Nissan recalls Altima, Sentra, Pathfinder, Infiniti and Leaf vehicles

By Jerry Hirsch

March 13, 2013 12 AM PT

An airbag problem forced Nissan to recall of a bunch of its cars Wednesday, including its Altima sedan, Leaf electric car, Sentra compact car, Pathfinder sport-utility and the upscale Infiniti JX35.

Late last year, the automaker started to see cars come into its dealers with warranty claims about the airbag system. Sensors placed in the passenger seat were faulty and caused the system to malfunction and could block activation of the airbag in the event of a crash.

The same part is in all of the autos, which are 2013 model year vehicles.

In a filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Nissan said it hasn’t determined the number of vehicles that will need to be recalled. But the Altima is Nissan’s hottest seller. It was narrowly the fourth best selling passenger car last month, just 150 cars behind the Ford Fusion. Nissan has sold more than 49,000 Altimas through the first two months of the year.

Additionally, Nissan is recalling another 400 2013 Sentras sold in the U.S. because the fuel tanks were not sealed correctly and could leak. That creates a fire risk.

Nissan said no accidents or injuries have been reported from either the airbag or the fuel tank problem.

Owners of the recalled vehicles will be sent instructions detailing how to get their cars inspected and fixed by dealers.