The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has closed a seven-year investigation into 2.03 million Nissan vehicles, determining no further action is needed, according to a report from Reuters.
First launched in 2018, the investigation covered 2013-2018 Nissan Altima and 2016-2018 Nissan Maxima vehicles. It centered on the potential of corrosion causing the rear suspension system’s lower control arm to separate from the chassis.
The probe escalated to an engineering analysis in 2019. After reviewing approximately 1,300 reports, NHTSA ultimately found a small number of complaints suggesting near crashes, and only one that described physical contact with another object. No injuries were reported.
Additionally, Nissan implemented a revision of the lower control arm in January 2018 to improve its durability. The agency also noted that most complaints originated from areas in the U.S. where corrosion issues with vehicles averaging over 113,000 miles is common due to road salt.
“Nissan acknowledges that a crack can develop in affected control arms due to stress loading from normal use and that salts commonly used for roadway snow and ice treatment may result in corrosion that exacerbates the progression of the crack,” said NHTSA. “With a declining trend of reports and Nissan's actions to implement a countermeasure and extended warranty coverage, further investigation of the issue does not appear to be warranted at this time.”
