According to an announcement by safety regulators in the United States, Nissan Motor Co will recall 13,919 Altima sedans in the U.S. The recall was announced because it is possible that bolts might not have been tightened properly during the production of the vehicles. If the bolts fall off, the risk of a crash increases.
The vehicles being recalled come from the 2012 and 2013 models and were manufactured at the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi. The vehicles were made between the dates of May 10 to July 26. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was alerted of the recall by Nissan North America.
“Some of the subject vehicles may have been manufactured with four transverse link bolts and two power steering rack bolts that were not torqued to the proper specification,” Nissan said in a letter submitted to NHTSA regulators.
The letter says that the bolts could shake loose while operating the vehicle and drivers should be able to hear them rattling around in the vehicle. Twenty-seven percent of vehicles sold by Nissan in the United States through the month of September were Altima sedans. Through the month of September, the sales for Altima vehicles increased by 17 percent compared to 2011, hitting 234,040.
The NHTSA said that owners of Altima sedans will need to bring their vehicles to Nissan dealerships so the bolts can be properly torqued to specifications. All of the vehicles should still be under protection of warranty.
“Based on engineering judgment, it was determined that if a loose bolt falls out completely, the driver may experience difficulty in controlling the direction of the vehicle,” Nissan told NHTSA.
The issue was noticed on July 26, the final day of production at the Canton plant. Workers found the problem during a routine test at the plant. Nissan said that on September 21 the company said a large chunk of the vehicles affected were at their dealers. But, on October 3, the company decided that it needed to issue a recall for the vehicles because of the safety defect. Beginning on October 29, owners will start receiving notifications about the recall.