Honda has added an additional 2.23 million vehicles in the U.S. to the list of vehicles recalled over Takata airbags that could explode. On Wednesday, February 2, the automaker said that certain Honda and Acura vehicles from the 2005 to 2016 model years are being recalled to replace the Takata-manufactured driver-side front airbag inflators, USA Today […]
Honda has added an additional 2.23 million vehicles in the U.S. to the list of vehicles recalled over Takata airbags that could explode.
On Wednesday, February 2, the automaker said that certain Honda and Acura vehicles from the 2005 to 2016 model years are being recalled to replace the Takata-manufactured driver-side front airbag inflators, USA Today reports.
This new recall raises the number of Honda and Acura autos involved in the growing list of airbag safety recalls to 8.51 million vehicles, the company said. The company plans to replace the recalled inflators with new parts from a different supplier free of charge. Due to the large volume of required repairs, Honda said the necessary replacement parts will not be available until the summer of 2016. Owners should be able to accurately search their vehicles’ recall status on Honda’s web site or through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) site by February 15, 2016.
Owners of affected vehicles will receive a recall notification letter within 60 days and will receive a second letter when replacement parts become available, according to USA Today. Repairs will be arranged through authorized U.S. dealers.
Models subject to the new recall include:
The expanded recall comes because NHTSA investigators identified a tenth death attributable to defective inflators. NHTSA investigators believe a South Carolina driver was killed in December when an inflator in a Takata airbag exploded and he was struck by shrapnel. The man was driving a 2006 Ford Ranger pickup, making this the first such death in a vehicle other than a Honda, according to USA Today.
NHTSA says the recall would be expanded again to include about 1 million vehicles that use the type of airbag inflator found in the Ranger. Another four million other cars and trucks could be subject to recall because they use a different type of inflator that ruptured three times in recent tests of the Toyota RAV4, NHTSA said. Previous recalls cover 23 million ammonium-nitrate inflators in 19 million vehicles in the U.S.
