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Nissan Frontier

Every model year 2016–2027: recalls, owner complaints, NHTSA crash ratings and EPA efficiency side by side, each value traced to the file it came from.

12 Model years 2016–2027

23 Recalls NHTSA campaigns, all years

397 Complaints owner reports, all years

A^* Newest grade 2027 Safety Signal

2017 Best on record cleanest filed year

The 2027 Frontier →Which years to avoid Compare it

Nissan Frontier — photograph via Wikimedia Commons — Nissan Frontier · Photo: Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Every Nissan Frontier model year

Source: NHTSA · EPA · one row per year

Year	Powertrains	Safety	Recalls	Complaints	Crash	Best efficiency
2027	Gas	A^*	0	0	—	21 mpg
2026	Gas	A	1	11	★★★★☆	21 mpg
2025	Gas	B	3	9	★★★★☆	21 mpg
2024	Gas	B	3	22	★★★★☆	21 mpg
2023	Gas	A	1	66	★★★★☆	21 mpg
2022	Gas	D	6	112	★★★★☆	20 mpg
2021	Gas	B	2	20	★★★★☆	20 mpg
2020	Gas	B	2	23	★★★★☆	20 mpg
2019	Gas	A	1	28	★★★★☆	21 mpg
2018	Gas	B	2	25	—	21 mpg
2017	Gas	A	1	38	★★★★☆	21 mpg
2016	Gas	B	1	43	—	21 mpg

Which model year the record favours

Source: recalls and complaints per year on the road

Years to avoid, with the reasons →Best on the record 2017

On the filed record so far, the 2017 is the cleanest Frontier year we hold, and the 2016 the one to check hardest.

Both figures are divided by the number of years the car has been on sale, because otherwise the oldest year on the page loses every time simply for having been around longer. The current model year and any year under three on the road are left out: their records are not finished.

Year	Safety Signal	Recalls /yr	Complaints /yr
2017	A	0.1	4
2019	A	0.1	4
2018	B	0.2	3
2020	B	0.3	4
2023	A	0.3	22
2021	B	0.4	4
2022	D	1.5	28
2016	B	0.1	4	1 critical

What changed year to year

Source: computed from the filed record

2024: 6 → 3 EPA configurations
2023: best combined mpg 20 → 21; 2 → 6 EPA configurations
2020: best combined mpg 21 → 20; 8 → 2 EPA configurations
2017: 6 → 8 EPA configurations

Compare

All Frontier head-to-heads →Which is better for you? →

Head-to-head	Verdict
2027 Frontier vs Rivian R1T · Large Pickup truck	R1T +31.8
2027 Frontier vs Jeep Gladiator · Large Pickup truck	Frontier +4.2
2027 Frontier vs Chevrolet Silverado · Large Pickup truck	Toss-up
2027 Frontier vs Ram 1500 · Large Pickup truck	1500 +2
2026 Frontier vs Ford F-150 · Large Pickup truck	Frontier +14
2026 Frontier vs GMC Sierra · Large Pickup truck	Sierra +4.6
2026 Frontier vs Toyota Tundra · Large Pickup truck	Frontier +6.7

Common questions about the Nissan Frontier

Source: EPA, NHTSA and manufacturer press kits

Which Nissan Frontier year is the best used buy?

On the recall record, the 2017 Frontier comes out top of the years before the current one: Safety Signal grade A (92/100), 1 recall and 38 owner complaints on file. That ranks paperwork, not condition — a specific car's history and service record still decide it.

What Nissan Frontier years should I avoid?

2022 has the weakest recall record in this range. The year pages list every campaign, its severity and whether a repair exists yet. Every Frontier model year ranked, with the reasons.

How many recalls does the Nissan Frontier have?

Across model years 2016–2027, NHTSA has posted 23 recall campaigns for the Nissan Frontier. They are counted per model year in the table above, because a campaign almost never covers the whole run — it covers a build range.