NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Preliminary Evaluation PE25-005: Driver Airbag Inflator Rupture
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Preliminary Evaluation PE25-005 on June 13, 2025 and closed it on September 3, 2026. NHTSA's investigations file lists the 2009–2010 Nissan Cube for it and links recall 26V-230 to it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- PE25-005 (also written PE25005)
- Investigation type
- Preliminary Evaluation The first stage of most defect investigations: NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation gathers basic information about a possible safety defect, including from the manufacturer.
- Status
- Closed September 3, 2026
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- Nissan North America, Inc.
- Component
- Air Bags — Frontal — Driver Side — Inflator Module
- Recall linked by NHTSA
- 26V-230: Air Bag Inflator May Rupture or Detach from Steering Wheel, reported
- Vehicles and equipment
- 2009–2010 Nissan Cube
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Preliminary Evaluation PE25-005.
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE25005 on June 13, 2025, to assess the scope, root cause, and potential defect in 2009 Model Year (MY) Nissan Cube vehicles equipped with Takata PSDI-X air bag inflators.
At the time the investigation was opened, analysis by Nissan and Takata (now New Leaf LLC) indicated that a rupture occurred at a weld point between the inflator cap and housing in a 2009 MY Nissan Cube.
Nissan ruled out the propellant degradation root cause characteristic of the larger, well known, Takata recall, and instead identified a welding root cause. On April 9, 2026, Nissan North America, Inc. submitted a Part 573 Safety Recall Report to address the weld defect.
Recall 26V230 includes the 28,388 2009 MY vehicles identified in the opening resume for this investigation and expands the population to include 2010 MY Nissan Cube vehicles for a total population of 47,928 vehicles produced between October 10, 2008, and September 25, 2010.
Nissan identified the driver’s front air bag inflator (Takata PSDI-X, Part Number 98560-7991C) produced by TK Services Inc. within a specific lot may contain an improper body weld seal to the inflator base. This improper weld can cause the air bag module to detach from the steering wheel during deployment, increasing the risk of injury to the occupant in the event of a crash. Dealers will inspect the serial number on the driver’s air bag inflator in recalled vehicles to identify the air bag inflator lot. If the inflator is part of the affected lot, the dealer will remove and replace it with a new inflator manufactured by a different supplier. This repair will be performed free of charge. See NHTSA Recall No. 26V230 for further details. Based on Nissan's recall action, this Preliminary Evaluation is closed.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Preliminary Evaluation PE25-005. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
Nissan
All Nissan recallsWhat an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Nissan VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for PE25-005
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.