Toyota to expand the Takata airbag recalls on Avensis, Corolla, and Yaris

Toyota Australia has decided to expand the Takata airbag recalls on 82,750 cars. These cars include recall for the 2001-03 Avensis, 2001-07 Corolla, and 2006-11 Toyota Yaris Sedan. The recall is basically based on faulty airbags. The primary concern is that the fitted airbags inflators can degrade when they are exposed to too much humidity and heat. It would result in an explosion of the inflators when under immense pressure. As a result of the explosion, it would send out shrapnel in the cabin. 

The situation is that in the front seat of the car there is an ammonium-nitrate propellant which is non-desiccated phase stabilized. There is a possibility that is owing to high temperatures, high heat, and high heat cycles, the propellant would degrade eventually. This will happen due to the absorbed moisture. Further, the shrapnel can cause severe injury as well as death. 

Toyota has abode by the recall and has ordered a total of 179,710 cars in the Australian market. The latest ACCC figures show that a total of 3.2 million, which is 79.8% of the total airbags, have been replaced. Further, 600,000 airbags are still left, which are faulty. The Australian Government has decided to make the recall based on 24 reported deaths and over 260 injuries that had occurred worldwide. It involves the death of a local motorist owing to severe injuries. These incidents took place in June and July in 2017 respectively. 

The Australian Government has declared that the rupturing of these Takata airbags might take place somewhere in between 6 years to 25 years after it has been installed in the vehicle. Toyota has decided that it will be mailing out an interim letter to the owners of these vehicles and they will be told to provide early details of their cars. Further, when the parts will be available for the vehicles, the owners will have to make an appointment with the local Toyota dealers, who will be changing the airbags free of cost. Another 6.3% of the total number of vehicles that were included in the recall have been written off, scrapped or have not been registered for more than two years, which means that the airbags of these cars cannot be replaced. 

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