The new Takata airbag recall includes shrapnel

• Audi 2000-2001 TT Roadster, 2000 TT Coupe, 1999 Audi A8, 1998-2000 Audi A6, and 1999-2000 Audi A4 vehicles are under recall
• Takata has recalled 1.4 million air bag inflators that may expel shrapnel
• 107,000 older Audi luxury vehicles are under this recent recall

Laguna Hills, CA – Aug 24, 2022 – Volkswagen (OTCMKTS:VWAGY) has remedied issues with 1,652 vehicles including the 1999-2000 Audi A4 that had problems with Takata airbags. So far, 6,024 of these Audi vehicles have been declared unreachable and 132 have been removed from the recall. Two groups of these Audi vehicles were remedied in 2021, and one group was remedied in 2022 due to this issue with airbags that could over-inflate.

Laguna Hills, CA – Feb 6, 2020 – The recent Takata airbag recall forced Volkswagen to act. Volkswagen is notifying Audi owners that their vehicles may not be as safe as they thought.

In December, Takata recalled 1.4 million airbag inflators. This recall came about because when the airbags inflate following a car accident, they can do so with an excessive amount of force.

This causes a metal canister to explode and metal fragments may fly out, potentially harming a vehicle’s occupants. The risk is a significant consideration for Audi owners due to the exploding factor.

An ongoing problem

According to reports, Takata has been aware of its airbag risk since 2014. Because of this, airbag recalls have been occurring for years. Some vehicles are at a higher exploding risk.

These include Honda and Acura vehicles from 1996 to 2000. In March 2019, the driver of a 2002 Honda Civic died in the hospital following a crash that initiated the rupturing of the airbag and injured the driver.

Deaths and injuries worldwide

It is suspected that Takata inflators have caused about 25 deaths and 300 injuries throughout the world.

In the United States, more than 50 million Takata inflators are in recall status, resulting in the most vehicle recalls in the country’s history. The problem has been so big and impactful that it forced the airbag company into bankruptcy.

When can owners expect notification?

On October 21, 2019, German car manufacturer Volkswagen, Audi’s parent company, received reports from suppliers about issues with NADI inflators found during field tests.

Audi’s safety board was notified a few weeks later in November, and talks with the supplier commenced.

After confirming the risk, Audi notified the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the risk and the findings of their investigation so far, and Audi began an analysis of retrieved parts from the German and international markets in early January 2020.

Simultaneously, Takata sent out a defect report detailing the issues with the NADI inflators and the danger they posed. Audi independently verified the risk on January 22, 2020, when their own test results showed that there was indeed a risk of slow or no airbag deployment.

Repair

Volkswagen is recalling all vehicles that have faulty airbags to prevent the owners and occupants of their vehicles from harm. Replacement parts are not yet available.

In recall documents, Volkswagen told NHTSA, “At this point, due to the age of the vehicles, a repair is not available. Audi is working intensively on a remedy with the supplier, but currently, it is unclear when the remedy will be available.” 

When can owners expect notification?

This round of Audi recalls started on March 27, 2020. Those affected by the recall should have been notified or will be soon. Audi owners will receive a second notification when the parts are available. In some cases, both the driver’s airbag and the passenger’s front airbags are at risk.

Volkswagen wasn’t the first to issue a recall

BMW recalled 357,000 older automobiles back in January. This recall includes an estimated 293,000 BMW 3-Series from the year 2000 to 2006 as well as approximately 60,000 3 Series and 1 Series BMWs from 2006 to 2012. Some of the automaker’s SUVs were also equipped with faulty airbags.

Is your vehicle part of the recall?

Nearly 107,000 cars are part of this Audi recall.  As of March 29, 2021, repairs were still not available.

To check back on the repair status, bookmark MotorSafety’s free lookup tool.

Note: June 8, 2021

We have noticed a large number of readers are interested in this recall. For that reason, we have edited the article to reflect that the parts are not yet available and to add Volkswagen’s statement pertaining to this fact.