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Nissan · NHTSA safety record

2013 Nissan Frontier

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

Owners have filed 48 safety complaints about the 2013 Nissan Frontier with the US government. Of those, 5 describe a crash, 1 mentions a fire, 2 people were injured and no death is recorded. One recall campaign is open against it, covering the electrical system.

The most complained-about system is the air bags, named in 15 complaints, 31% of the total. The typical failure was reported at 27,000 miles, the median across the 37 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

Compiled from NHTSA's complaint, recall and investigation files · Covers November 2013 to March 2026 · How this is counted

What is on file

48 complaints on file

48

Complaints

5

Describe a crash

1

Mention fire

2

People injured

0

Deaths

A complaint is an unverified account by the person who filed it, not a finding of fault. One complaint is one ODI number, which is how NHTSA counts them.

A recall is the manufacturer conceding a defect, and the repair is free. Whether one covers your particular car is a question only its VIN can answer, because a campaign covers a production range rather than a model year.

Which system owners named

Complaints naming each system
AIR BAGS 15 · 31%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 8 · 17%
POWER TRAIN 6 · 13%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 6 · 13%
SEAT BELTS 5 · 10%
ENGINE 4 · 8%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 4 · 8%
WHEELS 3 · 6%
SERVICE BRAKES 2 · 4%
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 2 · 4%
STRUCTURE 2 · 4%
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 · 2%
0 8 15

Red marks a system with a recall campaign against it. One complaint can name several systems, so these add up to more than 48.

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2014 at 9.

12 9 6 3
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

This is the year the complaint was filed, not the year the failure happened. The range runs from 2013 to 2026, the last of them a part year, which is why its column is drawn faint.

Crash test ratings

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program

NHTSA crashes a car into a barrier and a pole and measures what happens to the dummies inside. This is what it awarded the 2013 Nissan FRONTIER, and it is a separate question from what owners report going wrong later.

Test Crew Cab PU/CC 4WD Crew Cab PU/CC RWD King Cab PU/EC 4WD King Cab PU/EC RWD
Overall Not rated Not rated Not rated Not rated
Frontal crash Not rated Not rated Not rated Not rated
Frontal, driver Not rated Not rated Not rated Not rated
Frontal, passenger Not rated Not rated Not rated Not rated
Side crash Not rated Not rated Not rated Not rated
Side barrier Not rated Not rated Not rated Not rated
Side pole Not rated Not rated Not rated Not rated
Rollover
Chance of rollover 19.8% 21.2% 19.8% 21.2%
Stability control standard Forward collision warning standard Lane departure warning standard

A rating belongs to a tested body style and drivetrain, not to the model as a whole, which is why more than one is listed. A dash means NHTSA did not rate that test for this vehicle.

Recall campaigns

1 on file

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING:FUSES AND CIRCUIT BREAKERS

14V052000 · February 12, 2014

The defect
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2012 through 2014 Frontier vehicles manufactured from November 28, 2012, through December 17, 2013. In the affected vehicles, a circuit breaker may have been installed incorrectly causing the main wire harness connected to the circuit breaker to face outward, potentially contacting a metal bolt located on the A-pillar.
The risk
The bolt may wear through the wire harness covering, resulting in an electrical short which could cause a fire.
The remedy
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the circuit breaker orientation. If the circuit breaker orientation is incorrect, dealers will repair the vehicles free of charge. The recall began on March 17, 2014. Owners may contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.

Nissan North America, Inc. · up to 13,535 vehicles across all model years covered

In owners’ own words

Quoted from the complaint file

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

AIR BAGS

1 injured · crash · towed · 63,000 miles

MY SON HAD AN ACCIDENT, DRIVING AT 65 MPH AND HIT A PARKED CAR ON THE FREEWAY. HE HIT THE WINDSHIELD SO HARD WITH HIS HEAD THAT THE WINDSHIELD HAS A CUP SHAPED DENT EVEN WITH SEAT BELT ON AND DEPLOYMENT OF AIRBAGS. I CONTACTED NISSAN, AND WAS DISMISSED. I WAS TOLD BY [XXX], THE PERSON ASSIGNED TO THE CASE BY NISSAN, THAT SINCE INSURANCE HAD PAID. THERE WAS NOTHING ELSE TO BE DONE. I WILL ATTACH PHOTOS OF THE TRUCK. I FEEL THAT THE AIRBAG AND SIT BELT SHOULD HAVE KEPT DRIVER IN PLACE. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

NHTSA complaint 10945719. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

1 injured · 27,000 miles

TRACTION CONTROL CAN SNAP THE DRIVERS NECK. WITH TRACTION CONTROL ON THE VEHICLE CAN APPLY THE BRAKE ON THE DRIVE WHEEL THAT IS SPINNING. THIS HAPPENING IF YOU ARE NOT GOING IN A STRAIGHT LINE CAN SNAP YOUR NECK IF DRIVER IS NOT LOOKING STRAIGHT AHEAD. NOTE WHEN THE BRAKE IS APPLIED IT IS NOT SLOWLY, IT IS SNAPPED ON, THIS IS PAINFUL AND COULD KILL. PLUS I DO NOT THINK THE DRIVE-LINE PARTS WILL LAST VERY LONG. ALSO I WOULD LIKE A WAY TO MAKE SURE THE SYSTEM WILL NOT 'COME ON' BY DEFAULT. WHEN THIS HAPPENED TO ME I WAS PULLING OUT FROM A STOP MAKING A LEFT HAND TURN AND THE INNER WHEEL SPUN ON THE WET PAVEMENT, THE 'SYSTEM' APPLIED THE BRAKE WHILE I WAS LOOKING LEFT AND MY NECK WAS TWISTED

NHTSA complaint 10850217, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

fire · 27,000 miles

YESTERDAY WHILE RUNNING ERRANDS MY FRONTIER BURST INTO FLAMES UNDER THE HOOD. THE FIRE SEEMED TO INNITIATE FROM THE FUSE BOX UNDER THE HOOD. *TR

NHTSA complaint 10703192. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

crash · towed · 30,000 miles

I WAS ON MY WAY TO WORK ON THE VERY FAMILIAR ROAD THAT I TRAVEL EVERYDAY. THE SPEED LIMIT IS 45 AND SINCE IT'S A COUNTRY-WINDY-ROAD PEOPLE PRETTY MUCH GO AT THAT SPEED. AS I'M DRIVING THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME WAS SIGNALING TO MAKE A LEFT TURN. I APPLIED THE BREAK AS I APPROACHED IT.~NOTICING THAT MY TRUCK WAS NOT EVEN SLOWING DOWN I PRESSED THE BREAK PEDAL WITH ALL MY STRENGTH BUT MY TRUCK DIDN'T EVEN SLOWED ANY, SKIDDED ON THE ROAD OR LEFT ANY TIRE-MARKS BEHIND! I HIT THE VEHICLE WHO WAS ABOUT TO MAKE A LEFT TURN FROM BEHIND BUT IT HARDLY SUFFER ANY DAMAGE WHERE AS MY TRUCK WAS TOTALED. IN CHECKING THE ROAD THERE AREN'T ANY MARKINGS OF ANYONE TRYING TO STOP AS IT OFTEN HAPPENS WHEN AN

NHTSA complaint 10883756, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

113,000 miles

The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Frontier. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the air bag sensor located in front of the radiator had failed and needed to be replaced; however, the vehicle was not repaired because the Part Number: 98581-9BD8A; had been on backorder for approximately 6-12 months. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that the part was not available. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 113,000.

NHTSA complaint 11724649. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:INSTRUMENT PANEL:SPEEDOMETER/ODOMETER

183,101 miles

Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2013 Nissan Frontier. The vehicle was purchased in a private sale. It was discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy. At the time of purchase, the vehicle mileage was 98,107, and at the time of registration, it was discovered that the mileage was 183,101. The Carfax report and the last report were in 2022.

NHTSA complaint 11698520. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS
Air bag light will not go off. Afraid will deploy. Dealer no problem just censor. Did not have part to fix.

NHTSA complaint 11588084. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STEERING
I felt like I was loosing control of my steering it was so scary I took my car to the closest service place which was Meineke which was 3 months ago well the same problem is back with my steering wheel and definitely isn't safe. I am reporting this to make sure that there isn't a safety issue I should be aware of on how to resolve this

NHTSA complaint 11539819. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
This is an intermittent problem sometimes this problem will happen as far apart as a month, Then for two days then go away. When accelerating the truck will starting bucking, not getting to enough fuel, this will sometimes not stop the next day I take it to the mechanic it is running fine no check engine light comes on. He runs a diagnostic, no error readings this has been going on for 6mos.. Once it was so bad by the time I got it home it had fried the converters. The mechanic changed the converters replaced all the censors on the engine and converters clean the injectors, replaced the plugs, and changed fuel filter, tested the fuel pump, good. I need help, don't know what to do. Had

NHTSA complaint 11527635, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My daughter backed out of our driveway, put the truck in reverse. She was then unable to put the truck into drive. It got stuck in the middle of the street. Thankfully we live on a quite street with not much traffic during the day. However if this happened in a parking lot it would have been much different. My husband was able to come home from work and manually push it forward, then drove it backwards into a parking spot (out of the middle of the street). He did an internet search and found a solution. Apparently one of the screws holding the gear shifter (park,neutral,reverse,drive...) came loose and was getting hung up on the plastic molding portion of the gear box. It was a simple fix -

NHTSA complaint 11504270, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Nissan Frontier

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2026 9 1 —
2025 8 3 —
2024 22 3 —
2023 66 1 —
2022 112 6 —
2021 19 2 —
2020 23 2 —
2019 28 1 —
2018 25 2 —
2017 38 1 1
2016 43 1 —
2015 33 0 —
2014 42 2 —
2012 78 3 —
2011 64 1 —
2010 59 4 —

Other 2013 Nissan models

Altima 2,312 Pathfinder 890 Sentra 638 Rogue 610 Versa 204 Juke 103 Leaf 81 Murano 74

Complaints on file, same model year.

Every Nissan on this site — 205 vehicles.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. How many repair attempts it takes, and how long you have to file, is set by the state you bought in and by nothing on this page.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst