National Recall of Takata Air Bags — How To Check If Your Car Is Safe

The U.S. DOT Announces National Recall of Takata Air Bags

Japanese air bag manufacturer Takata Corp. is doubling a recall of potentially deadly air bags to nearly 34 million vehicles, making it the largest automotive recall in American history.

How does this potentially affect you?
The Takata air bag recall involves passenger-and driver-side air bag inflators in vehicles made by 11 automakers, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Takata said. It adds to the 16.6 million vehicles called back for repairs for the same issue in previous regional and national recalls, and boosts the number of vehicles affected globally since 2008 to more than 53 million.

Regulators linked six deaths worldwide to defective Takata air bags which exploded too violently and shot shrapnel into the vehicles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will organize and prioritize the replacement of the defective air bag inflators that were used in nearly 34 million vehicles. NHTSA will also be coordinating with Takata and automakers that used the defective inflators in their vehicles, to ensure the American public receives information regarding these recalls as it becomes available.

How Do I Find Out If My Car Is Affected?
At the insistence of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Takata has determined that a defect exists in some of its air bag inflators. Takata has agreed to a national recall of certain types of frontal driver and passenger side air bag inflators used in vehicles manufactured by BMW, Chrysler, Daimler Trucks, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota.

NHTSA is waiting for the automakers to supply a complete list of affected vehicles. As this information becomes available, NHTSA will update this site to provide the American public with this information. Once manufacturers identify which vehicles are affected, use NHTSA’s VIN search tool to confirm whether your individual vehicle is under recall, and search by VIN on a specific vehicle-maker’s site. It’s important to check periodically because it’s possible your VIN might not be entered into a manufacturer’s system for several weeks after a recall is first announced. If your vehicle is affected, follow-up with the manufacturer to get interim guidance and get your vehicle fixed as soon as parts are available.