Photo: Nissan
Nissan will issue a new hood latch recall for the MY 2013-2015 Altima, the third one for this model.
The new recall campaign involves around 870,000 units sold in the United States of America and Canada. The issue is that previous recall fixes have not been as effective as expected because of potential inconsistent effort to eliminate the safety risk. Nissan dealers will replace the hood latch for all the affected Altima units starting February.
Nissan has improved its hood latch design for the Altima. The new unit features a better coating to avoid rust. The previous recalls for the Nissan Altima did not involve changing the hood latch, but inspecting and cleaning it, along with the application of a lubricant.
The recall campaign for the Nissan Altima will be done to avoid the potentially dangerous situation in which the hood can become unlatched without the driver pulling the unmistakable handle. In an extreme case, the hood could pop open and impair vision if raised from its position. Fortunately, there are no reported accidents caused by this problem. However, the Japanese carmaker has registered complaints from Altima owners on the issue of unexpectedly opened hoods.
According to Nissan, the situation is caused by an improperly applied rust coating on the secondary hood latch. Over time, the hood latch may become stuck in the open position when the hood is closed. The situation causes the hood to be improperly fastened, and can lead to it opening unexpectedly.
Previous recalls issued by the carmaker to address the issue were announced by the NHTSA on February 27, 2015, and September 15, 2014.
Owners of Nissan Maxima models with the potentially affected model years can also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline, or go to the website for further information. The Canadian equivalent of the US’s NHTSA has stated that 24,895 vehicles are affected by this campaign.
Nissan has improved its hood latch design for the Altima. The new unit features a better coating to avoid rust. The previous recalls for the Nissan Altima did not involve changing the hood latch, but inspecting and cleaning it, along with the application of a lubricant.
The recall campaign for the Nissan Altima will be done to avoid the potentially dangerous situation in which the hood can become unlatched without the driver pulling the unmistakable handle. In an extreme case, the hood could pop open and impair vision if raised from its position. Fortunately, there are no reported accidents caused by this problem. However, the Japanese carmaker has registered complaints from Altima owners on the issue of unexpectedly opened hoods.
According to Nissan, the situation is caused by an improperly applied rust coating on the secondary hood latch. Over time, the hood latch may become stuck in the open position when the hood is closed. The situation causes the hood to be improperly fastened, and can lead to it opening unexpectedly.
Previous recalls issued by the carmaker to address the issue were announced by the NHTSA on February 27, 2015, and September 15, 2014.
Owners of Nissan Maxima models with the potentially affected model years can also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline, or go to the website for further information. The Canadian equivalent of the US’s NHTSA has stated that 24,895 vehicles are affected by this campaign.
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