2009 Nissan Altima

The contact owns a 2009 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the air bag warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 08V521000 (Air Bags, Electrical System); but the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 166,000.

The contact owned a 2009 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while driving approximately 20 mph, an unknown Chevrolet Postal truck pulled out and crashed into the vehicle. The steering wheel air bag exploded and hit his face. The contact sustained injuries to his face, wrist, chest, and hand during the impact, and medical attention was provided at the hospital. A police report was filed. The driver was able to pull the vehicle over safely. There was no reported fire, but the fire department was on the scene. The vehicle was towed to his residence. The contact called the local dealer, who stated that there were no recalls. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was deemed a total loss.The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 160,000.

The passenger seat airbag light is blinking on the dashboard as well as the passenger airbag on/off light is on meaning that the passenger airbag if off. Dealership found code B1018 for the occupant sensor. They told me the passenger seat cushion needs to be replaced. This is a huge safety concern as the airbag will not deploy if I were to get into an accident due to a faulty sensor.

My airbag light suddenly started blinking on my dashboard. For several years I have had problems with the orange center passenger air bag light working intermittently. I had a Nissan dealer inspect it and was told there was nothing wrong with it. It continued to act sporadically as before the visit unable to detect if a passenger was in the seat or not. Now, as stated above my red airbag light blinks continuously on the instrument panel. After taking it to a different repair shop, I was told it was the Seat Occupant Sensor and it needed to be removed and replaced. The SRS Passenger Discriminating Sensor needed to be replaced also. I was told I needed to replace the seat cushion (passenger side). This problem needs to be addressed for obvious safety concerns as the same problem keeps happening to many of Nissan's vehicles above and beyond their other recall campaign for newer models with the same problem. Yes, my car is out of warranty but that shouldn't matter as this is a very URGENT SAFETY ISSUE of a known defect that Nissan needs take responsibility for. My car has very low mileage (86,000 & 12 yrs. old) and rarely do I have a passenger in the defective seat. Now I can't have anyone use it for this safety reason. The cost of a repair by Nissan dealer is upwards of $2,000.

THE PASSENGER AIRBAG SEEMS TO BE FAULTY DUE TO A SENSOR FAIL. SO THE AIRBAG LIGHT MALFUNCTIONS AND THE AIRBAG WON'T WORK. SINCE THIS IS CLEARLY A SAFETY ISSUE, I WAS HOPING YOU WOULD LOOK INTO A RECALL. IT IS A PROBLEM A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA OWNERS SEEM TO HAVE (SEE HTTPS://M.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM/NISSAN/ALTIMA/2009/SEAT_BELTS_AIR_BAGS/AIR_BAGS.SHTML).

THE VEHICLE HAS HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE PASSENGER AIRBAG SEVERAL TIMES EVEN IF SOMEONE WAS SITTING IN IT. THE LIGHT WOULD FLASH OFF AND ON AND THEN GO OFF. NOW THE LIGHT STAYS ON AND ALSO SHOWS THE AIRBAG LIGHT ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL NOW AS WELL. HAVE HAD IT CHECKED BY THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY SAID THE SENSOR IS FAULTY. THEY WANT AROUND $2500 TO REPLACE THE SEAT CUSHION AND CANT ENSURE THAT IT WILL MATCH. THIS IS A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT AS WELL AS A SAFETY ISSUE. AFTER RESEARCHING THIS IS A ONGOING PROBLEM AMONG NUMEROUS NISSAN OWNERS OF THIS YEAR. THE CARS VALUE IS NOT WORTH IT AND IT CANT BE SOLD TO ANYONE ELSE DUE TO THE SAFETY ISSUE OF THE AIRBAG LIGHT. THE CONNECTIONS HAVE BEEN CHECKED AND NOTHING IS LOOSE OR BROKEN. I BELIEVE A RECALL NEEDS TO BE DONE ON ALL VEHICLES AFFECTED WITH THIS ISSUE. THIS IS A LIABILITY THAT WOULD FALL ON NISSAN DUE TO THEY HAVE RECALLED SOME MODELS AND YEARS ALREADY WITH THIS ISSUE BUT REFUSE TO FIX THIS PROBLEM. I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET A REMEDY TO THIS ISSUE FOR MANY MONTHS NOW ONLY TO BE TOLD BY NISSAN THEY CANT DO NOTHING.