Manufacturer Recalls for October 2021

In October, randomly exploding airbag inflators have filled in the recall space, again. But they are not Takata anymore. 

After Takata airbags, here is yet another alarming airbag recall. Volvo is recalling 194, 546 vehicles for a potentially dangerous airbag inflator fitted into them. This may sound similar to the Takata airbag issue but these inflators are manufactured by another supplier, ZF/TRW. Just like the Takata airbags, these may degrade over time and increase the risk of an explosion. The models included in this recall are the V70 and XC70, made from 2000 through 2007.

Yet another recall from Volvo adds more vehicles to this ZF inflator issue-related recall. This time it affects more than 460,000 vehicles worldwide, including 2001-2009 S60 and 2001-2006 S80 sedans.

If you thought that faulty airbag inflators will cease to churn out more recalls, you are wrong. Yet another airbag is making the news now. A company, ARC Automotive of Knoxville, is now confirmed to have made 8 million faulty airbag inflators. Similar to the Takata inflators, these can also explode, spewing metal shrapnel at the occupants. NHTSA initiated an investigation into this issue when two people were injured in July 2015 by flying shrapnel. Another person was killed by the same kind of inflator in 2016. But now, things have taken a turn, for the worse. Yet another death has happened. A driver of a 2015 Chevrolet Traverse SUV was reportedly killed by metal fragments. Only a few vehicles are recalled, including 2013 through 2017 Chevy Traverse and 2008 through 2017 Buick Enclave. But the number can rise, with GM has confirming that 1.2 million of its vehicles have ARC inflators installed in them.

After a couple of months of absolute chaos, GM has resumed the production of the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV. These vehicles posed a fire risk and were reported to catch fire even when not in use. Chevy was forced to recall units ever built. Now, the chaos has settled down so GM is back to business. They have started building the EVs again. But if you have a Bolt EV or EUV, follow all protocols suggested by GM until your vehicle is repaired under the recall.

Tesla is recalling almost 3,000 of their Model Y crossovers and Model 3 sedans. In these vehicles., front suspension lateral link fasteners can come loose. Or even worse, go missing completely. This can potentially lead the lateral link to detach from the subframe. The crossovers from the 2020 and 2021 model years and the sedans from 2019, 2020, and 2021 model years are included in this recall

Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon, Chevy Suburban/Tahoe from 2021 are being recalled for a stalling risk. These new cars may have faulty control modules for their fuel pumps. This can reduce the efficiency of the fuel flow, increasing the risk of a stall. More than 15,000 vehicles are included in this recall. As of now, GM is in the process of acquiring enough parts to start the recall. Once that process is done and dusted, they will initiate the recall campaign.

Every Porsche Taycan sold in the US is being recalled for a minor hazard-light-related issue. In these vehicles, the lights are calibrated to come on a little earlier than needed. As these work in tandem with automatic emergency braking, this can create a bit of confusion on the road.

Watch this space out for more recall news in the coming months