Topic: Airbag recall turns multi brand, criminal proceedings called for

[PJungnitsch]

The automotive world and beyond is buzzing about the massive airbag recall covering many millions of vehicles in the U.S. from nearly two dozen brands. Here’s what you need to know about the problem; which vehicles may have the defective, shrapnel-shooting inflator parts from Japanese supplier Takata; and what to do if your vehicle is one of them.

The issue involves defective inflator and propellent devices that may deploy improperly in the event of a crash, shooting metal fragments into vehicle occupants. More than 7 million vehicles are potentially affected in the United States.

Initially, only six makes were involved when Takata announced the fault in April 2013, but a Toyota recall in June this year—along with new admissions from Takata that it had little clue as to which cars used its defective inflators, or even what the root cause was—prompted more automakers to issue identical recalls. In July, NHTSA forced additional regional recalls in high-humidity areas including Florida, Hawaii, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to gather removed parts and send them to Takata for review.

Another major recall issued on October 20 expanded the affected vehicles across several brands. For its part, Toyota said it would begin to replace defective passenger-side inflators starting October 25; if parts are unavailable, however, it has advised its dealers to disable the airbags and affix “Do Not Sit Here” messages to the dashboard.

While Toyota says there have been no related injuries or deaths involving its vehicles, a New York Times report in September found a total of at least 139 reported injuries across all automakers. In particular, there have been at least two deaths and 30 injuries in Honda vehicles. According to the Times, Honda and Takata allegedly have known about the faulty inflators since 2004 but failed to notify NHTSA in previous recall filings (which began in 2008) that the affected airbags had actually ruptured or were linked to injuries and deaths.

Takata first said that propellant chemicals were mishandled and improperly stored during assembly, which supposedly caused the metal airbag inflators to burst open due to excessive pressure inside. In July, the company blamed humid weather and spurred additional recalls.

According to documents reviewed by Reuters, Takata says that rust, bad welds, and even chewing gum dropped into at least one inflator are also at fault. The same documents show that in 2002, Takata’s plant in Mexico allowed a defect rate that was “six to eight times above” acceptable limits, or roughly 60 to 80 defective parts for every 1 million airbag inflators shipped. The company’s study has yet to reach a final conclusion and report the findings to NHTSA.

UPDATE 11/7, 9:44 a.m.: The New York Times has published a report suggesting that Takata knew about the airbag issues in 2004, conducting secret tests off work hours to verify the problem. The results confirmed major issues with the inflators, and engineers quickly began researching a solution. But instead of notifying federal safety regulators and moving forward with fixes, Takata executives ordered its engineers to destroy the data and dispose of the physical evidence. This occurred a full four years before Takata publicly acknowledged the problem.

UPDATE 11/7, 5:29 p.m.: Two U.S. Senators have now called for the Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation on this matter. Takata has stated that “the allegations contained in the [New York Times] article are fundamentally inaccurate.” The company went on to state that it “takes very seriously the accusations made in this article and we are cooperating and participating fully with the government investigation now underway.”

AFFECTED VEHICLES (total number if known in parentheses):

Acura: 2002–2003 CL and TL; 2003–2006 MDX; 2005 RL

BMW (627,615): 2000–2005 3-series sedan and wagon; 2000–2006 3-series coupe and convertible; 2001–2006 M3 coupe and convertible

Chrysler (371,309, including Dodge): 2005–2008 Chrysler 300; 2007–2008 Aspen

Dodge/Ram (371,309, including Chrysler): 2003–2008 Dodge Ram 1500; 2005–2008 Ram 2500, Dakota, and Durango; 2006–2008 Ram 3500 and 4500; 2008 Ram 5500

Ford (58,669): 2004 Ranger; 2005–2006 GT; 2005–2007 Mustang

Honda (5,051,364, including Acura): 2001–2007 Accord; 2001–2005 Civic; 2002–2006 CR-V; 2002–2004 Odyssey; 2003–2011 Element; 2003–2007 Pilot; 2006 Ridgeline

Infiniti: 2001–2004 Infiniti I30/I35; 2002–2003 Infiniti QX4; 2003–2005 Infiniti FX35/FX45; 2006 Infiniti M35/M45

Lexus: 2002–2005 SC430

Mazda (64,872): 2003–2007 Mazda 6; 2006–2007 Mazdaspeed 6; 2004–2008 Mazda RX-8; 2004–2005 MPV; 2004 B-series

Mitsubishi (11,985): 2004–2005 Lancer; 2006–2007 Raider

Nissan (717,364, including Infiniti): 2001–2003 Maxima; 2001–2004 Pathfinder; 2002–2006 Nissan Sentra

Pontiac: 2003–2005 Vibe

Saab: 2005 9-2X

Subaru (17,516): 2003–2005 Baja, Legacy, Outback; 2004–2005 Impreza, Impreza WRX, Impreza WRX STI

Toyota (877,000, including Lexus and Pontiac Vibe): 2002–2005 Toyota Corolla and Sequoia; 2003–2005 Matrix, Tundra

http://blog.caranddriver.com/report-takata-discovered-airbag-problems-in-2004-destroyed-data-update-capitol-hill-calls-for-investigation/

Takata Corporation, the Japanese airbag manufacturer at the center of a 17-million-vehicle worldwide recall for airbags that may shoot deadly metal debris in an accident, has always maintained that it first discovered the problem in 2008. But a New York Times report published late Thursday says the company knew about the defective airbags all the way back in 2004—and allegedly ordered employees to destroy test data confirming the issue.

The Times spoke with two former Takata employees on the condition of anonymity. The sources state that Takata was alerted to an airbag that fired metal debris at a driver in an accident in Alabama in 2004. In response, the informants claim, Takata conducted secret tests on 50 airbags obtained from junkyards, discovering cracked steel inflators in two of the airbags, a condition that can lead to the release of metal shrapnel when the airbags deploy in an accident. Engineers were so startled by the results that they began planning fixes to prepare for a recall. But the sources report that Takata executives ordered lab technicians to delete the testing data, erase video footage, and dispose of the airbag components used in the testing.

“All the testing was hush-hush,” one of the former employees told the Times. “Then one day, it was ‘pack it all up, shut the whole thing down.’ It was not standard procedure.” It wasn’t until four years later that Takata officially told regulators it had begun testing for problems with its airbags. The tests led to the first recall for the problem in November 2008.

Automotive News reports that lawmakers on Capitol Hill responded to the Times report by calling for a criminal investigation. In a joint statement, Senators Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Edward Markey, D-Mass., say Takata “must be held accountable for the horrific deaths and injuries that its wrongdoing caused.” Senator Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and U.S. Representative Fred Upton, R-Mich., also called for action by the Justice Department and safety regulators.

The problem has to do with the inflator module, a steel canister containing a chemical propellant that rapidly inflates the airbag in a collision. Structural weaknesses in the inflators can cause the steel casing to rupture when the airbag deploys, sending metallic pieces exploding toward a driver or passengers. The problem is blamed for at least four deaths and 139 injuries, 37 of which involve airbags that shot metal or chemicals at passengers, the Times reports.

A Takata spokesperson declined to comment to the Times on the issue.

The most recent death involving a Takata airbag occurred in Los Angeles last year, when the driver of a 2002 Acura TL was injured so badly by metallic shrapnel that investigators originally thought the death was a homicide.

Currently, nearly 8 million cars in the U.S. have been recalled in response to the airbag problem. Eleven carmakers are involved. Find a full list of affected vehicles at NHTSA’s website and on our main page for the Takata recall situation.

http://blog.caranddriver.com/report-takata-discovered-airbag-problems-in-2004-destroyed-data-update-capitol-hill-calls-for-investigation/

[dr_spock]

My Takata air bags are fixed now.  Hope the replacements are better. 

[Ex-airbalancer]

We got a letter from BMW, waiting for them to get replacement

[wing]

What's a Lexus vibe?

[Frontier1]

A lot of companies opted for second tier airbags