Was driving a (bought new) 1998 Nissan Maxima with optional side air bags on leather seats in Apr 2003. The side air bags did not deploy after a side impact from left to right on front bumper and left front wheel. The car was totaled by accident. I suffer from neck injury from hitting the driver door pillar (by seat belt adjuster). Had cervical Fusion of C4 & C5 in the neck. Now suffer a lifetime of pain and numbness.

- Hoffman Estates, IL, USA

After reclining my seat, the supplemental restraint system warning lamp started to blink and has remained blinking ever since. After diagnosing the side airbag module in the seat to be causing the problem. I found a Nissan technical service bulletin, ntb00-043, applying to all 1998-1999 Nissan Maxima vehicles, which states that the side airbag modules for the driver and passenger front seats are to be replaced with new updated ones that replace the side airbag modules and the seat-sub harness that the modules connect to. This is a manufacturing safety defect in the side airbag module's harness. The technical service bulletin states to route the new harness exactly as the old harness was routed, therefore eliminating the possibility of the harness routing in the seat being the cause of the problem. The technical service bulletin states that the side airbag module installed originally in the vehicle consists of a two piece harness; the airbag control module with a short section of wire that connects into a sub harness that is routed through the seat, where it is connected to the supplemental restraint system circuit. The updated side airbag module eliminates the two-piece harness system, repairing the supplemental restraint system fault and therefore eliminating the warning indicator constantly flashing. This requires the replacement of the side airbag modules, which is very costly and this issue creates a major safety issue regarding the functionality of the supplemental restrain system if ever required to be used. In addition, Nissan does not offer the side airbag modules for purchase to my extent of knowledge. After conducting my own research on websites for Nissan Maxima owners, this appears to be an extremely common issue that occurs on the 1998-1999 Nissan Maxima vehicles.

- Nesconset, NY, USA

I have a 1998 Nissan Maxima in 2004 I went on a trip half way down we stop at a bank, and when we got back in the car the air bag light did not turn off, but just kept blinking. Upon returning I took the vehicle to the local dealership and they reset the light and said the passenger side air bag showed a fault (open circuit). I did not do anything to fix it at this point. The light came back on after a few months but I did not take the car in again till 2008 and wanted to replace the part that is when I found out from the service manager that there is a problem with the side airbags with this certain model. It was a connection problem with the connectors she could it a design problem. The solution was that the new air bag had one connection instead of two which solved the problem. I did not get it replace, because I felt that it is a recall issue if they knew that it was a poor design and I believe that it should be changed out at no charge especially beinging a safety restraint issue. I also had a record that came with the car that the driver side air bag had been replace not to long after I purchased the vehicle

- Pasco, WA, USA

The ABS dash-oard warning light began flashing. I took it to the Nissan dealership in Santa Fe nm. They told me that a problem existed in the driver-side air bag module, and that replacing the module would be necessary, and that the driver-side air bag may or may not work in the event of an accident. Approximate cost, $300, plus $72/hour labor.

- Ranchos De Taos, NM, USA