More car manufacturers join airbag recall

Toyota, Mazda and Suzuki have issued voluntary recalls of more than 18,000 vehicles manufactured between 1996 and 1999, including the popular Toyota Starlets, offering to buy back affected vehicles.

These vehicles are fitted with potentially deadly Takata NADI 5-AT airbags.

“These airbags could injure or kill people in the car by misdeploying in an accident and propelling parts or metal fragments into the cabin of the vehicle at high speed,” ACCC Acting Chair Stephen Ridgeway said.

“The airbags have also, in some instances, not fully inflated in a crash, thereby failing to protect drivers as expected.”

Owners of affected Toyota, Mazda and Suzuki vehicles are advised to stop driving their vehicles immediately and contact their manufacturer to arrange an urgent, free inspection.

Safety authorities in Australia have now received reports of four incidents involving suspected misdeployments of these airbags in Australia. These incidents resulted in a death and a serious injury in BMW vehicles, and a death and a serious injury in Toyota vehicles.

“Drivers must take these warnings seriously. These airbags pose a serious safety risk that could lead to deaths or serious injuries. Please do not put lives at risk and consider other transport options if your vehicle is affected,” Mr Ridgeway said.

Consumers should check if their car is included in this recall by checking their vehicle’s VIN number in the table below or visiting the Product Safety Australia website. People who need help to check if their vehicle is affected, should ring the manufacturer’s hotline for help.

Toyota is offering to buy back vehicles or provide long-term alternative vehicle hire until replacement airbags are available.

Mazda and Suzuki are offering to buy back affected vehicles from their owners.

The voluntary recalls by Toyota, Mazda and Suzuki follows voluntary recalls of nearly 17,000 vehicles by Audi, BMW and Ford since November 2019. The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development, supported by the ACCC, is seeking to finalise voluntary recalls by Honda and Mitsubishi. It is expected that these recalls will be launched very soon.

Audi, BMW, and Ford have already commenced recalls and are urgently contacting customers. If you have an affected Audi, BMW or Ford vehicle and have not yet been contacted, call your manufacturer urgently to arrange an urgent, free inspection.

In addition, Audi, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Toyota have all agreed to consider providing urgent short-term assistance for consumers who are experiencing significant hardship over the holiday period as a result of this safety issue. Consumers who wish to seek this hardship assistance can contact the vehicle manufacturer’s head office. BMW owners can contact BMW to arrange for their vehicle to be towed for inspection.

Further information for consumers is available at Recall of Takata NADI 5-AT airbags.

Have you checked your car’s airbag on the website yet?

3 comments

Yes Ben, darn disgrace, I have had one of mine removed and replaced, I asked them to remove them ALL but they said they were not able to it was against the law -- crazy -- seems they are so deadly and we drove a long time before we had air bags

 

A problem that has arisen here is that neither the manufacturers of the cars nor the airbags ever anticipated that these cars would still be on the road in twenty years after they left the factory.  All manufacturers can do tests of numbers of duty cycles for a product, but there is only one test for chronological durability and (in the case of the chemicals in the airbags) stability of active components.

PlanB, much of the safety compliance of those (and many newer ones) vehicles is based on the SRS as well as the passive structural design.

 

This has been going on for some years, surely the big car manufacturers should stop using this firms product by now.

3 comments



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