201410.28
0

The Takata Airbag Recall

by in Product Liability

Airbags are supposed to save lives, not end them by shooting metal fragments into vehicle occupants. This is what happened in a handful of cases involving airbags made by auto part supplier Takata. It has been estimated that nearly 11 million vehicles are potentially affected by this issue in the United States. As you may have heard, there is a massive set of recalls underway. At present, ten different automakers have recalled approximately 7.8 million vehicles in order to replace defective airbags made by Takata. The airbags have been found to improperly deploy in an explosive manner, injuring or possibly killing people in the car. Specifically, the defect involves both inflator and propellent devices that may deploy incorrectly in the event of a crash and spray metal shards into the car.

So far, only 4 fatalities and 139 injuries have been linked to the Takata air bags installed in cars from model years 2002 to 2008. To put those numbers in perspective, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has estimated that that frontal air bags save approximately 2,500 lives a year. So over that same period of time approximately 17,500 lives have been saved by frontal airbags.

Initially, only six car makes were involved when Takata announced the defect in April 2013. After new admissions by Takata that it did not know which cars used its defective inflators, or what the root cause of the defect was, more automakers were prompted to issue identical recalls. We have a complete list of the affected models below.

Acura 2002-2003 CL/ TL

Acura 2003-2006 MDX

Acura 2005 RL

 

BMW 2000-2005 3-series sedan and wagon

BMW 2000-2006 3-series coupe and convertible

BMW 2001-2006 M3 coupe and convertible

Chrysler 2005-2008 Chrysler 300

Chrysler 2007-2008 Aspen

Dodge 2003-2008 Ram 1500

Dodge 2005-2008 Ram 2500, Dakota and Durango

Dodge 2006-2008 Ram 3500 and 4500

Dodge 2008 Ram 5500

Ford 2004 Ranger

Ford 2005-2006 GT

Ford 2005-2007 Mustang

Honda 2001-2007 Accord (four-cylinder)

Honda 2001-2002 Accord (V-6)

Honda 2001-2005 Civic

Honda 2002-2006 CR-V

Honda 2002-2004 Odyssey

Honda 2003-2011 Element

Honda 2003-2007 Pilot

Honda 2006 Ridgeline

Infiniti 2001-2004 I30/I35;

Infiniti 2002-2003 QX4

Infiniti 2003-2005 FX35/FX45

Infiniti 2006 M35/M45

Lexus 2002-2005 SC430

Mazda 2003-2007 Mazda 6;

Mazda 2006-2007 Mazdaspeed 6;

Mazda 2004-2008 RX-8

Mazda 2004-2005 MPV

Mazda 2004 B-series

Mitsubishi 2004-2005 Lancer

Mitsubishi 2006-2007 Raider

Nissan 2001-2003 Maxima

Nissan 2001-2004 Pathfinder

Nissan 2002-2006 Nissan Sentra

Pontiac 2003-2005 Vibe

Saab 2005 9-2X

Subaru 2003-2005 Baja, Legacy, and Outback

Subaru 2004-2005 Impreza, Impreza WRX and Impreza WRX STI

Toyota 2002-2005 Corolla and Sequoia

Toyota 2003-2005 Matrix and Tundra

If you have a car model listed above or have any questions about the recall, please contact our office at 888-529-9600.

For more information on this recall please go to the NHTSA website: http://www.safercar.gov/