Nissan warns owners of 84K older vehicles ‘do not drive’ due to defective air bag inflators

Nissan has issued an urgent warning to the owners of 84,000 older vehicles not to drive them due to potentially defective air bag inflators.

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The company said the Takata air bag inflators have an increased risk of exploding in a crash. That explosion can cause dangerous metal fragments to fly, The Associated Press reported.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a news release, “If you have one of these vehicles, do not drive it until the repair is completed and the defective air bag is replaced.”

This recall is part of the original recall of 736,422 vehicles. The company believes that 84,000 have not yet been repaired and are still being driven.

One person has been killed when a front-passenger inflator exploded. Another 58 people have been hurt since 2015.

“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 said, according to the AP.

The AP reported that other carmakers, including Honda, Ford, BMW, Toyota, Stellantis and Mazda, have issued “do not drive” alerts for vehicles that have Takata inflators.

The “do not drive” warning affects some 2002 through 2006 Sentras, 2002 through 2004 Pathfinders and 2002 through 2003 Infiniti Qx4 SUVs, the NHTSA said in a news release.

Owners can enter their vehicle identification number (VIN) onto the Nissan or Infiniti websites to find out if their vehicle has been impacted. You can also call the companies directly. Nissan can be reached at 800-647-7261 while Infiniti owners should call 800-662-6200.

If your vehicle has been recalled due to the air bag inflator issue, you should contact a dealership to schedule an appointment to have the inflators replaced for free. Nissan is offering free towing and, at some locations, mobile service. The company is also making loaner cars available in some areas, the NHTSA said.

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