Honda was recently informed by the NHTSA that analysis by Takata of PSDI front driver airbag inflators – so-called "Alpha" inflators – removed from recalled 2001-2003 Honda and Acura vehicles in the state of Florida in the last few months and returned to Takata has revealed a very high rupture rate in laboratory testing.
Based on this analysis, Honda concurs with the Secretary of Transportation’s recommendation that this particular sub-group of 313,000 "Alpha" vehicles should only be driven to a dealer in order to have their Takata airbag inflators replaced as rapidly as possible. There is an abundant supply of replacement inflators and the repair is free of charge and can be completed quickly.
The inflators involved in this laboratory testing had been subject to recall by Honda since between 2008 and 2011, but had never been replaced by the vehicle owner under those actions (Original NHTSA recalls 08V-593, 09V-259, 10V-041 and 11V-260).
With between 14 to 16 years of operation in vehicles, these recalled inflators have also been subject to potential degradation of the ammonium nitrate inflator propellant caused by the factors of age, high temperature and high humidity. Recently, NHTSA identified through independent testing that these factors can lead to over-pressurization of the inflator if it deploys during a crash.
In the effort to reach owners of vehicles affected by these recalls, Honda has already utilized 17 of the 19 measures suggested for all automakers by the NHTSA-appointed Takata Independent Monitor to improve Takata airbag inflator recall completion.
Honda’s efforts to reach these owners of vehicles affected by these recalls include:
- 6 million mailed first class notifications to registered owners of affected vehicles (in both English and Spanish)
- 6 million post cards
- 7 million live and automated phone calls
- 8 million E-mails
- 311,000 text messages
- Newspaper and radio ads in English and Spanish
- Targeted social media advertising
- Private investigators seeking to locate individual, hard-to-reach owners
These efforts, and others, have yielded a 70 percent recall completion rate among this recalled population, but, up to 313,000 recalled vehicles remain unrepaired, many of them in the areas of High Absolute Humidity (HAH) designated by NHTSA, including Florida. Based on the recent Takata test results, in Florida or similar HAH areas, there is a significant risk of airbag inflator rupture if one of these vehicles is involved in a crash that deploys the driver front airbag.
In addition, Honda is pursuing additional actions targeting the "Alpha" population including the following:
- More than doubling the size of the customer service staff to enable more inbound and outbound calls with customers
- Exploring a targeted Social Media advertising campaign designed to identify and communicate with vehicle owners at sites that they often visit
Honda will continue to aggressively explore and implement new methods to reach owners of these vehicles, and has ample replacement parts inventory from alternative suppliers to immediately repair all of the recalled vehicles from the 2001-2003 model years. For replacement of the "alpha" inflators in affected vehicles Honda is not using any replacement inflators from Takata.
Ultimately, it is up to each vehicle owner to take action to complete the vehicle repair and Honda urges every owner of a 2001-2003 vehicle affected by the Takata inflator recall to contact a dealer immediately to complete the repair.
Honda believes that the most effective solution to ensure repair of vehicles affected by any and all recalls is to tie state vehicle registration to recall completion similar to existing emissions requirements.
In the interim, Honda encourages all Honda and Acura vehicle owners to immediately check for open recalls at www.recalls.honda.com and www.recalls.acura.com and contact an authorized dealer as soon as possible to schedule the free repair. Any concerned customer can also contact Automobile Customer Service at 888-234-2138.
Summary of 2001-2003 vehicles that may be equipped with recalled Takata PSDI driver airbag inflators (Vehicle owners should check by VIN):
2001-2002 Honda Accord
2001-2002 Honda Civic
2002 Honda CR-V
2002 Honda Odyssey
2003 Honda Pilot
2002-2003 Acura 3.2 TL
2003 Acura 3.2CL
High resolution photographs of these specific models, including current images of the 2002 Civic and 2001 Accord at a Honda Service Center, are available for download by media here: https://hondanews.com/en-US/channels/psdi-recall-models
For additional details on Honda’s efforts to repair vehicles affected by Takata airbag inflator recalls, please view our fact sheet here: https://hondanews.com/en-US/releases/takata-airbag-inflator-recall-fact-sheet
REQUEST TO MEDIA: Please be kind enough to post the list of vehicles above in your stories and on your websites, and urge customers to immediately check for open recalls at www.recalls.honda.com and www.recalls.acura.com, or at www.safercar.gov and contact an authorized dealer as soon as possible to schedule the free repair. Any concerned customer can also contact Automobile Customer Service at 888-234-2138.
2002 Honda Civic (left) and 2001 Honda Accord (right); two vehicles included in the recall of Takata PSDI front driver airbag inflators ("Alpha" inflators) requiring immediate replacement.