216,678 Nissan and Infiniti Vehicles Recalled for Dangerous Takata Airbags
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Nissan North America has announced a recall of more than 216,000 pickup trucks, SUVs, and vans to replace a defective and dangerous Takata driver’s-side airbag.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the airbag can fail to deploy or may rupture during deployment and cause serious or fatal injuries to vehicle occupants. Nissan will replace the parts free of charge for all affected vehicles.
This recall of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles mirrors recalls issued by Honda and other manufacturers, and differs from the initial Takata airbag recall. NHTSA has called that ongoing recall by the major automotive parts supplier “the largest and most complex safety recall in U.S. history.” More than 41.6 million vehicles have been recalled because of those faulty airbags, which have been associated with 16 deaths in the U.S. and at least 24 deaths and 300 injuries worldwide.
In this case, a manufacturing problem at Takata’s facility in Monclova, Mexico, may cause “overloading of the propellant or asymmetric loading of the propellant during manufacturing,” according to recall filings. Over-pressurization of the inflator housing in the event of a crash may result in an inflator rupture. An inflator rupture may cause metal fragments to pass through the airbag and into the vehicle interior at high speed, which may result in injury or death to vehicle occupants, Nissan says. The new component is manufactured by a different supplier, not Takata.
In documentation, Nissan said it's unaware of any incidents that can be attributed to any vehicle equipped with these inflators. The automaker added that the faulty manufacturing process does not affect any other Nissan or Infiniti vehicles.
The Details
Vehicles Recalled
• 34,754 Infiniti QX56 SUVs from the 2011 and 2012 model years, manufactured from Oct. 27, 2009, through Aug. 22, 2012
• 45,535 Nissan Armada SUVs from the 2013 through 2015 model years, manufactured from July 19, 2012, through Jan. 20, 2016
• 98,412 Nissan NV vans from the 2012 through 2017 model years, manufactured from Nov. 1, 2010, through Oct. 13, 2017
• 37,977 Nissan Titan pickup trucks from the 2013 through 2015 model years, manufactured from July 19, 2012, through Aug. 22, 2015
The problem: Because of a manufacturing issue, the airbag inflator might not function properly or may rupture during deployment. This could result in metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in a serious injury or death. The problem is unique to the PSDI-5D front inflators, which were manufactured using a specific propellant-loading process.
The fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front driver airbag inflators, free of charge.
How to contact the manufacturer: Nissan says the recall is expected to begin May 25, 2020. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 800-867-7669 or Infiniti customer service at 800-662-6200.
NHTSA campaign number: 20V188.
Check to see whether your vehicle has an open recall: NHTSA’s website will tell you whether your vehicle has any open recalls that need to be addressed.
If you plug your car’s 17-digit vehicle identification number (VIN) into NHTSA’s website and a recall doesn’t appear, it means your vehicle doesn’t currently have any open recalls. Because automakers issue recalls often, and for many older vehicles, we recommend checking back regularly to see whether your vehicle has had a recall issued.
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