Nissan is recalling 149 Altima sedans because a front passenger air bag and knee air bag may fail to deploy properly in a crash, according to a filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The affected cars are all 2025 model-year Altimas built with incorrect mounting fasteners on the passenger-side air bag modules.

Key Points

• 149 vehicles are affected, all 2025 Nissan Altima sedans, according to NHTSA’s recall record.
• NHTSA campaign number 26V526 was received on August 13, 2026.
• The front passenger air bag and front passenger knee air bag were installed with incorrect fasteners that may not hold up during deployment, per Cars.com’s recall summary.
• NHTSA warns that “air bags that do not deploy as intended increase the risk of injury in a crash.”
• The defective bolts trace to a narrow production run, with affected cars built over roughly two days in December 2025, according to Autobody News.

What’s Affected

• Model: Nissan Altima
• Model year: 2025 only
• Component: Front passenger air bag and front passenger knee air bag mounting hardware
• Total affected: 149 vehicles, built during a limited December 2025 production window at Nissan’s assembly plant

The defect involves the fasteners meant to secure the passenger-side air bag modules to the vehicle structure. NHTSA’s filing states these fasteners “may not maintain the required load-bearing capacity during airbag deployment,” which could let the modules shift out of position or deploy incorrectly in a crash. That failure mode could also put the vehicles out of compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208, the federal rule governing occupant crash protection.

Because the affected build window was so narrow, only 149 cars are involved, a small fraction of overall Altima production. Nissan has not disclosed whether any crashes or injuries have been linked to the fasteners so far.

What Owners Should Do

• Check whether your vehicle is included using NHTSA’s VIN lookup tool at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Affected VINs became searchable there starting August 17, 2026, per Cars.com.
• Nissan dealers will replace all four mounting bolts on the affected air bag modules at no cost to owners.
• Owner notification letters are scheduled to go out by September 25, 2026, according to NHTSA’s recall record.
• Owners with questions can contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669 and reference recall number PD202.
• Owners should not wait for the mailed notice if they want the repair sooner; contacting a dealer directly with the VIN can confirm eligibility and schedule the fix.

This is the second Altima recall Nissan has filed in 2026. In January, the automaker recalled 2025 Altimas over improperly welded door strikers that could allow doors to open while driving, according to NHTSA’s database. The two campaigns are unrelated but both stem from assembly-line hardware issues on the same model year.

Owners can also register their VIN with NHTSA to receive automatic email alerts for any future recalls on the vehicle.