The Nissan Backup Camera Glitch Explained

Nissan has been having a rough time lately, with persistent financial troubles worrying its investors and a planned merger with Honda falling through. Most of those worries have caused headaches for executives rather than Nissan buyers, but a new recall issued by the NHTSA in May 2025 will be an inconvenience to both.

The recall, campaign number 25V324000, concerns a fault with certain Nissan models' reversing cameras. The rearview camera feed on certain 2025 Nissan Kicks and Frontier models might not show when the vehicle is put into reverse. Almost 80,000 vehicles across the U.S. will be recalled, but Nissan claims that only a small proportion of those recalled vehicles are thought to have been actually affected by the fault — around 1%, according to the automaker.

Thankfully, the fix isn't too difficult. Owners of recalled cars will need to bring their cars to a Nissan dealership for a software update that should remedy the problem, at no additional cost. The automaker expects the update to take less than an hour to complete. Anyone who owns a vehicle that's included in the recall will be sent a letter in July 2025 explaining the issue and what they need to do to fix it.

Even if it isn't down to a software fault, there are a number of reasons why a backup camera might not work. Sometimes, it's due to dirt or contaminants gathering on the lens, while in other cases, there might be a loose wire somewhere in the system. Even if your Nissan isn't affected by the latest recall, it's important to make sure that your car's backup camera is always in working order, as it's a key part of any modern car's suite of safety features. Every new car sold in the U.S. has been required to have a backup camera since 2018. At the time it introduced the ruling, the NHTSA estimated that backup cameras would help save around 60 lives every year.

Modern vehicles are often wider and taller than their predecessors, and that means that it can be easier to overlook a pedestrian when you're reversing. Many of the fatalities that occurred before the implementation of mandatory backup cameras were small children or elderly people, who couldn't move out of the way fast enough if a car or truck didn't see them. Some cars inevitably have worse blind spots than others, but a backup camera can significantly help offset that limited visibility — that is, as long as it isn't glitching out.