MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Takata airbag recall is growing daily.
More than 34 million vehicles across dozens of manufacturers have been affected.
A Senate panel is scheduled to hold a hearing into the investigation next week.
Meanwhile government regulators and car makers have urged affected customers to get into the dealership quickly, yet we found their safety’s still at risk.”
“The airbag here is the original one that I got the recall on,” said Butch Campbell who received his recall notice in the mail back in February.
That notification said his Dodge pickup was one of millions with a potentially defective Takata airbag.
He immediately went to the dealer to get it fixed.
“I went up there on 2/23 of ’15 and they told me they didn’t have the parts, didn’t know when the part would be in,” he recalled.
“Did you ask them okay, what am I supposed to do?” asked WREG.
“They said just drive until they call,” Campbell said.
Roughly four months have passed.
Campbell said just this week he found out parts are available to repair the airbag.
That’s when he found out about another problem.
“Today I called them again and they said that the passenger side was in, but don’t bring it up until they get both sides. So ain’t no telling how long I’ll have to go without air bag protection,” he said.
You heard right.
Now his driver’s side air bag has been recalled too!
And Campbell wasn’t the only one with this problem.
A Ford customer emailed the On Your Side Investigators saying his dealer told him parts to fix the recalled airbag might not be available until September!
“I think if they’re going to send out a recall, though, they ought to have the parts readily available,” said Campbell.
WREG contacted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and several manufacturers to find out why parts were delayed and what’s being done about it.
They told WREG an inflater inside the airbag is what must be fixed, so car makers are relying on several suppliers, in addition to Takata to handle production.
For example, Honda said parts availability varies by make and model.
But they said they are giving affected owners loaners or rentals during repairs or if a part is delayed.
Toyota, however, is only offering rentals for RAV 4 owners recalled for drivers side airbag inflators.
Campbell said he’ll just keep waiting for repairs.
In the meantime, he said he’ll use his pick up for work, but drives it less.
“That’s all I’m doing, but not as much,” he said. “Good thing I got another car.”
One that might be safer to rely on.
Use this link to find out if your car has been recalled.
