Brakes Failed problems of the 2013 Nissan Leaf

2013 Nissan Leaf brakes failed completely and without warning while driving 30mph resulting in near collision and potentially serious injury and property damage. Speed very gradually slowed with accelerator pedal not depressed and was ultimately brought to complete stop using parking brake. Vehicle lurched forward without ability to brake when accelerator pressed lightly after stopping. Nissan dealer reported a failure of the "intelligent brake control unit" and replaced at cost of approx. $3,000. Incident occurred in clearwater, florida area in late afternoon in dry weather with temperatures around 80f. Tow truck operator stated that when they attempted to move the vehicle it lurched forward without ability to halt and the operator was extremely frightened and almost crashed.

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 called Nissanusa and they said our VIN showed that the car had already been repaired for an intermittent service brake problem (on recall) a couple of years ago before we bought it used, and that it can't be fixed again for that. It's scary that nobody can identify what went wrong this time, and nobody is willing to see if it's the recall fix acting up somehow, maybe unprepared.

Shortly after starting the car and as I began to accelerate forward, several warning indicators pertaining to the brake system illuminated and the normal brake pedal no longer appeared to function upon being depressed. The car was able to be brought to a stop with the use of the emergency brake pedal but the failure of the main brakes could have easily lead to a crash.

Having undergone a previous recall to fix a brake issue several months ago, at 50000 miles on December 23, 2016 the vehicle experienced complete brake failure narrowly avoiding a serious collision. While driving straight on a city street in traffic at approximately 35 miles an hour the driver removed his foot from the accelerator in preparation to apply the brakes to stop the car for the stopped traffic ahead. The car's regenerative braking ability was already slowing the car when the driver's foot attempted to push the brake pedal and found it solid and unmoving. The driver removed his foot from the brake pedal and reapplied his foot, attempted to depress, and again found the pedal unmoving. With the car continuing toward stopped traffic ahead the driver began to repeatedly and very forcefully attempt to depress the pedal. After 4 or 5 very strong kicks the brake pedal broke loose, went all the way to the floor without the drivers pressure, with no resistance or response. The driver retracted his foot and the pedal did not come back up. The driver attempted to begin to "pump the brakes" and with the first touch on the pedal which was still all the way down, the car's wheels locked and came skidding to a stop with no abs modulation inches before hitting the car in front. The car was shut down and restarted, the brake pedal returned to the undepressed position but when depressed had no resistance and was ineffective at stopping the car (as though the brakes were not being applied). The parking brake was unaffected and would slow/stop the car. The car was taken to a Nissan dealer for repair, they indicated that they had never seen anything like it and had to talk with the Nissan engineers. 1/3/17 the owner/driver was told that the entire "brake brain booster controller" would have to be replaced with a replacement part from the Nissan factory in kentucky.

The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Leaf. The contact stated that while reversing, the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver and the brakes failed to respond without warning. The vehicle crashed into another vehicle. A police report was not filed. There were no injuries reported. The vehicle was taken a dealer where the failure was unable to be replicated. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 200 and the current mileage was 3,000. The VIN was not available.