 2013 Altima, LEAF, Pathfinder, Sentra, and Infiniti JX35 vehicles. Sensors within the passenger Occupant Detection System (ODS) may have been manufactured out of specification. This may cause the system to malfunction and permanently suppress the passenger airbag.
Remedy: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the ODS sensors and replace them as neccessary, free of charge. The recall began on May 6, 2013. Owners may contact Nissan Customer Service at 1-800-647-7261.
NHTSA investigations
Front Occupant Classification System Mat
Preliminary Evaluation (PE) 19-015 was opened as a result of Defect Petition (DP) 19-002 which alleged that model year (MY) 2011 and 2012 Nissan Leaf were affected by the same defect addressed in an earlier recall, NHTSA Safety Recall 16V-244, but were not included in the scope of that recall.NHTSA 16V-244 involved a defect in the Occupant Classification System, a system intended to suppress deployment of the…
Front Occupant Classification System Mat
A defect petition (see DP19-002) was received July 23, 2019 alleging that the occupant classification system (OCS) sensor (mat) in model year (MY) 2011 Nissan Leaf vehicles is defective and affects the proper deployment of the passenger front air bag. The petitioner provided a list of potentially related NHTSA reports and noted a Nissan recall involving later MY Leaf vehicles with OCS defect.
Occupant Classification System Failure
In April 2014, Nissan North America launched Safety Recall 14V-138 to address problems with the Occupant Classification System (OCS) algorithm in the following vehicles: model year (MY) 2013-2014 Nissan Altima, Pathfinder, Sentra and LEAF; MY 2013 Infiniti JX35; MY 2014 Infiniti QX60 and Q50; and MY 2013 Nissan NV 200/Taxi vehicles.According to Nissan, the OCS may misclassify adult front passenger occupants and turn…
Occupant Classification System Failure
In May 2016, Nissan North America issued a safety recall (16V-244) to address the problem of improper classification of adult front seat passengers in approximately 3.3 million vehicles, including those in the scope of this investigation when it was opened (almost one million vehicles) and additional vehicles, as shown below.Nissan models: certain model year 2013-2016 Altima, 2013-2016 LEAF, 2016-2017 Maxima,…
Frequently asked questions
Which Nissan Leaf years have airbag problems?
By NHTSA complaints, the 2011 (35), 2013 (17), 2012 (11), 2015 (8) and 2018 (5) model years. Airbag complaints make up 37% of all complaints for the 2011.
Is there a recall for Nissan Leaf airbag problems?
Yes — 4 recalls, including 17V-253 (air bags, Apr 13, 2017); 16V-436 (inflator module, Jun 15, 2016); 16V-244 (occupant classification, Apr 26, 2016). Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers; check a specific car with the VIN recall check.
At what mileage do Nissan Leaf airbag problems start?
Across all years, half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 38,000 miles; 61% happened before 50,000 miles.
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.