2007-2016 Acura RDX (early production MY 2016 vehicles only), 2007-2014 Honda Ridgeline, 2009-2014 Honda Fit, 2009-2014 Acura TL, 2010-2014 Honda FCX Clarity, 2010-2014 Honda Insight, 2010-2013 Acura ZDX, 2011-2015 Honda CR-Z, 2013-2016 Acura ILX (early production MY 2016 vehicles only).
Advertisement
The Japanese automaker said certain Acura and Honda vehicles from model years 2005-2016 are being recalled to replace Takata PSDI-5 driver-side inflators.
U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Edward Markey are urging the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to recall all cars with Takata inflators and to accelerate the fix of all affected vehicles. Honda will not have enough parts for replacement for all vehicles until autumn.
Regulators have increased their attention after General Motors Co delayed the recall of 2.6 million older Cobalt and other cars in 2014 linked to at least 124 deaths and 275 injuries for faulty ignition switches that prevented air bags from deploying in some serious crashes.
Continental said it would notify automakers that installed these air bag control units in their vehicles.
The larger problem involves a wide range of Honda products equipped with faulty Takata airbags.
Last year, Mercedes recalled 126,260 C-Series cars from 2008 and 2009 and 2010 GLK350 vehicles because of the problem.
The announcement comes in the middle of a crisis involving Takata Corp. air bag inflators.
Fewer than two million affected vehicles are in the USA, according to a spokeswoman for Continental in Auburn Hills, Mich. Continental Automotive is a division of Germany’s Continental AG. Nine of the said ten deaths are a result of ruptured air bags found in Honda vehicles, so one can imagine how the auto company is in hot waters over the deadly defect.
The unit, which was fitted to over five million vehicles over a five-year period (2006-10), is used by Fiat-Chrysler, Honda and Mercedes-Benz, among others. It was not until 2008 when Honda issued the first recall order covering the defect, and only for a total of about 4,000 vehicles. In addition to being hit by Continental’s recall, it was the hardest-hit manufacturer in the Takata recall.
Honda plans to replace all of the recalled inflators with new parts. Honda dropped Takata as a supplier in November.
Advertisement
Continental is now contacting all automakers affected by the airbag problems, then each automaker will begin ordering recalls. Until the vehicles are identified, customers won’t be able to use Honda’s and NHTSA’s online databases to check their vehicle identification numbers for the recall.
