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Airbag recall adds 85k Pontiac Vibes to tally

The repairs needed for the faulty airbag inflators supplied by Takata continue to expand. Toyota initially announced a recall of 766,300 vehicles equipped with the bad part on June 11 as a followup to a campaign from 2013. Soon after, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a preliminary evaluation into five automakers who also used the component in their models. Now, NHTSA has released the official announcement of the latest Toyota recall listing 844,277 affected cars, including the newly added 2003-2004 Pontiac Vibe.
While NHTSA's document didn't include a model-by-model breakdown, General Motors spokesperson Alan Adler estimated to Autoblog that roughly 85,000 Vibes in the US would be covered under the latest recall. Like the rest of the affected models, the airbag inflator could rupture in a crash causing the bag not to work correctly, possibly spraying metal fragments at the occupant.
Toyota spokesperson Cindy Knight told Autoblog that the reason for the disparity between the earlier press release and NHTSA document was that Toyota was continuing to comb through VINs to create a list of affected vehicles. The original number was an estimate of that process at the time. Scroll down to the recall report from NHTSA.

Florida man runs down bikers in traffic

A Florida biker and his passenger got a nasty surprise when a road rage incident turned ugly on Monday. According to WTSP, Joe Calderazzo was returning from a Veterans Memorial Day motorcycle rally around 5:30 pm with a group of fellow riders. During their ride, the group got entangled with an overly aggressive driver in a Pontiac. Abe Garcia of Tampa watched the silver Pontiac attempt to run the pack of bikers off the road, which started the altercation. The bikers caught up to the Pontiac in stopped traffic, and a shouting match ensued between the bikers and the Pontiac driver. At this point, Garcia pulled out his phone and started recording. The exchange escalated, and suddenly the Pontiac driver floored it, turned hard to the right, and ran over Calderazzo's Harley. The Pontiac mangled the Harley and knocked Calderazzo and his passenger to the ground. The Pontiac then fled the scene. WTSP spoke to Calderazzo as he was on his way to the hospital. "I thought the guy was trying to kill us obviously," said Calderazzo. "You know you don't know what's going through your mind. Is he going to put the car in reverse? Is he going to turn around? Is he going to stop and pull out a gun? You don't know what's going on." The Pontiac driver, a serial traffic offender named Robert Paul Vance, was picked up by police soon after the incident. He is charged with hit-and-run, a moving traffic violation, and aggravated battery. Related Video: News Source: WTSP Weird Car News Pontiac Driving Safety Motorcycle Videos Sedan Navy road rage pontiac g6 Memorial Day veterans Florida Man tampa

Junkyard Gem: 2001 Pontiac Aztek

Ah, the Pontiac Aztek. Everyone laughs at the Aztek ... except, apparently, for Coloradans who like to go camping, bike riding, hiking, and all that outdoorsy stuff that folks do in the Centennial State. You'll see Azteks being driven, unironically and without shame, all over the place in the Denver region, and now plenty of them are showing up in the local wrecking yards. Here's a first-year-of-production example in its final campground. These minivans or crossovers (or however the experts finally decided to categorize them) had built-in air compressors, audio controls in the rear cargo area, and other features meant to enhance tailgating, camping, and other activities deemed central to Generation X's allegedly active lifestyle. You could even get an optional camping kit with a tent that attached to the rear of the Aztek. So, it was a General Motors minivan-like vehicle, cousin of the weird-looking Dustbusters of the 1990s, with lots of useful features for those who did more than just commute to work and drop off kids at school. Unfortunately for GM, the Aztek was staggeringly ugly, and Generation Xers were too damned broke to buy new cars in 2001, anyway. I see plenty of them in Denver-area wrecking yards now, along with their slightly-less-offensive-looking Buick Rendezvous siblings, and so I decided to document one before they're all gone. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Gear up, go for a stroll, or let it slide? Related Video: Featured Gallery Junked 2001 Pontiac Aztek View 11 Photos Auto News Pontiac Crossover pontiac aztek