Owners have filed 38 complaints on the Nissan NV, covering 2013–2019. The system named most often is Electrical System (5 reports). Worst years by volume: 2016, 2013, 2018; cleanest: 2015, 2014, 2019. 1 reports describe a crash, 1 a fire. On average the car was 4.6 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Nissan NV
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 38 NV complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 5 Read
Passenger seat heater heating element burned through foam cushions of bottom of seat. Contacting bottom steel seat support. Cabin filled with smoke and forced me to pull vehicle over on side of road. Smoke stopped after vehicle was turned off and seat was inspected. Visible burn on bottom of cushion. Wiring harness to…
Ongoing electrical and ECM communication issues with my 2018 Nissan NV2500. The vehicle is experiencing serious fault codes involving loss of communication with the ECM/PCM and transmission control systems, creating a potential safety concern and reliability issue. The diagnostic scan produced the following active…
The contact owns a 2016 Nissan NV3500. The contact stated while operating the vehicle, the instrument malfunctioned. The check engine warning light, odometer, speedometer, and the braking system malfunctioned causing the brake pedal to extend to the floor while depressed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer. The…
Engine 5 Read
While driving the vehicle on the highway it suddenly it made a ticking noise and would not go more than 40 miles per hour. We limped into a repair shop. The upper catalyst crumbled and was sucked into the lower catalyst causing total failure. The vehicle was completely incapacitated on the roadway. This is all…
I was driving 75MPH down the interstate when out of nowhere my engine started acting funny. It started to slow down and then the check engine light came on. As we were exiting the engine started stuttering. We were able to get it to a gas station. It was towed to a mechanic where they found that there were multiple…
Engine developed a knock and associated power issues as per Nissan technical bulletin NTB 19-057a. Nissan did not make owners of the affected VIN numbers aware of the issue
Steering 4 Read
The contact owned a 2019 nissan nv. The contact stated while driving 45-50 mph during slippery conditions, the steering wheel locked up, the vehicle was uncontrollable, and flipped over several times. There were no warning lights illuminated. The air bags deployed. The vehicle was towed to an independent lot. A police…
On July 4, 2023 I was backing out of a driveway and put my vehicle back into Drive. A piece out of the steering column fell at my feet. I pulled back into the driveway and could not get the vehicle to shift into park to be able to remove the keys from the ignition. We used the emergency brake. The cover had to be…
The contact owns a 2017 nissan nv. While driving 45 mph and making a left turn, the steering wheel seized. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to town center nissan (2310 barrett lakes blvd, kennesaw, ga 30144, (770) 423-9691) where it was diagnosed that the gear box needed to be…
Structure 3 Read
The sliding door continually gets stuck and won’t open from the inside or outside often
The contact owns a 2013 nissan nv. The contact stated the roof was corroding. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician verified the failure and decided to paint over the corrosion. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 7,700 and the current mileage was 12,317. Updated…
Vehicle traveling on highway at posted speed limit with no other cars around. The hood came open and smashed through the windshield. Glass all over me and the dashboard. Was able to get to the shoulder of the road where I was able to be towed to classic collision in edgewater md. It seems that the latch failed and the…
Visibility/wiper 2 Read
My van was sitting parked at our house when the big window on the left (behind driver) just exploded inward. Glass was everywhere and all in the car seats
1) side mirrors do not provide adequate view. At night, multiple images of headlights make it virtually impossible to determine where other vehicles are located. 2) sun visor is too short to block sun from driver's side window even with the seat pulled all the way forward. (I tried making adjustments and then thought…
Air Bags 2 Read
Upon closing the front passenger door while parked in the driveway, the entirety of the side curtain airbags on the passenger side of the vehicle deployed
My wife stoped on the side of the road to talk with my son who was sitting in the front passenger seat. When my wife shut the door behind him all of the side curtain airbags deployed on the passenger side of the van. Three of my other children were inside the van when the bags depoyed. The two youngest 10, and 11,…
Power Train 1 Read
I was on my way back from Michigan, heading toward Utah, and around Chicago the transmission started giving me issues. I was informed by a transmission company that I would be able to make it out to Utah, but we only made it to South Dakota and the transmission was blown. I had to pay $500 in towing to a transmission…
Fuel/propulsion System 1 Read
Fuel line came disconnected at junction to engine--same as recall on 2019 nissan altima from factory---
NV years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Engine | 1 | — | |
| 2018 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2017 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 2016 | Electrical System,service Brakes | — | — | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2014 | Unknown Or Other | — | — | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 35 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.1 |
| Worst single series | 2 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.6 years |
A model average of 1.1 hides a worst series at 2. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
- No ads, on every page
- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the NV?
By complaint volume, 2016, 2013, 2018 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which NV years are the cleanest?
2015, 2014, 2019 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Nissan NV have?
38 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2013–2019. Of those, 1 describe a crash and 1 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.