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.

SEMA Show: Suzuki Equator Modded by ICON Vehicle Dynamics

The four tricked out Suzuki Kizashi sedans that are heading to Las Vegas for the SEMA Show will be joined by a Equator pickup truck concept crafted by ICON Vehicle Dynamics. The company said that it has tapped into a variety of Southern California-based suppliers to assemble a more aggressive interpretation of Suzuki's Nissan's off-road recipe with a tweaked version of the Equator's 4.0 liter V6 that gains Doug Thorley long-tube headers and cat-back exhaust.

Other highlights include new performance coilovers in front and 2.5-inch piggyback shocks supporting linked to Total Chaos upper control arms, Goodyear Wrangler MT/R tires mounted to Trail Ready bead-lock wheels and Bushwacker fender flares.