NX

Nissan NX Reliability

Owners filed 9 complaints — 1 per production run against 3.73 for the market. The typical failure comes at 5 years, and the basic warranty runs out at 3.

NHTSA owner complaints · 9 complaints · 1991–1992 · Updated Sep 20, 2026
Quick answer

The Nissan NX draws 1 complaints per production run against 3.73 for the average car — better than typical. The worst model year is 1992 at 1 complaints per run; the best is 1991 at 1 — a 1.0-fold gap between two cars wearing the same badge. Failures cluster at 5 years, so only 0% of them fall inside the 3-year basic warranty.

Nissan NX years to avoid — and the best ones

The Nissan NX year to avoid is 1992, at 1 complaints per production run. The best is 1991 at 1 — 1.0 times cleaner for a car wearing the same badge. Both figures are rates, not totals: a raw count only tells you which year sold well, so the best-selling year always looks like the worst car. Dividing by the number of production runs strips sales volume out and leaves the fault rate.

FIG.01·Nissan NX — complaint rate by model year
Model yearPer runComplaintsRunsEnough history?
1992155yes
1991144yes
ROWS 2·SOURCE NHTSA complaints, grouped by VIN production run

Among the 2 Nissan NX years with enough history, the three to walk away from are 1991, 1992; the three worth hunting are 1992, 1991. Anything marked «too new» sits outside the ranking on purpose — complaints keep arriving for a decade after a car is sold, so a 2026 build would look flawless next to a ten-year-old one and comparing them would be dishonest.

When it starts to break

Not the calendar year the complaint was filed — the age of the car when it failed. That age decides who pays: inside the warranty the manufacturer does, outside it you do.

FIG.02·Nissan NX — age at failure
Age at failureComplaintsRunning totalWarranty
3 years125%you pay
5 years275%you pay
6 years1100%you pay
ROWS 3·SOURCE NHTSA complaints with incident dates

Basic warranty on this car is 3 years / 36,000 miles. Only 0% of reported failures happen inside it — the remaining 100% come out of the owner's pocket. Powertrain cover (5 years / 60,000 miles) reaches further, but it only covers engine and transmission, and most complaints here are not either.

What actually fails — and at what age

Ordered by how often owners reported each system, with the age at which it typically goes. On a Nissan NX the early trouble is Power Train — reported at around 3 years, so a car still under warranty is the one to check for it. What waits further out is Seat Belts at 5 years — past every basic warranty, and the bill lands on whoever owns the car then.

FIG.03·Nissan NX — what fails and when
SystemComplaintsTypical ageCrashFire
Seat Belts45 yrs1
Engine And Engine Cooling25.5 yrs1
Air Bags11
Electrical System1
Power Train13 yrs
Structure1
ROWS 6·SOURCE NHTSA complaints

What else in this class

Same vehicle class as the Nissan NX, so the comparison is fair — an estate against an estate, not against a coupé. These 6 share its class; open any of them to see its own build years and failure ages side by side with the NX.

FIG.05·Nissan NX — rivals in the same class
Same class as the NXComplaints on recordRecall campaignsYears built
Porsche 9111062821981–2026
Mini Cooper3,511332002–2010
Toyota 861452017–2020
Toyota GR864642022–2026
Subaru BRZ101132013–2026
Fiat 500806332012–2019
ROWS 6·SOURCE NHTSA complaints and recall campaigns

These are totals, not rates: a model that sold in millions collects more of both. Open one to see its complaints per production run — the figure this site is built on.

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How we measure it

Reliability scores usually arrive as a number out of five with no working shown. The Nissan NX figure here comes out of 9 individual reports, and here is exactly how they were turned into a rate — two steps in it are arguable and you should be able to argue with them.

Rate, not total. Volume alone would decide the ranking, so we divide by the number of production runs — the distinct first-eleven-character VIN prefixes on record. The Nissan NX alone splits into 9 runs carrying 9 complaints — 1 per run against 3.73 for the market.

Age, not year. Incident date minus model year gives the age at failure, which is what the warranty question turns on. It is why our «worst year» rankings exclude anything built in the last 6 years — those cars simply have not had time to break yet.

What this is not. Filing with a federal regulator takes effort, so what you see are faults someone judged serious — not scratched paint, not running costs, not how nice the car is to live with. For the Nissan NX the file runs from 1991 to 1992, so the older years carry a full life of reports and the newest carry almost none.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Nissan NX reliable?

It draws 1 complaints per production run against 3.73 for the average car, so better than typical. Failures cluster around 5 years of age.

What are the best and worst years for the NX?

Worst is 1992 at 1 complaints per run; best is 1991 at 1. Years newer than 6 are excluded — they have not had time to accumulate complaints.

How long does a NX last?

Complaints reach their halfway point at 5 years. That is when faults start being reported in volume, not when the car stops — but it is the point at which ownership starts costing money.

Will the warranty cover it?

Basic cover is 3 years / 36,000 miles, and 0% of reported failures fall inside it. The rest are yours.

What fails most often?

Seat Belts with 4 complaints, typically at 5 years of age.

Complaint records from NHTSA, grouped by VIN production run (characters 1–11). Rates, age-at-failure and warranty coverage computed by ForCar. Model years newer than 6 years are excluded from rankings — complaints accumulate for a decade. Last updated Sep 2026. — ForCar Reviewed by , founder of ForCar.
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