Neither Honda nor Takata initially said that a safety defect exists in the driver front airbag inflators. Nor is there a way to quantify how many lives were saved by the airbags.
While driving around Phoenix last June, Vargas-Ortega, 54, collided with a Jeep that had run a stop sign. He died three day later because of a recalled Takata airbag that wasn’t repaired so it sent a piece of shrapnel into his neck. (Carma Project, Toyota Try to Up Takata Recall Awareness, Ford Recalls 2017 Takata Airbag Inflators on F-Series, Mustang!)
Consumer Reports notes that this is the most recent fatality – 16th in the U.S., 24th worldwide – related to airbags made by the now-bankrupt Japanese manufacturer Takata. The airbag inflator made with an unstable explosive led to the largest, most complex auto recall in history. It now afflicts 19 automakers and 183 models, covering a total of 56 million airbags in nearly 42 million vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that the unsafe inflator remains un-repaired in nearly 23 million vehicles.
Versions of the “Used Car Safety Recall Repair Act,” has been kicking around Congress forever AutoInformed readers know. The last time around it was an amendment to a broader transportation bill, proposed by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) requiring auto dealers to fix all outstanding safety recalls before selling or leasing any used passenger motor vehicle.
One problem with drafts of the bill is that it could exempt roughly two-thirds of used vehicles from what should be the beginning of a good approach to solving a chronic problem – owners ignoring recalls despite numerous automakers attempts to have them get their vehicles repaired.
“There are now more than 46 million cars and trucks on our nation’s roads with unrepaired safety recalls; last year alone, five million used cars subject to safety recalls were sold to new owners without the necessary repairs. This critical legislation will protect consumers and help reduce the number of unsafe cars on the road,” said Markey. (Unsafe Used Vehicles with Open Recalls. What to Do?, Global Safety Recalls Grow as Economies of Scale Often Aren’t, Buyer Beware – Millions of Used Cars have Open Recalls, Ford Recalls 2017 Takata Airbag Inflators on F-Series, Mustang!)
“There’s a clear safety gap,” says William Wallace, senior policy analyst at Consumer Reports. “And that puts consumers at risk in a potentially unexpected way.”
Consumer Reports cites Jared Allen, a spokesperson for the National Automobile Dealers Association, who says his group encourages franchised used-car dealerships to tell consumers when a car they’re interested in has an open recall, echoing comments from the trade group that represents independent dealers. Allen also says dealers should try to fix used cars with serious recalls. But he says they shouldn’t be required by law to fix all recalls because replacement parts are not always available and because “not all recalls are equal” and need to be repaired before a buyer leaves the lot.
Bah, humbug.
Federal law requires that new car dealerships and car rental companies repair known safety defects, but consumers don’t have the same protections when purchasing used cars, whether they’re sold by individuals or dealers.
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Unperformed Used Car Recalls in Headlines Yet Again
Neither Honda nor Takata initially said that a safety defect exists in the driver front airbag inflators. Nor is there a way to quantify how many lives were saved by the airbags.
While driving around Phoenix last June, Vargas-Ortega, 54, collided with a Jeep that had run a stop sign. He died three day later because of a recalled Takata airbag that wasn’t repaired so it sent a piece of shrapnel into his neck. (Carma Project, Toyota Try to Up Takata Recall Awareness, Ford Recalls 2017 Takata Airbag Inflators on F-Series, Mustang!)
Consumer Reports notes that this is the most recent fatality – 16th in the U.S., 24th worldwide – related to airbags made by the now-bankrupt Japanese manufacturer Takata. The airbag inflator made with an unstable explosive led to the largest, most complex auto recall in history. It now afflicts 19 automakers and 183 models, covering a total of 56 million airbags in nearly 42 million vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that the unsafe inflator remains un-repaired in nearly 23 million vehicles.
Versions of the “Used Car Safety Recall Repair Act,” has been kicking around Congress forever AutoInformed readers know. The last time around it was an amendment to a broader transportation bill, proposed by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) requiring auto dealers to fix all outstanding safety recalls before selling or leasing any used passenger motor vehicle.
One problem with drafts of the bill is that it could exempt roughly two-thirds of used vehicles from what should be the beginning of a good approach to solving a chronic problem – owners ignoring recalls despite numerous automakers attempts to have them get their vehicles repaired.
“There are now more than 46 million cars and trucks on our nation’s roads with unrepaired safety recalls; last year alone, five million used cars subject to safety recalls were sold to new owners without the necessary repairs. This critical legislation will protect consumers and help reduce the number of unsafe cars on the road,” said Markey. (Unsafe Used Vehicles with Open Recalls. What to Do?, Global Safety Recalls Grow as Economies of Scale Often Aren’t, Buyer Beware – Millions of Used Cars have Open Recalls, Ford Recalls 2017 Takata Airbag Inflators on F-Series, Mustang!)
“There’s a clear safety gap,” says William Wallace, senior policy analyst at Consumer Reports. “And that puts consumers at risk in a potentially unexpected way.”
Consumer Reports cites Jared Allen, a spokesperson for the National Automobile Dealers Association, who says his group encourages franchised used-car dealerships to tell consumers when a car they’re interested in has an open recall, echoing comments from the trade group that represents independent dealers. Allen also says dealers should try to fix used cars with serious recalls. But he says they shouldn’t be required by law to fix all recalls because replacement parts are not always available and because “not all recalls are equal” and need to be repaired before a buyer leaves the lot.
Bah, humbug.
Federal law requires that new car dealerships and car rental companies repair known safety defects, but consumers don’t have the same protections when purchasing used cars, whether they’re sold by individuals or dealers.
AutoInformed.com on: