Fire Hazard from Garmin Nuvi Prompts Recalls from Suzuki and Nissan

After Garmin announced a voluntary recall of 1.25 million units of its popular Nuvi GPS system at the end of August amidst concerns that the batteries could overheat and catch fire, Suzuki and Nissan followed with a recall on several vehicles equipped with the affected Garmin Nuvi navigation systems including the 750, 760, or 765 models for the same reason.

The recalled Garmin units can be found on certain Suzuki vehicles including the 2008-2010MY SX4 crossovers, 2010MY Grand Vitara SUVs, and 2009-2010MY Equator vehicles, and the 2008-2010MY Nissan Altima, Frontier, Pahtfinder, Rogue, Sentra, Versa and Xterra vehicles.

In both cases, the automakers will notify owners of the affected models, and the repairs will be performed by Garmin technicians who will replace the battery and insert a spacer on top of the battery free of charge.

Nissan UK Confirms Prices for Refreshed Panthfinder and Navara

The facelifted Nissan Pathfinder SUV and its Navara pickup truck sibling are available for order now in Britain. Key enhancements for both models include the addition of a new 231HP 3.0-liter V6 diesel engine, some minor revisions to the 2.5-liter diesel that now produces 190HP, a refreshed exterior and improved interior with more standard equipment.

The Navara 2.5dCi 190HP pickup truck starts from £19,807 (excluding VAT) for the Acenta King Cab, while the Tekna, available only in Double Cab form, costs from £24,389.50 (on the road) for the manual or £25,682 (on the road) for the automatic.

Additional standard features on the Navara Acenta include side and curtain airbags, ESP stability control, front fog lights, new seat cloth, additional cabin storage. On the Navara Tekna, pop-up headlight washers, speed limiter, power fold mirrors, MP3 AUX input all come as standard.

The Pathfinder Acenta 2.5 dCi 190HP is priced at £28,495 while the fully equipped Pathfinder Tekna is available with either a 6-speed manual transmission (£31,595) or a 5-speed automatic (£33,095).

Extra standard features on the Pathfinder Acenta include Fine Vision combimeter for a crisp view of the instrument dials, new centre console and lidded storage box and MP3 AUX input.

On the Pathfinder Tekna, Nissan Connect Premium HDD, a sat nav infotainment system with 7-inch colour touch screen, comes as standard as well as new 18-inch wheels, headlight washers, speed limiter and new centre console with wood finish.

Nissan said that prices for the 231HP V6 diesel models will be announced at a later date with deliveries starting in September.

2011 Nissan Pathfinder and Navara Pickup Facelifted in Europe, get new 231HP V6 Diesel

Nissan has given the European market version of the Pathfinder SUV and its pickup truck sibling, the Navara (sold as the Frontier in the States), a mid-life facelift to keep them up to date with the competition.

The Japanese automaker made a number of enhancements to both models including the introduction of brand-new 3.0-liter V6 diesel engine, some minor revisions to the 2.5-liter diesel, a refreshed exterior and improved interior with more standard equipment.

For the first time, the Pathfinder and Navara will be available with the Renault Nissan Alliance's new direct injection 3.0-liter V6 turbo diesel which will also be offered in the European market Infiniti EX30d, FX30d and M30d models.

In the Nissan models, the 3.0-liter V6 diesel is rated at 231-horsepower and 550Nm or 405lb-ft of peak torque available between 1,750 rpm and 2,500 rpm. According to Nissan, with this engine, the Pathfinder is capable of towing a 3,500kg (7,716 pounds) braked trailer with Navara having a 3,000kg (6,613 pounds) limit.

For the 2011 model year, the existing 2.5-liter four-cylinder diesel engine has been subtly retuned delivering an 11 per cent rise in both power and torque figures. Power rises by 19HP to 190-horsepower while torque increases by a healthy 47 Nm to 450Nm or 332 lb-ft.

Along with the performance gains, Nissan says that the changes have seen improvements in fuel economy and lower emissions. Over the combined cycle manual versions return 8.5lt/100km (equal to 27.7 mpg US), an improvement of 1.3 lt/100km, while CO2 emissions dropped by 40g/km to 224 g/km.

The cosmetic changes on the outside include a new bonnet design, revised grille, updated headlamps with projector styling, restyled front bumper with softer corners that adds 80mm to the length of both models, a new rear bumper for the Pathfinder and new alloy wheel designs.

Inside, both models feature new switchgear in the center console, revised door trims, new seat fabrics, the addition of chrome highlights, revised dials and, depending on the model, the availability of Nissan Connect Premium with a new high resolution touch screen.

Other changes include the availability of the ESP system and a rear view camera on the Navara as well as various equipment upgrades on both models (depending on the market).

The new Nissan Pathfinder and Navara will be launched at the Geneva Motor Show in early March, with the four-cylinder models due to go on sale across Europe in April 2010. They will be followed two months later by the new 3.0-liter V6 diesel flagship models.

While Nissan did not mention the North American-spec Pathfinder and Frontier in its press release, chances are that, if not all, most of the upgrades will be applied to both trucks in the 2011 model year.