Nissan has issued a do-not-drive order for 20-year-old vehicles over defective Takata airbags that yet to be repaired. The order affects about 84,000 cars out of the 736,000 units originally recalled for the issue. The carmaker hopes this new order will motivate the remaining owners to fix their vehicles before something terrible happens.
The order asks owners of certain 2002-2006 Sentra cars, 2002-2004 Pathfinder SUVs, and 2002-2003 Infiniti QX4s to park their vehicles and schedule an appointment for the free fix. Nissan, like other automakers, have made several attempts to contact owners. It even offers them free towing to dealers.
So far, Takata airbag inflators have killed 27 people in the US, including one person driving a 2006 Sentra. Automakers first began recalling cars with defective Takata airbags in 2013, which would eventually grow in the following years to affect 67 million inflators in tens of millions of vehicles from nearly every automaker sold in America.
In these airbag inflators, the propellant, ammonium nitrate, can break down over time when exposed to long-term temperature changes. This deterioration can cause the inflator to explode during the airbag’s deployment, jettisoning dangerous shrapnel and debris into the cabin. Older cars are especially dangerous, given the time the airbags have been sitting.
Nissan isn’t the only automaker that has had to issue do-not-drive orders for such vehicles. Toyota issued a similar advisory earlier this year for several early 2000s models. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles issued an order for the 2003 Dodge Ram in July 2023 after someone died in the vehicle.
Owners can learn more about the recall from Nissan and Infiniti. They can also check out a comprehensive list of affected automakers and vehicles from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
