Airbag complaints by model year
| Year | Complaints | Share of year's complaints | Typical mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 | 14% | — |
| 2024 | 2 | 5% | 3,000 miles |
| 2022 | 3 | 10% | 6,000 miles |
| 2021 | 2 | 3% | — |
| 2020 | 8 | 5% | 67,000 miles |
| 2019 | 11 | 5% | 33,000 miles |
| 2018 | 36 | 16% | 55,000 miles |
| 2017 | 73 | 19% | 65,000 miles |
| 2016 | 71 | 13% | 54,000 miles |
| 2015 | 177 | 19% | 31,000 miles |
| 2014 | 208 | 19% | 22,000 miles |
| 2013 | 514 | 22% | 14,000 miles |
| 2012 | 57 | 13% | 51,000 miles |
| 2011 | 22 | 9% | 51,000 miles |
| 2010 | 61 | 16% | 50,000 miles |
| 2009 | 91 | 6% | 66,000 miles |
| 2008 | 142 | 14% | 72,000 miles |
| 2007 | 63 | 13% | 54,000 miles |
| 2006 | 43 | 5% | 93,000 miles |
| 2005 | 47 | 4% | 90,000 miles |
| 2004 | 11 | 4% | 107,000 miles |
| 2003 | 28 | 3% | 74,000 miles |
| 2002 | 34 | 3% | 73,000 miles |
| 2001 | 15 | 9% | 75,000 miles |
| 2000 | 14 | 9% | 80,000 miles |
| 1999 | 13 | 15% | 80,000 miles |
| 1998 | 15 | 12% | 70,000 miles |
| 1997 | 35 | 32% | 65,000 miles |
| 1996 | 37 | 40% | 82,000 miles |
| 1995 | 61 | 34% | 103,000 miles |
Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (front, side and curtain air bags, sensors and inflators).
Mileage when the problem started
What owners report
The contact owned a 2022 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while driving 45 mph he was distracted answering his cell phone, he lost control and crashed into the bridge rail. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated the front driver-side air bag did not fully deploy. The contact sustained leisure on his right knee, his left shin, and his left wrist. The contact did not seek medical attention. A police officer was at the location but he was not aware of any police report being filed. The vehicle was not drivable. The insurance company deemed the vehicle to be a total loss. The vehicle was towed to towing lot. The vehicle was not diagnosed. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 5,600.
I was driving to work. As I was doing so multiple lights came on my dashboard and it started dinging. At the same time my car immediately shot left so hard into the concrete median barrier at 70 mph. It all happened so fast I was not able to see what lights came on. My steering wheel would not turn. I did at least two 360's off of the concrete wall finally stopping facing southbound in the northbound lanes of the interstate. My car is totaled. I'm suffering from a concussion. Waiting MRI results to be referral to the neurosurgeon for my spine. The police have told me I'm lucky I didn't die. Nissan really don't seem to care. They want me to be without a vehicle and not settle the loss for 3-4 months for when they get around to investigating the cause. There is so much body damage the insurance doesn't have a need to do a mechanical investigation. …
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH, the collision avoidance system failed to activate, and the vehicle crashed into the rear of a second vehicle. During the crash, the front end of the vehicle was severely damaged, but no air bags deployed. No injuries were reported. A police report was taken at the scene. The vehicle was driven to the home and later to the body shop. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer have not yet contacted. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 67,000.
Airbag has hole in it and all chemicals inside were splashed on passengers arm. Said felt as if person was impaled.to be exact on injuries; passengers arm from armpit to elbow was chemically burned. Coronavirus so couldn't go to hospital. Very painful long healing and lots of home bandage replacements. A lot of skin was missing from underarm had to sleep with arm up for like two weeks. Rental vehicle from enterprise
The contact owned a 2019 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while driving approximately 10 mph and making a left turn, another vehicle crashed into the front driver's side of the vehicle. All the air bags did deploy. The contact stated the driver-side air bag deployed under the steering wheel causing him to fracture his right leg and his right knee. The contact sought medical attention at a hospital for 11 days and had surgery on his right leg. The contact also stated his front passager had injuries caused by the seat belt. The front passenger sought medical attention and had surgery to have a small portion of her bowel removed. A police report was filed. The insurance company deemed the vehicle a total loss. The vehicle was not drivable and was towed to the insurance company's tow yard. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. …
The airbag system failed to deploy during a collision. The vehicle is currently in not my possession. The airbag control module, sensors, and airbags themselves can be inspected to determine the cause of non-deployment. 2. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? My safety was put at significant risk because the airbags did not deploy during the impact. This increased the potential for serious injury to the driver and passengers during the crash, as the airbags are a critical part of the vehicle's safety system designed to prevent head and chest injuries. 3. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Not yet. The vehicle has not been inspected by my insurance and considered totaled. 4. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives, or others? …
I was rear-ended in my car while at a red light. The car hit me 35 mph plus., Pushing me into the Tahoe in front of me. My shoulder strap driver side DID NOT restrain me and NONE of the air bags deployed. I flew forward towards the steering wheel and dash. Do to me being very short I didn't get hurt, just stiff neck, shoulders. The collision company who did my work stated that the seatbelt should have restrained me and at least 1 airbag should have deployed. I contacted Nissan and I was told that the air bags and seatbelts are only suppose to work in a roll over to prevent from being thrown from the vehicle and that the airbags and seatbelts are working properly. Nissan never offered to check to make sure that the safety components are working properly. There were no warning lights on before or after the accident. Over $10,000 worth of damage was done.
The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the passenger's side air bag warning light was turned off, and the contact was informed that the front passenger's side air bag was adjusted; however, the failure recurred. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the air bag needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 13,000.
Related recalls (9)
Air bags › Critical fasteners
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2025 Altima vehicles. The front passenger air bag and front passenger knee air bag may have been installed with incorrect mounting fasteners, which can cause the air bags not to deploy as intended.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the air bag mounting fasteners, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed September 30, 2026. Owners may contact Nissan's customer service at 1-800-867-7669.
Air bags › Sensor › Occupant classification
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Altima vehicles manufactured January 3, 2013, to July 29, 2013, 2015-2016 Rogue vehicles manufactured October 14, 2014, to August 12, 2016, and 2016 Maxima vehicles manufactured June 4, 2015, to August 19, 2015.
Remedy: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the ECU and update the OCS software free of charge. The recall began February 13, 2017. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.
Air bags › Sensor › Occupant classification
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Nissan Maxima, 2013-2016 Nissan Altima, NV200, LEAF, Sentra, and Pathfinder, 2014-2016 Nissan NV200 Taxi, Infiniti QX60, QX60 Hybrid, and Q50 Hybrid, 2014-2017 Nissan Rogue and Infiniti Q50, 2015-2016 Nissan Murano, Murano Hybrid, and Chevrolet City…
Remedy: Nissan will notify their owners. Chevrolet City Express owners will be notified by General Motors. Dealers will reprogram the Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) and OCS Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in Altima, Maxima, Murano,…
Air bags › Sensor › Occupant classification
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.
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.
Air bags
Nissan is recalling certain model year 2013 Altima, LEAF, Pathfinder, Sentra, and Infiniti JX35 vehicles. Sensors within the passenger Occupant Detection System (ODS) may have been manufactured out of specification. This may cause the system to malfunction and permanently suppress the passenger airbag.
Remedy: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the ODS sensors and replace them as neccessary, free of charge. The recall began on May 6, 2013. Owners may contact Nissan Customer Service at 1-800-647-7261.
Show 4 more recalls
Air bags › Side/window
Nissan is recalling certain model year 2012 altima and versa vehicles. These vehicles May be equipped with side curtain air bags that contain an incorrect propellant mixture for the initiator component used, resulting in insufficient output of compressed gas.
Remedy: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace one or both side curtain air bag modules, as necessary, free of charge. The safety recall began on March 12, 2012.
Air bags › Frontal › Sensor/control module-inactive
Nissan is recalling certain model year 2012 Nissan altima vehicles manufactured from June 15, 2011, through June 21, 2011 and model year 2012 Nissan nv vehicles manufactured from June 23, 2011, through June 28, 2011 because the air bag control unit (acu) was assembled incorrectly.
Remedy: Nissan will replace the air bag control unit free of charge. The safety recall began on August 22, 2011. Owners May contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.
Air bags › Frontal
Nissan is recalling my 1994 and early 1995 altima vehicles following reports that passenger air bag deployments in these vehicles had caused a number of moderate-to-severe eye injuries.
Remedy: Nissan will replace the passenger air bag at no charge to the consumer. The manufacturer has reported that owner notification began April 28, 2003. Owners should contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.
Air bags › Frontal › Driver side › Inflator module
On certain vehicles, the electrical connector for the driver air bag May come loose. If the connector comes loose, the supplemental air bag warning light flashes intermittently.
Remedy: Dealers will install a retaining clip on the clock spring electrical connector. Owner notification began April 21, 2003. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not…
NHTSA investigations
Passenger air bag-related eye injuries
Passenger air bag-related facial/eye inj
By letter datedapril 11, 2003, Nissan notified nhtsait will conduct a campaign to replace the passenger air bag module with a depowered air bag module in model year 1994 - early 1995 (built prior to March 2, 1995) Nissan altima vehicles. The replacement module will be provided at no charge to owners.the depowered air bag should reduce the overall risk of air bag deployment-related injuries.
Autoliv Air Bag Propellant Mixture
The summary for this investigation, labeled EQ12-002 Autoliv Closing Resume, can be found attached separately to this resume.This EQ is closed.
Occupant Classification System Failure
In April 2014, Nissan North America launched Safety Recall 14V-138 to address problems with the Occupant Classification System (OCS) algorithm in the following vehicles: model year (MY) 2013-2014 Nissan Altima, Pathfinder, Sentra and LEAF; MY 2013 Infiniti JX35; MY 2014 Infiniti QX60 and Q50; and MY 2013 Nissan NV 200/Taxi vehicles.According to Nissan, the OCS may misclassify adult front passenger occupants and turn…
Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture
From 2000 through 2017, Takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("PSAN") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004L. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited.
Occupant Classification System Failure
In May 2016, Nissan North America issued a safety recall (16V-244) to address the problem of improper classification of adult front seat passengers in approximately 3.3 million vehicles, including those in the scope of this investigation when it was opened (almost one million vehicles) and additional vehicles, as shown below.Nissan models: certain model year 2013-2016 Altima, 2013-2016 LEAF, 2016-2017 Maxima,…
Frequently asked questions
Which Nissan Altima years have airbag problems?
By NHTSA complaints, the 2013 (514), 2014 (208), 2015 (177), 2008 (142) and 2009 (91) model years. Airbag complaints make up 22% of all complaints for the 2013.
Is there a recall for Nissan Altima airbag problems?
Yes — 9 recalls, including 26V-526 (critical fasteners, Aug 12, 2026); 16V-911 (occupant classification, Dec 19, 2016); 16V-244 (occupant classification, Apr 26, 2016). Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers; check a specific car with the VIN recall check.
At what mileage do Nissan Altima airbag problems start?
Across all years, half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 42,000 miles; 55% happened before 50,000 miles.
What part fails most often?
Owners most often name the frontal (171 mentions), followed by the frontal › sensor/control module (24).
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.