Air bags deployed in 2009 Rogue

rogue10169rogue10169 Member Posts: 8
edited September 2014 in Nissan
Hello, I need some help. Does anyone have any experience dealing with Nissan about getting the black box read? We were stopped at a red light and the airbags deployed causing us to hit the vehicle in front of us. We have a 2009 Nissan Rogue. This happened 2 months after we bought it. Now we are fighting with insurance and Nissan Canada to read the black box to find out what actually happened, but we are not getting anywhere. Is there anyone out there who reads the black boxes? We are now expecting a baby and the vehicle is not safe. How do we proceed?? Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.
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  • jamrimanjamriman Member Posts: 14
    Call Nissan headquarters and open a case.
  • rogue10169rogue10169 Member Posts: 8
    Hello, already did that. Nissan is not willing to read the black box unless the insurance company requests it. Also talked to Transport Canada and they are not willing to do anything. The insurance company seems to just care about settling the case without requesting the reading of the black box as it is easier just to pay off the other party and to jack up our insurance rates. The one kicker is my wife received a unsafe driving ticket from the police 3 weeks after the accident happened. If took police over 5 hours before they arrived at the scene of the accident. There were no skid markets or anything so even the police couldn't explain what happened but when the mechanical inspection came back, everything was in working order, they issued a ridiculous ticket. I need to find someone who can read the black box. We need a reliable, safe vehicle.
  • gooddeal2gooddeal2 Member Posts: 750
    1. Even if this really happened, I don't think anyone would believe you, including me.

    2. However, the logic doesn't make sense here. If you had your foot on the brake at the red light -> then the air bag was deployed, I cannot imagine that you took your foot off from the brake and then started to accelerate instead?

    If it was me, my reaction from the deployed air bag would be to push whatever I'm pushing which is the break and NOT the gas pedal.

    Personally, if you're sure it's not your mistake, I would suggest you trade in the car and move on. I don't think you can win this case. Sometimes, there's something that is not worth fighting for.
  • rogue10169rogue10169 Member Posts: 8
    Have you ever had airbags go off??? They go off in an instant with quite the force. When you are not expecting it, it is very logical that the foot would come off the brake. Its a natural reaction for the body to curl up as a protection mechanism. The gas pedal was not pushed. We did not even know that we hit the vehicle in front of us until the driver came out and asked if we were ok. When the mechanical inspection was done, the air bag sensors were not even damaged. The only way to actually find out what happened for sure is to get the "black box" read. Basically the airbags should not have gone off in such a low impact collision. I did some research and found out that Nissan did do a recall on the airbag sensors for the 2007 and 2008 Rogues. It makes sense that they used the same sensors in the 2009 vehicles. What I am looking for is someone who can read and interpret the black box. I know it is hard to believe but electronic devices can malfunction from time to time. The black box holds all the answers.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Wrong country, but you could review the NHTSA complaint files and see if there are any similar complaints for the '09s, and earlier. Otherwise, dunno. Maybe an attorney who specializes in accident reconstruction kind of cases could give you some leads on a black box expert.

    NHTSA
  • gooddeal2gooddeal2 Member Posts: 750
    I agree. I don't think you can solve this case by yourself. You would need an attorney who are willing to work on contingency fee.
  • kshide17kshide17 Member Posts: 2
    I have recently been in a similar situation with my 2008 Nissan Rogue. The rollover airbags deployed while the vehicle was parked and shut off. However, Nissan has informed me that they have concluded that the airbags deployed correctly, while the driver seat belt was fastened. However, they will not give me any factual information as to how they have come to this conclusion. I have requested this information from them and was advised that this is not something that they need to give out. But, they expect me to provide them with reports from a third party to prove them wrong. I have tried to contact the Nissan Consumer Affairs, and to no surprise they have not been able to help me. The dealership in which the car was purchased also will not help in the situation. Nissan did suggest that I take this through my insurance company, however they will not cover the damage because there is not physical evidence that there was an accident. I have decided to take legal action regarding this matter. I was curious to know if anyone else has had any problems with there airbags. Or if anyone has actually received a recall notice on their Rogue. I have searched the internet and have read several recall notices however when I question the dealership on the recalls I am told that they have never heard of them . Any information would be greatly appreciated.
  • rogue10169rogue10169 Member Posts: 8
    Hello, we ended up trading our Rogue since it was not safe to drive. We have the court date in February so it may be possible that the judge provides a court order to force Nissan to read the "black box" otherwise, no one is doing anything about it. The dealership wouldn't do anything, Nissan Canada wouldn't do anything, transport Canada wouldn't do anything so the only hope is the judge. We took a big loss on the vehicle. All we wanted was to find out what caused it and for it to be fixed but thats big business, screw the little guy. Not impressed with Nissan for the way they treated us.
  • kshide17kshide17 Member Posts: 2
    I agree. Nissan will not provide me with any information other than a letter stating that they found it deployed correctly. I personally will never buy nissan again. I was shocked at how they treated me. I would have never expected that treatment after purchasing a new car. I am in the process of having the airbags fixed, which will be an experience Im sure. But I am also trading the car in. Good luck with the court date. Please keep me posted on any information that you get a long the way! I will do the same.
  • rogue10169rogue10169 Member Posts: 8
    I will keep you informed when we find out more. Nissan cannot keep getting away with this especially if their vehicles are unsafe. All we wanted was for them to read the air bag sensor (black box) so that we could feel safe in the brand new vehicle that we paid good money for. Then we would know if it was the vehicle, and if so, for them to replace it with a new one. We took a big lose when we traded it in but at least now we feel safe in the new vehicle.

    purchasing a new 2009 Nissan Rogue = $35,000
    airbags going off causing an accident 2 months after purchasing = $13,000 damages
    trading in the vehicle for a Hyundai = loss from trade in value $10,000
    personal safety = priceless
  • gooddeal2gooddeal2 Member Posts: 750
    trading in the vehicle for a Hyundai = loss from trade in value $10,000

    Honestly, I have no clue about the used car market in Canada but that's a heck of depreciation. Here, in the US, the depreciation shouldn't be more than 4-5k for a couple months old Nissan w/ such minor accident.
  • rogue10169rogue10169 Member Posts: 8
    Yep thats what we thought as well. They basically took off the price of the accident and even that we had to fight to get that much value out of the vehicle. Which sucks because over $10,000 was repairing the airbags and seatbelts so the actual damage to the vehicle was only $2000. This was a horrible experience from day 1. We can just hope that they judge makes Nissan read the black box and if it is the vehicles fault then we will be going after Nissan for the money that we are out.
  • gooddeal2gooddeal2 Member Posts: 750
    Hmmm, I cannot really follow your numbers. How much was the repair? When you traded in the car, the car was already repaired, right?
  • boblifboblif Member Posts: 1
    Side airbags deployed today in 2009 Nissan Rogue after simply closing the door while parked in my driveway. Police, Fire, EMT. Facial burns, lost hearing in right ear. Cops said they haven't seen anything like this before. Internet full of stories like this. Another Toyota thing?

    If it had happened while I was driving, I would have been killed and people would have thought the airbags deployed simply because of the accident. The Rogue is Rogue. Class action suit anyone?
  • rogue10169rogue10169 Member Posts: 8
    Hello, after over a year of fighting with the insurance company, they finally agreed to read to 'black box'. The airbags deployed at 7 km per hour. Took over 2 months to get the report as Nissan admitted that there was a problem. Our next step is to try get the dangerous driving charge thrown out of court, then we will see how we proceed after that.
    It is a sad situation when our governments allow these foreign companies to do business here and not look out for the safety of its citizens. Someone needs to make an example out of some of these companies so this kind of stuff does not continue to happen. Toyota, pet food, lead in paint on kids toys, etc, all in the name of the mighty dollar.
  • barbosa1barbosa1 Member Posts: 1
    I have had the same thing happen as well. On January 3, 2011 my son was backing out of a driveway and when he put the car into drive both side airbags deployed. He was driving no faster than 2-5 kms/hr. he had a headach and his ears were ringing for a few days. i am glad that he did not receive any burns from them and that no one was seriously hurt. I had the car towed to Nissan in London Ontario and they too said that the car was involved in a rollover and that the air bags protected my son from the impact. I called the insurance company and they stated that since there was not evidence of dammage/accident they were not going to do anything about it and that it is a vehicle defect. January 23rd my lease expired and since they still had my car because i refused to repair it i returned the other set of Keys and the accessories that i had purchased. Today (March21, 2011) i received a bill in the mail from Nissan requiring me to pay the repair bill. I have contacted a lawyer and he said to send a letter to them with all the support of other situations and recall information I could find and refuse to pay the bill.

    on a side note... the air bags remained deployed for about 45 minutes at least. they were still deployed when the towtruck came to pick it up.

    this is crazy
  • rogue10169rogue10169 Member Posts: 8
    Good luck. It seems that big business screws the consumer. We are still fighting the dangerous driving ticket that was issued after the air bags deployed. This whole thing is turned out to be such a joke. We have no faith in the Canadian government with regards to protecting the consumer. We have no faith in the legal system, as the charge was not warranted but the prosecutor is not willing to drop the charge. Since this has happened, we have gotten married, had a baby girl, who is now 9 month old and we have another 3 months till the next court date. At least in our case, Nissan admitted(or not admitted but we pursued it long enough that they read the airbag control box, that is where the problem was shown) that there was a problem with the air bags and that they should NOT have deployed.
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