Nissan has issued a recall for about 12,000 Kicks SUVs and Versa sedans from model year 2021 because they can lose power steering assist. Drivers can still steer a vehicle that loses power steering assist. But the effort required to turn the car might increase unexpectedly, which could contribute to an accident.
Nissan tells the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that an intermittent electrical connection in the power steering torque sensor can disable power steering assist. If it happens, “a Power Steering Warning Light will illuminate in the instrument cluster to alert the driver.”
If the issue sounds familiar, it’s probably because Nissan conducted an almost-identical recall campaign last year. The company says, “Vehicles subject to this report were previously recalled vehicles judged not to need a steering column replacement.”
Nissan believes that only vehicles with steering columns produced by a particular supplier in a particular lot are affected. So dealers will check the lot number of the steering column on each recalled Kicks and Versa. Dealers will replace the steering column if a vehicle has a part from the suspect lot.
By law, recall repairs are always free.
Automakers recall many cars to fix safety defects, sometimes more than once. While automakers try to reach every owner to ask them to bring the vehicle in for repair, they rarely reach them all. Millions of vehicles on American roads need free recall repairs. Check the easy VIN tool at our recall center to determine if your car is one of them.
