Nissan has just announced a recall involving more than 200,000 cars and SUVS that could self-immolate.
In an extreme move, the company is also advising owners of affected vehicles to park them outside their garages just in case one of them does ignite. The cause of the problem is a faulty anti-lock brake pump that can leak brake fluid onto a circuit board which in turn will cause an electrical short that naturally increases the risk of fire. It's science, obviously.
According to Nissan, if drivers see the anti-lock brake warning icon illuminated on their instrument cluster for more than 10 seconds after engine startup, then you should most definitely switch the vehicle off and not drive it at all. It's under those conditions that owners are being urged to leave their vehicles outdoors.
Documents which showed up on the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website claim there have been no reported fires as of yet, while the company is adamant there haven't been any injuries either.
Vehicles involved in the recall include certain 2015 to 2017 Nissan Muranos, 2016 and 2017 Nissan Maximas, 2017 through 2018 Nissan Pathfinders, and the 2017 Infiniti QX60. Nissan has traced the problem back to faulty seals used behind the pump, and the automaker is estimating more than 130,000 of the 240,000 cars recalled are affected, a 56 percent fault rate. Most of the recalled vehicles are in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
Obviously anytime there's avoidable fire risk you should do everything in your power to take as many precautions as possible, which for now means leaving your car outside if you own one of the potentially affected vehicles. Nissan will be notifying owners of all recalled vehicles shortly, with dealers set to inspect the pump's serial numbers and replace those with faulty parts starting on October 15.