Honda tells owners to stop driving recalled 2001-2003 Acura and Honda vehicles until air bags are fixed
Over 99% of original “Alpha” inflators have been replaced or accounted for, leaving only about 8,200 inflators in Honda/Acura vehicles on U.S. roads
Honda is advising owners of certain 2001-2003 Acura and Honda vehicles containing recalled Takata driver airbag inflators to stop driving their vehicles until the free recall repairs have been made.
Owners can arrange free towing or mobile repair (where available), with free loaner/rental vehicles also available by contacting Acura client relations, Honda customer service or their local authorized dealer.
Honda’s relentless recall efforts have included approximately 18.3 million total outreach attempts to vehicle owners, resulting in the replacement of or accounting for more than 99% of these so-called “Alpha” inflators.
However, since about 8,200 vehicles with these most-dangerous inflators may remain on U.S. roads, the new “Stop Driving” messaging will be included in a new series of recall notices to motivate the remaining owners to take action as soon as possible.
“We are proud of the unprecedented efforts of Honda associates to notify owners of these older model vehicles of the danger of these Takata Alpha inflators, but we cannot rest until we have repaired or accounted for every one of these vehicles,” said Steven Bailey, vice president of Parts, Service and Technical operations for American Honda. “While more than 99% of vehicle owners have heeded the many warnings to get the free repair, we’re concerned for the safety of those who have not responded and are now adopting the new Stop Driving messaging to spur them to act.”
What is a Takata “Alpha” inflator? These inflators had been subject to recalls by Honda since between 2008 and 2011 but had never been replaced by the vehicle owners under those actions (Original NHTSA recalls 08V-593, 09V-259, 10V-041 and 11V-260). In 2016, based on analysis of driver airbag inflators recovered from recalled vehicles, Honda began to identify a sub-group of 1,085,951 Takata inflators with a significantly higher risk of rupture during an airbag deployment than other recalled inflators.
Now, with between 20 to 22 years of operation in vehicles, these recalled inflators have also been subject to potential degradation of the ammonium nitrate inflator propellant caused by the factors of age, high temperature and high humidity. Independent testing has concluded that these factors can further contribute to inflator rupture if an airbag deploys during a crash.
Honda’s efforts to reach owners of vehicles with recalled Takata “Alpha” inflators include (approximate numbers):
- 8.9 million mailed notifications to registered owners of affected vehicles (many in both English and Spanish)
- 5.4 million live and automated phone calls
- 2.3 million E-mails
- 916 thousand text and online messages
- 794,000 In-person canvassing visits seeking to locate individual, hard-to-reach owners
- Newspaper and radio ads in English and Spanish
- Targeted social media advertising
Honda encourages all Honda and Acura vehicle owners to immediately check for open recalls at www.recalls.honda.com and www.recalls.acura.com and contact an authorized dealer as soon as possible to schedule the free repair. Any concerned customer can also contact both brands’ customer service representatives at 888-234-2138.
Summary of 2001-2003 vehicles that may be equipped with recalled Takata PSDI “Alpha” driver airbag inflators (Vehicle owners should check by VIN):
- 2001-2002 Honda Accord
- 2001-2002 Honda Civic
- 2002 Honda CR-V
- 2002 Honda Odyssey
- 2003 Honda Pilot
- 2002-2003 Acura 3.2 TL
- 2003 Acura 3.2CL
