2016 Nissan Versa: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2016 Nissan Versa
On the 2016 Nissan Versa, the failure owners report most often is CVT failure, with 11 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 32,500 miles. Overall it scores 70 out of 100, high risk for a 2016.
High risk for a 2016 — 167th riskiest of the 255 2016 vehicles we can rate. 115 owner reports; fleet size borrowed from other years of the same model.
What owners report breaking
Owners have reported 31 named failure modes on the 2016 Nissan Versa, and the three most-reported carry 23% of everything filed, which is an unusually even spread for one model year.
CVT failure leads with 11 reports and about 0.2 per 1,000 vehicles.
Air conditioning failure follows with 9 reports, median 40,000 miles.
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault follows with 7 reports, median 45,000 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into transmission (20), brakes (14) and airbag (13).
The mileage the reports cluster at
64 of the reports on the 2016 Nissan Versa came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 32,500 miles.
Cumulatively, 61% by 50,000 miles, 92% by 100,000 miles and 97% by 150,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed.
The busiest stretch is between 0 and 10,000 miles, which alone holds 25% of the dated reports.
53% 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 31. 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
What happens when these parts fail
Across the named modes, 8 mention a crash, 1 a fire, 7 an injury and 1 a fatality. Those are the words owners used in their own complaints, and NHTSA does not verify them, but they are the closest thing in this data to a measure of what a failure actually did.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 6.02, 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: CVT failure at $3,000–$8,500, air conditioning failure at $400–$2,800, airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault at $300–$1,600 and other powertrain problem at $400–$4,500. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
29% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVT failure | transmission | 11 | 6 | — | 54k | — | 0.2 | $3,000–$8,500 | Critical |
| Air conditioning failure | hvac | 9 | 1 | — | 41k | — | 0.2 | $400–$2,800 | Moderate |
| Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault | airbag | 7 | 1 | — | 45k | — | 0.1 | $300–$1,600 | High |
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 6 | 5 | — | 84k | — | 0.1 | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Stalling while driving | engine | 5 | 1 | — | 57k | — | 0.1 | $300–$2,500 | Critical |
| Other engine problem | engine | 5 | 5 | — | 51k | — | 0.1 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Loss of braking | brakes | 4 | 4 | — | 10k | — | 0.1 | $400–$3,000 | Critical |
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 4 | 3 | — | 38k | — | 0.1 | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other brake problem | brakes | 4 | 3 | — | 9k | — | 0.1 | $300–$1,800 | High |
| Other steering problem | steering | 4 | 2 | — | 4k | — | 0.1 | $350–$2,400 | High |
| Complete transmission failure | transmission | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $2,800–$8,000 | Critical |
| ABS module or sensor failure | brakes | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $500–$2,400 | High |
| Parking brake failure | brakes | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $250–$1,300 | Moderate |
| Airbag failed to deploy in a crash | airbag | 3 | 2 | — | 10k | — | 0.1 | $1,000–$5,000 | Critical |
| Piston, ring or cylinder wall damage | engine | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $3,000–$9,500 | Critical |
| Airbag inflator rupture | airbag | 2 | 2 | — | 27k | — | 0.0 | $0–$0 | Critical |
| Tire blowout or tread separation | wheels | 2 | 2 | — | 37k | — | 0.0 | $200–$1,500 | Critical |
| Other fuel system problem | fuel | 2 | 1 | — | 8k | — | 0.0 | $300–$2,200 | High |
| Other wheel or tire problem | wheels | 2 | 2 | — | 6k | — | 0.0 | $200–$1,500 | High |
| Other speed control problem | adas | 2 | 2 | — | 64k | — | 0.0 | $250–$2,000 | Critical |
| Overheating | cooling | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $400–$3,500 | High |
| Fuel gauge or level sensor failure | fuel | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $300–$1,200 | Moderate |
| Engine sensor failure | electrical | 1 | 1 | — | 176k | — | 0.0 | $180–$900 | Moderate |
| Seat belt or retractor failure | airbag | 1 | 1 | — | 10k | — | 0.0 | $200–$900 | High |
| Cruise control failure | adas | 1 | 1 | — | 176k | — | 0.0 | $200–$1,400 | High |
| Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure | suspension | 1 | 1 | — | 24k | — | 0.0 | $400–$2,200 | High |
| Tail light, brake light or signal failure | lighting | 1 | 1 | — | 7k | — | 0.0 | $100–$900 | Moderate |
| Other suspension problem | suspension | 1 | 1 | — | 82k | — | 0.0 | $350–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other lighting problem | lighting | 1 | 1 | — | 10k | — | 0.0 | $120–$1,200 | Moderate |
| Other visibility problem | glass | 1 | 1 | — | 7k | — | 0.0 | $150–$1,400 | Moderate |
| Other body or interior problem | body | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Unclassified problem | other | 21 | 14 | 11k | 33k | 54k | 0.4 | — | Moderate |
This year had no usable recall paperwork, so the fleet-size estimate is the median of other years of the same model. 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 2016 Nissan Versa draws about 2.3 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 80th percentile of complaint rates among 2016 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. This year had no usable recall paperwork, so the fleet-size estimate is the median of other years of the same model.
The working figure is 49,791 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2016 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.
CVT failure
Vehicle hesitates when accelerating jerks car when getting speed when going at highway speeds car wanders back and forth hard to keep it on the road , clunking noise comes from CVT transmission when changing gears also produces severe vibrations when car is in motion getting worse and worse have been having these problems since I purchased car 1 year ago at 27,000 miles now have 70,000 miles and car is not very safe to be on the road I have replaced struts hub bearings control arms and tie rod ends along with motor and transmission mounts but the problem keeps getting worse and worse every day. Took it to local dealer and was told they couldn't do anything about it because it was out of warranty. The hertz car rental place that sold it to me was made aware of the problem took it twice to pep boys but I was told they couldn't find anything wrong I've spent about a 1,000 dollars in parts to try and correct the problem but still no luck
Vehicle hesitates when accelerating jerks car when getting speed when going at highway speeds car wanders back and forth hard to keep it on the road , clunking noise comes from CVT transmission when changing gears also produces severe vibrations when car is in motion getting worse and worse have been having these problems since I purchased car 1 year ago at 27,000 miles now have 70,000 miles and car is not very safe to be on the road I have replaced struts hub bearings control arms and tie rod ends along with motor and transmission mounts but the problem keeps getting worse and worse every day. Took it to local dealer and was told they couldn't do anything about it because it was out of warranty. The hertz car rental place that sold it to me was made aware of the problem took it twice to pep boys but I was told they couldn't find anything wrong I've spent about a 1,000 dollars in parts to try and correct the problem but still no luck
Air conditioning failure
Trying to leave for work, turn on my car and then there was a squeal (like a belt) and then the engine shut off, not the car (battery is working). I do this about three times to see if maybe the gas needed to be pressed or if the car needed to be in gear, same thing happened. I call my father for advise, and I wanted him to hear the noise before the shut off, so I turn off the radio, AC, everything. Then the car starts and stays on. Turns out that if I had the fan going it was shutting off the engine. I take it to sisk nissan and they inspect, say first that its the condenser and after the part is ordered and the car taken apart they say that the whole AC system is contaminated. The compressor had stopped working. One week without AC and one week in the shop to replace the whole AC system.
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Takata recall - my airbag light has come on and I haven't had any accidents. I haven't had the car for 6 months yet and really need to get this looked at. I woke up one morning to take my daughter to school and soon as I crunk up the car the light was flaking and won't go off.
How it ranks in the 2016 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 2016 compares with the other years
High risk for a 2016 — 167th riskiest of the 255 2016 vehicles we can rate. Because the ranking is against the same model year only, age cancels out of it.
Across the 19 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 2007 comes out best at 70 and 2024 worst at 87, with 2016 itself at 70.
No other year of this model scores meaningfully better than 2016, so if this generation is what you want, the year is not the lever.
Within the 2012–2016 generation specifically, 2016 is the strongest year at 70 and 2012 the weakest at 77.
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 2012-2016 generation, 2016 Nissan Versa scores best at 70 and 2012 Nissan Versa worst at 77.
What this page cannot tell you
115 owner reports; fleet size borrowed from other years of the same model. 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 115 reports, 64 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 56% 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".
The failure modes are assigned by software reading the owner's own words, which is accurate in bulk and wrong in individual cases. A mode with a handful of reports may contain a misfiled one.
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 2016 Nissan Versa?
The most-reported failures are cvt failure (11 reports, median 55,000 miles), air conditioning failure (9 reports, median 40,000 miles) and airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault (7 reports, median 45,000 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 2016 Nissan Versa reliable?
It scores 70 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 167th riskiest of the 255 2016 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2016 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 Versa is best?
Within the 2012–2016 generation, 2016 scores best at 70 out of 100 and 2012 worst at 77. 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