Nissan Recall Issued Over Airbag Deployment Problem

A recall has been issued for more than 25,000 Nissan vehicles, due to defective airbag components that may prevent the inflators from deploying in an auto accident, increasing the risk of injury to passengers.

The Nissan Leaf and Nissan Sentra airbag recall was announced by the U.S National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on April 28, indicating that its airbag inflator supplier confirmed that certain components may prevent the inflators from deploying properly in the event of a crash. To date, no injuries or reports of failed airbag deployment have been received.

Nissan indicates that rust may begin to form on the rod as a result of long-term storage and secondly, the rod may have been formed with tooling affected by excessive wear. Under both of these circumstances, insufficient compression strength of the coolant within the inflator housing may result in an improper deployment of the airbag in the event of a crash.

The recall includes 2014 through 2017 Nissan Sentra vehicles manufactured from September 1, 2014 through December 31, 2016 and 2015 through 2017 Nissan Leaf vehicles manufactured from September 20, 2014 through December 13, 2016. The vehicles were manufactured by Nissan North America Inc., of Franklin, Tennessee.

Nissan will begin notifying owners and dealers of the issue and will provide instructions to customers on how to schedule a free repair appointment at their local dealer when parts become available. Dealers will be instructed to replace the front passenger airbag inflator free of charge beginning on June 11, 2017. Customers with additional questions or concerns regarding the recall may contact Nissan customers service at 1-800-647-7261.