The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced March 13 that Nissan was issuing a recall for certain 2013 Nissan and Infiniti vehicles with possible defective airbag sensors on the passenger side of the front seat.
The vehicles include (all 2013 model year),Altima, Leaf, Pathfinder and Sentra plus the JX35 from the Infiniti brand.
View slideshow: Nissan recalling 2013 models with defective passenger side airbag sensor
Nissan says that the airbag sensor (Occupant Detection System or ODS) installed on an undetermined quantity of these vehicles may have been outside of specifications.
If the ODS is out of specification (not detecting the weight of an occupant in the seat properly) it may not detect that a passenger is seated in the front passenger seat and, as a result, suppress deployment of those airbags in the event of a crash. Injury to a passenger sitting in that position would very likely occur.Nissan reports that they have had a number of reports from the field regarding this condition that caused them to initiate an investigation which identified the quality defect in this part. Nissan did not indicate in their reporting if any injuries have resulted from passenger airbags failing to deploy in a crash.
Nissan is sending notices to all owners of record to bring their vehicles in under April date for inspection and replacement of the sensors, if they are found to be defective, at no charge to the consumer
Dealers with inventory in stock will be inspecting and correcting all vehicles on their lots immediately.
Consumers may call Nissan Customer Service at 1-800-647-7261 if they have any questions.
Additionally, Nissan will recall a specific group of 2013 Sentra vehicles (392 total) that may have an improperly sealed fuel tank assembly.
If the tank leaks and fuel comes in contact with a source of ignition, a fire could start resulting in damage to vehicle, property or possibly injury to persons.
Nissan is notifying those owners immediately to bring their vehicles in for inspection.
Improperly sealed tanks will be replaced at no charge to the customer.
Sentra owners can call Nissan Customer Service at 1-800-647-7261 for more information.
