Nissan Leaf Common Faults in the UK

ZE0 2011–2017 and ZE1 2018–2024 — electric family hatchback. Updated 6 October 2026.

This guide covers the ZE0 2011–2017 and ZE1 2018–2024. For any other version of the Leaf, see how to check any car for known faults.

A used Nissan Leaf is mostly a battery decision. Nissan UK’s capacity guarantee (below 9 of 12 bars on the in-car gauge) runs 5 years or 60,000 miles on a Leaf made before model year 2022 and 8 years or 100,000 miles from model year 2022, so check the bars, the model year and the date. DVSA lists a 2017–2023 cruise-control software recall (R/2023/215) and a 2013–2014 steering-column recall (R/2014/171). 2014–2017 registrations pass the MOT below the average for their year.

Largest DVSA recall for the Leaf: R/2023/215, 37,574 vehicles — A potential concern affecting the Vehicle Control Module (VCM) logic of some vehicles has been identified whereby in specific and rare circumstances after switching off the cruise control function there is a possibility of unintended acceleration. See the 4 DVSA recalls listed for this model.

MOT pass rate — official DVSA data

82.9% of Nissan Leafs pass the MOT first time, 1.9 points worse than the national average for cars of the same age (84.8%). Counted from 5,233 DVSA tests on cars registered 2014–2022; a pass with rectification at the station counts as a pass here, and as a failure in DVSA's own initial-test measure.

Source: DVSA MOT Anonymised Data 2025 (Open Government Licence v3.0). Class 4 tests in Great Britain, test type NT (a normal annual test), retests excluded. A pass, or a pass with rectification at the station, counts as a first-time pass; DVSA's own initial-test measure counts a rectified pass as a failure and so reports a lower figure. Testing in Northern Ireland is run separately by the DVA under its own rules. Compared against cars of the same registration years, because pass rates otherwise mostly measure how old a model's surviving fleet is.

See it by registration year and by mileage ↓

Asking prices — on Autoza

No figure shown

We show one only when at least 10 cars qualify.

Road Tax (UK) — VED, from the second year

£200/yr standard rate

£200/year standard rate — electric cars were exempt until 1 April 2025 and now pay the same as petrol and diesel (2026/27 rates). An electric car first registered between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017 pays band A instead, £20 a year. An electric car first registered on or after 1 April 2025 with a list price over £50,000 also pays the £440/year Expensive Car Supplement in years 2–6; one registered before that date never does.

Fuel Economy — sourced figures only

Real-world range depends on the battery and its age, and is lower in the cold: What Car?'s winter test, at 10 to 11 degrees C with climate control set to 21 degrees C and 8 of its 15 miles at a constant 70mph, found 12 electric cars 21.0% to 37.9% short of their official range, and three cars tested in both seasons went on average 18% less far in the winter test than in the summer one. Read the range the car shows after a full charge.

Insurance

Insurance group depends on the engine and trim, so get a quote for the exact registration before you buy.

No asking-price figure is shown: we give the median and middle 80% of asking prices only when at least 10 cars on Autoza qualify — here, Nissan Leaf cars registered from 2011. The road tax line comes from GOV.UK's vehicle tax rate tables (2026/27 rates). The fuel economy tile names the source it rests on or says there is no sourced figure, and the insurance tile gives no figure. We do not publish a UK price index, and no figure here should be quoted as one.

Best and worst years to buy

We name a year as a best or worst buy only where the DVSA MOT table further down does not rate it the other way.

Best Years

2020, 2021, 2022

These second-generation registration years sit level with all cars registered the same year on DVSA’s MOT table, while the original 2014–2017 cars are rated below. Cars built after 22 September 2019 are outside the park-lock recall R/2020/294, but every second-generation car built to 30 May 2023 is inside R/2023/215. What Car? says early second-generation cars slowed their rapid charging when the pack warmed and that Nissan has since raised the temperature threshold; it does not date the change, so test a rapid charge on the car you are buying.

Worst Years

2014, 2015, 2016, 2017

DVSA’s MOT table rates 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 registrations below all cars registered those years (by 6.1, 6.6, 9.7 and 3.9 points). Those are original 24 kWh and 30 kWh cars, whose battery guarantee on Nissan UK’s current terms is the 5 years or 60,000 miles that applies before model year 2022, long since over. Autocar and What Car? both point buyers of these cars to the battery condition and the heater, and the steering-column recall R/2014/171 covers cars built to 16 October 2014.

Known faults — Nissan Leaf ZE0 2011–2017 and ZE1 2018–2024

How to read this list. Items marked Safety recall are DVSA safety recalls, shown with DVSA’s own reference. Whether a particular car is affected depends on when it was built: check it by registration through GOV.UK’s vehicle recall check. Items marked Warranty terms state what the manufacturer’s UK warranty or battery guarantee covers. They are not faults and not service actions: they carry no severity and no repair cost. Everything else in this list is owner-reported: what the UK publication named on each card reports from its owner surveys and tests. Those are worth checking on a viewing, but we hold no count of how many cars have each one, other than any survey share a card itself quotes. Treat an owner-reported item as a question to ask, not a fault this car has.

Cruise control — unintended acceleration (second generation)

Safety recall · R/2023/215Large recall — 37,574 vehicles

Symptoms: DVSA wording: in specific and rare circumstances, after the cruise control is switched off, there is a possibility of unintended acceleration. The vehicle control module software is updated.
Years affected: Second-generation Leaf built 17 December 2017 to 30 May 2023
Indicative repair (UK): Free under recall
What to check before buying: Check this one by registration through GOV.UK’s vehicle recall check (gov.uk/check-vehicle-recall) before you buy — an outstanding recall is free to put right and a completed one should be on the service record. What Car? says the software update is free at a Nissan dealer.

Steering — column may work loose (2013–2014 builds)

Safety recall · R/2014/171Smaller recall — 4,474 vehicles

Symptoms: DVSA wording: a fail-safe clip on the steering column may have been dislodged during assembly; over time the column may work loose and disconnect, causing a loss of steering. The column is inspected and the shaft replaced where necessary.
Years affected: Leaf built 12 February 2013 to 16 October 2014
Indicative repair (UK): Free under recall
What to check before buying: Check this one by registration through GOV.UK’s vehicle recall check (gov.uk/check-vehicle-recall) before you buy — an outstanding recall is free to put right and a completed one should be on the service record.

Park lock — welded actuator plate may fail

Safety recall · R/2020/294Smaller recall — 2,547 vehicles

Symptoms: DVSA wording: the welded joint on the park-lock actuator plate within the reducer may be of poor quality and could fail in use, so the park lock may not engage. The plate is replaced with a revised part.
Years affected: Leaf built 19 July 2019 to 22 September 2019; DVSA gives one total shared with the NV200
Indicative repair (UK): Free under recall
What to check before buying: Check this one by registration through GOV.UK’s vehicle recall check (gov.uk/check-vehicle-recall) before you buy — an outstanding recall is free to put right and a completed one should be on the service record.

Battery — Nissan’s capacity guarantee depends on the model year

Warranty terms

Symptoms: Not a fault. Nissan UK states that its battery state-of-health guarantee protects against capacity loss below 9 bars out of 12 on the in-car gauge: for 8 years or 100,000 miles on a Leaf from model year 2022, and 5 years or 60,000 miles on a Leaf made before it. On a Flex car the guarantee lasts for the length of the battery lease.
Years affected: All; the terms depend on the model year
What to check before buying: Read the bars on the gauge with the battery fully charged (Autocar suggests at least 10 of 12 on a first-generation car), work out from the registration date and mileage whether the car is still inside its guarantee, and confirm the terms for that VIN with Nissan: the booklet that came with the car governs, not today’s web page. Check a Flex car’s battery is not on a separate lease.

Battery — capacity and range loss on first-generation cars

Owner-reported · frequency unknownMajor

Symptoms: The range of an early Leaf falls as its battery ages. Generational Technologies, a UK battery-testing company, reported in February 2026 from more than 8,000 UK battery health assessments carried out in 2025 (electric cars and plug-in hybrids, and light commercials) a median state of health of about 90% at 7 to 8 years old and about 85% at 8 to 12 years old, with the spread between cars widening as they get older.
Years affected: 2011–2017 (24 kWh and 30 kWh batteries)
Indicative repair (UK): About £5,000 for a replacement battery pack on a first-generation car, according to What Car? (its page, updated 20 April 2022)
What to check before buying: Fully charge the car, read the capacity bars and note the range it shows, then drive it. Do not buy on a range read after a short charge. What Car? says the 30 kWh car weighs 1,970 kg against 1,945 kg for the 24 kWh car, shown on the sticker on the B pillar.

Heating — heater faults, and early cars without the heat pump

Owner-reported · frequency unknownModerate

Symptoms: Autocar calls a failed heater a common fault on the first-generation Leaf. What Car? says every Leaf built after the 2013 model-year changes, apart from the entry-level Visia, has a more efficient heat pump, so earlier cars use more battery to heat the cabin.
Years affected: 2011–2017; heat pump on all but entry-level cars from the 2013 model year
What to check before buying: Run the heater from cold on the test drive and confirm warm air arrives, and watch how much range the heater takes off the display.

Charging — slower rapid charging on early second-generation cars

Owner-reported · frequency unknownMinor — wear-and-tear

Symptoms: What Car? says early second-generation Leafs could not rapid charge as quickly as expected, particularly after an earlier rapid charge that day, because the car limited the charge rate when the pack reached a set temperature, and that the threshold has since been raised.
Years affected: Early 2018-on cars
What to check before buying: If you can, rapid charge the car once and watch the charge rate as the pack warms, and ask whether any software update has been applied.

Electrics — warning lights and charging-system faults (second generation)

Owner-reported · frequency unknownMinor — wear-and-tear

Symptoms: What Car? readers reported warning lights coming on for no clear reason and, in one case, a charging-system fault that was hard to diagnose and repair. Only 11% of the second-generation Leafs in its survey had a problem, mainly brakes, interior trim and non-motor electrics.
Years affected: 2018–2024 Leaf
What to check before buying: Start the car and check no warning light stays on, charge it on a home-type and a rapid charger if you can, and ask for the invoices for any electrical or charging repair.

More DVSA safety recalls for the Nissan Leaf, largest first

These are the recalls DVSA lists for this model and its build years that the cards above do not already describe: every one of 10,000 or more vehicles, largest first, with DVSA’s own reference and figures. A recall covers only cars built in its dates and within its VIN range — check a particular car by registration through GOV.UK’s vehicle recall check. “Critical” here means DVSA’s own notice tells owners not to drive the car until it is fixed. It is never a size: “Large” means DVSA lists 10,000 or more vehicles in the recall.

Safety recall · R/2015/133Large recall — 10,248 vehicles
Engine push start switch may malfunction
On affected models with a push start ignition switch the switch may remain in the pressed position and not return after switching the engine on.
10,248 vehicles in the whole recall (DVSA’s figure for every model it covers) · built between 10 September 2013 and 6 January 2014 · recall launched 4 August 2015

Source: DVSA vehicle recalls file (every recall since 1992), published under the Open Government Licence. Where DVSA gives one figure for a recall that covers several models, it is shown as the whole recall’s total.

Nissan Leaf MOT results by year and mileage

Measured from DVSA’s own MOT test records for tests carried out in 2025, not from owner reports.

By registration year

Against all cars registered in the same year, the MOT pass rate for the Leaf was lower in 4 and level in 5 of the 9 registration years from 2014 to 2022 with enough tests to measure. The widest gap below is 2016 registrations: 69.7% against 79.4% for all cars registered that year.

Nissan Leaf MOT pass rate by registration year, against all cars registered the same year
Registered	Leaf	All cars that year	Difference
2022749 tests	92.8%	91.2%	+1.6 level
2021811 tests	90.4%	90.1%	+0.3 level
2020737 tests	89.8%	88.7%	+1.1 level
2019482 tests	86.7%	86.9%	−0.2 level
2018565 tests	85.5%	84.5%	+1.0 level
2017506 tests	78.3%	82.2%	−3.9 lower
2016409 tests	69.7%	79.4%	−9.7 lower
2015418 tests	70.1%	76.7%	−6.6 lower
2014308 tests	68.2%	74.3%	−6.1 lower

Only a major or dangerous defect fails an MOT. A minor defect is recorded on the certificate and the car still passes, and an advisory is not a failure at all.

We don’t give a recall count for the Nissan Leaf: whether a recall applies depends on the individual car. Check the one you are looking at by entering its registration on GOV.UK’s vehicle recall checker, and see how to check a car for known faults for the other free checks.

Source: DVSA MOT Anonymised Data 2025 (Open Government Licence v3.0). Class 4 tests in Great Britain, test type NT (a normal annual test), retests excluded. A pass, or a pass with rectification at the station, counts as a first-time pass; DVSA's own initial-test measure counts a rectified pass as a failure and so reports a lower figure. Testing in Northern Ireland is run separately by the DVA under its own rules. Registration years shown are cars 3 to 12 years old when tested; the smallest rests on 308 tests. A gap is called level when it is under one percentage point or inside the 95% sampling margin for that number of tests. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Who this car suits — and who should look elsewhere

Recommended for

Drivers with a predictable commute and home charging who will check the battery bars, the model year and the recall record rather than the asking price alone.

Not recommended for

Anyone who needs long motorway range from a first-generation car, or who buys a Flex car without understanding the battery lease.

Alternatives to consider

If the Nissan Leaf doesn't suit, these comparable models are worth a look in the UK market:

Nissan Leaf: questions buyers ask

What are the most common faults on a used Nissan Leaf in the UK?

What is the best year to buy a used Nissan Leaf in the UK?

Best-buy years: 2020, 2021, 2022. These second-generation registration years sit level with all cars registered the same year on DVSA’s MOT table, while the original 2014–2017 cars are rated below. Cars built after 22 September 2019 are outside the park-lock recall R/2020/294, but every second-generation car built to 30 May 2023 is inside R/2023/215. What Car? says early second-generation cars slowed their rapid charging when the pack warmed and that Nissan has since raised the temperature threshold; it does not date the change, so test a rapid charge on the car you are buying.

What years of Nissan Leaf should I avoid in the UK?

Worst years: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017. DVSA’s MOT table rates 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 registrations below all cars registered those years (by 6.1, 6.6, 9.7 and 3.9 points). Those are original 24 kWh and 30 kWh cars, whose battery guarantee on Nissan UK’s current terms is the 5 years or 60,000 miles that applies before model year 2022, long since over. Autocar and What Car? both point buyers of these cars to the battery condition and the heater, and the steering-column recall R/2014/171 covers cars built to 16 October 2014.

How much does a used Nissan Leaf cost in the UK in 2026?

This page gives no figure at the moment: Autoza quotes asking prices only when at least 10 qualifying cars are advertised with a price — here, Nissan Leaf cars registered from 2011. Prices vary by mileage, region and trim, so compare several adverts of the same year and mileage band before negotiating.

What is the road tax (VED) on a Nissan Leaf in the UK?

Annual road tax (VED): £200/year standard rate — electric cars were exempt until 1 April 2025 and now pay the same as petrol and diesel (2026/27 rates). An electric car first registered between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017 pays band A instead, £20 a year. An electric car first registered on or after 1 April 2025 with a list price over £50,000 also pays the £440/year Expensive Car Supplement in years 2–6; one registered before that date never does.

What real-world fuel economy does a Nissan Leaf achieve on UK roads?

How does a Nissan Leaf compare to its rivals?

Strong alternatives in the UK: Kia Niro, Hyundai Kona, Tesla Model 3, Renault Zoe. Choose based on dealer network in your area, parts availability, and your priorities (running cost vs. cabin quality vs. badge).

Who is the Nissan Leaf most suitable for?

Drivers with a predictable commute and home charging who will check the battery bars, the model year and the recall record rather than the asking price alone.

Who should NOT buy a Nissan Leaf?

Anyone who needs long motorway range from a first-generation car, or who buys a Flex car without understanding the battery lease.

Are there safety recalls on the Nissan Leaf?

DVSA lists 4 safety recalls for the Nissan Leaf that this guide shows or names, the largest first: R/2023/215 (37,574 vehicles, built between 17 December 2017 and 30 May 2023): A potential concern affecting the Vehicle Control Module (VCM) logic of some vehicles has been identified whereby in specific and rare circumstances after switching off the cruise control function there is a possibility of unintended acceleration; R/2015/133 (10,248 vehicles in the whole recall, built between 10 September 2013 and 6 January 2014): Engine push start switch may malfunction; R/2014/171 (4,474 vehicles, built between 12 February 2013 and 16 October 2014): Loss of steering control. Whether a particular car is affected depends on its build date and VIN, so check its registration on GOV.UK (gov.uk/check-vehicle-recall) before you buy.

Is the Cruise control — unintended acceleration (second generation) on the Nissan Leaf a serious problem?

Cruise control — unintended acceleration (second generation) on the Nissan Leaf is covered by DVSA safety recall R/2023/215. Symptoms: DVSA wording: in specific and rare circumstances, after the cruise control is switched off, there is a possibility of unintended acceleration. The vehicle control module software is updated. Years affected: Second-generation Leaf built 17 December 2017 to 30 May 2023. Indicative repair cost in the UK: Free under recall. What to check before buying: Check this one by registration through GOV.UK’s vehicle recall check (gov.uk/check-vehicle-recall) before you buy — an outstanding recall is free to put right and a completed one should be on the service record. What Car? says the software update is free at a Nissan dealer.

Is the Battery — capacity and range loss on first-generation cars on the Nissan Leaf a serious problem?

Owner-reported, frequency unknown: Battery — capacity and range loss on first-generation cars is reported by What Car? for the Nissan Leaf, but how often it happens is not known, so treat it as a question to ask rather than a fault every car has. Symptoms: The range of an early Leaf falls as its battery ages. Generational Technologies, a UK battery-testing company, reported in February 2026 from more than 8,000 UK battery health assessments carried out in 2025 (electric cars and plug-in hybrids, and light commercials) a median state of health of about 90% at 7 to 8 years old and about 85% at 8 to 12 years old, with the spread between cars widening as they get older. Years affected: 2011–2017 (24 kWh and 30 kWh batteries). Indicative repair cost in the UK: About £5,000 for a replacement battery pack on a first-generation car, according to What Car? (its page, updated 20 April 2022). What to check before buying: Fully charge the car, read the capacity bars and note the range it shows, then drive it. Do not buy on a range read after a short charge. What Car? says the 30 kWh car weighs 1,970 kg against 1,945 kg for the 24 kWh car, shown on the sticker on the B pillar.

Check these next

The guide above is about the Nissan Leaf as a model. These are about the car in front of you.

Looking to buy a Nissan Leaf in the UK?

Search Autoza listings filtered by year, mileage, and region. Every dealer page shows the business name, address and contact details, so you can check the business before you enquire.

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