Nissan preliminary evaluation PE15001
Improper Frontal Air Bag Deployment. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the inflator module on 1 model year (2013). Opened Jan 12, 2015, closed Oct 29, 2016 after 22 months without a recall. closed
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedThe Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) reviewed its complaint data and Nissan's design, test and field data on the model year 2013 Nissan Rogue vehicles (subject vehicles) and other model year Rogue vehicles. ODI also reviewed its complaint data and Nissan's field data on several other Nissan and Infiniti models that use the same driver air bag inflator design used in the subject vehicles. In addition, NHTSA conducted testing and analysis of a sample of driver air bag inflator units taken out of the subject vehicles and reviewed a NHTSA crash database and crash test results on the Rogue vehicles. A safety-related defect trend has not been identified at this time and further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted. Accordingly, this investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that no safety-related defect exists. The agency will monitor the issue and reserves the right to take future action if warranted by the circumstances. See attached report for additional information. The ODI complaints cited above can be viewed at www.safercar.gov under the following ODI identification numbers:10566667, 10644946 and 10862615.
A Preliminary Evaluation is the first formal stage: NHTSA has decided the complaints and other information it screened are worth a closer look, and asks the manufacturer for its own data on the condition. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the opening and closing resumes with the full reasoning are on NHTSA’s site under this number.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one closed without a recall. That means NHTSA found no defect trend it chose to act on at the time, or the manufacturer addressed the condition another way (a service campaign or a bulletin, which have their own pages). A closed file can be reopened if new reports arrive.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named: 2013 Nissan Rogue.
A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs PE15001 a recall?
No. A preliminary evaluation is NHTSA asking questions, not a recall. A safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number and a duty to repair for free; this one closed without one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Is PE15001 still open?
No. It closed on Oct 29, 2016 without a recall.
Which vehicles does PE15001 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 1 model year: 2013 Nissan Rogue. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.