My nissan truck is very badly eaten by rust. The frame and body are being eaten away with rust. The brake lines and the power steering lines have disintegrated. The wheel axles and joints are badly corroded. Inferior quality metals and paint were used to manufacture this truck. This truck is now too dangerous to drive on the road. The engine and transmission are good but the rest is a disgrace.
The worst 1996 Nissan D21 problems
Ranked by number of owner complaints. Mileage and cost come from what owners wrote.
- Airbags13
- Suspension6
- Tires6
- Electrical4
- Engine3
Problems by type
Tap a problem to see which part fails, at what mileage and in which other years.
- Airbags13
- Suspension6
- Tires6
- Electrical4
- Engine3
- Body2
- Lights2
- Seat belts2
- Transmission2
- Acceleration1
- Brakes1
- Fuel system1
- Steering1
- Visibility1
Recalls 1
Exterior lighting: tail lights
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: light duty pickup trucks. A rear lamp will not illuminate because the metal barrel in the light bulb socket moves or separates from the plastic socket housing due to inadequate heat resistance of the plastic at the lamp operating temperature.
- Risk
- The stop/tail combination lamp or the turn signal lamp will not function.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the bulb sockets in the rear combination lamps.
Recall number 98V234000 · Recall details
Technical service bulletins for the 1996 Nissan D21 50
Bulletins tell dealers how to fix known problems. A warranty extension means the manufacturer pays for that repair for longer.
- Diagnosis of vehicle pull (drift) and/or steering wheel off-center
- 12 volt battery testing for in-service vehicles service information
- Silicone-based lubricant or grease CAN damage electrical components service information
- Vehicle key not detected / authenticated, engine will not start
- Intelligent key replacement or swapping between vehicles
- Windshield cracking
- Removing foreign material from the window glass
- Wheel bearing collision damage
- Strut and shock absorber replacement guidelines
- Voluntary service campaign 1996 truck malfunction indicator light (MIL) issues
What 1996 Nissan D21 owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
Tl*the contact owns a 1996 nissan pickup. When the contact started the vehicle and began to accelerate, the driver's side air bag deployed. There were no injuries. The manufacturer stated that an engineer would come out and inspect the vehicle. Two weeks after the inspection, the manufacturer called the contact and stated that no compensation would be provided due to the high mileage on the vehicle. The contact called the nissan dealer and received an estimate of $2,000 for the repair. The vehicle has not been repaired. The failure and current mileages were 205,000.
Leaking fuel tank. Fuel tank started leaking for no apparent reason.
I bought the truck in 1999 from the original owner, it had 29,800 miles on it. The truck had 59,500 miles on it when this happened. I was driving the truck when the engine stopped and smoke came out from under the hood. I opened the hood to find that the main engine wiring harness along side of the engine valve cover had melted about eight wires together. The truck sat for several months before I had time to work on it. I separated the wires and put them back together and the truck would run, but not the way it should. I ended up taking it to the nissan dealer where it stayed for a few months and they tried several things to fix the truck but didn't. The dealer ended up saying that it needed a complete wiring harness, which is from bumper to bumper all one piece and the wiring harness would cost app. $1400.00 plus labor. I brought the truck back home where it sets today with 59,600 miles on it.
We purchased a truck at curry's used cars. The truck had been wrecked, it was repaired at curry's paint and body shop. Then the owner sam curry had it for sale. We purchased it. Later we found out that he did not replace the airbag that had deployed. It has a dummy airbag in the vehicle. I know that this is a federal offense. Since I found this out know that other vehicles were repaired at this body shop and airbags replaced with dummy bags.
While driving at 35 MPH, the vehicle was involved in a frontal collision, and the air bags failed to deploy. *ak *ts
Tried to get emissions test, due to sensor light coming on (check engine light), vehicle failed test. Have reported this light several times. This light stays on, not been able to fix this problem. Have changed sensor three times. Did not have concerns before the emissions problems. Dlr seems to not know what to do about this problem, or how to to fix it. Maybe there should be some way of correcting this problem. I was told that the only solution was to keep replacing the sensor. Which is getting to be a problem. Dlr would do something to turn off the light, I drive down the road...the light comes back on...and stays on. This has been happening ever since vehicle purchase.
Consumer was getting into truck and began to smell something burning. Smoke started coming from steering wheel. Consumer got out of truck once smoke cleared. Drove to mechanic, and was informed that air bag wire assembly had burned, and it would need to be replaced. Please describe details.
Horn would go off while turning truck either direction until horn blaired constantly. After dealer inspected steering wheel, they found horn was loose, and a part had engaged itself inside air bag. Dealership indicated that it needed to be repaired because of possible deployment with no warning. Please describe details.
Firestone said 6 year old tire not covered in recall. Had good tread and not low on air pressure. Blew out sidewalls and belts without any warning that tires were losing air. *ts *nlm ***dimsii ivoq entry posted after 12-12-02 cut over to artemis***762204
Compare the 1996 Nissan D21
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Questions about the 1996 Nissan D21
Is the 1996 Nissan D21 reliable?
Owners have filed 44 complaints about the 1996 Nissan D21, close to a typical D21 model year.
What is the most common problem with the 1996 Nissan D21?
Airbags, with 13 complaints. Next is suspension (6).
How many recalls does the 1996 Nissan D21 have?
1 recall, covering exterior lighting.
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