Nissan is now more urgent in advising owners of approximately 84,000 older vehicles to stop driving them immediately, due to a severe risk of exploding Takata air bag inflators. This critical warning follows a tragic incident where a Nissan occupant was killed by an exploding front-passenger inflator, with 58 reported injuries since 2015.
Evidently, because of the age of vehicles equipped with defective Takata air bag inflators, there is an increased risk of the inflator exploding during an air bag deployment, which can propel sharp metal fragments that cause serious injury or death.
The "do not drive" alert affects 2002-2006 Sentra small cars, 2002-2004 Pathfinder SUVs, and 2002-2003 Infiniti QX4 SUVs. Owners can verify if their vehicle is impacted by visiting nissanusa.com/takata-airbag-recall or infinitiusa.com/takata-airbag-recall with their 17-digit vehicle identification number.
Nissan is offering free replacements for the defective inflators, with additional services such as free towing to dealers, mobile service, and loaner cars where available.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration further confirmed the urgency saying that even minor crashes can result in exploding Takata air bags that can kill or produce life-altering injuries..
Previously, Nissan recalled 736,422 vehicles to replace Takata inflators, but around 84,000 remain unrepaired and are believed to still be in use. The fatality involved a 2006 Sentra and marks one of 27 U.S. deaths attributed to these faulty inflators. Globally, 35 deaths and over 400 injuries have been linked to Takata inflators.
The defective inflators use volatile ammonium nitrate, which can degrade over time and explode with excessive force, sending shrapnel into the vehicle cabin. This issue triggered the largest series of auto recalls in U.S. history, involving at least 67 million inflators. Despite numerous recalls, many inflators remain unrepaired, leading to Takata's bankruptcy.
Other automakers, including Honda, Ford, BMW, Toyota, Stellantis, and Mazda, have also issued "do not drive" warnings for vehicles with Takata inflators.
For more information or to report a related issue, owners are urged to contact their Nissan dealer immediately.
