The Wall Street Journal reported this week that a settlement stemming from a federal probe into criminal wrongdoing by airbag supplier Takata is expected early next year—perhaps as soon as January—and could approach $1 billion. While that news might gratify some people angered by the defective inflator design that prompted the largest automotive safety recall in U.S. history, owners of affected cars may be more interested in simply getting repairs done.
Many have received notice of the recall and taken their cars in to dealers for a remedy, only to hear that replacement parts for the recalled airbag inflators made by Takata are not available.
Automakers and federal officials organizing the response to the huge recall insist that the supply chain is churning out replacement parts.
“We get that it is a frustrating experience,” said Bryan Thomas, communications director of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). “What we tell folks to do is get on the list at their dealer.”
How long you’ll have to wait most likely depends on where the vehicle lands on the agency’s list of 12 “priority groups,” based on the urgency of getting the vehicle fixed. Aside from the make and model of the vehicle, its geographic location and age play a big role in how likely it is that a faulty inflator would rupture.
NHTSA has deemed warmer states, including the Deep South and California, “high absolute humidity” regions. Independent testing found that the faulty airbag inflators are most likely to rupture after long-term exposure to temperature fluctuations and moisture, so older vehicles and those located in high-humidity parts of the country are considered top priorities for repair.
If a car or truck has been registered for even a day in one of the HAH zones, it is assigned that level of priority, Thomas said.
NHTSA’s 12 priority groups can by found in NHTSA’s Coordinated Remedy Order.
NHTSA administrator Mark Rosekind
Vehicles in Priority Group 1 were to see the “remedy program” begin by March 31, 2016, according to rolling deadlines set by NHTSA that extend through the start of repairs for Priority Group 12 on Sept. 30, 2020. Thomas said automakers have generally been “beating these deadlines by substantial margins.”
As of December 1, there have been 220 confirmed cases of Takata-supplied airbags exploding in the United States, resulting in 11 deaths and 184 reported injuries, including cuts to the face and neck, broken facial bones, loss of eyesight, and broken teeth, according to NHTSA.
So far, about 12.5 million inflators have been fixed of about 65 million that will ultimately be affected by the recall, which spans 19 automakers and will encompass about 42 million vehicles by the time it is complete in three years.
Senior NHTSA officials told reporters in a conference call earlier this month that Takata is supplying almost none of the replacement inflators. The Japanese supplier is still filing defect reports, however.
Most replacement parts come from alternative suppliers, including Autoliv Americas, Daicel Safety Systems America, and ZF TRW, according to NHTSA documents. The prioritized replacement inflators are targeted to vehicles that could be as much as 15 years old in the hands of second, third, or later owners, adding to the recall’s complexity.
Despite the sheer breadth of the recall, NHTSA said it is aiming for a 100 percent completion rate. Typical recalls result in fixes being performed on about 70 percent of affected cars.
Many car owners have received notification of the recall even though replacement parts were not yet in stock. While it’s common for automakers to send recall notices well ahead of parts availability, “because of the enormous size of this recall, the lag has been longer,” Thomas said. On the other hand, he said, in many cases parts are available but people simply aren’t getting their vehicles fixed.
For those who are waiting, NHTSA advises that people not disable the airbags, arguing that, statistically, it is most likely that the inflator will not rupture, so the car or truck is safer with the airbags functioning as intended.
“One thing that’s really important to know is that even with a defective airbag, the airbag is orders of magnitude more likely in a crash to save you than hurt you,” Thomas said.
The exception is a group of Honda vehicles that NHTSA is telling people to drive only to take them to a dealer to get fixed. These are:
- 2001–2002 Honda Accord and Civic
- 2002 Honda CR-V and Odyssey
- 2002–2003 Acura 3.2 TL
- 2003 Acura 3.2CL and Honda Pilot
In testing, the airbags in those Hondas had a far greater chance of rupturing than others under recall. There are about 300,000 such cars and trucks still on the road, compared with the 42 million vehicles affected by the recall.
Honda, which built the largest number of vehicles affected by the Takata airbag recall, said it is on schedule with fixes.
“Honda currently has adequate supplies of replacement inflators to meet repair demand for all of the Takata inflator recalls currently in place,” company spokesman Chris Martin said in an emailed statement. “All of these replacement inflators are from alternative suppliers, not Takata. We continue to encourage owners of Acura and Honda vehicles to confirm if their vehicle is affected and, if so, pursue repair as soon as possible. Owners can check for free at http://ift.tt/yYawDI and http://ift.tt/17RFzet.”
Owners can also get information by plugging in their vehicle’s VIN on NHTSA’s online recall lookup tool.
Ford said it has permanent repairs in place for 2005–2012 Mustang driver’s-side airbags, some 2013–2014 Mustang driver’s-side airbags, and 2005—2006 Ford GT driver’s-side airbags.
And, like other automakers, Ford is prepared to install temporary “like for like” inflators that can be replaced with other designs at a later date. The like-for-like inflators are a temporary remedy because they are the same as the inflator being removed, except they haven’t been exposed to climate conditions over time.
“For other Takata airbag inflator-related recalls, development of a permanent repair is in process,” Ford spokeswoman Elizabeth Weigandt said in an email. “We are working with our suppliers to expedite parts as quickly as possible.”
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