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2021 Nissan Kicks

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2021 Nissan Kicks do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 37.

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How this year compares

Owner complaints by model year

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Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.

What owners reported most

All reported categories

Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

Limited mileage data: 6 of 76 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Structure. Review the 24 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Forward Collision Avoidance. Review the 15 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 11 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

6 crash reports0 fire reports2 injury reports

What owners actually said

76 reports
Mileage unknown · May 24, 2025
Structure

Drivers side door lock will not function properly. The remote will successfully lock/unlock all of the other doors. If the drivers door is locked with the key it will remain locked despite the other doors unlocking with the remote. This problem has been widely reported on Nissan online forums, there are no indicator/warning ligh…

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Drivers side door lock will not function properly. The remote will successfully lock/unlock all of the other doors. If the drivers door is locked with the key it will remain locked despite the other doors unlocking with the remote. This problem has been widely reported on Nissan online forums, there are no indicator/warning lights associated with this issue. This issue provides the illusion of a securely locked car when then drivers door remains unlocked, providing an opportunity for theft or worse while parked. This has been an ongoing issue since purchasing the vehicle.

NHTSA ODI #11662960

Mileage unknown · May 22, 2025
Vehicle Speed Control

car will not accelerate after pressing gas pedal all the way down; has jerking motion to get it to go then sometimes will not move at all; you have to turn car off and try several times

NHTSA ODI #11662687

Mileage unknown · May 16, 2025
Electrical SystemUnknown Or Other

I was driving at a speed of 32 no other cars around. All of a sudden I hear some buzzing and feel vibration, and I see a hazard icon in the dash flashing. It was a white triangle outlined in red with a red exclamation mark inside of the triangle. The car slowed dramatically almost stopping as the alarm or buzzing sounded. Then a…

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I was driving at a speed of 32 no other cars around. All of a sudden I hear some buzzing and feel vibration, and I see a hazard icon in the dash flashing. It was a white triangle outlined in red with a red exclamation mark inside of the triangle. The car slowed dramatically almost stopping as the alarm or buzzing sounded. Then all at once the alarm stopped and the car resumed speed.

NHTSA ODI #11661572

Mileage unknown · Apr 29, 2025
Unknown Or Other

Drivers door won't open from inside or outside I can climb out passenger seat when this happens and use the key to manually unlock door This happens quite often

NHTSA ODI #11657418

Mileage unknown · Mar 19, 2025
Forward Collision AvoidanceService Brakes

The vehicle has a sensor in the front that will auto brake if it thinks I will crash into something . However many times it’s braked there’s been nothing in front of the car. I’ll have great distance between my car and the one in front of me. There have been at least 4 incidents since I’ve owned the car (1 year). There’s no acti…

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The vehicle has a sensor in the front that will auto brake if it thinks I will crash into something . However many times it’s braked there’s been nothing in front of the car. I’ll have great distance between my car and the one in front of me. There have been at least 4 incidents since I’ve owned the car (1 year). There’s no active recalls, and the light will flash that I’m going to hit something until I shut off the car. Once I turn it back on the warning collision light is gone.

NHTSA ODI #11649368

83,015 miles · Mar 6, 2025
Air BagsCrash

The contact owned a 2021 Nissan Kicks. The contact stated that his wife was stopped in traffic when suddenly a rear vehicle crashed into the entire rear at 25 MPH. There was no property damage, and the vehicles came to a stop upon impact. The air bags did not deploy however the other driver did have a air bag deployment. Both ve…

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The contact owned a 2021 Nissan Kicks. The contact stated that his wife was stopped in traffic when suddenly a rear vehicle crashed into the entire rear at 25 MPH. There was no property damage, and the vehicles came to a stop upon impact. The air bags did not deploy however the other driver did have a air bag deployment. Both vehicles were attached to each other due to the impact and were able to be separated. The vehicle did not need to be towed. The brake system, tire pressure monitoring system, check engine, and warning lights were illuminated. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed by the insurance company. The contact's wife sustained a headache and pain in her left hand. that required medical treatment. No other injuries were reported. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 83,015.

NHTSA ODI #11646782

Mileage unknown · Feb 11, 2025
Steering

Something or Power steering seems to be affected, especially more so during rainy or snowy seasons. Wheel needs no assistance to turn and turn very easily as I turned/spun it to one side and other. Seems to go passed its lock point. Especially noticeable during reverse and park/when parking.

NHTSA ODI #11642044

90,000 miles · Feb 3, 2025
Power Train

The contact owns a 2021 Nissan Kicks. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. No warning light was illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. Upon further investigation, the conta…

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The contact owns a 2021 Nissan Kicks. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. No warning light was illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. Upon further investigation, the contact related the failure with an unidentified recall for a CVT transmission failure; however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.

NHTSA ODI #11640296

Mileage unknown · Jul 26, 2024
EnginePower Train

At 54,000 miles on my car my car was shaking and not wanting to go past 20miles an hour. My check engine light came on. Safety was at risk, there was no warning that my car was having trouble. It was driving fine one minute and ttem all of a sudden check engine light came on. Feel that the cvt engines in Nissan are not safe

NHTSA ODI #11604841

Mileage unknown · Jul 13, 2024
Forward Collision AvoidanceLane DepartureUnknown Or Other

Hello, this has happened multiple times within a year & a half of having the vehicle (bought in Jan 2023) where the Front Collision Warning will randomly go off during anytime of the day, even at night. I have also had all the side collision warnings just stay yellow in the screen while driving. Just recently when I was driving…

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Hello, this has happened multiple times within a year & a half of having the vehicle (bought in Jan 2023) where the Front Collision Warning will randomly go off during anytime of the day, even at night. I have also had all the side collision warnings just stay yellow in the screen while driving. Just recently when I was driving in the mountains of GA, I had everything go off & the "Forward Driving Aids Temporarily Disabled."

NHTSA ODI #11601753

Official recalls

2

23V496000 · Steering:electric Power Assist System

Jul 18, 2023

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2021 Versa and Kicks vehicles. An intermittent electrical connection in the electric power steering (EPS) torque sensor can disable the power steering assist.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Loss of power steering assist can increase the steering effort required, especially at low speeds, and increase the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect the steering column torque sensor lot code and replace the steering column assembly, if necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed September 8, 2023. Owners may contact Nissan's customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall is PMA26. This recall involves vehicles that were previously inspected, but did not receive a steering column replacement, under recall number 22V-693. These vehicles will need to be reinspected for this recall.

22V693000 · Steering:electric Power Assist System

Sep 15, 2022

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2021 Versa and Kicks vehicles. An intermittent electrical connection in the electric power steering (EPS) torque sensor can disable the power steering assist.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Loss of power steering assist can increase the steering effort required, especially at low speeds, and increase the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect the steering column torque sensor lot code, and replace the column, if necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed November 9, 2022. Owners may contact Nissan's customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's numbers for this recall are PMA10 / PMA25.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.