Toyota Expands Faulty Takata Airbag Recall to 1.6M Vehicles

Toyota Motor Corp. will recall around 1.6 million additional vehicles for faulty front passenger side Takata airbag inflators that are at risk of possible rupture. The action expands what was already the biggest automotive recall in U.S. history.

The latest recall includes some but not all Corolla, Matrix, Yaris, 4Runner, Sienna, Scion xB, Lexus ES, GX and IS vehicles built between 2006 and 2011.

Depending on the vehicle model, dealers will check and replace faulty Takata airbag inflators or the airbag assembly no charge.

Toyota says it has now recalled 4.6 million vehicles in the United States for faulty Takata airbag inflators.

The airbags can deploy with too much force, breaking apart the metal inflator and spewing shrapnel into the vehicle. They are allegedly responsible for at least 10 deaths and more than 100 injuries worldwide.

This move from Toyota correlates with the announcement made by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) earlier this month regarding the recent expansion of the recall to include about 40 million cars with faulty Takata airbag inflators.

The recall expansion will be announced in phases based on the age of vehicles and where they are registered.

The involved vehicles are equipped with a particular type of Takata inflator. According to Takata, a safety defect may arise in front passenger airbag inflators in the affected vehicles due to inflator propellant degradation occurring after prolonged exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures and high temperature cycling.

This may result in an inflator rupture when the air bag deploys.

The expansion means all Takata ammonium nitrate-based propellant driver and passenger frontal airbag inflators without a chemical drying agent, known as a desiccant, will be recalled.

Additionally, the NHTSA and its outside expert reviewed the findings of three independent investigations into the Takata airbag ruptures and confirmed the root cause of inflator ruptures. A combination of time, environmental moisture and fluctuating high temperatures contribute to the degradation of the ammonium nitrate propellant in the inflators.

On May 13, Hawaii took Takata to court, accusing it of covering up the deadly airbag defect and demanding a $10,000 penalty for every affected car owner in the state. The lawsuit, filed in Hawaii’s First Circuit Court, makes Hawaii the first state to sue Takata over its faulty airbag inflators.

The lawsuit also names Honda Motor, the automaker most affected by the continuing mass recalls of defective Takata airbag inflators, as a defendant, and demands that each company do more to raise awareness of the dangers the defect poses to car owners.

Hawaii’s lawsuit says that its residents are at particular risk because of the state’s high temperatures and humidity levels.

Auto safety regulators have determined that long-term exposure to moisture and temperature fluctuations over time can degrade the explosives, or propellant, used to deploy the airbag, making it more unstable and prone to cause the airbag’s inflator to rupture.

In November, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration imposed a $70 million penalty on Takata for failing to promptly disclose defects in its airbags. That penalty could increase by $130 million if Takata does not meet the terms of the agency’s consent order, which would be a record civil punishment for the auto industry.

UPDATE August 18, 2017: BMW, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota have agreed to settle economic loss class action lawsuits related to the Takata airbag defect.  Click here to file a claim!