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Recall: Owners told not to drive older Chrysler, Dodge cars after 3 Takata airbag deaths
Do not drive is the message Fiat Chrysler is sending owners of 2005-2010 Dodge Magnums, Chargers, Challengers and Chrysler 300s, if they have yet to address the Takata driver side airbag recall.
FOX 2 - The problem with the defective Takata airbags is that they can rupture a metal canister inside when they deploy and send shrapnel into the car, causing serious injury and even death.
Do not drive: That's the message Fiat Chrysler is sending owners of 2005-2010 Dodge Magnums, Chargers, Challengers, and Chrysler 300s, if they have yet to address the Takata driver-side airbag recall.
"What's amazing is that we keep discovering more vehicles that either weren’t a part of a recall, or somehow people just continued to drive them despite warnings they could be killed if they didn't get them fixed," said Paul Eisenstein.
FCA’s warning comes after three people died in separate crashes in which the Takata airbags exploded-sending shrapnel into drivers.
FCA says there are more than a quarter-million vehicles with defective airbags.
Eisenstein, publisher of TheDetroitBureau.com says drivers who have not had them replaced are putting their lives at risk.
"Just because you’ve been driving the car safely for 10, 15, 17 years, doesn’t mean that it’s not dangerous," he said. "It just may mean you haven’t had an accident that set your airbag off."
FCA is offering free driver-side airbag replacements at certified FCA dealerships. The repair takes less than an hour.
"We are making every reasonable accommodation you can imagine," said Eric Maybe, Stellantis media relations."We are knocking on people's doors and repairing vehicles in their driveways. We are providing alternate transportation.
More than 30 people have died from exploding Takata airbags around the globe-including 23 here in the US.
"This has been the single collective recall in automotive history: if you include overseas, it’s something like 100 million airbags that have been recalled and all because a company called Takata took shortcuts to try to save a few dollars," Eisenstein said.
FCA says it’s been reaching out to owners of affected vehicles and will continue to do so.
But you can find out if your vehicle is included in that recall by calling the FCA Takata Call center at (833) 585-0144 or Mopar.com/recalls. You can also go to checktoprotect.org or nhtsa.gov/recalls
The longer these particular vehicles remain unrepaired, the greater the risk of an airbag rupture, in event of a crash. Free replacement driver-side airbags have been available for this population since 2015.
checktoprotect.org or nhtsa.gov/recalls. The Fiat Chrysler automobiles Takata call center phone at:
If you think your vehicle may have a safety defect that isn’t part of a current recall, contact NHTSA. Contact NHTSA online or by calling the agency’s vehicle safety hotline at (888) 327-4236, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. eastern time.