Volkswagen and its Audi luxury marque have issued a recall order for about 1,200 cars that may contain dangerous exploding airbag inflators.
This recall isn’t connected to the infamous Takata airbag recall that has claimed at least 27 lives worldwide. But it has a similar mechanism.
Affected models include:
- 2016 Audi A3
- 2016 Audi A3 e-Tron
- 2016 Audi R8
- 2016 Audi S3
- 2016 Audi TT
- 2016 Volkswagen E-Golf
- 2016 Volkswagen Golf
- 2016 Volkswagen Golf R
- 2016 Volkswagen Golf SportWagen
- 2016 Volkswagen GTI
Airbags inflate when a chemical reaction inside a small capsule, known as the inflator, causes a rapidly expanding gas to fill the airbag. Some VWs may have inflators that don’t release their gas into the airbag in a controlled manner. Instead, they burst.
In documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), VW Explains, “In the event of a crash, the airbag inflator may burst when deployed and can eject sharp metal fragments, causing possible injury to the occupants.”
A Cautious Move Because of Limited Information
VW is aware of one incident in which fragments from an airbag inflator injured a passenger. No one was killed.
The crash is currently the subject of a lawsuit. VW tells NHTSA it has not been able to determine what caused the inflator to rupture “since plaintiff’s counsel in ongoing litigation consented only to a visual inspection.”
So the company has decided to recall every car “assembled with passenger airbag inflators manufactured in the same production batch as the affected vehicle.” Dealers will replace the entire front-passenger airbag module free of charge.
Manufacturers attempt to contact every owner, but they don’t always reach them all with the news. Find out if your car has any outstanding repair orders at our recall center.
