Nissan Recall Affects 405,000 Vehicles Due to Airbag Problem

Nissan is recalling nearly 405,000 older pickup trucks, SUVs, and minivans due to a potential airbag safety issue. If you have a Frontier, Titan, Xterra, Pathfinder, Armada, or Quest, you’re going to want to know about this Nissan recall.

Several people have been injured by a faulty part in the airbag assembly, particularly the part on the driver’s side that covers the airbag — called the emblem. The bad part causes the airbag emblem and retainer components to detach and become projectiles during deployment, increasing the risk of injury.

If you’re interested in product recalls, we’ve got a massive ongoing list to help keep you and your family safe.

Here’s what’s going on with Nissan:

 

Nissan cars are being recalled because the airbag emblem could become a projectile.

In an airbag assembly, the emblem is a decorative piece on the driver’s airbag module cover, usually bearing the car’s logo. This is the source of the problems with some Nissan models.

In the Nissan recall announced Feb. 9, the emblem was found to have reduced durability and could develop cracks over time, potentially becoming a projectile during airbag deployment and causing harm. People started to notice this problem in 2019, but it wasn’t until 2022 that Nissan really started to look into it and try to fix it. So far, four injury reports have been linked to the defective airbag assembly.

 

The Nissan recall started in early February and affects six models.

Only 0.03% of all Nissan vehicles are affected by this recall, and the majority of the broken emblems come from an 8-month production period in 2007 – 2008 when a company called Douglas supplied the airbag emblem.

Only the following Nissan vehicles are included in the recall (no other Nissan or Infiniti vehicles):

• 2008 – 2011 Nissan Frontier (113,313 vehicles)
• 2008 – 2011 Nissan Titan (75,530 vehicles)
• 2008 – 2011 Nissan Xterra (72,601 vehicles)
• 2008 – 2011 Nissan Pathfinder (70,693 vehicles)
• 2008 – 2011 Nissan Armada (43,616 vehicles)
• 2008 – 2009 Nissan Quest (28,937 vehicles)

 

 

The investigation surrounding these affected vehicles (and their airbag assemblies) has been going on for several years.

Here’s the history of this airbag emblem problem leading to the Nissan recall:

• February 2019: A lawsuit reveals that there was some contaminant residue on the broken emblem of a 2010 Nissan Titan.
• December 2020: Nissan can’t inspect two suspect Armadas from 2009 and 2010 because they were already scrapped.
• January 2022: Nissan gets a letter from a customer saying that they were injured because the emblem on their driver’s airbag module cover fell off.
• March 2022: Nissan checks out the VOQ incident vehicle but were unable to take the part for further analysis.
• April 29, 2022 through August 2022: Nissan shares their findings with NHTSA, and they discover some weird liquid residue on the emblem.
• September 2022 through December 2022: Nissan works with the airbag supplier (Autoliv) and discovers that the emblem quality issues are linked to a Tier 2 supplier (Douglas) production issue. They need to review their procedures to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
• January 2023: Nissan finally gets their hands on the VOQ incident part from March 2022 and finds out that it’s weaker than the average emblem.
• February 2, 2023: Nissan decides to recall the affected vehicles.

 

If you have one of the recalled cars, you’ll take it to a Nissan dealer for free repairs.

Nissan is currently working on a repair and plans to notify affected owners regarding repair plans by April 10.

Once you receive that information from Nissan — expect a letter in the mailbox — you should schedule a repair as soon as possible to get it repaired for free. When Nissan contacts you, they will provide you with information about the recall and the repair process. The letter will also include the expected time frame for the repair, as well as any other details you need to know.

After the repair has been completed, you will receive a final invitation to repair letter to confirm that the work has been done. All inspections and repairs will be done free of charge for both parts and labor.

If you have any questions about the recall or the repair process, you can contact your local Nissan dealer or the Nissan customer service department at 1-800-647-7261 for more information.