Nissan Leaf Years to Avoid — and the Years to Buy
Every Nissan Leaf model year from 2010 to 2026, benchmarked against each other with 1,496 federal complaints, 20 recall campaigns, and the odometer readings owners put in their reports.
Avoid: 2019. These years top the Leaf's complaint rankings by volume and severity.
Safer bets: 2014, 2016 — the quietest years with at least four years on the road.
The method in one line: every NHTSA complaint for this model is counted, weighted for crashes, fires, injuries, and deaths, and each year is measured against the Leaf's own worst year — full methodology.
The trouble strip
One cell per model year. The whole answer in one glance — click any year for the full report.
The defining problem
Electrical tops the Nissan Leaf file with 515 complaints, concentrated in the 2019–2020 model years, most often reported around 18,000 miles. The year pages break down what fails and when.
Every year, ranked
| Year | Verdict | Complaints | Recalls | Top problem | Trouble index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Few reports | 4 | 2 | — | 1 |
| 2025 | Few reports | 10 | 0 | — | 3 |
| 2024 | Few reports | 7 | 0 | — | 2 |
| 2023 | Typical | 30 | 3 | — | 13 |
| 2022 | Below average | 135 | 4 | Electrical | 47 |
| 2021 | Typical | 77 | 4 | Electrical | 32 |
| 2020 | Below average | 221 | 6 | Electrical | 60 |
| 2019 | Avoid | 320 | 5 | Electrical | 100 |
| 2018 | Below average | 117 | 4 | Brakes & stability | 48 |
| 2017 | Few reports | 27 | 2 | — | 10 |
| 2016 | Better year | 50 | 4 | Brakes & stability | 15 |
| 2015 | Below average | 144 | 4 | Brakes & stability | 46 |
| 2014 | Better year | 45 | 6 | Brakes & stability | 20 |
| 2013 | Below average | 120 | 5 | Brakes & stability | 49 |
| 2012 | Typical | 71 | 0 | Brakes & stability | 27 |
| 2011 | Below average | 117 | 0 | Airbags | 39 |
| 2010 | Few reports | 1 | 0 | — | 0 |
Technical service bulletins
Beyond complaints and recalls, 1,423 manufacturer communications — service bulletins, service campaigns, warranty extensions — are on file for the Nissan Leaf. A TSB is factory repair guidance, not a recall — the repair is not automatically free.
Browse the Nissan Leaf TSB list by year →
Questions buyers ask
What Nissan Leaf years should I avoid?
Federal complaint records point to 2019 as the Nissan Leaf years to avoid — they drew the highest volume of serious complaints relative to the model's other years.
What is the most common Nissan Leaf problem?
Electrical tops the Nissan Leaf file with 515 complaints, concentrated in the 2019–2020 model years, most often reported around 18,000 miles.
What are the best Nissan Leaf years to buy used?
The quietest Nissan Leaf years in federal records are 2014, 2016 — each with at least four years on the road and well-below-average complaint volume for this model.
Every number on this page is a count of records in the federal complaint, recall, and investigation files published by NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation. Counts cover the Nissan Leaf only, scored against this model's own worst year — not against other models. Check any specific vehicle's open recalls by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.