Nissan, in a statement, warned U.S. owners of older vehicles like 2000s Sentra and Pathfinder not to drive them due to the risk of exploding airbags caused by defective Takata airbag inflators.
Nissan is advising owners of around 84,000 older cars in the United States to cease operating them due to a higher risk of the Takata airbag inflators exploding in a collision and launching sharp metal pieces.
The urgent request on Wednesday was made in response to the fact that since 2015, up to 58 individuals have been hurt and one person has died in a Nissan due to a bursting front passenger inflator.
“Due to the age of the vehicles equipped with defective Takata airbag inflators, there is an increased risk the inflator could explode during an airbag deployment, propelling sharp metal fragments which can cause serious injury or death,” Nissan said in a statement.
According to Nissan, some 2002–2006 Sentra compact cars, some 2002–2004 Pathfinder SUVs, and some 2002–2003 Infiniti QX4 SUVs are covered by the “do not drive” alert. By entering their 17-digit vehicle identification number on nissanusa.com/takata-airbag-recall or infinitiusa.com/takata-airbag-recall, owners can determine if their cars are affected.
The manufacturer advises owners to schedule a free inflator replacement appointment by contacting their dealer. In addition, Nissan provides free towing for dealers; loaner cars and mobile services are offered in some areas.
“Even minor crashes can result in exploding Takata airbags that can kill or produce life-altering, gruesome injuries,” the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement. “Older model year vehicles put their occupants at higher risk, as the age of the airbag is one of the contributing factors.”
In 2020, Nissan initiated a recall of 736,422 vehicles to swap out the Takata inflators. According to the firm, about 84,000 are still thought to be in use and have not been repaired.
Nissan claimed to have contacted the owners of the unrepaired Takata inflators multiple times.
According to the manufacturer, the death was reported to the NHTSA in 2018. Nissan claims that the deceased was riding in a 2006 Sentra.
The defective inflators, which employed volatile ammonium nitrate to produce a little explosion to inflate airbags after an accident, are responsible for 27 deaths in the United States. When the chemical is exposed to high temperatures and humidity, it may eventually degrade. When it explodes too forcefully, it can eject shrapnel and blow apart a metal canister. Injuries have claimed the lives of more than 400 Americans.
Takata inflators have killed at least 35 people globally, including in Malaysia, Australia, and the United States.
At least 67 million Takata inflators were implicated in the greatest auto recall campaign in American history due to the possibility of a catastrophic malfunction. Many, according to the US government, have not been fixed. Globally, some 100 million inflators have been recalled. The detonation of airbags caused Takata to become bankrupt.
Similar “do not drive” advisories have been given by Honda, Ford, BMW, Toyota, Stellantis, and Mazda for some of their cars that have Takata inflators.
Last year, GreatGameIndia reported that a post about the Blue Screen of Death on a Ford car had gone viral on social media, which was found to be due to the failure of the OTA update.
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