Nissan Altima Recall Issued Over Risk Of Rear Doors Opening When Window Down

Nearly 350,000 Nissan Altima vehicles have been recalled, due to a risk that the rear doors may spontaneously open when the windows are lowered, posing an ejection hazard and risk of serious injury for occupants that may fall out of the car. 

The Nissan Altima recall was announced by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on February 2, due to a manufacturing defect in the vehicles.

Nissan North America, Inc. indicates that the rear doors may inadvertently open when the passenger windows are lowered due to a an improperly routed latch cable. To date, no injuries or incidents have been reported in connection with the recall.

According to the NHTSA, during the trim panel installation process in the impacted Altima vehicles, the rear door latch/lock cable on the vehicles may have been improperly routed during assembly, and may cause the rear windows upon lowering to unlatch the door.

In the event of the Nissan Altima doors suddenly open, unbelted passenger may be at risk of fallig out of the vehicle, or the door may impact other vehicles. Customers are being asked to not lower the rear windows and keep passenger belted at all times until the necessary repairs are made in accordance with the recall instructions.

The recall includes an estimated 341,005 model year 2015 through 2017 Altima vehicles manufactured by Nissan North America, Inc. from September 17, 2015 through October 6, 2016. The impacted vehicles were distributed for sale throughout the U.S. to licensed dealers.

Nissan announced it will begin notifying owners of the potential defect and instruct owners to contact their local dealers to schedule a free repair appointment where dealers have been instructed to correct the door latch/lock cable routing and ensure the window path does not interfere with the doors locking mechanism.

Nissan has begun notifying owners of the repair orders. Customers with additional questions or concerns may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261. For additional reports of incident or injury customers are being asked to contact the NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 or report incidents through their online website at www.safecar.gov.