Nissan warns owners of older vehicles not to drive them due to risk of exploding air bag inflators

DETROIT -- Nissan is urging the owners of astir 84,000 older vehicles to halt driving them due to the fact that their Takata airbag inflators person an accrued hazard of exploding successful a clang and hurling unsafe metallic fragments.

Wednesday's urgent petition comes aft 1 idiosyncratic successful a Nissan was killed by an exploding front-passenger inflator, and arsenic galore arsenic 58 radical were injured since 2015.

"Due to the property of the vehicles equipped with defective Takata airbag inflators, determination is an accrued hazard the inflator could detonate during an airbag deployment, propelling crisp metallic fragments which tin origin superior wounded oregon death," Nissan said successful a statement.

Nissan said the "do not drive" informing covers definite 2002 done 2006 Sentra tiny cars, arsenic good arsenic immoderate 2002 done 2004 Pathfinder SUVs, and 2002 and 2003 Infiniti QX4 SUVs. Owners tin find retired if their vehicles are affected by going to Nissan's website and keying successful their 17-digit conveyance recognition number.

The institution says owners should interaction their trader to acceptable up an assignment to person inflators replaced for free. Nissan besides is offering escaped towing to dealers, and successful immoderate locations mobile work and loaner cars are available.

"Even insignificant crashes tin effect successful exploding Takata aerial bags that tin termination oregon nutrient life-altering, gruesome injuries," the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said successful a statement. "Older exemplary twelvemonth vehicles enactment their occupants astatine higher risk, arsenic the property of the aerial container is 1 of the contributing factors."

Nissan primitively recalled 736,422 of the vehicles successful 2020 to regenerate the Takata inflators. The institution said astir 84,000 stay unrepaired and are believed to inactive beryllium successful use.

Nissan said it has made galore attempts to scope the owners with unrepaired Takata inflators.

The decease was reported to NHTSA successful 2018, the institution said. The idiosyncratic killed was successful a 2006 Sentra, according to Nissan.

The decease is 1 of 27 successful the U.S. caused by the faulty inflators, which utilized volatile ammonium nitrate to make a tiny detonation to inflate aerial bags successful a crash. The chemic tin deteriorate implicit clip erstwhile exposed to precocious temperatures and humidity. It tin detonate with excessively overmuch force, blowing isolated a metallic canister and spewing shrapnel. More than 400 radical successful the U.S. person been hurt.

Worldwide astatine slightest 35 radical person been killed by Takata inflators successful Malaysia, Australia and the U.S.

Potential for a unsafe malfunction led to the largest bid of car recalls successful U.S. history, with astatine slightest 67 cardinal Takata inflators involved. The U.S. authorities says galore person not been repaired. About 100 cardinal inflators person been recalled worldwide. The exploding aerial bags sent Takata into bankruptcy.

Honda, Ford, BMW, Toyota and Stellantis and Mazda person issued akin "do not drive" warnings for immoderate of their vehicles equipped with Takata inflators.