Gaydon Warwick, U.K. — August 08, 2016 — Several Aston Martin vehicles may not meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard requirements, according to a recent press release.
The manufacturer will recall 6,076 vehicles with model years ranging from 2010 to 2016 to address ineffective door locks. While the manufacturer’s initial investigations began last year, owners will not be notified until August.
The defect
Using the locks in affected models could accidentally prevent occupants from being able to unlock the car from the inside. This is intended to be a security precaution, but could instead go against FMVSS No. 206, which specifically concerns “door locks and door retention components.”
As much of a risk as this could pose, owners have some resources at their disposal. First of all, the release said that the horns inside would still work, allowing users to warn others and avoid being trapped.
Certain vehicles will also come with an alarm system that sounds off if it detects an occupant.
Finally, the company explained its remedy in a Part 573 Safety Recall Report submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last month.
This source said that reprogramming the system software in the affected vehicles will disable the double locking mechanism and fixed the problem. Most of the cars targeted in this recall (5,845 exactly) are said to be with customers, while 231 remain with the dealers.
Timeline of events
The report listed the owner notification date as July 1 and the owner notification period as the days between August 1 and 15. The assertions of noncompliance date back to a recall meeting on December 11, 2015.
In 2014, Reuters reported on a 17,590-Aston Martin recall because some parts contained counterfeit plastic. Around three quarters of the right-hand drive models built since May 2012 were affected, as well as left-hand drive vehicles dating back to 2007.
Check your car’s recall status using MotorSafety’s free vehicle lookup tool.