2018 Nissan Frontier: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2018 Nissan Frontier
On the 2018 Nissan Frontier, the failure owners report most often is other brake problem, with 4 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 10,000 miles. Overall it scores 67 out of 100, high risk for a 2018.
High risk for a 2018 — 230th riskiest of the 251 2018 vehicles we can rate. 29 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
The failures owners actually file about
Owners have reported 14 named failure modes on the 2018 Nissan Frontier, and the three most-reported carry 34% of everything filed, which is an unusually even spread for one model year.
Other brake problem leads with 4 reports and about 0.2 per 1,000 vehicles.
Other suspension problem follows with 3 reports.
Other speed control problem follows with 3 reports, median 500 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into brakes (5), suspension (3) and adas (3).
At what mileage it happens
14 of the reports on the 2018 Nissan Frontier came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 10,000 miles.
Cumulatively, 79% by 50,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed.
The busiest stretch is between 0 and 10,000 miles, which alone holds 57% of the dated reports.
79% of the dated reports were filed below 36,000 miles, which is early enough that a fair number of these cars were still under a factory warranty when the owner complained.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
Showing the 12 most-reported failure modes of 14. The full list is in the table below.
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
- Dashed the median reported mileage
Severity, and what it costs
Nothing in the reports on the 2018 Nissan Frontier mentions a crash, a fire or an injury. That is the ordinary case and it is worth stating: most defect complaints are about a car that stopped working, not one that hurt somebody.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 3.17, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: other brake problem at $300–$1,800, other suspension problem at $350–$2,000, other speed control problem at $250–$2,000 and paint peeling or clear coat failure at $600–$6,000. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
17% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other brake problem | brakes | 4 | 3 | — | 500 | — | 0.2 | $300–$1,800 | High |
| Other suspension problem | suspension | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $350–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other speed control problem | adas | 3 | 3 | — | 500 | — | 0.1 | $250–$2,000 | Critical |
| Paint peeling or clear coat failure | body | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $600–$6,000 | Low |
| Other engine problem | engine | 2 | 1 | — | 54k | — | 0.1 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 2 | 2 | — | 16k | — | 0.1 | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Other fuel system problem | fuel | 2 | 2 | — | 31k | — | 0.1 | $300–$2,200 | High |
| No-start or intermittent start failure | engine | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $200–$1,800 | Moderate |
| Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure | electrical | 1 | 1 | — | 50k | — | 0.0 | $250–$1,500 | High |
| Infotainment screen failure | infotainment | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $400–$2,600 | Low |
| Backup camera failure | infotainment | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $250–$1,200 | Moderate |
| Premature brake pad or rotor wear | brakes | 1 | 1 | — | 11k | — | 0.0 | $300–$1,400 | Moderate |
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other body or interior problem | body | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Unclassified problem | other | 4 | 1 | — | 10k | — | 0.2 | — | Moderate |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 2018 Nissan Frontier draws about 1.1 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 73rd percentile of complaint rates among 2018 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound.
The working figure is 26,713 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2018 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The odometer reading is the one the owner gave.
Other speed control problem
The throttle control, foot pedal, has dead spots that happen when leaving a stop sign, green lights, pulling out into traffic. Also climbing a hill when you step on the gas nothing happens until the transmission kicks down then you go to fast. This happens occasionally. It is better if you turn of the overdrive did it still happens. I have had it back to the dealer 3 times.dealer reprogrammed the transmission, reprogrammed the throttle body and then replaced the throttle body. When I pull out into traffic I do not know if the truck is going to move or not. Sometime there is about a second delay until it catches and then sometimes it chirps the tires. I have just over 1000 miles on this truck and do not feel safe. This is my forth nissan frontier, I never experienced any fear in driving the other truck. I believe it and any others with this problem should be recalled or the trucks replaced. This is an ongoing problem since I bought the truck.
Recalls on the 2018 model year
NHTSA has issued 2 recall campaigns covering the 2018 Nissan Frontier, affecting an estimated 40,626 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover back over prevention: sensing system: camera and electrical system:ignition. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
Recalls also distort complaint counts. Publicity about a campaign reminds owners that complaining is possible, so reports for a recalled component often spike after the recall rather than before it.
BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA
1,228,830 vehicles 2019-09-12- 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…
- 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.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION
153,047 vehicles 2018-08-21- Defect
- Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2017 Nissan NV200, Sentra, NV3500 Van, NV3500 Bus, NV200 Taxi, NV1500, NV2500 Van, Chevrolet City Express, 2017-2018 Frontier, Versa Note, and Versa Sedan vehicles that have a mechanical (physical) key ignition system. In these models, over time, the weight on the key ring and road conditions or some other jarring event may cause the ignition switch to move out of the run position to the accessory position, turning off the engine.
- Consequence
- If the vehicle stalls, it can increase the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the production information on the ignition switch, and replace it as necessary, free of charge. The recall began October 1, 2018. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669.
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
How it ranks in the 2018 field
The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.
Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.
- Left fewer and less serious reports
- Right more, or worse
- Marker this vehicle
How 2018 compares with the other years
High risk for a 2018 — 230th riskiest of the 251 2018 vehicles we can rate. Because the ranking is against the same model year only, age cancels out of it.
Across the 27 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 1999 comes out best at 61 and 2022 worst at 82, with 2018 itself at 67.
If the model year is negotiable, 1999, 2004, 2000 and 2015 score lower than 2018 by a margin worth acting on. Same body, same engines, different luck — usually a supplier change or a mid-cycle fix, which the complaint data can show but never explain.
Within the 2017–2021 generation specifically, 2021 is the strongest year at 64 and 2020 the weakest at 73.
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 2017-2021 generation, 2021 Nissan Frontier scores best at 64 and 2020 Nissan Frontier worst at 73.
Where these figures stop being useful
29 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 29 reports, 14 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 48% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
Named failure modes come from matching phrases in the complaint text, so a badly worded complaint can land in the wrong bucket. The effect washes out across hundreds of reports and does not wash out across five.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 2018 Nissan Frontier?
The most-reported failures are other brake problem (4 reports, median 500 miles), other suspension problem (3 reports) and other speed control problem (3 reports, median 500 miles). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Is the 2018 Nissan Frontier reliable?
It scores 67 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 230th riskiest of the 251 2018 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2018 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Which year of the Nissan Frontier is best?
Within the 2017–2021 generation, 2021 scores best at 64 out of 100 and 2020 worst at 73. Same body, same engines, different luck.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed