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Nissan · NHTSA safety record

2018 Nissan Armada

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

Owners have filed 75 safety complaints about the 2018 Nissan Armada with the US government. Of those, 2 describe a crash, 1 person was injured and no death is recorded. One recall campaign is open against it, covering back-over prevention.

The most complained-about system is the electrical system, named in 41 complaints, 55% of the total. The typical failure was reported at 46,984 miles, the median across the 26 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

Compiled from NHTSA's complaint, recall and investigation files · Covers December 2017 to September 2026 · How this is counted

What is on file

75 complaints on file

75

Complaints

2

Describe a crash

0

Mention fire

1

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
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 41 · 55%
SERVICE BRAKES 15 · 20%
ENGINE 14 · 19%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 10 · 13%
POWER TRAIN 7 · 9%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 6 · 8%
BACK OVER PREVENTION 5 · 7%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 4 · 5%
AIR BAGS 3 · 4%
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 2 · 3%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2 · 3%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 2 · 3%
0 19 38

Red marks a system with a recall campaign against it. One complaint can name several systems, so these add up to more than 75.

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 2025 at 16.

20 15 10 5
17 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 2017 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 2018 Nissan ARMADA, and it is a separate question from what owners report going wrong later.

Test SUV AWD SUV RWD
Overall
Frontal crash
Frontal, driver
Frontal, passenger
Side crash
Side barrier
Side pole
Rollover
Chance of rollover 21.6% 23.6%
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

BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA

19V654000 · September 12, 2019

The defect
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."
The risk
The lack of an image in the back-up camera display increases the risk of a crash.
The 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.

Nissan North America, Inc. · up to 1,228,830 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.

SUSPENSION

1 injured

While traveling w/b on I78 into Pennsylvania I noticed my car suddenly veering to the left. I stopped at a toll booth to proceed to the next exit to check on the problem and as I accelerated out of the toll booth the car began to fishtail wildly. After being able to bring the car under control I pulled off to the shoulder expecting, from the sound of the scraping metal, to find a blown tire. When I checked on the r/r tire I noticed it seemed to have collapsed and that the lower control arm had broken from the frame of the car leaving the car inoperable. I had the car taken on a flatbed to the nearest Nissan dealership.

NHTSA complaint 11481404. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

crash · towed

Front end collision and no front end collision warnings. Air bags failed to deploy. Car was still considered a total loss.

NHTSA complaint 11762872. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES

crash

BCI (Back-up Collision Intervention) Malfunction. It's random when this comes up on the dashboard warning lights. It lights up several other things as well. It doesn't allow you to use the cruise control, or the 4-wheel drive. It disables the ABS and traction control. I don't know how this is not a recall, because I see several forums talking about this issue for this vehicle specifically in this year. We took it to the dealership, and they brushed it off, and claimed they didn't know how to fix it. It has caused multiple problems and has put my family at harms risk due to it disabling the safety features.

NHTSA complaint 11654459. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
When starting vehicle, the AV screen turns on but the screen is black. The screen lighting still illuminates but no other functions appear. Camera still works and shows when reversing but no entertainment is available.

NHTSA complaint 11760137. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
My 2018 Nissan Armada has had SO MANY issues (probably 15-20) with not starting when cranked. Something is draining its battery. We have had to change the battery so many times (usually 2-3 times every year or two.) This happens without any notice! We have been stranded in other cities, stores, &/or at work. We have tried having it checked out by different repair shops, replacing batteries in key fob, replacing battery MANY TIMES, and checking the brake pedal switch. We are at our Witt’s end with Nissans!

NHTSA complaint 11737392. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
UNKNOWN - engine developed knock that could potentially lead to catastrophic engine failure during normal driving conditions, causing loss of control or inability to stop. NTB19-057a is a technical service bulletin issued by manufacturer - cylinder 7 scuffing with a short block or complete engine replacement as the fix. Manufacturer will not replace engine outside of vehicle warranty period, even with documented maintenance proving engine failure is not due to lack of being maintained.

NHTSA complaint 11733071. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My battery kept dying every 6-12 months for the past 8 years! Every time I took it to the dealer or to other mechanics, they ran diagnostics tests and told me nothing was wrong, even though I knew something was definitely wrong. We found out that MANY other Nissan Armada owners AND Infiniti QX80 owners have been dealing with the exact same thing. They showed us how to cut a wire, that would bypass the IPDM smart charging system. Ever since cutting that wire, my car has been working perfectly, and no more battery dying! Please look into this so others don't deal with what I did. Here's the video that we received that explains everything: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF

NHTSA complaint 11728403, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES
See attached document for complaint.

NHTSA complaint 11718887. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Nissan Armada

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2026 8 2 —
2025 21 2 —
2022 9 1 —
2021 13 2 —
2020 27 2 —
2019 77 1 —
2017 81 0 —
2015 21 3 2
2014 12 1 —
2013 17 2 —
2012 17 1 —
2011 40 1 —
2010 48 4 —

Other 2018 Nissan models

Rogue 668 Altima 225 Sentra 185 Murano 113 Rogue Sport 94 Titan 90 Kicks 85 Pathfinder 77

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