02/17/2020 - 13:51
- Clarín.com
- Cars
The scandal of Takata airbags was the one that affected most cars in the history of the car. While it did not have the media significance of Volkswagen Dieselgate , more than 90 million vehicles worldwide were initially hit by a call for review for defective airbags.
Last weekend the first death in the region was confirmed after a Brazilian driver lost his life after crashing into his 2008 Honda Civic in Rio de Janeiro.
The confirmation came from the Brazilian subsidiary of the Japanese brand, which published in a statement that "the technical investigation determined that there was an abnormal rupture of the Takata airbag inflator, which caused injuries that caused the driver's death."
There are eight Honda models that could have this problem in our country / AP
The problem lies in certain chemical components of the air bag inflators that, after a while and in conditions of high humidity and temperature, can become unstable and generate excessive pressure at the time of activation and deployment of the bags.
The inflation power is higher than what was originally designed and that is why they end up detaching parts of the airbag holder, with a potential risk for the occupants of the vehicle.
The 2008 Civic had not called for review that the brand had announced in 2015, where it had been warned of that possible failure in the driver's airbag.
And although there has not been any incident for this cause in our country, it is a global problem that affects a large number of companies that sold cars in Argentina.
One of the most damaged is just Honda and the problem is for vehicles that were manufactured between 2001 and 2014. The potentially affected models are: FIT (2004-2014), Pilot (2009 to 2011), Legend (2007 to 2009), City (2009 to 2014), Civic (2001 to 2014), CR-V (2003 to 2012), Accord (2001 to 2012) and Stream (2001).
In September of last year, the Japanese brand announced that it had already replaced more than 114,000 inflators . At present, the problem has been solved in more than 60% of the affected cars but there are still about 50 thousand vehicles to be reviewed.
In order to verify if a vehicle is affected, users must enter the website of Honda Argentina and report the chassis number. You can also contact the Customer Service department by email atencion_al_cliente@honda.com.ar or by phone at 0800-1221-HONDA (46632).
In case the revision is necessary, the driver and / or passenger airbag inflator will be replaced in the official workshops for free and in a few minutes.
