Recall · 21V020000
Nissan North America recalled the NISSAN Pathfinder over exterior lighting
264,431
Vehicles covered
1
Model
3
Model years
January 20, 2021
Filed with NHTSA
EXTERIOR LIGHTING:BRAKE LIGHTS:SWITCH
- The defect
- Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2013-2015 Nissan Pathfinder vehicles. The location of the brake light switch may cause the brake light switch relay to repeatedly open and close. Overtime, this can cause the relay to stick in the "ON" position, with the brake lights remaining illuminated even when the brakes are not applied. Additionally, this may interfere with the brake-shift interlock, allowing the driver to shift the vehicle out of the "Park" position, without depressing the brake pedal.
- What it can cause
- Continual illumination of the brake lights can prevent other drivers from realizing the vehicle is actually slowing down, increasing the risk of a crash. With the brake override activated, the driver will not be able to accelerate normally, increasing the risk of a crash. The driver can shift the vehicle out of the "PARK" position without depressing the brake, allowing the vehicle to rollaway, increasing the risk of injury.
- What the dealer does
- Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, as necessary, either re-install the brake light switch or swap positions with the Automatic Speed Control Device (ASCD) switch; depending on the model year vehicle. In addition, the brake light relay will be replaced with a new one. All repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began March 1, 2021. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall PC786. Note: this recall supersedes 16V-380.
- NHTSA's note
- Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
The repair is free, whatever the age or mileage of the vehicle, and whether or not you are the original owner.
Which vehicles
A recall reaches a range of VINs inside these model years, not every car built in them. Yours may not be covered even if it is listed here, and the only way to find out is NHTSA's own VIN lookup .
How this campaign compares
At 264,431 vehicles this is a bigger campaign than 96% of the 19,818 vehicle recalls filed since 1995 whose size NHTSA published. The middle campaign on file covers 472. It covers model years 2013 to 2015, so the oldest vehicles on it were 8 model years old when the defect was reported to NHTSA.
Nissan vehicles have been recalled over the exterior lighting 6 times before this, most recently in September 2020 as 20V556000. That is not evidence the earlier repair failed.
This site holds the complaint record for all 3 model years the campaign names. Their owners have filed 1,784 complaints with NHTSA, 1,366 of them before this campaign was filed. 28 of those name the exterior lighting, the system this recall is about — a count of complaints, not of this defect. The earliest of them reached NHTSA in December 2012, 8 years before this filing.
The vehicles on this campaign carry one other recall published here: 22V420000 (latches/locks/linkages).
Check your own car
A VIN check is the only answer for a specific vehicle, and it also shows every other open recall on it, which is usually the reason it is worth doing rather than reading one campaign.
Filed by Nissan North America, Inc. with NHTSA on January 20, 2021 as campaign 21V020000. Every word of the defect, consequence and remedy above is NHTSA's published record of that filing, not a summary of it.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes . Data last checked 2021-01-20.
Independent developer and analyst