NHTSA recalls, safety ratings, and consumer complaints for the 2018 Nissan Kicks.
| Overall Rating | Not Rated |
| Frontal Crash | Not Rated |
| Side Crash | Not Rated |
| Rollover | Not Rated |
Component: BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Nissan Altima, Armada, Frontier, Kicks, Leaf, Maxima, Murano, NV, NV200, Pathfinder, Rogue, Rogue Sport, Sentra, Titan, Titan Diesel, Versa Note and Versa Sedan vehicles, as well as Infiniti Q50, Q60, QX30 and QX80 vehicles. Additionally included are 2019 Nissan GT-R and Taxi and Infiniti QX50, QX60, Q70, Q70L vehicles. The back-up camera and display settings can be adjusted such that the rear view image is no longer visible and the system will retain that setting the next time the vehicle is placed in reverse. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, "Rear Visibility."
Consequence: The lack of an image in the back-up camera display increases the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Nissan will notify owners in phases, having dealers update the back-up camera settings software, free of charge. The recall began November 11, 2019 and all affected VINs should be activated. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669 or INFINITI customer service at 1-800-662-6200.
The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Kicks. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle unexpectedly stalled and lost motive power, with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was restarted; however, the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer on several occasions and was diagnosed with airflow sensor failure. The contact was informed that the airflow sensor needed to be replaced. The airflow sensor was replaced; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was returned to the dealer and again diagnosed with a failed airflow sensor that required replacement. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure continued. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and a case was opened. The approximate failure mileage was 100,574.
When put in park car started idling rough and then stalled. Engine light, collision warning light, and traction control light came on. Code scanned as a P0101 code.
Radio skips songs back and forth randomly, and now radio screen and buttons are block.
Intermittently for the last year, car will show 3 dash lights: 1. AEB light 2. Slip indicator light 3. Master warning light When this occurs, the car can be slow to accelerate. When the three lights are on, the problem will persist until the engine is shut off for a period of several minutes. It does not occur every time the car is driven. In the last 3 months, there have been 3-4 instances where the check engine light has come on as well. The code every time has been P1010 or no code displayed. We tried changing out the MAF sensor with a third party part, and the issue occurred even more frequently. We then went back to the first sensor after cleaning it with MAF sensor cleaner. This seemed to resolve the issue for a month, but then it started to reoccur. The last two occurrences of the check engine light have occurred after rapid acceleration. - Yes original part is available for inspection. - Safety is at risk for self and others as car can have issues accelerating, which makes it dangerous to enter freeways and highways (which are necessary for my commute). - Dealer has not reproduced the error, however they have not seen it with a check engine code (taking the car in tomorrow). - no inspection by insurance, police, or manufacturer. - before the 3 error lights started to come on fairly regularly (several times a week) I had a few issues of intermittent sluggish acceleration over the course of 1-2 years when this issue first started, but no lights came on at first.
The 2018 Nissan Kicks has 1 NHTSA recall and 81 consumer complaints on file. It received an overall safety rating of Not Rated out of 5 stars in NHTSA crash testing. The high number of complaints suggests potential reliability concerns — review the complaint details above before purchasing. For the most detailed information about a specific vehicle, decode its VIN using our free decoder above.
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The p0101 code has been going on and off of this car since purchase (3 years) the MAF sensor has been replaced twice and the check engine light comes back on after just a few days each time. This poses a safety risk because the car stops at stop lights and turns off, the car shakes at idle, the car refuses to accelerate risking pulling out in front of another car without being able to accelerate. The check engine light comes on and off and the traction control light as well, its so random and the only fix is to "change the sensor" which does not fix it because it happens again immediately after. Its dangerous and needs an actual fix.
All brake failure warning lights remain on while driving and ABS no longer works. It is a very common safety failure that Nissan is making a small fortune on. It is a definate safety item.
Getting code p0101. When car first starts the throttle response is very low. Once the car warms up to seems to go away but it appears to be a consistent problem. Others are reporting as well for this vehicle.
For over a year, I have experienced repeated failures of the front radar system, specially during rain or wet weather, when it rains the vehicle displays multiple warning such as: "Front radar unavailable" "automatic emergency braking unavailable" "Front sensor malfunction" This disable essentials safety systems, including the automatic emergency breaking (AEB) and forward collision warning, the Nissan Dealership has attempted several repairs, but the malfunction continues every time it rains, Because this is a critical safety issue that affect the vehicle braking and collision-avoidance and multiple repair have failed
The Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor malfunctioned, causing the vehicle to idle roughly, stall unexpectedly, and trigger continuous beeping. During the failure, the power steering locked, making it extremely difficult to steer and creating a serious safety hazard for myself and others on the road. The issue was reproduced and confirmed by a service center, and the sensor was replaced by a Nissan dealership with the system reset/rebooted. However, despite this repair, the vehicle has again begun experiencing the same symptoms, including rough idling, stalling, beeping, and loss of steering control. The recurrence of this problem after dealership repair indicates that the issue may extend beyond a single component and presents an ongoing safety concern. The vehicle and repair records remain available for inspection upon request.
The ABS and forward collision system failed. This caused the car not to respond during a hard brake when it was raining. I almost had an accident. The car was inspected on September 4, 2025, by Universal Nissan (12785 S Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, Florida). Universal Nissan found a malfunction in the ABS control (Actuator & ECU Assy antiskid) with a repair cost of $2,448. The car has 18,689 miles. The warning lamps appear as soon as the malfunction starts. The Nissan Kicks owner forum reports this ABS problem as recurrent. There are multiple reports on the website. I contacted Nissan Consumer Affairs (Case #5576215). They did not take responsibility for the ABS problem.
I purchased a 2018 Nissan Kicks with under 6k miles from Atlanta Luxury Motors (ALM Marietta) on April 29, 2022. The dealer failed to disclose the car was a Canadian import, which voided the manufacturer’s warranty and left me responsible for unsafe defects. At under 30,000 miles, the suspension (struts) failed and had to be replaced, and by 60,000 miles the CVT transmission began showing fault codes, slipping, and jerking, creating serious safety risks while driving. The undercarriage also showed early rust. These problems were confirmed by independent mechanics and service centers, and I have paid over $3,000 in repairs and will inquire more if transmission has to be replaced costing between 6-8k. The vehicle’s defects put me and others at risk of loss of control, and I request NHTSA investigation to determine if this model or imported versions are unsafe for U.S. consumers.
Code P0101 comes up which indicates an issue with the car’s MAF system triggering a check engine light. This is widely known to be a software issue and is chronic in many Nissan Kick’s manufactured around 2018-2020. This is a faulty error code and ends up visiting consumers hundreds of dollars to repair and almost always returns despite actions being taken to repair the issue.
Frequently we get error P0101 and the car loses power. It says "Mass or Volume Air Flow, A Circuit Range/Poerformance error. For us that means the car loses power, limps along or jerks suddenly and the lights flash, this can happen at any time. Happens about one or twice a month at very random times, not dependant on the weather. We have changed the MAF sensor as instructed but this still happens and it quite dangerous when driving or pulling away from a stop.
The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Kicks. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle occasionally experienced reduction in automotive power with the "System Malfunction" message displayed. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the battery had been replaced twice however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed, and the contact was informed that no cause for the failure was found. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.
I was driving on the road like normal and suddenly I got a front collision warning on the dash, the car wouldn’t accelerate and lost all power. Check engine light also came on with code reading P0101. I’ve had this issue before and the dealer doesn’t know what to do or they want to charge me a lot of money to fix it. I’ve read online many many people having the same issue. Luckily this hasn’t happened on the highway but if it does happen it could be catastrophic
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