Common Nissan Faults

As one of the major Japanese manufacturers, along with Honda and Toyota, Nissan played a big part in creating Japan's impeccable reputation for quality cars and Nissan has long been accepted as a reputable manufacturer. It consistently scores high in driver satisfaction and reliability surveys, but of course in some cases Nissan parts can fail and need a repair or a replacement. Most parts are available aftermarket for reasonable prices meaning Nissan repairs don't have to break the bank.

Recalls also happen for Nissan sometimes. Design or manufacturing flaws do sometimes show up, but of course fixes for problems are normally rapidly developed and implemented. Recently the best selling Micra and Juke models have been affected by a fuel leak that can occur around the fuel rail, it was found that the fuel rail sensor on some cars wasn't fastened properly and can come undone due to the heat and vibration of the engine. A complete replacement was not necessary but Nissan was instead able to suggest an easy fix by re-tightening the sensor and fitting a new gasket.

Micra

Like other Nissan models, recalls have been launched for the Nissan Micra, for example on early Micra K11 models it was found that the floor may crack around handbrake mounting points. Affected models built in a period between 1992 and 1994 had to be fitted with reinforcing plates by Nissan to ensure the handbrake's effectiveness did not diminish. [R/1994/068]

Almera

The Nissan Almera was conceived as the company's small family car. One of the earlier issues found was the stalling of the engine on some 1.5, 1.6 and 1.8 models built between March 2000 and July 2001. The cause was either a failure of the crankshaft position sensor or the camshaft position sensor that meant the engine would stall and not restart at all. Improved quality sensors were suggested to be fitted as part of the recall campaign Nissan started. [R/2001/154]

Primera

The Primera is Nissan's large saloon car first introduced back in the 90s. A known fault on early models built from the beginning of 1990 and the end of 1994 was the potential splitting of the flexible brake hoses at the front in some circumstances due to chafing. The result was the possibility of reduced braking performance, as fluid would leak from the hose. Nissan found a solution by fitting brake hoses with an improved design and quality. [R/1995/063]

Qashqai

The Nissan Qashqai is the company's compact crossover model. Known faults on the Qashqai have resulted in recalls. For example, on models built between 11/2006 and 6/2009 it was found that a screw on the pinion shaft may come loose. Usually this would lead to increased noise, but could lead to a complete loss of control, whilst steering [R/2009/106 Ref. PG9AC & R0906]

Juke

The Nissan Juke is a small SUV, first introduced in 2011. On some early models it was found that the engine might stall when driving slowly. The fix Nissan introduced during the recall campaign it launched was to replace air inlet tube with another one, which was the part that caused the problem as it disattached itself from the boost bracket, triggering an incorrect measurement of the boost pressure. [R/2011/166 / R1114]

Note

The Nissan is the company's mini-MPV, known faults for the model are limited but recalls were launched for a number of issues. For example, Nissan found that in some models during 2008 the Diesel Particulate Filter might leak fuel due to a connector that was not attached correctly. Luckily for Nissan the solution was simple, they just re-attached the connector if necessary. [R/2008/174]

Terrano

The Nissan Terrano is one of the company's large off-road models. Known faults for the model have included an issue with the passenger side air bag which did not deploy correctly in some circumstances due to an issue with the inflator. The issue was also found on other types like the Navara built between 2004 and November 2006. A large recall operation was launched in which Nissan replaced affected airbag inflator modules. [R/2013/050 Ref. PG3B7 / PS3B2]