Three Subaru models, including this 2003 Outback, were added to the recall warning list.
Federal safety regulators bungled their first attempt to warn owners of 7.8 million recalled vehicles equipped with airbags produced by Takata Corp. that they should bring their vehicles to dealers for immediate repair.
In an unprecedented move, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued an alert to vehicle owners that the airbags could explode causing injury and even death to vehicle occupants, particularly in areas with high humidity. Several phone calls to Takata by TheDetroitBureau were not returned.
“Responding to these recalls, whether old or new, is essential to personal safety and it will help aid our ongoing investigation into Takata airbags and what appears to be a problem related to extended exposure to consistently high humidity and temperatures,” said NHTSA Deputy Administrator David Friedman in a statement. “However, we’re leaving no stone unturned in our aggressive pursuit to track down the full geographic scope of this issue.”
In its first warning on Monday, the agency underreported the number of impacted vehicles by 3.1 million failing to account for Ford and Subaru cars and shorting the number of Toyotas with the airbags. It also included some GM vehicles that do not use the airbags.
Compounding the agency’s problems was the fact that the website it provided – safecar.gov – to allow car owners to check to see if their vehicle is subject to recall didn’t work, leaving owners with no simple way to act on the warning.
With the blanket warning, the agency is trying to get owners to understand the urgent nature of the problem, especially for owners of vehicles affected by regional recalls in the following areas: Florida, Puerto Rico, limited areas near the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Louisiana, as well as Guam, Saipan, American Samoa, Virgin Islands and Hawaii, NHTSA noted.
(For our initial report on the NHTSA airbag announcement, Click Here.)
While 7.8 million vehicles have been recalled in the U.S. that number jumps to more than 16 million globally.
(Hammered over his role in ignition switch fiasco, GM’s top lawyer retires early. Click Here for the story.)
The effort by NHTSA is aimed at getting owners of the vehicles, which have all been recalled in separate actions during the past 18 months, to comply with the recall. Typically, less than three-quarters of all vehicles subject to a recall actually get the necessary repair made, according to federal data.
(Some surprises among Green Car of the Year finalists. Click Here to see which models made the list.)
The percentage drops as the age of the vehicle rises, in part, because the vehicles are often sold two or three times and it’s difficult to track the current owner of a vehicle after multiple sales, which is why NHTSA put out the warning. The oldest vehicles in this set of recalls are 2000 model-year cars. Below is the updated list of vehicles.
BMW: 627,615 total number of potentially affected vehicles
- 2000 – 2005 3 Series Sedan
- 2000 – 2006 3 Series Coupe
- 2000 – 2005 3 Series Sports Wagon
- 2000 – 2006 3 Series Convertible
- 2001 – 2006 M3 Coupe
- 2001 – 2006 M3 Convertible
- 2003 – 2008 Dodge Ram 1500
- 2005 – 2008 Dodge Ram 2500
- 2006 – 2008 Dodge Ram 3500
- 2006 – 2008 Dodge Ram 4500
- 2008 – Dodge Ram 5500
- 2005 – 2008 Dodge Durango
- 2005 – 2008 Dodge Dakota
- 2005 – 2008 Chrysler 300
- 2007 – 2008 Chrysler Aspen
- 2004 – Ranger
- 2005 – 2006 GT
- 2005 – 2007 Mustang
- 2003 – 2005 Pontiac Vibe
- 2005 – Saab 9-2X
- 2001 – 2007 Honda Accord)
- 2001 – 2002 Honda Accord
- 2001 – 2005 Honda Civic
- 2002 – 2006 Honda CR-V
- 2003 – 2011 Honda Element
- 2002 – 2004 Honda Odyssey
- 2003 – 2007 Honda Pilot
- 2006 – Honda Ridgeline
- 2003 – 2006 Acura MDX
- 2002 – 2003 Acura TL/CL
- 2005 – Acura RL
- 2001 – 2003 Nissan Maxima
- 2001 – 2003 Nissan Pathfinder
- 2002 – 2003 Nissan Sentra
- 2001 – 2003 Infiniti I30/I35
- 2002 – 2003 Infiniti QX4
- 2003 – Infiniti FX
- 2003 – 2007 Mazda6
- 2006 – 2007 MazdaSpeed6
- 2004 – 2008 Mazda RX-8
- 2004 – 2005 MPV
- 2004 – B-Series Truck
- 2004 – 2005 Lancer
- 2006 – 2007 Raider
- 2001 – 2003 Nissan Maxima
- 2001 – 2004 Nissan Pathfinder
- 2002 – 2004 Nissan Sentra
- 2001 – 2004 Infiniti I30/I35
- 2002 – 2003 Infiniti QX4
- 2003 – 2005 Infiniti FX35/FX45
- 2003 – 2005 Baja
- 2003 – 2005 Legacy
- 2003 – 2005 Outback
- 2003 – 2005 Baja
- 2004 – 2005 Impreza
- 2002 – 2005 Lexus SC
- 2002 – 2005 Toyota Corolla
- 2003 – 2005 Toyota Corolla Matrix
- 2002 – 2005 Toyota Sequoia
- 2003 – 2005 Toyota Tundra