For you regular followers of this site, you will recall that some time back, not too far, but not a year ago either, I got a “recall notice” on one of my cars.

It was a recall that said they didn’t have any parts right now, but they wanted me to know that there was a recall on my drivers side airbag and how it could deploy without any warning.  Remember my rant?

That came and went and I had Crock and the boys in Logan fix it.  I was relieved when that was fixed.

So, about two months ago, I got another recall notice from the Pontiac guys, saying there was a recall but no parts yet on the Passenger side airbag…..hmmmm.  So, since it would be blowing up in my passengers face, I chose not to rant on here about it.  At least if it blew up on that side of the car, I, as the driver, would be able to respond accordingly and maybe keep the car from crashing.

Yesterday, I got a notice about this latest recall and they tell me they have the parts available for this repair and it would not cost me anything buy my time and gas to and from the repair shop (I threw that in), they said the repair would not cost me anything.

Here is what they said:

“Why is your vehicle being recalled?

Your vehicle is equipped with a front passenger airbag inflator which could have been assembled with improperly manufactured propellant wafers.  Improperly manufactured propellant wafers could cause the inflator to rupture and the front passenger airbag to deploy abnormally in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury to the occupant”.

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This makes me feel a lot safer, knowing that the airbag won’t just suddenly blast into someones face, I have to get into an accident first and then the airbag will “probably” deploy in a way so as to either not protect my passenger, or deploy in a direction that would not help save their life, or maybe cause damage to them that otherwise would not have happened without the airbag deploying.

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Improperly manufactured propellant wafers.

This makes me wonder if our local folks are making their airbag thingys correctly…I went searching a bit and found this on www.industryweek.com:

TOKYO — Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mazda, announcing in separate statements the recall of a combined 3.39 million vehicles, all cited the same malfunction of the Japanese-made passenger-side airbags.

A Toyota spokesman said his company was calling back 1.73 million vehicles, manufactured between November 2000 and March 2004 in Japan or abroad.

“The involved vehicles are equipped with front passenger airbag inflators which could have been assembled with improperly manufactured propellant wafers,” Toyota said.

“Improperly manufactured propellant wafers could cause the inflator to rupture and the front passenger airbag to deploy abnormally in the event of a crash.”

A company spokesman in Japan said this abnormal inflation “could also burn part of the vehicle’s inside and cause fire.” However, he said, there were no recorded instances of this happening.

Nissan and Honda released statements giving similar explanations.

A Nissan spokeswoman said the company was recalling a total of 480,000 vehicles globally, all of which were manufactured in Japan between August 2000 and January 2004.

The airbags were made by Tokyo-based Takata Corp, which said it deeply regrets the recall. “We will fully cooperate with the carmakers in replacing the parts by sharing some cost burden,” a spokesman said.

Honda, which is recalling 1.135 million vehicles, said it was “a global recall that affects all regions where we do our business”.

Mazda said 45,463 units worldwide came under the recall, around a tenth of which were in Japan.

“We will recall the cars at home while taking the same action in accordance with local regulations of each country,” a company spokeswoman said.

Shigeru Matsumura, an auto analyst with SMBC Friend Securities, said: “It was a typical incident caused by the use of common parts for cost-cutting efforts. All companies must be always aware of this risk.”

Matsumura said it was difficult to assess what impact the huge recall would have on the companies and their reputation with consumers. “It may cause safety concerns among customers, which could damage their brand image,” he said.

The recall is the latest in a series that have hit Japan’s auto industry, which once traded on its reputation for quality and reliability.

In January Toyota said it would recall nearly 1.3 million vehicles globally over airbag and windscreen wiper problems. The glitch announced Thursday is not related to the earlier airbag problem. At the end of last year the company it said it had agreed to pay about $1.1 billion to settle a class action lawsuit launched by U.S. vehicle owners affected by a series of mass recalls.

But despite its travails, Toyota recaptured the title of world’s biggest automaker from General Motors in 2012, selling 9.75 million vehicles around the planet.

Shingo Ito, AFP

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2013

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Well, I feel a bit better knowing it is not just Toyota/Pontiac that is being recalled for the same thing AND it makes me feel better about our guys in Ogden/Brigham City making the wafers and airbag parts…keep up the good work folks!

Hey Crock!  When can you get me scheduled for this fix…Recall 13112 in this case!???

If I don’t hear from Crock by Christmas Eve, I’ll give him a call and set something up for the first of the year.

Bears Butt

December 21, 2013