Side/window Air Bag problems of the 2008 Nissan Altima

The contact owns a 2008 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while the front passenger's seat was occupied, the occupant classification system failed to register that the seat belt was in use. The contact took the vehicle to a certified mechanic and was informed that there was a possible recall on the vehicle related to the failure. Twin city Nissan (3247 alcoa hwy, alcoa, TN 37701, (865) 970-4132) was contacted and informed the contact that the VIN was not under recall. The dealer diagnosed that the passenger's side air bag failed and that needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 109,430.

The contact owns a 2008 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that the passenger's side air bag warning lamp illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the passenger's side air bag mat sensor was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 58,000 and the current mileage was 58,500.

Dashboard is melting and turned sticky. No longer has a matte finish and now has a high gloss finish that produces a glare through the windshield. Reflection on windshield looks like a heads up display. The area is from the drivers side to the passenger side and including the passenger side airbag area. Unknown if the airbag would deploy properly through the decomposing material used to manufacture the dashboard. Internet search of the issue shows many others have experienced this exact issue with the 2008 and early 2009 model coupe. Almost all have been reported in hot southern climates of florida, texas and California. No cleaning products were ever used on the dashboard and the decomposition appears to be a result of high temperatures inside the cabin produced when parked outside in direct sunlight.

The passenger side air bag is not deactivated when my laptop or other packges are resting in the seat. The light does not come on to deactivate the air bags.

Supplemental airbag light continue to stay lite though the system is said to be working fine. I took my car in for a service recall on the airbag system. The service writer asked the tech if the light turned off. I couldn't hear the far end of the conversation. I was told the system was fine. Drove off the lot and the light is still on. When I went back the service rep said my airbag was fine and if I wanted the issue resolved I'd have to pay for a service inspection; though just 15 minutes ago it was in for recall repairs. The service recall even stated that if the light was on the system may be impacted by the recall. Of course my warranty was up just 300 miles ago and I am really bothered by the fact they wont at least check it out since they issued a recall. I contact Nissan USA, but they have not responded to my request and the local dealer was unwilling to assist.

I was at a complete stop, was rear ended by a Ford explorer, which therefore made me rear end the person in front of me. The driver never put on their brakes. The back glass shattered, my trunk was in my backseat, gas tank exposed. None of the airbags deployed. Guess the frontal hit wasn't hard enough to make the front airbags deploy, which therefore hit my head on the steering wheel, that caused me to have a 3cm laceration above right eye, which required closing. The rear side airbags should have deployed, but didn't!! I am concerned about this because I have a child that could have been in the back seat, I had just taken her to daycare before I was on my way to work.

The contact owns a 2008 Nissan Altima. While making a left turn onto a one-way street driving at speeds less than 15 mph, there was a truck coming from a side street on his right and struck his vehicle on the driver's side door. His head struck the drivers door. The contact was pinned into the vehicle and had to be extracted by the fire department. He was then taken to the hospital and sustained severe injuries to the head, neck, contorted spine, back, shoulders, head contusions and a fractured jaw. Neither the frontal or side curtain airbags deployed at the time of the crash. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that they would send a technician to inspect the vehicle. The vehicle sustained over $12,000 worth of damages. The failure and current mileages were under 21,000.