Dodge Challenger joins airbag recall; Takata say no to victims' fund
The number of vehicles affected by the years-long Takata airbag recall has risen by聽88,346聽thanks to a new recall from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. According to the National Highway Traffic Administration, select Dodge聽聽vehicles from the 2008, 2009, and 2010 model years have been recalled to replace driver-side airbags manufactured by Takata.
QUICK TAKATA RECAP
If you feel you've lost track of the narrative in the Takata saga, you're not alone. Like most sagas, it's been over-long and聽, slowed by recalls limited to specific geographic areas (e.g. the U.S. Gulf Coast), recalls limited to particular sets of airbags (e.g. driver-side and passenger-side), and one聽聽(i.e. Takata).聽
If you want a relatively full recap, you can find our latest聽. But the bottom line is, Takata's airbags were --聽聽--聽made with a chemical compound that can become very unstable when exposed to moisture, causing airbags to explode when they deploy. Those explosions have caused scores of injuries and at least eight deaths.
Takata is losing聽聽partners faster than Donald Trump, and yet the company is still dragging its feet, refusing to do the Right Thing. Late last week, Takata said that, no, it would聽聽and their families. Which could be a deeply dumb business decision, because the majority of victims happen to have lived in the U.S., and Americans are known for two things: (a) their unwillingness to go metric and (b) their complete willingness to sue the pants off of anyone who does them wrong.
DODGE CHALLENGER RECALL
The Dodge Challenger recall is limited to vehicles that were built between聽September 19, 2007 and October 29, 2010.聽FCA says that it will mail recall notices to owners on August 14, 2015. However, because replacement airbag systems aren't yet available, these will just be interim notices, letting owners know about the recall. FCA will send out a second round of notices once it has received the proper parts. At that time, owners will be able to take their vehicles to dealers, who will replace drivers-side airbag inflators at no charge.
If you have questions, you're encouraged to contact FCA customer service at 800-853-1403 and ask about recall #R37. You can also call聽聽directly at聽888-327-4236 and ask about safety campaign #15V444000.
For NHTSA's complete list of vehicles affected by Takata airbag recalls, visit.
