Nissan issues ‘do not drive’ alert for 84,000 older models

Nissan warned owners of older vehicles to stop driving cars equipped with recalled and unrepaired Takata airbags, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Wednesday.

NHTSA said the Japanese automaker’s “Do Not Drive” alert applied to 83,920 cars. Affected cars include 2002-2006 Nissan Sentra, 2002-2004 Nissan Pathfinder, and 2002-2003 Infiniti QX4 vehicles that may be equipped with Takata airbags that were recalled in 2020.

Nissan shares closed Wednesday’s session down about 3% following the warning.

“NHTSA urges all vehicle owners to immediately check whether their vehicle has an open Takata airbag recall,” NHTSA said in a statement. “If you own one of these vehicles, do not drive it until the repair is complete and the faulty airbag has been replaced.”

Nissan and Infiniti will offer affected owners free towing and mobile repair, as well as loaner cars in select locations. Infiniti is a division of Nissan.

“Due to the age of vehicles equipped with defective Takata airbag inflators, there is an increased risk that the inflator will explode during airbag deployment, propelling sharp metal fragments which can cause serious injury or death.” , a Nissan spokesperson told CNBC in a statement. .

According to the NHTSA, 27 people in the United States have been confirmed to have been killed by the explosion of a faulty Takata airbag. At least 400 other people were injured, according to NHTSA.

At least 67 million Takata airbag inflators have been recalled domestically, and more than 100 million have been recalled worldwide, making it one of the largest automotive safety recalls in history.

In 2017, Takata filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan and the United States after agreeing to pay $1 billion in criminal penalties related to its allegedly fraudulent conduct in the sale of its defective airbag inflators.