NewsNissan Versa Notes, Nissan Versa sedans, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Nissan
Sep 10, 2015 07:05 AM EDT
Federal regulators requested Nissan to recall its 328,000 vehicles due to a trim piece on the center console that could grab the driver's foot and interfere with braking or accelerating. Nissan complied and said they will make service campaign to correct the car's malfunction.
Vehicles in the recall list include 300,000 vehicles in the U.S. for the 2012-2015 model years. This is according to a report from Nissan that was posted on Friday on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website. The remaining 28,000 vehicles are sold in Canada where adjustments to the cars' console will be made.
The affected models include Nissan Versa sedans that were built from June 9, 2011 to March 11, 2015 and 2014 - 2015 Nissan Versa Notes which were manufactured on April 23, 2013 to March 11, 2015. The problem has been investigated last year by the federal agency after getting 11 complaints from the owners.
The agency's files have compiled at least 12 owner complaints, where three claimed there was a crash, but the severity is not indicated. Nissan spokesman, Steve Yeager said that they are aware of one crash.
"We had an accident with injury related to this issue," Steve Yeager, Nissan North America's spokesperson confirmed.
Nissan told federal regulators that it would shorten the trim piece. According to a report posted on Friday, there are rare instances that a driver's shoe could contact the edge of the center console lower trom panel that could possibly inhibit smooth pedal operation.
The motor company said that starting in March the plastic panel has been shortened on new vehicles but did not think about the snagging as a safety problem. Rather, it told regulators about a "service campaign" and would trim the panel on older models.
Still, regulators demand a recall and required an automaker to report completion with the possibility of paying fines for failure of following federal regulations. The recall is scheduled to begin by mid-October as stated in the website of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).