Toyota Australia to recall additional 180k vehicles due to Takata airbag safety concern

Toyota Australia has announced the recall of an additional 179,710 vehicles. Three Toyota models – Avensis Verso, Corolla and Yaris with build dates from March 2007 to December 2011 – are now being retracted as part of the carmaker’s Takata airbag safety campaign.

The expanded recall is due to the possibility that the front passenger airbag inflators may be at risk of moisture intrusion over time. This could make the inflator assembly prone to breakage during accidents, and which will in turn increase the risk of injury to the passenger.

“In the involved vehicles, the front passenger’s airbag infiltrators contain a non-desiccated phase stabilised ammonium nitrate propellant. A possibility exists that after prolonged exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures and high temperature cycling, infiltrator propellant may degrade due to the absorption of moisture. In the event of an accident requiring front airbag deployment, abnormal infiltrator deployment and rupture may occur. The ruptured inflator may create metallic projectile fragments that could contact an occupant, increasing the risk of injury,” Toyota has explained.

It added that there have been no incidents or injuries reported in the country as a result of this condition.

Owners of affected vehicles will be notified by mail within the next few weeks. Toyota Australia expects that the replacement part availability will start during Q2 2017. Once the replacement parts are available, it will inform customers through mail so they can make an appointment at their preferred Toyota dealer.

The service to replace the front passenger airbag inflator assembly will take between one and three hours, depending on the model. Toyota dealers will perform the replacement free of charge to the vehicle owner.

In August, Toyota Australia announced the recall of almost 15,000 Toyota 86 vehicles that were built from April 2012 to March 2015. It was due to the potential loss of power steering assist that affects right-hand drive vehicles equipped with driver’s knee airbags.

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