2020 Nissan Kicks: What to check before buying

Several warning lights come on at once, including ABS, traction control, front and rear collision, and lane assist. During these episodes the car can stall, refuse to accelerate, or refuse to go into drive or reverse, sometimes in traffic. Some cars also brake hard on their own. Dealers have blamed the ABS module, an electronic control module, the wiring harness, or the mass air flow sensor with a recurring P0101 code, and repairs often don't last. Several failures cluster near 59,000 miles, with parts on back order. One crash report says the airbags did not deploy in a side impact.

The CVT slips, shudders, hesitates and loses power, especially when pulling away from a stop or climbing a hill. Some cars go into limp mode on the highway or won't move forward in traffic. Others fail with no warning. Owners report transmission replacements as early as 15,000 miles, and some say the replacement unit went bad too. Dealers often find nothing wrong, and owners report replacement quotes of about $8k once the warranty runs out. Collision warning lights and the check engine light often come on along with the transmission faults.

Hard braking with nothing ahead is the main complaint, sometimes at highway speed. Before these events, the forward collision warning often flashes at random for days or months. In one crash report, the brakes locked in a parking lot and the car skidded into a curb. Another report describes the pedal sinking to the floor with no warning light. Dealers often cannot reproduce the fault. In one case near 59,000 miles, the dealer replaced the ABS and the forward camera, and a driver-assistance part was on back order.

Stalling at red lights or while driving, sometimes on major highways, is the main pattern, and restarting may take several tries. A MALFUNCTION message or the check engine light may appear first. Rough idle after long highway drives shows up as early as 5,700 miles. Dealers often cannot duplicate the stall. Reported repairs include a vent control valve stuck open, a corroded wiring harness connector and a failed mass air flow sensor. The collision, ABS and traction control warning lights often stay on along with these faults.

Automatic emergency braking kicks in with nothing ahead. Owners report this at 65 to 70 mph on the interstate and when entering tunnels at about 40 to 45 mph. Collision warning lights come on at random, and some episodes come with lost acceleration or limp mode. Dealer findings vary: a collision camera knocked out of alignment by bent brackets, a replaced ECM that did not fix the problem, and a failing alternator. Some dealers could not reproduce the fault. No crashes are reported, but owners describe near rear-end collisions.

Three crash reports describe airbags that did not deploy, including side impacts and a hit to the front driver side, and one driver was injured. None of the reports establishes why the airbags stayed undeployed. In a separate report near 30,000 miles, the driver airbag warning light came on and the automatic braking activated on its own. The replacement part was unavailable, and the owner was told to pay for the repair.

Dead sensors and false alerts are the main complaints, including the system reading tar lines in the road as lane markings. One owner was quoted a costly sensor repair. In other reports, the lane and collision warning lights come on together with the check engine light and a sudden loss of power. That makes it hard to accelerate when merging onto the interstate. Replacing the mass air flow sensor several times has not fixed the problem for some owners.

Shaking and stalling at idle happen when stopped in traffic, at lights or while backing into a parking space, and the engine then restarts. In one report, a new car began stalling at 250 miles and stalled repeatedly in its first few thousand miles. The dealer said no fix was available yet. A separate report describes a fuel door that would not open. There is no manual release, so the driver was stuck at a gas station waiting for help.