Nissan's Side Airbags
 

I was watching a segment on Dateline last night about a new T-Bone side impact test and they discussed side airbags/curtains. Do the side airbags that are on Maximas protect the head or are they just for the torso? I am talking about the ones that are located in the seat. I have a 97 and it doesn't have side airbags but I am wondering about the other Nissans in my family that do have them.

Good question, I've been wondering myself.

Dont the head ones come from the pillars up above?

We need to see '98 or '99 Maxima sales brochure; they most likely had photos showing where the side curtain airbags deploy. Ant, the only side airbags on a 4th gen are the seatback ones.

From looking around Nissan's website I think they protect the head and chest. The only Nissan car that does not have side curtains available is the Sentra. Regarding the Sentra's side airbags, Nissan says:
"Side Air Bags
Available driver and front-passenger side-impact supplemental air bags help protect your head and chest areas in certain side impacts. And since they're built into the front seats — not the door panels — they move with you when you adjust the seat."
There is a nice video that shows the bag inflated in the Sentra. I would have to assume the older Maximas are this way. I can't see a car company designing airbags to protect the torso instead of the head anyway. I would still like to confirm this but thats the best info I can find. And FYI, the Sentra got a poor rating on Dateline's T-bone test.

Well it got a poor rating because it's a small car.... Thanks for the info.

Update:
I found a 1999 Canadian Maxima brochure and it shows the side airbags deployed. They do NOT protect the head and it says they provide protection to the "chest and shoulders." So I would assume all 4th gens are like this. I don't know when the side airbags changed to protect the head as well like the new Sentras but I would be interested in finding out.

Wow, that is lame as hell. I'd much rather get a shoulder injury than a head injury. Grrr.

Yeah they protect your chest and shoulders IF they work... too bad they are faulty most the time... :mad:

Well, if I get T-boned by a semi and end up disabled I will sue the pants off Nissan North America. If they're truly faulty and they haven't issued a recall, they're asking for it. :D By the way, what's your source for that info?

And is your passenger side foglight missing its little plastic side cover??? Tsk tsk. ;)

Well, going by the previous service records, it had the driver side airbag replaced around 35k miles, I started getting the Airbag light blinking about 5k miles ago, which means the same thing is happening. There is a TSB if I can rememeber about this issue, something to do with the side airbags. Anyone know when the airbag light is on, if all the airbags are disabled? I heard that somewhere.

Anyways, I really think its weird how airbags dont come with a large warranty like seatbelts do. The airbags should last the life of the car, you shouldnt have to spend thousands to repair something that SHOULD be in the car by law. Seems weird to me, thats just my opinion btw.

Yes I am missing one of the foglight covers, lost it, dont care. :)

I remember taking my car to the Nissan dealership to get the driver side airbag fixed. I think it was a computer chip or something but it tripped one of the lights on the dashboard. I was not very pleased with their service because they had to take the back seat cover off. When they placed the cover back, it didn't have that factory look anymore. I can pull the thing back and see what's inside if I wanted to. They said it wasn't their fault because I signed the paper in order to get my key back. From then on, I always brought an extra set of keys to make sure everything was performed correctly before signing the paper.

F$CK the 99% of dealers that are like that. But at least it taught you to be a little more careful when you go to them.