The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is urging owners of certain BMW, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, and Toyota vehicles to take immediate action and replace defective Takata airbags. Vehicle owners receiving regional recalls are especially urged to get the problem taken care of, as consistent hot and humid conditions are suspect to intensify the problem. These areas include: Florida, Puerto Rico, areas in Texas near the Gulf of Mexico, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, Guam, as well as Guam, Saipan, American Samoa, Virgin Islands and Hawaii. Continue reading

Shortly after purchasing his new 2013 Nissan Pathfinder, a California resident began experiencing transmission problems that would result in loss of engine power while operating under normal driving conditions. He had taken it in for repairs on three separate occasions for problems which included a defective transmission, torque converter, and transmission control module (TCM). The vehicle was also subject to Service Bulletin (NTB12-035) for problems with the TCM and the powertrain control module (PCM), as well as an NHTSA Investigation (DP12004) for transmission damage due to contamination by engine coolant. (According to the NHTSA website, the Office Of Defect Investigation (ODI) has received 512 consumer complaints regarding transmission problems in certain Nissan Pathfinders.) Continue reading

Nissan is conducting a safety campaign on a small number of 2014 Nissan Leaf EV’s after a routine quality inspection found a vehicle that was missing several front member welds. Vehicles with several structure welds out of specification fail to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) No. 208; Occupant Crash Protection, and FMVSS No. 305; Electric-powered vehicles: electrolyte spillage and electrical shock protection. Continue reading

Owners of certain 2013 Nissan Pathfinder SUV’s, equipped with continuously variable transmissions (CVT), will be receiving notices from the automobile manufacturer regarding a problem that could result in the transmission to function improperly. Nissan began their investigation into the issue in September 2012 after a cooler hose separated from the radiator during a routine quality test drive. Continue reading

An investigation has lead Nissan to identify a problem in certain Nissan and Infiniti vehicles, where the passenger air bag did not deploy and the air bag status light was not illuminated. The investigation uncovered a problem in which the Occupant Classification System (OCS) classified the seat as empty even though it was occupied. Nissan will be sending notices to owners with instructions on how to get their vehicles repaired. Continue reading