Takata airbag pandemic returns to Honda

HONDA Australia has issued a recall for 25,282 of its vehicles built in 2012 as well as a second recall for the 2000 Civic as a part of the ongoing Takata airbag saga and with no clear end in sight.

The recall affects 2656 Accord, 4804 Accord Euro, 36 Legend, 1426 City and 15,535 Jazz models built in 2012 as well as 592 of the earlier turn-of-the-century Civic, with Honda the latest in a long line of manufacturers forced to recall cars fitted with Takata airbags.

The Civic previously had its defective airbags replaced in 2010, however it has only now become apparent to Honda that the replacement airbags contain the same fault as the originals.

The fault lies in the airbag inflator, which due to moisture intrusion has the potential to rupture in the event of an accident or deployment.

If the metal casing ruptures, the airbag module has the potential to produce shrapnel which can cause serious injury or death to occupants of the vehicle.

Owners of the affected vehicles will be contacted by Honda via mail, or customers can contact the Honda recall contact centre between 8:30am and 6pm weekdays to gain further information and arrange a booking at a Honda dealer to have the airbag inflator replaced free of charge.

Currently, Honda dealers are processing around 5000 inflator replacements a week and have completed over half of the necessary replacements.

This latest announcement comes just one week after Lexus issued a recall for 2166 examples of its IS sedan and LFA supercar over the same Takata-related problem.

The Takata airbag problem was first discovered in 2008, and has affected vehicles and manufacturers all over the globe.

The current overall recall number now stands at around 100 million, with 68 million of those coming from the US alone and has already accounted for 16 deaths.

Manufacturers caught up in the recalls include General Motors, Ford, Daimler, BMW, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Subaru, Nissan and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

More information including affected vehicle identification numbers (VINs) can be found on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Product Safety Australia website.