List of manufacturer recalls for July 2016

With the Takata Airbag issue calming down slowly, the month of July registered a lesser number of recalls. Here is a list of vehicles that went back to meet their maker in the past month.

Even after months of being the hot headline, the Takata fever hasn’t subsided as a whole yet. News from Europe suggest that a few companies may still be selling new cars fitted with the defective airbags. Automotive News reported that the entire Ferrari lineup and a few Mercedes Benz models belong to this bunch and that all of the affected vehicles will be subjected to a voluntary recall by the end of 2018. The Ferrari models include the 2016-2017 FF, California T, 488GTB, 488 Spider, F12 Berlinetta, F12 TdF, and GTC4 Lusso. The affected Mercedes models include 2016 Sprinter and 2016-2017 E-class coupe and convertible. The future owners of the vehicles will be notified of a recall via dealers soon. For now, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration claims that these vehicles are legal and safe to be sold to the public, as the airbags will only fail if exposed to high humidity for a long period of time. Or basically, our local weather.

British sports car manufacturer Aston Martin has announced a recall on 6,076 of its cars because of an issue with the vehicles’ door locks. This glitch might result in occupants being trapped inside if the car is locked from the outside. The models affected are 2010-2015 Aston Martin DB9, 2010-2012 DBS, 2010-2016 Rapide, 2010-2016 V8 Vantage, 2012 Virage, 2014-2016 Vanquish, 2011-2016 V12 Vantage and 2012-2013 Zagato. Aston Martin will reprogram the locking mechanism’s software to disable the double locking feature to rectify the problem at no cost.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is conducting a recall of 323,361 cars in the US to rectify a problem caused due to an insufficient crimp in the vehicle’s wiring harness. This may result in a solenoid fault code, which can cause a loss in power or even worse, cause the engine to stop. The vehicles affected include the 2015 Chrysler 200, Ram ProMaster City, Jeep Renegade and the 2014-2015 Jeep Cherokees, all of which are built after September 23, 2014.

4520 examples of Nissan’s Sentra and Leaf are being recalled in the United States to address an issue with the passenger airbag. Nissan Leafs built between 24 February 2016 and 23 March 2016 and Nissan Sentras manufactured between 9 February 2016 and 4 March 2016 constitutes the defective lot. The defect is harboured by the wiring harness connector which may get detached from the passenger airbag. This may even stop the airbag from deploying in the event of an emergency. Dealers will inspect the wiring harness connector to ensure a proper connection and will replace the main body harness and the airbag module if necessary. The GCC gets its Sentras from Thailand, not the United States. The Leaf is not offered in the Middle East.

German manufacturer BMW has halted the production of its M2, M3, M4, M5, 5 series and 6 series models as they found out that the vehicles produced between May 12 and July 4, 2016 are in need of a rear differential replacement. BMW hasn’t let out any details regarding the defect but they has issued a stop-delivery order on 202 cars. They will soon update the information bulletin with details regarding warranty and repair of the affected cars.

On other news, the U.S. NHTSA is examining 2011-2015 Ford Explorer models as they have received 150 reports of exhaust fumes entering the cabin. This problem is most evident under heavy throttle conditions like climbing a steep gradient or entering a fast motorway. The investigations might be followed by a recall if they deem that necessary.

That’s all for the month of July. If your vehicle is one among the affected lot, get in touch with your dealer to know if any action is necessary.