Dubai: Nissan will recall some 32,000 cars in the Middle East, part of a total of more than half a million vehicles worldwide over brake pedal and fuel gauge problems, the company said in a statement.
Three incidences were recorded globally where brake pins came partially disengaged, while fuel gauge issue relates to incorrect indication of fuel in cars with high mileage levels.
Factbox: Cars recalled in the UAE
The company said that no accidents or injuries were caused by either problem.
Potentially affected cars include 2005 through 2008 model year Nissan Titan, Armada and Infiniti QX56 and certain Nissan Frontier, Pathfinder and Xterra vehicles produced between January and March 2006 and between October 2007 and January 2008.
"Nissan local distributors have the vehicle ID numbers of vehicles that may be potentially affected in this region," the manufacturer said.
In addition, any vehicle that could be potentially affected will be marked on the local distributor's service system to be automatically checked as soon as it comes into an authorised Nissan service centre for periodic maintenance, it added.
While the statement said that repairs for both flaws would begin immediately, Nissan has cautioned customers to drive with tanks more than half full.
Timeline: Car recalls around the world
"This is a preventive arrangement because there were no accidents or injuries as a result of the brake pedal or fuel-gauge problem," said Michel Ayat, chief executive of Arabian Automobiles, exclusive dealers of Nissan and Infiniti in Dubai and northern emirates. "At this moment, we have involved our people to check the cars we have sold to see how many of these cars are affected.
"We are not sure of the number of units affected in the UAE, but we are now studying chassis numbers."
In Dubai, potentially affected vehicles are the 536 Pathfinders, 338 X-Terra, 5777 Armada and 860 QX56 with fuel gauge problems. About 3571 Armada vehicles and 580 Infiniti QX56 could have the brake pedal problem.
In Abu Dhabi, the recall affects 329 Pathfinder, 123 X-Terra, 5268 Armada and 779 QX56 with gauge problems. The brake pedal issue involves 3451 Armada, 524 QX56.
The brake pad problems affect less than 0.5 per cent of the cars and the majority are in the United State, Ayat said.
He said that affected fuel gauges will be replaced but the brake pads will be repaired, since the issue is minor. Fuel gauges are said to be affected after the vehicle has been driven 100,000 kilometres or more than two years. "As a responsible distributor, we are committed to customer safety," he said.
Ayat said the dealers would not be affected in terms of cost of repairs, but the manufacturer will.
Jeep
Around 600 Jeep Wrangler vehicles with automatic transmissions from 2008 have been recalled for a free service campaign in the UAE over defective gearboxes.
The automatic transmission fluid in some of these vehicles may overheat under extreme driving conditions, which may cause the fluid to boil over, the company said.
"If you drive excessively high [torque], the transmission oil may heat up to a level it's not supposed to," said Asim Khan, Service Manager at Jeep's Rashidiya workshop.
Khan explained to Gulf News that in such a situation, the driver needs to know that the oil transmission is overheated through a light indicator on the instrument panel.
Repairs include minor re-programming of the relevant module which would take a maximum of one hour to complete. No parts are required to be replaced.
The campaign is expected to take two months to complete, the statement said.
Back to Toyota
The story of car recalls started with Toyota's first recall of 2.3 million vehicles in January. Today, up to 8.5 million cars have been recalled worldwide to rectify a flaw in the accelerator pedal.
Click here to watch video on how to fix a faulty Toyota accelerator
In cars affected, the flaw causes the speed to increase slightly in cold weather.
In the UAE, Toyota recalls have been made on the 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon and 2009-10 Toyota Sequoia models. There are potentially 3,000 vehicles affected by the flaw, according to Al Futtaim Motors, Toyota distributors in the UAE. Al Futtaim launched a service campaign on February 24.
Have your say
Are you worried with the recent recalls by car companies? Would you trust a brand of car that has recalled its products, recently? Will the recalls make other companies more conscious about their products?
