Right around the time Nissan recalled 360,000 Pathfinders for defective hood latches in June, the Japanese automaker also issued a separate alert for its pickups. That campaign covered 180,000 Frontier and Titan models manufactured between late 2019 and summer 2022 for risk of roll away. Nissan has just added another 23,000 trucks to that tally, as even recently manufactured 2023-model year vehicles have been deemed susceptible to the same fault.
The recall concerns Nissan pickups equipped with nine-speed gearboxes, and concerns the parking pawl — the part that actually restricts the transmission’s output shaft from turning in either direction when the Park gear is selected.
According to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration document, resistance between the parking rod and wedge appears to inhibit the pawl’s movement, which prevents it from engaging. Without the use of the parking brake, that leaves nothing holding the truck in position.
Four people have already been injured as a result of this problem, per Consumer Reports. 2020 to 2023-model year Titans, built between December 13, 2019 and August 25, 2022; in addition to 2020 and 2021 Frontiers, built between June 10, 2020 and June 25, 2021, are all affected. The total number of vehicles covered now amounts to 203,223.
In the meantime, owners can eliminate the danger of their trucks fleeing the driveway by engaging their parking brakes. If you happen to own a recently manufactured Frontier or Titan, make sure you kick yours down. Yes, kick, because Nissan still employs foot-operated parking brakes in both of its pickups. That might be somewhat charming if it didn’t reflect how dated they feel relative to the competition.