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2023 Nissan Kicks

Gas Midsize car

202620252024202320222021202020192018
Specs & fuel economyRecallsComplaintsCrash ratings
A
Safety Signal
92 / 100
ASafety Signal · 92 / 100
1Recalls · NHTSA campaigns
15Complaints · owner reports
4★Crash rating · NHTSA overall
33 mpgFuel economy · best combined

The 2023 Nissan Kicks is sold in the U.S. as a gas midsize car. The most efficient version, the Kicks, is EPA-rated at 33 mpg combined. NHTSA lists 1 recall campaign for this model year, which gives it a Safety Signal grade of A. Owners have filed 15 complaints, most often about forward collision avoidance. NHTSA crash-tested it at 4 stars overall.

Specs & fuel economy (EPA)

ConfigurationPowertrainDriveEngine / motorCityHwyCombAnnual fuel*
KicksGasFWD1.6L 4-cyl313633$1,900

*EPA estimate at 15,000 miles/year and EPA reference fuel/electricity prices. Source: fueleconomy.gov vehicle records.

Out of factory warranty soon?

The 2023 Nissan Kicks is in the years where transmission, electronics and drivetrain repairs land on the owner. Compare extended-coverage quotes in about two minutes.

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Recalls (1)

Air Bags

high
351 vehicles

Problem: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2024 Titan, Frontier, Infiniti QX60, Pathfinder, 2023-2024 Sentra, Versa, Kicks, Infiniti QX50, and 2023 Rogue vehicles. Due to a manufacturing issue, the driver's air bag inflator may absorb moisture, and cause the air bag to deploy improperly.

Risk: An air bag that deploys improperly may not protect the driver as intended during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

Fix: Dealers will replace the front driver's air bag assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 10, 2024. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's numbers for this recall are PD103, PD104, and PMA34.

NHTSA campaign 24V154000 · reported Feb 27, 2024 · Nissan North America, Inc.

Owner complaints

15 complaints filed

1 involved a crash, 0 a fire, 0 injuries, 0 deaths reported by owners.

Filed by year — 2025: 5 · 2026: 10

Most-cited components

  • Forward Collision Avoidance — 8
  • Electrical System — 3
  • Unknown Or Other — 3
  • Lane Departure — 3
  • Back Over Prevention — 2
“The driver side (left) camera seems to be partially out (gets a faint signal in sunlight, fully out at night) and it is unclear how well the saftey features work as a result.”Jun 9, 2026 · Lane Departure · NHTSA owner report
“My car will just slam on the brakes for no reason at all. The only thing I did different was use the emergency brake the day before when I was on a slope. There is nothing in front of me causing this to happen. I've been to the shop about this before they charge you $190 to put it on a sensor and tell you there's nothi…”May 12, 2026 · Service Brakes · NHTSA owner report
“I use the adaptive cruise control a lot because I had ankle surgery and it bothers it to drive and use it a lot. The cruise control is fantastic I love it but it started giving me a warning light at the end of drive. I drive from [XXX] to [XXX] 4 days a week. The warning light will pop up randomly sometimes it will do …”May 8, 2026 · Forward Collision Avoidance · NHTSA owner report

Complaint counts are raw owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects, and scale with how many were sold. Use them to spot patterns, not to rank.

Crash ratings

ConfigurationOverallFrontalSideRolloverRollover risk
SUV Early Release FWD★★★★☆★★★★☆★★★★★★★★★☆16%
SUV FWD★★★★☆★★★★☆★★★★★★★★★☆16%

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program. Standard driver-assist: forward collision warning, lane departure warning, automatic emergency braking.

Other Kicks model years

C

2026 Kicks

3 recalls · 7 complaints

C

2025 Kicks

4 recalls · 36 complaints

A

2024 Kicks

1 recalls · 37 complaints

A

2022 Kicks

0 recalls · 22 complaints

B

2021 Kicks

2 recalls · 76 complaints

A

2020 Kicks

0 recalls · 93 complaints

A

2019 Kicks

1 recalls · 134 complaints

A

2018 Kicks

1 recalls · 84 complaints

Sources & method

Safety Signal starts every model-year at 100 and subtracts points per open NHTSA recall campaign by severity: critical 15 (fire risk, park-outside or do-not-drive advisories), high 8 (brakes, steering, airbags, loss of drive power, structure, battery), moderate 6, minor 3 (software, labels, lighting fixed by an update). Floor 35. A ≥ 90, B ≥ 80, C ≥ 70, D ≥ 60, otherwise F. Complaint counts and NHTSA crash ratings are shown separately and are not blended into the grade.

EPA figures come from fueleconomy.gov vehicle records (ids 45766). Recalls, complaints, investigations and crash ratings come from NHTSA's public flat files, refreshed weekly.

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