Get Takata Airbags Fixed, Honda Australia Urges

Honda Australia is pleading with its customers to come in and get their Takata airbags repaired.

Despite having an airbag repair rate of 81% – 527,408 units – across the country, it says there are still 94,325 Honda vehicles with 122,971 inflators in need of the repair that takes between two and four hours to complete.

To highlight the seriousness of the recall, Honda Australia is issuing a graphic recall letter with the headline “Choosing Not to Act Could Be Deadly.”

The letter has three images of the damage caused by an abnormal deployment, including a puncture hole through a front headrest and car’s roof where metal fragments have sprayed out of the airbag as it inflated.

“As we continue to address the Takata recall, we hope this more graphic imagery will highlight to customers the importance of having their affected vehicles repaired,” Honda Australia Director Stephen Collins says in a statement.

“We encourage all Australians, if they have a friend or family member who owns a Honda vehicle, to urge them to jump on the Honda Australia website to check if their vehicle is affected,” he says. “If their vehicle has been recalled they must act on it, even if they don’t service with us. All repairs will be done free of charge.”

Honda dealers are completing up to 7,000 airbag inflator repairs a week, with a peak recently of 9,000 repairs in one week.

Collins says one of its biggest hurdles is making sure it has all Honda owners in its database.

Owners who are unsure about the status of their vehicle should check the Honda recall website and ensure the company has their latest contact details.

Collins says most of the remaining affected vehicles are owned by people who do not have their cars serviced through the Honda dealer network, or their contact details are not known to the company.

“Some 99% of affected vehicles serviced throughout the Honda dealer network have now been repaired, so we are urging customers of vehicles who service outside the Honda network to have their vehicle repaired, free of charge, as soon as possible,” Collins says.

Many Honda customers have received at least two and, in some cases, up to eight official recall letters. To date, Honda Australia has sent out more than 1 million forms of communication to Honda customers, including letters and text messages.