Honda is STILL Recalling Takata Airbags, NHTSA Issues Stop Drive Notice

The Takata airbag fiasco appears to be a never-ending struggle with Honda recently having to issue a stop-drive notice on roughly 8,200 automobiles manufactured about 20 years ago. Due to the massive scale of the Takata airbag recalls, there are still more than a few units out there that have yet to be replaced. Though it seems like those in possession of these dangerous inflators had to have been living under a rock to have missed any mention of what turned out to be the largest recall campaign in automotive history.

For those that don’t remember the details, some 67 million defective airbags had been installed into vehicles sold by just about every automotive brand you’ve ever heard of. The problem stemmed from the ammonium-nitrate-based propellant used in the inflators, which had a tendency to corrode the unit in humid environments. As a result, the Takata airbags ran the risk of sending shrapnel into the passenger compartment – basically turning a safety measure into an improvised explosive device.

The units killed 24 people in the United States alone, injuring hundreds. But it was just the tip of the iceberg. The global figures are astronomically higher and the initial recall efforts (starting in 2015) resulted in completely different defective units being installed into automobiles. Those started being recalled in 2019. The compounding scandal bankrupted Takata and made every automaker associated with it (especially Honda) look exceedingly bad. As of last December, there are an estimated 11 million vehicles still equipped with the dangerous airbag inflators.

This has resulted in The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) giving rolling updates about an issue that should have been settled years ago. Last November, the agency noted that someone was killed after a crash in a 2006 Ford Ranger that was already under a stop-drive notice. Just days before that, it was warning drivers that 276,000 model-year 2005-2010 Dodge Magnums, Chargers, and Challengers, as well as MY 2005-2010 Chrysler 300s, were now under a similar notice.

That just makes the Honda announcement another drop in the bucket of some particularly stale and putrid water.

The NHTSA has said that select 2001-2003 Honda and Acura models are equipped with old “alpha inflators” that offer a 50-percent chance of exploding violently in a crash. That means, if you’re inside of one of these affected models, you really don’t want the airbag going off until it’s been replaced or removed. The cars were already under recall but are part of the 11 million that the agency believes have not yet been repaired. The notice is being released as the NHTSA is going through its records and trying to catch any units that have been missed.

Affected models include the 2001 and 2002 Honda Accord and Civic, the 2002 Honda CR-V and Odyssey, the 2002 and 2003 Acura 3.2 TL, the 2003 Acura 3.2 CL, and the 2003 Honda Pilot.

Owners are encouraged to check if their cars are covered by going to the NHTSA recalls page and inputting their vehicle identification number (VIN). Alternatively, customers can contact their local dealership and explain the situation. Repairs should be offered free of charge.

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