Toyota issues counterfeit alert over sold bogus airbag parts

Toyota has released a counterfeit alert over the fake airbag parts that may have been sold across Australia in the past ten years. The car company warns that the bogus spiral cables which were sold in genuine Toyota packaging could cause the airbags to malfunction during a crash.

Australia’s News.com has furnished a copy of the counterfeit alert issued by the company to all Toyota dealers. In the official statement, the company says it has identified two suppliers who have been marketing the fake spiral cables as Toyota Genuine Parts. These bogus airbag parts were reportedly sold in counterfeit Toyota Genuine packaging as aftermarket parts.

Toyota is unaware of how many of these fake spiral cables have already been installed in cars. An anonymous dealer said there could already have been thousands installed in cars as these airbag parts are commonly used.

“The problem is, we truly have no way of knowing how many of these fake parts are out there,” the dealer said in the News.com report.

Toyota has also expressed its concern over the danger these fake spiral cables could cause to the driver or the passenger. Internal testing of the fake parts in Japan revealed a couple of ways they could cause a malfunction with the airbags.

There would reportedly be a “high likelihood of insufficient conductivity to support airbag deployment electrical current,” according to the Toyota dealer bulletin furnished by News.com. In turn, it could pose “significant risk” for the airbags to not deploy during an accident or crash.

However, Australia’s The New Daily reports that these fake spiral cables will only affect those cars that have previously been in a car accident, as they are installed only after the airbag has been deployed. Toyota car owners who have never been in a crash are said to be safe from the dangers these bogus parts can do.

The Toyota dealer bulletin also pointed out some of the obvious physical markings that help buyers identify if they are being sold fake spiral cables. Outside of the bogus part being sold for $50 (AU$69) instead of the genuine wholesale amount of around $300 (U$A411.), the fake part does not have gold plated connectors and does not utilise copper wire. Likewise, the crimping of the cable is reportedly also very weak in the fake spiral cables and its plastic locking tabs are misaligned or “poorly formed.” A sample photo comparing a genuine spiral cable with the fake airbag part is posted by News.com.

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