Ford, Mazda issue “Do Not Drive” warning for light trucks.
By Andrew Hulse
Ford Ranger owners need to stop driving their model year 2006 trucks. The Takata Airbag recall saga continues with an additional almost 40,000 vehicles from Ford and Mazda.
Ford, and by extension, Mazda expanded a “Do Not Drive” warning yesterday to include 36,000 more 2006 model year Ranger and Mazda B-Series small trucks. The recall and warning initially only covered just fewer than 4000 vehicles but was expanded after another death was attributed to a faulty Takata Airbag.
If you own a 2006 model year Ford Ranger or Mazda B-Series truck, please check here to see if your vehicle is part of the warning. The affected vehicles were built in 2005 at Ford’s plant in the Twin Cities.
As with other recalls related to Takata Airbags, in the event of a crash, the inflator could explode and send shrapnel into the driver/passenger. Ford will contact owners and replace the airbag free of charge. A loaner vehicle will be provided to the customer. Owners should schedule the service immediately and reference recall campaign number 18S02.
Takata’s Airbag woes will be written about in future textbooks.
I wanted to give a rundown of all Takada’s woes next so if you only came here for the recall information scroll down a bit and hit next article. If you want to learn about the downfall of an airbag empire, keep reading for a brief outline.
The troubles started in 2008 with a recall of just a few Honda vehicles for faulty airbags, over the next few years, the recall grows to millions of vehicles. The recalls were limited to Honda until 2013 when more Japanese automakers start issuing recalls.
In 2014, it hit the fan with over 3 million more cars worldwide are recalled from seven more manufacturers.
Finally, in 2015, Takata admits their airbags are faulty. The company insisted there was no issue with their product up until this time. At this point, it is already the largest recall in auto history. This admission only comes after 6 deaths are caused by faulty airbags.
Could it possibly get worse?
Next: Mitsubishi Recalls More Than 200,000 Cars For Sunroof and Brakes
YES, oh boy, it can.
In May 2016, 35 million to 40 million additional airbags are put under recall in the United States. This dwarfs the original numbers. Analysts at this point are starting to predict there is no way for the company to recover.
In January 2017, Takata will file for bankruptcy with 1 billion in fines.
Timeline info from here and here.
While things have slowed down, there are still recalls that will come and more injuries are probable. I have had four airbags replaced in both of my cars, driver and passenger side on both. You are more likely to come across someone who has a recalled airbag then someone who has not.