Sept. 8, 2015—Nissan North America announced on Friday the recall of nearly 300,000 cars due to the possibility that an interior panel near the accelerator pedal could trap a driver’s foot causing unwanted acceleration or delayed braking, according to a report by Ryan Beene of Automotive News.
The recall will cover 298,747 Nissan Versa, years 2012-15, subcompact cars and model year 2014-2015 Versa Notes and is expected to begin in mid-October. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said that Nissan dealers will modify the interior panel.
Initially, Nissan did not consider the issue to be a safety defect, telling NHTSA that it was unaware of any accidents related to the trim panel trapping a driver’s foot. Nissan said that there were no warrenty claims for the issue and that the number of complaints amounted to just 0.0031 percent of the number of Versas produced, according to an investigation posted to NHTSA’s website.
Last April, Nissan began a service campaign to modify the trim panel to create additional clearance between the accelerator pedal and the trim panel. NHTSA elevated its investigation in June and Nissan decided to make a formal recall in August.
“Owners of the potentially affected vehicles who have not yet serviced their vehicles will get a new recall letter and are encouraged to contact their Nissan dealer for the remedy,” a Nissan spokesman said in a statement, according to Beene. “Nissan is committed to a high level of customer safety, service and satisfaction and is working with its dealers to provide an outstanding ownership experience to the affected Nissan owners.”
