Car Defect Radar
Get the report
Built from NHTSA complaints and recalls collected for this model, generated October 26, 2026. Totals reflect what has been collected, not every complaint ever filed.
Confirm 8 recalls before you buy.

Ask the seller for proof the repair was completed, or run the free VIN check. Recall repairs are done at no cost by a dealer.

Recalls

8 total · 8 to confirm

Safety issues the manufacturer must repair for free. A recall means confirm the fix was done, not walk away.

Airbags recall

Confirm it was repairedRecall 22E066000 · Aug 2022

An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy
Dealers will inspect and replace the inflators as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed September 14, 2022. Owners may contact Nissan's customer service at 1-800-867-7669.
Status
Remedy available. Confirm by VIN that this repair was completed.
What to do
Enter the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup to confirm this car was repaired.

Airbags recall

Confirm it was repairedRecall 20V008000 · Jan 2020

An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflators with alternate desiccated inflators, free of charge. The recall began February 12, 2020. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 888-737-9511 or Infiniti customer service at 888-810-3715.
Status
Remedy available. Confirm by VIN that this repair was completed.
What to do
Enter the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup to confirm this car was repaired.

Airbags recall

Confirm it was repairedRecall 18V401000 · Jun 2018

An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began July 5, 2018. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669.
Status
Remedy available. Confirm by VIN that this repair was completed.
What to do
Enter the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup to confirm this car was repaired.

Airbags recall

Confirm it was repairedRecall 18V044000 · Jan 2018

An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began March 9, 2018. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.
Status
Remedy available. Confirm by VIN that this repair was completed.
What to do
Enter the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup to confirm this car was repaired.

Airbags recall

Confirm it was repairedRecall 17V449000 · Jul 2017

An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the subject inflator with a new one manufactured by a different supplier, free of charge. The recall began on March 9, 2018. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.
Status
Remedy available. Confirm by VIN that this repair was completed.
What to do
Enter the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup to confirm this car was repaired.

Airbags recall

Confirm it was repairedRecall 16V349000 · May 2016

An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began December 21, 2017. All owners should receive a second notice by May 15, 2017. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.
Status
Remedy available. Confirm by VIN that this repair was completed.
What to do
Enter the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup to confirm this car was repaired.

Suspension recall

Confirm it was repairedRecall 15V573000 · Sep 2015

If a front coil spring fractures, it may contact the tire, possibly puncturing it, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace both front coil springs, free of charge. The recall began on February 2, 2016. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.
Status
Remedy available. Confirm by VIN that this repair was completed.
What to do
Enter the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup to confirm this car was repaired.

Safety recall

Confirm it was repairedRecall 10V401000 · Sep 2010

OVERHEATED BATTERIES COULD RESULT IN A FIRE.

Remedy
NISSAN WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND THE REPAIRS WILL BE PERFORMED BY GARMIN TECHNICIANS BY REPLACING THE BATTERY AND INSERTING A SPACER ON TOP OF THE BATTERY FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON SEPTEMBER 16, 2010. OWNERS MAY CONTACT GARMIN DIRECTLY AT 1-866-957-1981 OR NISSAN AT 1-800-647-7261.
Status
Remedy available. Confirm by VIN that this repair was completed.
What to do
Enter the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup to confirm this car was repaired.

Owner complaints by system

268 total

Unverified reports owners filed with NHTSA, grouped by the part of the car. Useful for spotting patterns. Open a group to read recent examples.

Engine & powertrain

Worth reading
21

Most reports here involve transmission slipping. Of these, 2 mention a crash.

transmission slipping 7sudden stalling 3unintended acceleration 2
A recent report: The car was having slow acceleration, horrid loud noises for awhile but no issues were found during checks but parts were replaced to try and troubleshoot but the sound and idle and running issues…
Read full complaint

The car was having slow acceleration, horrid loud noises for awhile but no issues were found during checks but parts were replaced to try and troubleshoot but the sound and idle and running issues still persisted. The first sign of severe major issue was when the car was started it jolted forward while still in park in a first start up. Turned off the car and restarted it and it repeated the same action and then I put the car into reverse but it wouldn't reverse. Took the car to my local Firestone and they said it had an internal transmission problem and I should take it back to the dealership. Within the month I went to the dealership in person and explained the issue and they said there wasn't a recall or service call for my car. That I'd have to pay for repairs and my car wasn't under warranty since the extra service plan I purchased already ran out. While coming home from work my car started to shudder and jolt and wasn't accelerating properly. I stopped at a gas station to see if the car smelled odd and to refuel. It started up but repeated jolting shudder and less than a mile down the road the car suddenly slowed by itself and stopped accelerating. I had to hook slide to the side of the road. I put the car in park and accelerated the engine responded. So I turned off the car and restarted put it in drive after multiple tries I got it to finally accelerate. Less than half a mile down the road as the car was going downhill the car started to shutter jolt again before coming to a complete stop at a light. No matter how long I waited it would not drive but would only reverse at that point. I had to contact family to help me push the car to the roadside and called a tow. The car currently sits in the driveway will start up and reverse but when attempting to accelerate sometimes it might drive for a few minutes before refusing to accelerate. I have the 2010 Nissan Versa SL hatchback with the CVT Xtronic transmission.

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11526310 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

Electrical & infotainment

Worth reading
10

Most reports here involve software faults.

software faults 2sudden stalling 1
A recent report: REAR HATCH WILL NOT UNLOCK.SWITCH WAS REPLACED 2YRS AGO AND IT HAS GONE OUT AGAIN

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11299676 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

Brakes

Worth reading
3

Most reports here involve loss of braking. Of these, 1 mention a crash.

loss of braking 1premature wear 1
A recent report: AT 29,374 MILES, I NEEDED TO HAVE MY REAR BRAKES REPLACED. MY AUTO SHOP AND I BOTH AGREE THAT THIS IS VERY EARLY ESPECIALLY FOR THE REAR BRAKES. I NEVER RIDE THE BRAKES OR PUT MY EMERGENCY BRAKE ON…
Read full complaint

AT 29,374 MILES, I NEEDED TO HAVE MY REAR BRAKES REPLACED. MY AUTO SHOP AND I BOTH AGREE THAT THIS IS VERY EARLY ESPECIALLY FOR THE REAR BRAKES. I NEVER RIDE THE BRAKES OR PUT MY EMERGENCY BRAKE ON. WITH A 8 YEAR OLD CAR WITH ONLY 29,374 MILES ON IT, YOU CAN SEE THAT I RARELY EVEN DRIVE THIS CAR.

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11073085 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

Steering, suspension & tires

Read closely
78

Most reports here involve premature wear. Of these, 5 mention a crash, 1 mention an injury.

premature wear 27loss of steering 10
A recent report: There has been a popping and creaking noise when turning the wheel at low speeds to the left, the passenger side of the car has now dropped and the spring, struts and mounts have to be replaced. The…
Read full complaint

There has been a popping and creaking noise when turning the wheel at low speeds to the left, the passenger side of the car has now dropped and the spring, struts and mounts have to be replaced. The same issue that these make and models were recalled for, yet the vin does not have any recalls.

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11687491 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

Airbags & seat belts

Worth reading
118

Most reports here involve airbags not deploying. Of these, 11 mention a crash, 7 mention an injury.

airbags not deploying 15software faults 8
A recent report: I bought my car while living in Florida from a lady that didn't drive it for a while and after I bought it I drove it i drove to Washington two and a half times. before this though it had an airbag…
Read full complaint

I bought my car while living in Florida from a lady that didn't drive it for a while and after I bought it I drove it i drove to Washington two and a half times. before this though it had an airbag safety issue where the airbags didn't deploy and also my gas gauge does not work correctly as well as the suspension, which the coils are not up to codes and regulation also my odometer does not work well period when I got in my car accident my airbags had not deployed which is the safety risk and I looked up online due to the multiple risk zones that I crossed over I know that it is a good chance that I qualify for recalls that maybe it wasn't listed prior to putting up on here because I was unaware of a recall list.

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11762566 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

Structure & body

Minor
16

Most reports here involve corrosion.

corrosion 2premature wear 1
A recent report: THE TRUNK LATCH DOESN'T WANT TO OPEN. I HAVE TO GO INSIDE TO UNLATCH IT.

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11375259 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

Other systems

Worth reading
22

Most reports here involve corrosion. Of these, 1 mention a crash.

corrosion 5premature wear 2
A recent report: I HAVE A 2010 NISSAN VERSA I WAS TOLD AT MY CALENDAR CONVERTER IS NOT LEGAL IN CALIFORNIA AND I CANNOT PAY TO GET IT REPAIRED THEY SOLD ME A CAR WITH ILLEGAL PARTS IN CALIFORNIA

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11399624 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

Is 268 complaints a lot? They were filed between 2010 and 2026, roughly 16 a year, which is more than the typical model in this dataset. We do not have sales figures for this model, so treat this as a rough volume, not a rate per car on the road. Popular, high-volume models naturally collect more complaints over time.

How does it compare with other years? The 2010 has 268 complaints on file, fewer than the 2011 (269). Of the 16 model years of the Nissan Versa we cover, the 2012 has the most (486). Older model years have had longer to collect complaints.