Nissan Armada fire or smoke problems

Filed Aug 24, 2025 · Brakes · OK

There is a common known issue with the Armadas that Nissan has not addressed, where you will randomly get a "BCI Malfunction" warning, sometimes corresponding to a warning about the ABS System. The car will not shift out of the current gear when this happens, until you turn it off and back on again. If you are really unlucky, like I am, this will progress to the car randomly applying the brakes and initiating hard stops, in traffic. This happened to me two days ago in traffic and I narrowly escaped an accident. I had to get the car towed home and it still intermittently does this. The brakes locked up so badly that the car was covered in smoke and appeared to be on fire. This is terribly unsafe, and Nissan needs to fix it, because it is more likely that an Armada owner WILL encounter this, than that they won't, and people are going to be injured and/or killed, if they have not already. This is very serious. Please help.

Filed Jul 1, 2025 · Electrical · KY

The wireless charging pad gets so hot that it will issue a temperature warning on my phone and shut it off until it cools down. After researching, it's a common issue for the year and Make of my vehicle. I feel like this is a fire hazard. I drive with my grandson who is still in a car seat, it's a concern that if the car caught on fire, could I get him out of the car seat fast enough. I know Nissan is aware of the issue but so far, they haven't issued a solution. I have used wireless charging pads in Ford and Toyota vehicles and have never had this problem.

Filed Mar 19, 2025 · Electrical, Seats · 200,000 miles · ME

The contact owns a 2011 Nissan Armada. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, there was an abnormal burning odor coming from the vehicle. The contact stated that one day, upon exiting the vehicle with the engine running, there was heavy black smoke coming from the front passenger’s seat. The contact alerted the business at her location about the failure and obtained buckets of water to assist the contact. The contact used a knife to cut out parts of the seat and poured water directly on the smoke. Once the Fire Department arrived at the scene, the smoke was extinguished, and the vehicle was inspected to ensure that there was no presence of a fire. No injuries were reported. The contact was not informed if a fire report was filed. The contact stated that the driver’s side seat warmer was activated at the time of the failure; however, the passenger’s side seat was not occupied, and the seat warmer should not have been activated. Despite the failure, the contact resumed normal operation of the vehicle. The contact called the dealer and was referred to the federal safety agency Hotline. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired; however, the front passenger’s seat was removed from the vehicle. The failure mileage was 200,000.

Filed Sep 14, 2024 · Airbags, Electrical · NY

Was driving on a smooth road when suddenly airbag light on dash came on flashing. All the steering wheel buttons are working. Brought car to mechanic's shop to scan obd2, no dtc codes. Mechanic says they don't know what it is without a code. Nissan has been shady lately with technical service bulletins TSB instead of recalls. TSB according to Nissan hq is a repair at the discretion of the dealer meaning that they do not have to repair it even while it was under warranty. I had some piston slapping noise and burning smell coming from engine bay while under warranty the dealer Mechanic said," the noise is normal that of a suv and the burnt smell was the peanut packing oil burning off the outside of the engine". There was a TSB put out a few months later saying that Nissan acknowledged a defective short block in the engine causing abnormal wear on the piston. I brought it into the dealer and they refused to replace the short block and damaged cylinder. the federal safety agency needs to up their game and force these auto companies to be accountable. Years back my first edition Honda accord v6 had failed brakes that made me have an accident totaling the car. Veered off side of highway to minimize harm to others. Three years after the accident a recall on that models brakes came up. I was never given money for the totalled car by Honda. They need to be held accountable. Please take action and force the recalls instead of waiting for more people to be injured. Just look at the complaints on this make and model, why hasn't an investigation even begun? Airbag should be a top priority in recalls. Especially a blinking light with no explanation is a ticking time bomb that can set off an airbag at any given notice worst yet not deploy when there is an actual accident.

Filed Dec 13, 2023 · Electrical · 200,100 miles · WI · fire

The contact owed a 2006 Nissan Armada. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact noticed fire and smoke coming from the front passenger side underneath the glove compartment area. The contact stopped and parked the vehicle. The contact exited the vehicle and noticed the vehicle was on fire. The fire department arrived on the scene and extinguished the fire. A fire report was filed. There were no injuries sustained. The vehicle was left on the shoulder of the road. The contact stated the local police authorities later placed a sticker on the disabled burned vehicle because it was left on the shoulder of the road and had to be removed. The contact stated that the vehicle was junked. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 200,100.

Filed May 27, 2022 · Brakes · WA

I was driving in traffic and my breaks went out and I almost got in a collision. The breaks at first didn't work and then were bouncing and grinding to stop and the break warning light came on. I swerved and barely missed another car. I pulled over in a parking lot there was a burning smell and let it sit for 4hr. I took it to get the breaks fixed an they couldn't find any issues with the breaking system except for the Delta Stroke Sensor Failure. I understand this has a been an ongoing issue with cars. One situation killed 3 people and Nissan lost a $25M lawsuit on this. I can't understand why this wouldn't be on a recall as issues with the breaking system is life threatening. My car is now at Nissan getting fixed, has been there for 2 weeks, they still can't figure out the issue with the Delta Sensor breaking system. This is very serious and no matter what age of the car, should be covered under a recall. You can find hundreds of articles online to understand how many cars are affected. Please look into this and issue a recall.

Filed Nov 14, 2019 · Electrical, Seats · 39,200 miles · GA · fire · 1 injury

I drive a 2017 nissan armada that caught fire!!! We purchased this vehicle march of this year. My heated seat malfunctioned and caught my pants and my seat on fire while I was driving with two-2- small children!!! Tuesday morning november 12th, 2019 I was driving my 7 year old to school with my 3 year old with us when I started to feel a pain in my left leg. I lifted my leg which then I saw smoke and could smell something was burning. All this happened while I was driving with 2 small children strapped into their carseats. When I noticed the hole and black marks in my sweatpants and a hole in my driver seat I immediately turned off the heated seat button. We could of wrecked into another vehicle that most likely would of had another kid in the car. Not only was my children's lives and my life at risk but all those people's lives around me taking their kids to school, too. It was one of the most scariest days of my life. I am terrified to drive this vehicle now. We could had died!!! I bought this vehicle because I wanted heated seats, now I will never use heated seats again. I am truly traumatized from this experience. My experience with nissan corporation has not made the situation better but worse. See also odi 11280207. *dsy *dt*dt

Filed Apr 9, 2018 · Electrical · 60,875 miles · OH · fire

Tl* the contact owned a 2012 nissan armada. While the vehicle was parked outside the contact's place of employment, an explosion was heard. The contact exited the building and noticed smoke coming from her vehicle. The contact opened the front driver's door and noticed flames under the steering column, console, and accelerator pedal. There were no injuries sustained. The fire department extinguished the fire. There was no police or fire report filed. The vehicle was destroyed and towed to a towing lot. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was contacted and informed the contact that an investigator would investigate the fire. The approximate failure mileage was 60,875.

Filed Feb 8, 2018 · Airbags, Electrical · 84,000 miles · PA · fire

My nissan armada caught fire. My front driver seat got very hot to the point of burning. Pulled over to get an application for my child's daycare. Pulled my son or to go with me and left my daughter in the car watching a movie while I went in by the time I reached the door I hear my kids yelling. I turned and looked the car was filed with smoke. Thank god for good hearted people that help me get the kid's out the car. I'm contacting a lawyer about this.

Filed May 15, 2017 · Engine · 49,000 miles · NV

The oil fill spout came off the valve head cover resulting in massive oil spill. I was lucky I discovered it after a short trip to the store. Both pieces are made of plastic and poorly glued together with something that resembles silicone. It had completely deteriorated (the car has 49,000 miles on it) . Very disappointed that nissan wouldn't spend another 15 cents and hold these pieces together with a clamp of some sort. I had just come back from a 650 mile trip, if this would have happened on the highway the engine would have ceased up or the car might have gone up in flames.