Steve's Collision Inc.

Attention Vehicle Owners: More Takata Air Bag Recalls

The news about the Takata airbag recalls keeps getting worse and worse and the numbers keep growing at a rapid rate. Already deep into the largest automotive recall in history, Toyota was hit again in a big way when the carmaker reported that it will recall nearly 1.6 million additional U.S. vehicles for front passenger side Takata air bag inflators that might rupture without provocation. Now Toyota has approximately 4,697,000, including Lexus and Scion vehicles that are subject to Takata airbag recalls. 

Here at Steve's Collision Inc., we repair Toyotas all the time and we work around airbags every day, so we're happy to be sharing this information with our blog readers whenever we can.

Earlier this month, Takata Corporation garnered its share of bad publicity, which led to recalling another 35 million to 40 million U.S. defective inflators. Previously, the company was unwilling to admit that more inflators were defective, but after several hearings in Washington DC, they relented. These are life and death decisions, because many faulty Takata inflators have been linked to more than 100 injuries and 13 deaths worldwide.

This is the largest recall in U.S. auto safety history and experts say that it should have taken place more than a year ago when Takata's inflators were discovered to be dangerously defective. Malfunctioning Takata air bag inflators can detonate with enough force to create shrapnel that then ricochets throughout the interior of the vehicle, just like bullets shot from a powerful gun.

Almost at the same time, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Tesla Motors Inc., Jaguar Land Rover and Fisker Automotive will recall Takata air bag inflators. This means that there are now a grand total of 17 automakers involved, including Honda Motor Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV.

Toyota said the new recall includes some but not all Corolla, Matrix, Yaris, 4Runner, Sienna, Scion xB, Lexus ES, GX and IS vehicles built between 2006 and 2011.

As the numbers increase, the recall is quickly becoming a major automotive epidemic. A spokesperson for Daimler AG said another 197,000 of their vehicles in the United States will need to be recalled again after already being recalled in previous driver-side airbag calls. Now, many car owners have gone through several Takata airbag recalls, so they must be perplexed but also relieved that no one was injured or died from one or more faulty airbags.

Takata filed reports with U.S. auto safety regulators revealing that nearly 14 million airbag inflators were defective in the first of a series of mandated reports. Takata agreed to expand recalls by 35 million to 40 million inflators in several stages through 2019. So, this dilemma isn't going to go away soon and only gradually will the issues be alleviated for drivers.

To find a comprehensive list of all of the vehicles affected by the recall, go to: www.safercar.gov. Here in Oak Grove and all over MN, we know that many people will have to take their cars in for airbag replacements, so hopefully this information will help you during this time.

Sources: AOL, Yahoo and Google