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Takata Air Bags – A Deadly Debacle

Living Life Against The Grain  Products & Recalls   Takata Air Bags – A Deadly Debacle
January 16, 2018

Takata Air Bags – A Deadly Debacle

Takata Air Bags - A Deadly Debacle

I have recently been in the market for a new (used) vehicle and learned of the Takata air bag debacle.   It is an absolute mess and, in my opinion, it’s going to get way bigger and deaths and injuries are going to occur more frequently as time goes on.  Here’s why I think that….

 

Takata air bags can kill you! That’s right.. one of the very devices designed to protect you, can actually do the exact opposite… even when no crash occurs. At least 21 people have died and over 220 seriously injured – so far. Sadly, I think there will be many more.  The Takata air bags are made with ammonium nitrate and can explode like a bomb without cause or warning – even without a crash involved. (Takata is the only brand on the market that uses ammonium nitrate).

 
You’re just driving down the road and BAM.  When the Takata air bags explode, or even when they deploy during a crash, they can send metal shrapnel into the face and neck of the occupants and kill them or seriously injure them. Manufacturers are still using these defective air bags in new cars. 

 
Also, there are often no replacement parts available for the repair.  Some vehicles are parked waiting for parts and others are still being driven by unsuspecting consumers.  Still others are getting the repair with the EXACT SAME defective air bag (only a newer one) and the vehicle will be recalled AGAIN.

 

The sad thing is, MILLIONS more cars will be recalled still. Even some 2017 models are being made with faulty Takata air bags and those will also be recalled.  It’s going to get way bigger… not only because manufacturers keep making cars with these air bags but also because all of these cars are getting older by the day and time appears to play a role in the issue.  They believe the reason is due to moisture that degrades the chemicals and that time plays a role in this.  Therefore, they feel that the older the car, the more dangerous the situation and they recalled vehicles back to the year 2000 models.  Many young people get older cars because they are cheaper, thus putting them at serious risk.

 

  • According to the NHTSA, approximately 34 million vehicles are currently under recall (various make/models, year 2000 to 2017)
  • According to the NHTSA, MORE THAN 30 million additional air bags are scheduled to be recalled by December 2019, bringing the total number of affected air bags to around 65-70 million. HOWEVER, others estimate that the recall will eventually involve 200 million air bags! (1)
  • The parts are often NOT available for many of these vehicles to be repaired.
  • You only know your vehicle has Takata air bags if there is an open recall.  You have no way to tell if your car is going to be recalled in the future.  So this means people are driving cars that could be unsafe and we are at the mercy of the manufacturers to “come clean” and state the facts.  I think they aren’t stating what vehicles have Takata air bags in order not to create mass hysteria.
  • The TV news broadcasts are barely reporting on this issue.  The NHTSA just recalled millions more vehicles last week and it was barely a 3 second blip on the World News and wasn’t even mentioned on local news.
  • One of the recent deaths was a young girl whose family said they had no idea the car was recalled.  Honda said they sent them letters but the family said they never knew about it.
  • Look at this link to see the dismal repair rates – they haven’t even scratched the surface on repairs: https://www.nhtsa.gov/recall-spotlight/takata-air-bags#takata-air-bags-completion-rates and http://www.foxnews.com/auto/2017/12/20/20th-death-attributed-to-takata-airbag.html

 

LIST OF CAR MAKERS AFFECTED BY THE TAKATA AIR BAG RECALL DEBACLE:

  • Acura (Honda)
  • Audi (VW)
  • BMW
  • Cadillac (GM)
  • Chevrolet (GM)
  • Chrysler
  • Daimler Trucks North America (Sterling Bullet)
  • Daimler Vans USA LLC (Sprinter)
  • Dodge/Ram (Chrysler)
  • Ferrari
  • Fisker (Karma)
  • Ford
  • GMC (GM)
  • Honda
  • Infiniti (Nissan)
  • Jaguar
  • Jeep (Chrysler)
  • Land Rover (Jaguar Land Rover)
  • Lexus (Toyota)
  • Lincoln (Ford)
  • Mazda
  • McLaren
  • Mercedes-Benz
  • Mercury (Ford)
  • Mitsubishi
  • Nissan
  • Pontiac (GM)
  • Saab (GM)
  • Saturn (GM)
  • Scion (Toyota)
  • Subaru
  • Tesla
  • Toyota
  • Volkswagen

 

To see which year/models have open Takata recalls, see here: https://www.nhtsa.gov/recall-spotlight/takata-air-bags#takata-air-bags-vehicles-affected

 

BRIEF TIMELINE:

  • Takata air bags began being recalled as early as 2008 (by Honda recalling 2001 Civic and Accord models).
  • Here’s a good beginning timeline: http://www.autonews.com/article/20150520/OEM10/150529992/timeline-of-takata-airbag-recalls
  • May 27, 2009: Oklahoma teen Ashley Parham dies when the air bag in her 2001 Honda Accord explodes, shooting metal fragments into her neck. Honda and Takata deny fault and settle for an undisclosed sum.
  • Dec 24, 2009: Gurjit Rathore is killed in Virginia when the air bag in a 2001 Accord explodes after a minor accident, severing arteries in her neck, court documents show. Her family sues Honda and Takata for more than $75 million in April 2011, claiming they knew of the air bag problems as early as 2004. Honda and Takata settle in January 2013 for $3 million, according to court documents.
  • May 19, 2015: S. DOT Announces National Recall of Takata Air Bags.  At the insistence of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Takata determines that a defect exists in some of its air bag inflators. On May 18, Takata agreed to a national recall of certain types of frontal driver and passenger-side air bag inflators used in vehicles manufactured by BMW, Chrysler, Daimler Trucks, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota. These inflators were made with a propellant that can break down over time and has led to explosions that have been blamed for six deaths worldwide as of this date.
  • Aug 22, 2016: Truck Carrying Takata Air Bags Explodes in Texas, Killing 1 and Injuring 4. See http://fortune.com/2016/08/29/takata-air-bag-truck-explosion/
  • Jul 2017: Takata files a defect notice recalling — for the first time — inflators that contain a drying agent, or “desiccant” (the PSDI-5 desiccated inflator made with calcium sulfate desiccant). Approximately 3 million Ford, Mazda, and Nissan vehicles contain the inflator. (Source: https://www.nhtsa.gov/recall-spotlight/takata-air-bags#takata-air-bags-timeline-nhtsa-actions)

 

ONLY SIX PEOPLE HAD DIED BY MAY 2015 and NOW, as of January 16, 2018, THERE ARE 21 (OR MORE) DEATHS (not to mention hundreds of serious injuries) due to Takata air bags!!!!!  In other words, the problem is getting worse, faster!

 

SOME CAR MANUFACTURERS USING PEOPLE AS GUINEA PIGS:

Knowing moisture and time plays a role, some car makers KEEP using the faulty air bags but added a desiccant (kind of like those gel packs that come in some foods and shoes, etc. to keep moisture out) – either calcium sulfate or zeolite – and asked the NHTSA to postpone or negate the recalls on their vehicles for that reason.  They “think” the desiccant will absorb the moisture and keep it away from the ammonium nitrate and thus keep the air bag from exploding.

 
IF YOU ASK ME, THIS AMOUNTS TO USING MILLIONS OF PEOPLE AS GUINEA PIGS FOR THEIR EXPERIMENT!  As of July 2017, I believe the NHTSA has now said that adding the desiccant isn’t working in all cases and those cars will also now need to be recalled.  I believe that 2.7 million more air bags were recalled in July 2017 that used calcium sulfate as the desiccant.  They are still testing the effectiveness of using Zeolite as a desiccant AND PEOPLE DRIVING THOSE VEHICLES ARE THE GUINEA PIGS!  See 2017 timeline here https://www.nhtsa.gov/recall-spotlight/takata-air-bags#takata-air-bags-timeline-nhtsa-actions AND see here for a very enlightening article on this:  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-takata-bankruptcy-analysis/with-new-takata-air-bag-recalls-automakers-may-face-more-liabilities-idUSKBN1A40X5

 

NO WAY TO TELL IF YOUR CAR HAS TAKATA UNLESS ALREADY UNDER RECALL:

You can look up a vehicle here to see if it has an OPEN recall: https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls
But you cannot lookup a vehicle to see if yours has the Takata air bags. The equipment list will say the vehicle has an air bag but not who makes it.   Millions of vehicles have them and the manufacturers know that they will be recalled in the future but the customer has no way to see if their car is one of them.
People are buying brand new and used vehicles daily that have these defective Takata air bags and there is no notice, warning or anything to let them know!  I call that defective advertising.
 

Several dealers told me that about 90% of all vehicles have these Takata air bags!  So many manufacturers used them because they were cheaper than the other options.  Nearly every manufacturer has them – even Ferraris and Jaguars!  So knowing I would potentially buy a vehicle with a Takata air bag, I asked around if there was a way that I could tell if my vehicle had Takata air bags.  I was told there is no way to know!  Basically, I would have to wait for the NHTSA or the manufacturer to deem it ready for a recall and then I could look it up via my VIN, but prior to a recall, I have no way to tell.  The problem with this is that I know they will ALL be recalled eventually and that I, and my friends and family, may be driving potentially unsafe vehicles.

 

CUSTOMER NOT ALLOWED TO HAVE AIR BAGS REPLACED ON THEIR OWN VEHICLE:

Since I have no way to verify if my car has Takata air bags or not, I then asked several dealerships if I could bring my car to a shop and have the air bag replaced with one that is not made by Takata and I was told NO, I cannot do that.  They said the shops are not allowed to replace the air bags even at the customer’s request, even on the customer’s dime!  AND if my car was in a wreck and the air bags needed to be replaced, I have NO say in what brand air bag goes back into my car.  AND that the replacement will likely be another defective Takata air bag.  SO frustrating.

 

REPAIRED VEHICLES GETTING EXACT SAME PARTS OR PARTS NOT AVAILABLE:

Many recalled vehicles are being repaired WITH THE EXACT SAME DEFECTIVE TAKATA AIR BAGS!!!!!  They are doing this because they don’t have replacements and they figure since time plays a role they are “buying time” with the new air bags and will just recall the vehicles again later. And by “they,” I mean all vehicle dealership service shops.
 

I know of several models of BMWs and Audis (there are MANY others, too) just sitting waiting for parts to repair – they are under recall but no one has parts!!!   One dealership told me that they have a BMW that they had sold and the same day the customer was to pick it up, the vehicle got recalled for the Takata air bags and they have a policy not to sell a vehicle with an open recall.  The vehicle has been sitting at their dealership for months waiting on the needed parts to repair.  (There are many dealers who are not as forthcoming and will sell a vehicle with an open recall all day long.  I looked up one for sale at a local dealer and it has an open recall!  Many customers have no idea to look at this). Many of the vehicles should not be driven until fixed.  Some vehicle owners are told not to drive the car at all and it can be towed to the dealership and other people are being told they can drive it but don’t let a passenger sit in the car!  This is because some vehicles have the faulty air bags in only one side of the vehicle.

 

WRECKED VEHICLES MAY GET SALVAGED PARTS WHICH ARE DEFECTIVE:

Vehicles that have been wrecked are often fitted with parts from other vehicles.  Well guess what!?  They can use a Takata air bag from another vehicle in your car to repair it.  A young guy died in July 2017 in his 2004 Honda Civic which had a salvaged air bag from a 2002 model.  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/20th-death-from-faulty-takata-air-bags-reported-by-honda/

 

THE BOTTOM-LINE:

  1. Look up a vehicle here to see if it has an OPEN recall: https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls
  2. Have your family and friends look up their vehicles, too!
  3. Make sure your vehicle registration has your current address and watch for any news about this in your mailbox.
  4. Write letters to your congressional representatives and senators asking them to put pressure on these manufacturers to stop using these air bags and to make parts more readily available.
  5. Look up your VIN weekly at the above link!

 

SEE HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION:

 

List of vehicles recalled so far: https://www.nhtsa.gov/recall-spotlight/takata-air-bags#takata-air-bags-vehicles-affected
 
VIN LOOKUP TOOL: https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls
 
List of related documents in the recall timeline: https://www.nhtsa.gov/recall-spotlight/takata-air-bags#takata-air-bags-related-documents

 

 

Keywords: airbags, air bags, Takata, NHTSA, recall, recalls, VIN Lookup

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