Side/window Air Bag Problems of Nissan Altima Hybrid

The passenger seat sensor to detect an occupant and enable/disable the passenger airbag failed. This is an item critical to occupant safety that is not a wear-and-tear item and one which should reasonably be expected to last the life of the vehicle. As a result, the passenger side airbags will not work as intended when occupied by an occupant of the appropriate weight per the sensor's setting. It is apparent that many altima vehicles, models before and after my 2009 year model, have experienced failure of the same extremely expensive to replace component. Nissan is not willing to address this item voluntarily; therefore, Nissan should be ordered by the NHTSA to replace this critical safety component through a recall. Failure of the NHTSA to act will likely lead to many injuries or fatalities due to the failure of a part which should not have a limited warranty and which Nissan, as a responsible vehicle manufacturer, should repair/replace at no cost to its customers who purchased its vehicles due to their advertised safety ratings.

See all problems of the 2009 Nissan Altima Hybrid 🔎.

On 6/2/2008, I reported to the Nissan dealer that the passenger side airbag alert light was illuminated on several intermittent occasions when an adult was fully seated in the front passenger seat. The dealer checked the vehicle and reported: "inspected everything working as designed". On 10/2/2008, NHTSA campaign id number: 08v521000 reported a recall for the same problem. I returned to the dealer on 12/4/2008 and the dealer performed Nissan's test for the problem under the recall. The dealer reported that no problem was found. On the next day and twice more in the following several days, the passenger side airbag alert light was again illuminated when an adult was fully seated in the front passenger seat. I returned to the dealer on 1/7/2009 and the dealer again checked the vehicle according to Nissan's procedures and stated that no problem was found. It seems clear that Nissan's procedure employed in compliance with the recall is not fully reliable in diagnosing the condition that causes the air bag failure. This leaves front seat passengers in potential danger.

See all problems of the 2007 Nissan Altima Hybrid 🔎.