Auburn Hills, Mich. – May 10, 2018 – Volkswagen (OTCMKTS:VWAGY) has recalled 293,503 vehicles potentially equipped with defective Takata air bag assemblies, according to documentation submitted to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. The recall campaign affects the following models:
- 2006-2007 Volkswagen Passat sedans
- 2006-2007 Volkswagen Passat wagons
The German automaker suspects all of the models referenced in the recall contain the defective components.
The parts involved in this action are at the center of a multi year recall campaign encompassing 42 million vehicles across more than one dozen brands, Car and Driver reported. Approximately 15 owners have perished in accidents involving these components, while more than 100 have sustained serious injuries, according to Consumer Reports.
Recall summary
Affected vehicles contain Takata air bag assemblies with inflator modules whose propellant wafers are prone to degradation over time. These defective wafers could lead to particularly violent combustion upon air bag deployment. This issue, in turn, may cause the steel air bag inflator housing to explode, spraying metal fragments throughout the vehicle cabin at high speeds. Consequently, the defect poses a mortal threat to occupants. As stated above, Takata air bag assemblies are responsible for multiple driver deaths and injuries.
In March 2016, Volkswagen recalled more than 150,000 vehicles, including those involved in this action, in response to a Takata component recall filling, according to documentation from the NHTSA. The automaker oversaw permanent replacement of the air bag assemblies installed in these models, trading the defective inflators for replacements containing desiccated ammonium nitrate propellant. Recently, Volkswagen decided to adopt guanidine nitrate-based inflators. GuNi propellant is more durable and less caustic than ammonium nitrate propellant, The New York Times reported. This switch forced the car manufacturer to launch another recall, which it did April 18, 2018. Volkswagen also informed dealers of the impending action on this date.
The repair
The automaker will replace the ammonium nitrate-based air bag inflators with GuNi alternatives free of charge, according to an NHTSA recall acknowledgement document. Volkswagen contacted owners via first-class mail April 30, 2018.
Is your vehicle part of the recall?
Over 293,000 vehicles were originally part of this recall. As of April 9, 2021 – the last date information was available – 148,278 airbags had been replaced. To see if your car still needs to be repaired, use MotorSafety’s free lookup tool.
