2016 Nissan Rogue · symptom sheet

Airbag warning light or recall

61owner reports
40,000median miles
19involved a crash

Newest report Apr 20, 2026 · checked Sep 9, 2026

61 of the 539 complaints on this car describe airbag. Only transmission shudder is reported more often on this car.

Tick what matches of 61 reports

the airbag light stays on

passenger seat sensor

the airbag did not deploy in a crash

airbag deployed with no crash

the recall part is not available

What got replaced

Owners who name the part that was replaced mention the occupant sensor (20 reports).

Recalls and investigations

2 recalls on the airbags cover the 2016 model year. A recall on the same system isn't always the same failure, so read the defect text.

16V-911Dec 19, 2016

Air Bags:Sensor:Occupant Classification

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Altima vehicles manufactured January 3, 2013, to July 29, 2013, 2015-2016 Rogue vehicles manufactured October 14, 2014, to August 12, 2016, and 2016 Maxima vehicles manufactured June 4, 2015, to August 19, 2015. An incorrect Occupant Classification System (OCS) Electronic Control Unit (ECU) may have been installed in the front passenger seat. The incorrect ECU and seat combination may misclassify the front passenger seat occupant.

Risk and remedy

Risk: If the front passenger seat occupant is misclassified, the air bag may deploy incorrectly in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Remedy: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the ECU and update the OCS software free of charge. The recall began February 13, 2017. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.

16V-244Apr 26, 2016

Air Bags:Sensor:Occupant Classification

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Nissan Maxima, 2013-2016 Nissan Altima, NV200, LEAF, Sentra, and Pathfinder, 2014-2016 Nissan NV200 Taxi, Infiniti QX60, QX60 Hybrid, and Q50 Hybrid, 2014-2017 Nissan Rogue and Infiniti Q50, 2015-2016 Nissan Murano, Murano Hybrid, and Chevrolet City Express, 2014-2015 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid, and 2013 Infiniti JX35 vehicles. In these vehicles, the front seat passenger Occupant Classification System (OCS) may incorrectly classify an adult passenger as a child or classify the seat as empty despite it being occupied. As a result, the passenger frontal air bag may be turned off and not deploy in the event of a crash.

Risk and remedy

Risk: If the passenger frontal air bag does not deploy as intended in the event of a crash, the passenger is at an increased risk of injury.
Remedy: Nissan will notify their owners. Chevrolet City Express owners will be notified by General Motors. Dealers will reprogram the Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) and OCS Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in Altima, Maxima, Murano, Rogue, and Sentra vehicles, and replace the OCS ECU in LEAF, NV200, NV200 Taxi, Pathfinder, Infiniti Q50, JX35, and QX60 and Chevrolet City Express vehicles, free of charge. Interim notices were sent to owners on May 31, 2016. Owners will receive a second notice when remedy parts become available. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669, Infiniti customer service at 1-888-833-3216 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020.

NHTSA investigations into the airbags on the Rogue

PE24-017opened May 31, 2024

Airbags · model years 2015

Side curtain air bags may deploy inadvertently. Open.

NHTSA summary

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received multiple Early Warning Reporting (EWR) field reports alleging inadvertent deployment of the side curtain air bags in Model Year (MY) 2015 Nissan Rogue Select vehicles. The field reports allege the side curtain air bags inadvertently deploy after the door is shut and/or slammed. Inadvertent deployment of an air bag can cause occupants to be injured or result in the loss of protection from the air bag when needed in a crash. ODI is opening this Preliminary Evaluation (PE) to assess the scope, frequency, and severity of the inadvertent deployment allegations.

PE15-001opened Jan 12, 2015

Airbags · model years 2013

Improper frontal air bag deployment. Closed oct 29, 2016.

NHTSA summary

The 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.

None of these investigations covers the 2016 model year.

When it happens

The middle half of failures fell between 19,000 and 56,000 miles, from the 34 reports that gave a mileage.

1116

517

618

919

620

721

322

423

424

425

226

What owners wrote

“The airbag passenger light has been showing off for about 2 years and on 4/30/25 showed the passenger air bag on the main panel in red color. I bring it today 5/2/25 to the Nissan dealer and they said is not a recall and they didnât fix it. I been reading that actually is a recall and something can explode and is not recommended to drive the car under this sing.”
Filed May 2, 2025

“The passenger airbag light always reads OFF even when someone is sitting in the passenger seat.”
Filed Nov 16, 2024

“Airbag indicator, driver side warning lamps have been consistently on for the past 2 weeks now. Bought it used, but owned the vehicle for 2 years now. Called the Nissan Authorized Dealership, will charge me for diagnostic service.”
Filed Oct 5, 2024

“The front seat wiring is too short so anytime the seat is pushed back it triggers the airbag light and turns off all the airbags. I called Nissan about it and they stated since I donât have an active recall (even though there is a recall on this same issue) that they will not pay to have it fixed.”
Filed Jun 21, 2022

Should you keep driving it?

This page can't tell you that. 19 of 61 reports involved a crash and 25 people were hurt. Owners who file are the ones who had a bad experience, and nobody checks their reports. If the problem affects steering, braking, power or a fire risk, treat it as a safety fault and have it inspected before a long or high-speed drive.

File your own report with NHTSA. Complaint counts are how a problem gets an investigation.