The Truth About Secret Car Recalls
UPDATE: Honda Motor Co. and Daihatsu have recalled more than 5 million cars, Automotive News announced today.
The recalls affect about 4.89 million vehicles at Honda and about 260,000 at Daihatsu.
Honda’s recall covers 1.72 million vehicles in Japan that were manufactured from 2002 to 2008, while Daihatsu’s recall affects cars only in Japan.
TOKYO, May 13 (UPI and Gephardt Daily) — Two more automakers have recalled six million more cars because of faulty Takata air bags. But Takata noticed problems beginning a decade ago, and every few months, another car maker announces a recall. In all, more than 10 car makers have announced a recall.
But just why are automakers taking so long when they know there’s a problem? Could it be a cost-saving so-called “secret recall”?
Japanese automakers expanded their global recall of cars to include 30 million vehicles, citing potentially faulty airbags.
Toyota and Nissan said Wednesday they will recall another 6.6 million vehicles, reported The Financial Times. Honda did not specify the number of cars it plans to recall.
Between Toyota and Nissan, Toyota claimed the lion’s share of recalls. The BBC reported Toyota was recalling nearly five million cars, including the Corolla, Vitz and other models manufactured between March 2003 and November 2007.
Airbags that explode when deployed have been cited as the cause of at least six deaths in the United States and Malaysia.
Takata, the Japanese firm that manufactures the airbags, said Wednesday’s recall announcement was a decision made independently by the carmakers.
Toyota said it will replace the front passenger side and front driver side airbag inflators with new equipment.
The car company said certain types of airbag inflators were found to have a potential for moisture intrusion over the course of time.
When too much moisture is absorbed, the inflators’ tablets disintegrate and trigger uneven deployment, according to experts.
Nissan said Tuesday that recalled vehicles’ airbag inflators will be tested and replaced if necessary. The cars that have been flagged for inspection were made between 2004 and 2007, and the recall affects about 1.6 million Nissan vehicles.
Back in February, we told the story of Joe Morin’s son, who had a scary incident while he was driving his father’s 2004 BMW M3. He was driving full speed on the freeway when the front driver’s side airbag exploded in his face.
Joe then took the car to a dealership and there they told him that the computer in the car said that his son had been in a crash. Morin and his son know for a fact that he was not in an accident because there was no damage to the car whatsoever.
BMW agreed to ONLY replace the front airbag, which costs about $1,300. Labor was something that Morin was going to have to pay for, costing him $1,411.
There had already been an airbag recall for some BMW cars, but it was only for the front passenger airbag, not the front driver side airbag.
So even though both airbags were made by the same company, Takata, Morin had to pay.
But here’s the clincher that made us wonder if BMW knew that there was a problem all along.
BMW sent Morin a legal general release which says, Joe must agree not to reveal the facts leading up to the general release that they sent him in any communication form.
Bill went ahead and contacted BMW and asked a spokesperson if this was nothing more than a secret recall. The spokesperson said that he was not sure if this qualifies as a secret recall and would have to get back to him. He never did.
How many other secret recalls do you think are out there right now? Since various manufacturers have history of trying to keep defects and dangers, that might be in the cars they make, secret as long as possible.
Here is a link to all the recalled cars from ConsumerReports.org
