Time for Key Fobs Only: Jack-knife Style Keys Cause Safety Recall for Nissan Rogues

By Yehudit Garmaise 

Nissan has recalled over 700,000 Rogue and Rogue Sport compact SUVs, which have been shutting off accidentally while driving.

The source of the safety dangers of the Rogue and Rogue Sports made since 2016 is the SUVs’ jackknife-style keys: the type in which the metal blade of keys flip out from within plastic key fobs.

Turns out the jackknife-style keys can weaken over time and cause the ignition to stop suddenly.

It seems to be time to create keyless fobs for all new vehicles after another incident reported by Rockland Daily here, where the 2015-2019 Hyundai and Kia models with turn-key ignitions were reported to be twice as likely to be stolen as other vehicles created in the same period as reported by Rockland Daily here.

The turn-key ignitions of many Hyundai and Kia models lack some of the basic auto theft prevention technology included in most other cars.

Nissan, which hasn't yet worked out a solution to the carmaker’s problem with its jack-knife keys, will begin alerting owners about its recall later in March, according to documents the automaker filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 

Once a solution is available, Nissan dealers will offer repairs to Rogue and Rogue Sport drivers: free of charge.

In the meantime, Nissan advises the owners of recalled vehicles not to attach anything, such as heavy keychains, to their keys that might pull them down.

Nissan also suggests that owners of its recalled models insert their keys into their ignitions in a direction that allows the key to fold only upward but not downward.

Nissan Rouge owners with questions about the recall can call NHTSA's Vehicle Safety Hotline at (888) 327-4236.

Photo Credit: Flickr