Airbag recall adds 85k Pontiac Vibes to tally

Fri, 13 Jun 2014

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.

RECALL Subject : Passenger Side Front Air Bag Inflator may Rupture

Report Receipt Date: JUN 11, 2014
NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V312000
Component(s): AIR BAGS
Potential Number of Units Affected: 844,277
All Products Associated with this Recall
Vehicle Make Model Model Year(s)
LEXUS SC 2002-2004
PONTIAC VIBE 2003-2004
TOYOTA COROLLA 2003-2004

TOYOTA COROLLA MATRIX 2003-2004
TOYOTA SEQUOIA 2002-2004
TOYOTA TUNDRA 2003-2004

Details
Manufacturer: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing

SUMMARY:
Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2002-2004 Toyota Sequoia and Lexus SC and 2003-2004 Toyota Corolla, Corolla Matrix, Tundra, and Pontiac Vibe vehicles to address a safety defect in the passenger side frontal air bag inflator which may produce excessive internal pressure causing the inflator to rupture upon deployment of the air bag. This recall addresses both the passenger side frontal air bags that were originally installed in the vehicles, as well as replacement air bags that may have been installed as replacement service parts. A replacement air bag may have been installed, as one example, if a vehicle had been in a crash necessitating the replacement of the passenger side frontal air bag.

CONSEQUENCE:
In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking and potentially seriously injuring the passenger seat occupant or other occupants.

REMEDY:
Toyota will notify owners of affected Toyota and Lexus vehicles and General Motors will notify owners of affected Pontiac Vibe vehicles. Toyota, Lexus, and GM dealers will replace the passenger side air bag inflator, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Pontiac Vibe owners may contact GM at 1-800-521-7300. IMPORTANT NOTE: This recall supersedes recall 13V-133 in which some vehicles were inspected and received a replacement inflator, while others were inspected but did not have their inflator replaced. All owners of vehicles that did not get an inflator replacement, or owners that do not know if they got an inflator replacement, should contact their Toyota or Lexus dealer.

NOTES:
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

By Chris Bruce