A Look at Vehicle Recalls Due to Defects

When someone purchases a new vehicle and there are repeated problems, the California Lemon Law may provide important protections for the car owner. Unfortunately, it is very common for car owners to have to deal with serious safety defects, even on brand new cars. As Time reported, many car owners are now facing the recall of their cars because of problems with airbags.

Vehicles Recalled Due to Airbag Defects

According to Time, Honda has now recalled more than 300,000 vehicles.  The Hondas are older model vehicles, including Civics, Accords, CRVs, Pilots and Odyssey's from 2001 to 2003. There are also several Acura models that have been recalled from this time period, including the 2002 and 2003 Acura TL and the 2003 Acura CL. 

These vehicles are being recalled because they have airbags manufactured by Takata, which make the cars dangerous to drive. The airbags have inflators with a manufacturing defect that could cause the airbags to rupture in a dangerous way.  Although the dangers of the airbags have been known for some time, Honda has now issued more stringent warnings to motorists in affected cars that they should stop driving immediately and have the vehicles repaired right away.

The new warnings and strong recall are occurring in light of recent testing indicating that the rupture rate for the airbags in affected vehicles is as high as 50 percent.  Ruptures are also more likely to occur in vehicles where the cars are kept in high temperatures for longer periods of time, such as states like California, as well as states with both high temperatures and high humidity levels like Florida and Texas.

As many as 70 to 90 million vehicles with defective Takata airbags have now been recalled by vehicle manufacturers, including not just Honda cars but also Ford, Chrysler and many of the other big car manufacturers in the country.  Only around 70 percent of the vehicles described as the “most critical” with the greatest potential for rupture have been repaired, leaving potentially millions more cars on the road that have airbags that could possibly rupture in the event of a collision.

When and if the airbags rupture, the results can be tragic for vehicle occupants. Death and serious injury are possible due to the airbags rupturing.  Car manufacturers need to make sure that consumers truly understand the extent of the danger and follow manufacturer instructions for taking the cars off the road and getting the vehicles repaired in a timely manner. 

Car dealers who sell used and new vehicles that may have cars on their lots with defective airbags also have an obligation to ensure they are getting problem cars repaired and alerting car shoppers if the vehicles they're looking at are under an active recall.

Any vehicle shopper should know his or her options when a vehicle turns out to have a safety issue or any kind of defect. Knowing and understanding California’s lemon law, as well as other consumer protection laws, is crucial for everyone’s safety.