2010 Nissan Recall May Include My 2008 Nissan Quest

Nissan announced a recall today, one which would affect more than a half million minivans, trucks and SUVs. The Nissan recall is due to potentially faulty braking pins and fuel gauges in several models, including the immensely popular Nissan Quest Minivan. According to the Wall Street Journal, of the 539,864 vehicles affected, 418,865 of those are in the United States. The fuel gauge recall is not related to the braking pin part of the recall as they are separate issues. Affected fuel gauges may show fuel when the tank is actually empty.

Which models and years are affected by the 2010 Nissan recall for braking pins?

Models under recall for a potential braking pin problem include 2008 through 2010 Nissan Titans, Armadas, Quests and Infiniti QX56. According to CNN, there are approximately 179,000 in the United States. Owners encouraged to take their vehicle to a Nissan dealership for a visual inspection to determine whether or not their automobile is affected. Consumers will not be charged for this service call.

Which models and years are affected by Nissan's recall for fuel gauge issues?

Faulty fuel gauges comprise the lion's share of the number of recalled vehicles, amounting to approximately 419,000 vehicles. Models affected by the fuel gauge recall are the 2005 through 2008 Nissan Titan, Armada and Infiniti QX56. Also affected are Nissan Frontiers, Pathfinders and Xterras produced between January and March 2006 and between October 2007 and January 2008. Owners may not know what month their vehicle was made and should defer to their dealership, who can look up their VIN number and determine whether or not their automobile is part of the recall.

Because of a potentially faulty fuel gauge, affected model owner may think they have more gas than is actually in their tank, a condition that can be dangerous, especially in cold weather. Because of this issue, Nissan owners of these affected cars, trucks and SUVs to keep their tank half full until their car can be seen by a Nissan mechanic to correct the issue, if it exists in their vehicle.

Nissan owners may want to wait to call their dealership

Upon hearing news of the Nissan recall, I contacted the Nissan dealership where I have my 2008 Nissan Quest serviced. The service department was not aware of the Nissan recall, and thus advised me that I would need to call back at a later date to see if my Quest was affected.

Another disappointment: a search of recalls on my 2008 Quest at recalls.gov did not return this new Nissan recall as a result.

What can owners of affected Nissans do?

If you purchased your Nissan second hand, Nissan may not have your mailing information to notify you of a recall on your vehicle. If that is the case, contact Nissan at (800) NISSAN-1 with your VIN number handy. They will add you into their database and you will receive future recall and service notices to your home address. If you have moved since purchasing your Nissan vehicle, be sure to provide them with your current address. I have had to contact Nissan in the past when I purchased a past Quest to have ownership information changed.

Does the braking pin recall erode my confidence in Nissan?

With so many recalls in the past weeks from major car makers Toyota and GM, I honestly sighed in relief that neither of our Nissan vehicles were recalled. That is, until today.

We recently purchased a 2010 Nissan Versa, mainly because of the faith that we had in the brand. Having survived a crash in our 2005 Quest a few months ago, we firmly believe our lack of serious injury was due to its five-star crash rating. Our faith in Nissan and its safety led us to replace our totaled vehicle with another, newer Quest.

For now, I feel safe driving my 2008 Nissan Quest, but I do plan to actively pursue having any affected recalls fixed as quickly as possible.

In one respect, I am disappointed. While I realize that the media does the public a service by broadcasting recalls, information should be transmitted to dealerships either prior to or at the same time information is released to media outlets. Consumers such as myself are bound to flood dealerships with calls and it is poor business practice to have employees tell worried customers they are unaware of the recall.

Sources:

http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/02/news/economy/nissan_recalls/