Nissan Ariya review: reliability & safety rating
A lengthy list of driver assistance systems and brand-new EV platform suggests safety shouldn’t be a concern with the Nissan Ariya
Nissan’s strong history when it comes to making reliable EVs, plus a high safety rating, means owning the Nissan Ariya should be a breeze. It’s worth noting that, due to having fewer moving parts to go wrong, electric cars should – in theory – be more reliable than their petrol equivalents.
Nissan Ariya reliability & problems
The Ariya is also a bit too new to gather much data on its reliability – the same goes for its sister car, the Renault Megane E-Tech. However, considering Nissan’s first electric car – the Leaf – was the most reliable electric car on aftermarket warranty provider WarrantyWise’s books, we have high hopes when it comes to the Ariya’s reliability.
Meanwhile, Nissan as a brand could only muster a mediocre result in the most recent Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, finishing 19th out of 32 manufacturers. Less than 20% of owners reported a fault with their car within the first year of ownership – below average across all the brands featured – with owners praising the wide array of safety kit available on the maker’s models, plus the responsiveness of the powertrains.
Safety
As mentioned, the Nissan Ariya did well in Euro NCAP’s notoriously stringent safety tests, securing itself a full five-star rating. Every Ariya comes fully equipped with a host of driver assistance and safety systems. That includes a reversing camera setup, adaptive cruise control, driver alertness monitoring, traffic sign recognition, blind spot monitoring with cross traffic alert, front and rear automatic emergency braking, automatic high beams, lane departure warning and lane keep assist.
All models also get an advanced version of Nissan’s ProPilot semi-autonomous driving system. The setup is designed to make motorway driving and traffic jams a little easier and less stressful, by keeping you centre in the lane and adjusting your speed based on upcoming road conditions, among other functions. It’s even able to slow the car for approaching corners, and bring it to a full stop in stop/start traffic.
Top-spec models also come with a ProPilot Park system. Tap a button and the Ariya takes over steering, accelerator and braking to bring you into a parking space.
