Honda Australia is imploring owners of Honda vehicles who’ve received an airbag recall notice to heed the notice and have their vehicle repaired.
IN THE WAKE OF A recent fatal accident in which the owner of a Honda vehicle affected by an airbag recall died when it exploded, Honda is calling on all remaining owners of affected vehicles to heed the recall notice.
“Despite having a Takata airbag repair rate of 81 % across the country, Honda Australia is urging the remaining affected owners to have their vehicles repaired,” it’s statement to the media read.
At the Honda Civic Type R launch this week, Honda Australia Director, Stephen Collins, said any Honda customers who were still unsure about the status of their vehicle should check the Honda recall website, and also ensure the company has their latest contact details.
“This is one of our biggest hurdles; making sure we have these customers in our database,” he said. “As of late last week, there are still 94,325 Honda vehicles in need of repair.”
Mr Collins said the majority of these remaining affected vehicles are owned by people who do not service through the Honda dealer network; or their current contact details are not known to the company.
“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,” Mr Collins said.
According to Honda, some owners have received up to eight official recall letters from the company with the company saying it has sent out 1 million pieces of communications to owners, including letters and text messages.
To drive response to its recall notices, Honda has launched a recall letter to customers, with the headline “Choosing Not to Act Could Be Deadly”.
The letter features three images of the damage caused by an abnormal deployment, showing a puncture hole through a front headrest and car’s roof where shrapnel have deployed out of the airbag. It follows a previous recall letter that included an illustration of an abnormal deployment.
“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,” Mr. Collins said.
“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. 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,” Mr. Collins said.
Customers can check if their Honda vehicle is affected through the recall webpages at honda.com.au/recall The website has a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) check tool to enable customers to see if their vehicle is affected. Customers can also call the dedicated Honda recall centre on 1800 789 839 between 8 am and 9 pm Monday to Friday; as well as Saturday and Sunday 8.30 am to 5.00 pm.
All airbag inflator rectification work is free of charge and takes between two and four hours to complete.
“It’s our aim to have every affected car repaired but we can only do this if customers book their affected vehicles in,” Mr Collins said.
Currently, 527,408 inflator repairs have been completed and there are 122,971 inflators still to be replaced. This represents a completion rate of 81 per cent overall.
Honda dealers are completing up to 7000 airbag inflator repairs a week, with a peak recently of 9000 repairs in one week. Some dealers are even opening on Saturdays to facilitate repairs.
