The defect
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Altima and Pathfinder vehicles, 2013-2014 Nissan Sentra vehicles, 2013 Infiniti JX35 vehicles, 2014-2015 Infiniti QX60 vehicles and 2014 Infiniti QX60 Hybrid vehicles. The affected vehicles received an incorrect occupant classification system (OCS) control unit during a repair. These OCS control units may incorrectly classify the front passenger seat as empty, when it is occupied by an adult.
The risk
If the OCS does not detect an adult occupant in the passenger seat, the passenger air bag would be deactivated. Failure of the passenger airbag to deploy during a crash (where deployment is warranted) could increase the risk of injury to the passenger.
The remedy
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will update the OCS software, free of charge. The recall began on November 30, 2015. Owners may contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by ODI
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Infiniti JX35 | 2013 |
| Infiniti QX60 | 2014, 2015 |
| Infiniti QX60 Hybrid | 2014 |
| Nissan Altima | 2013, 2014, 2015 |
| Nissan Pathfinder | 2013, 2014, 2015 |
| Nissan Sentra | 2013, 2014 |
Components: AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION | AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infiniti JX35 | 2013 | 280 | 7 |
| Infiniti QX60 | 2014 | 199 | 7 |
| Infiniti QX60 | 2015 | 92 | 3 |
| Infiniti QX60 Hybrid | 2014 | 31 | 4 |
| Nissan Altima | 2013 | 2,313 | 12 |
| Nissan Altima | 2014 | 1,114 | 8 |
| Nissan Altima | 2015 | 955 | 10 |
| Nissan Pathfinder | 2013 | 890 | 11 |
| Nissan Pathfinder | 2014 | 575 | 11 |
| Nissan Pathfinder | 2015 | 321 | 5 |
| Nissan Sentra | 2013 | 638 | 6 |
| Nissan Sentra | 2014 | 380 | 5 |
Other air bags recalls in 2015
61 of the 863 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2015 concerned the air bags; Nissan North America, Inc. filed 226 campaigns in all.
| 15V830000 10 Dec 2015 | General Motors LLC |
| 15V823000 8 Dec 2015 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 15V815000 4 Dec 2015 | Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. |
| 15V787000 23 Nov 2015 | BMW of North America, LLC |
| 15V739000 9 Nov 2015 | BMW of North America, LLC |
| 15V714000 29 Oct 2015 | Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) |
| 15V711000 27 Oct 2015 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 15V695000 23 Oct 2015 | BMW of North America, LLC |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2015