The 1996 Nissan 200sx has 1 NHTSA recall campaign affecting an estimated 512,387 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 44 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the air bags. Last updated July 5, 2026.
Recall campaigns
VISIBILITY98V0930001998-05-05512,387 affected
Defect
VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER VEHICLES. WATER CAN ENTER AND DISPLACE THE GREASE IN THE WIPER ARM LINKAGE BALL JOINT WHERE THE WIPER LINKAGE ATTACHES TO THE WIPER MOTOR LINKAGE.
Consequence
THIS CAN RESULT IN GRADUAL WEAR OVER A PERIOD OF TIME INSIDE THE JOINT THAT COULD LEAD TO THE SEPARATION OF THE WIPER LINKAGE ASSEMBLY FROM THE WIPER MOTOR LINKAGE AT THE BALL JOINT. A LOSS OF WINDSHIELD WIPER FUNCTION CAN RESULT IN THIS SEPARATION OCCURS.
Remedy
TO PREVENT GREASE FROM BEING WASHED OUT OF THE JOINT, THE DEALERS WILL MODIFY BY ADDING A WATER DIVERSION SEAL THAT WILL PREVENT WATER FROM ENTERING THE WINDSHIELD WIPER LINKAGE BALL JOINT AREA.
Complaints by component
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
9
3crashes4injuries
VISIBILITY:WINDSHIELD WIPER/WASHER:LINKAGES
5
AIR BAGS
3
TIRES:TREAD/BELT
3
VISIBILITY:WINDSHIELD WIPER/WASHER
3
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
2
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
2
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION
1
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING:FRONT UNDERHOOD
1
1fires
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE
1
Total complaints44
What owners report
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal
information removed.
“Tl*the contact owns a 1996 nissan 200sx. The vehicle would not shift gears or exceed 20 mph. The dealer stated that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle is currently being repaired by the dealer. The current and failure mileages were 92,000.”
“Wiper arm linkage pops off as described in the recall section, both wipers become non-functional. Local nissan dealer will not honor the recall, stating that my car does not have the defective part - no record of this recall being performed linked to this vin. *tr”
“Entering a right turn on a clover leaf the car made a sudden sideways movement. I was traveling about 20 mph and was forced to the shoulder. Initial roadside inspection found left rear tire touching left rear fender well. Car was taken by flatbed carrier from roadside. Upon further examination…”
“Dt*: the contact stated the wiper arm linkage disengaged without warning, while the windshield washer/wipers were activated. The vehicle was not inspected by a dealer. There was a nhtsa recall, # 98v093000, regarding the windshield washer/wiper arm linkage. The vehicle was not included in the…”
“I own a 1996 nissan 200sx with . I purchased the car in late summer of 2005. On july 5 2006 my son was driving the car in a rain storm and the wipers stopped functioning. The next day he asked me to look at the car and I discovered the windshield wiper linkage had failed at the ball joint where…”
“Dt: the contact stated driver's side windshield wiper does not work. The passenger side windshield wiper will work intermittently. There was no forewarning prior to the wipers not working. There was recall 98v093000. He contacted the dealer, they stated it was too old of a recall in their…”
“My witness who drove with me checked the tire pressure before we left because we were driving over 150 miles. We were driving from almost apache junction,az to sierra vista az. To pick my 7 year old son from his mothers. We got outside of casa grande going the speed limit, we heard a loud noise…”
“Driver side windshield wiper arm ball joint failed resulting in the inoperability of the driver side windshield wiper. According to the nhtsa website, there is a recall for this specific problem. Nissan says this problem is vin number specific and my vin number is not included in the recall. My…”
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL,
FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 1996 Nissan 200sx as of
July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page
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