Centavur

My Pixo saga developed like this. Had the airbag light issue looked at by two independent garages, one of those specialised in car electrics. Unlike the Nissan dealership, BOTH diagnosed the fault to be with the clockspring ribbon cable. For the record, the non-specialist garage did this by using their computer and then they advised me to take the car to the electric specialists, who stripped down the steering column, tested the ribbon cable and confirmed damage to it. The first garage was my usual servicing point and never charged me, the second garage charged me £36 although they had to strip it down TWICE because they had forgotten to take a note of the part number. Went to the dealer and told them the independents’ verdict, you should have seen their faces when I asked them why did they want me to replace the airbag! Their mechanic then confirmed the fault with the ribbon cable, cost of repair c. £399 + VAT for the ribbon cable and £78 for labour. Contacted Nissan who initially said that they were prepared to cover 20% of the part cost. Following some negotiations they agreed a goodwill gesture to cover 75% of the part cost so I was to pay £100 + VAT + the labour cost of £78, a total of £198. And, of course, the condition was to have it fixed at the same Nissan garage (bizarrely, 3 months later they were stripped off the Nissan dealership status!). No other option so I got it fixed but not before calling a Suzuki dealer who quoted £99 + VAT for a ribbon cable for Suzuki Alto which is the same car as the Pixo. So I guess Nissan’s goodwill was not a goodwill after all! Shortly after this the airbag light flashed on and off again, and that did it for me as I completely lost faith in the car, Nissan and their dealerships. I just traded it in for a different make while it was still OK. I have to say that I really liked the car, it was the ideal commuter car for me regularly returning c. 50mpg on a 26 miles daily round trip plus another c. 70 miles over the weekend. There must be an issue with the ribbon cable or/and its fitting on the Pixo, and until Nissan hold their hand up and refund me the money I spent in their former dealership, I will not even consideri buying another Nissan again.

Hi FrenchpolisherSorry for the delay in replying, had lost hope of receiving any comments. No, mine is not sorted yet. What about yours? I am not sure that the PIXO will get a recall anytime soon, not at least until they sort out the vehicles currently being recalled. Was thinking perhaps to go to a national paper, never done that before. regards centavur

A couple of months back, less than a month after the warranty expired, the airbag light came on and refused to go off. Manual says issue with either airbag system or seatbelt pretensioners. Took car to dealer, they could not find the fault but cleared the light anyway. They reckoned it was triggered on by an object [rolling] under the seat(s) and advised that should the light come on again the car would require a new airbag unit @ c. £1,200. On the same day, as I was parking the car on the driveway at home, some 7 miles from the garage, the light briefly came on and disappeared. Did so on the next day, in exactly the same circumstances, with the steering wheel almost at full lock - but came off again. Called Nissan customer services on the Monday, the chap that called me back was adamant that the cause was as said by dealer - even though they admitted that they could not find the fault cause. Ok, for nearly two months drove carefully, ensuring that car floor was clear of any objects and that I did not turn the steering wheel into a full lock position. Finally, the other day as I was parking in my drive, the light came on again - and stayed on. Are there any other Pixo/Nissan owners that have had similar experiences? I am reluctant to spend over £1,200 on sth that may not even be the cause of the fault – the garage just put it in the invoice even though their computer failed to diagnose the problem. Any advice on next steps greatly appreciated. Thanks.