Honda PH reiterates recall for Takata airbag problems

Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI) is on a continuous effort of voluntarily recalling models manufactured from 2001 to 2015 due to major Takata Airbag inflator issues. This was after discovering that fragments of the said airbag inflators on these models have a tendency to shoot out during deployment. 

With the goal of replacing Takata airbag inflators on 200,000 units since 2008, Honda continuously encourages owners of the affected car models to have their car repaired. The latest announcement was earlier this February 2018, where HCPI issued a recall on Jazz, City, and Pilot models that were manufactured from 2012 to 2015. Over 10,461 units were affected by this in the country.

Inflators, as its name suggests, are the ones that inflate and deploy airbags during head-on collisions. These devices are usually made up of both steel and ceramic components. In Takata’s case, the inflator’s casing posed a tendency to shatter in pieces due to prolonged exposure to humidity. This causes the propellant to burn more powerful which then ruptures the casing. A ruptured inflator casing could send out shrapnel as caused by blowing the airbag out. The defect is said to have resulted deaths in other countries. 

HCPI’s continuous voluntary recall aims to fix this and to date, the company claims that half of the total affected vehicles have already been successfully repaired. An all-out effort of reaching out to customers through mail, text messages, phone calls, among others had been done in earlier timeline. Despite these, the Japanese car manufacturer says there are still a number of affected vehicles out there are unsafely roaming the streets. 

If you own one of the said affected cars, HCPI is encouraging you to turn your vehicles in and have it repaired as soon as possible. Don’t worry about further expenses as the repair is free of charge, even more so, will only take an hour to be accomplished. Note that the Takata airbag recall is a global challenge faced not only by Honda, but the entire automotive industry. 

To know if your car is among the affected models, you may visit the Honda PH VIN searcher and enter your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). You can find this 17-digit number on the vehicle registration or in the warranty booklet. 

To schedule an appointment, reach out to your nearest Honda Cars Dealer. They should accompany you with everything you need to do. You may also email HCPI at update@hondaphil.com for more information.