Fiat Chrysler announced on Thursday that it is entering its fourth and supposedly final stage of Takata passenger-side airbag recalls with the announcement that another 1.4 million vehicle owners will be notified. The company has replaced upward of 4 million faulty inflators since the recall began.
The bulk of the vehicles affected in this most recent recall are in the US, but there are also around 100,000 vehicles in Canada and Mexico that will have their inflators replaced. The specific models covered in this round include the 2010 Dodge Ram 3500/4500/5500, the 2010-2011 Dakota, 2011-2015 Charger, 2010-2014 Challenger, 2010-2015 Chrysler 300 and the 2010-2015 Jeep Wrangler.
The Takata airbag inflator defect is responsible for the deaths of an estimated 23 people and has caused injury to nearly 300 more. The recall itself has been going on for 10 years and has involved more than 30 million vehicles and 50 million inflators from manufacturers all over the globe.
Of the affected vehicles, NHTSA estimates that, of those 50 million inflators, some 16.7 million have yet to be replaced, though according to Deputy Chief of NHTSA Heidi King that number will continue to fall as repair rates increase.
We may sound like a broken record here, but if you've received a recall notice for your vehicle -- be it for the Takata airbag recall or anything else -- take your car in to get fixed. The repair will cost you nothing, and both you and your family will be better off for it.
Enter your car's VIN into NHTSA's database to see if your vehicle has any outstanding recalls associated with it.
