Nissan Recalls 404k Vehicles For “Projectile” Air Bag Emblem

Car manufacturers frequently share parts across different brands, including interior components like steering wheels. Often the only difference in these parts is the logo on the front. Glued on, these logos occasionally come loose or fall off, becoming a source of minor annoyance. However, in Nissan’s case, it’s the source of a new recall. 

Recently the NHTSA determined that the emblems on the driver’s airbag assembly can detach on some Nissan vehicles. As a result, it issued recall 23V-067 for the 2008 to 2011 Nissan Titan, Frontier, Xterra, Pathfinder, Armada, and 2008 to 2009 Nissan Quest. According to the NHTSA Safety Recall Report, the recall affected a total of 404,690 vehicles. 

This issue is specific to the emblems provided by Autoliv for the models listed above. It is caused by the resin emblem, which could develop cracks and detach during airbag deployment, becoming a projectile and causing injury.  No other Nissan or Infiniti vehicles are affected. The issue also does not appear to be related to the ongoing series of Takata airbag recalls, which have resulted in 24 deaths to date.

Nissan is currently working on a remedy and will send letters to owners of the affected vehicles by April 10, 2023, notifying them of the safety risk. Once a fix for the issue is available, Nissan will send out a second letter. In the meantime, owners may contact Nissan’s customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan’s numbers for this recall are PC944, PC945, and PC946.

Owners can also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 or visit its website and reference NHTSA bulletin 23V-067. 

In December, Nissan recalled the 2017 Rogue in the United States to fix a potential problem involving a fire risk. The issue was related to a water leak that could corrode a wiring harness in the driver’s footwell. As a result, drivers could also experience problems with the operation of the driver’s power window or power seat or cause the AWD warning light to illuminate incorrectly.