Nissan is urgently advising approximately 84,000 owners of older vehicles to cease driving them immediately due to an elevated risk of air bag inflators exploding during a crash. This warning pertains to certain models equipped with Takata air bag inflators, which have been linked to fatal incidents and numerous injuries.
Increased Risk from Aging Air Bags
In a statement released on Wednesday, Nissan highlighted the severe dangers associated with these ageing air bag inflators. “Due to the age of the vehicles equipped with defective Takata air bag inflators, there is an increased risk the inflator could explode during an air bag deployment, propelling sharp metal fragments which can cause serious injury or death,” the company stated.
Affected Models and Recall Details
The specific models under this “do not drive” warning include:
– 2002 through 2006 Sentra small cars
– 2002 through 2004 Pathfinder SUVs
– 2002 and 2003 Infiniti QX4 SUVs
Owners can determine if their vehicle is affected by visiting nissanusa.com/takata-airbag-recall or infinitiusa.com/takata-airbag-recall and entering their 17-digit vehicle identification number (VIN).
Free Repairs and Additional Support
Nissan is urging owners of the affected vehicles to contact their dealers to arrange for the inflators to be replaced at no cost. To facilitate this process, Nissan is offering free towing to dealerships, mobile service in some areas, and loaner cars where available.
Initially, Nissan recalled 736,422 vehicles to replace the Takata inflators. However, about 84,000 vehicles remain unrepaired and are believed to still be in use. Nissan has made multiple attempts to contact the owners of these vehicles, emphasizing the critical nature of this recall.