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Ford, Toyota expand list of cars under recall for Takata airbag inflators

It's going to be a long time before this problem goes away.

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Andrew Krok Reviews Editor / Cars
Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.
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Even though the Takata airbag inflator scandal started months ago, automakers are still adding cars to the list of affected vehicles. Ford and Toyota are the latest to do so.

Yesterday, Ford added approximately 816,000 vehicles to its list of vehicles containing faulty Takata airbag inflators. All the vehicles in this list have compromised inflators on the front passenger side. Thus far, Ford is not aware of any injuries related to these specific inflators. Here's Ford's list of recent additions:

  • 2005-2009, 2012 Ford Mustang
  • 2005-2006 Ford GT
  • 2006-2009, 2012 Ford Fusion
  • 2007-2009 Ford Ranger
  • 2007-2009 Ford Edge
  • 2006-2009, 2012 Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ
  • 2007-2009 Lincoln MKX
  • 2006-2009 Mercury Milan

Toyota, too, expanded its list of recalled vehicles with Takata airbag inflators. Like Ford, its recall covers front passenger-side airbag inflators. Toyota's expansion is slightly smaller, covering approximately 543,000 vehicles. Owners will be notified starting in February, and dealers will replace the affected parts for free. Here's the full list:

  • 2008-2009, 2012 Scion xB
  • 2009, 2012 Toyota Corolla
  • 2009, 2012 Toyota Matrix
  • 2007-2009, 2012 Toyota Yaris
  • 2012 Toyota 4Runner
  • 2012 Toyota Sienna
  • 2006-2009, 2012 Lexus IS250/IS350
  • 2012 Lexus IS250C/IS350C
  • 2008-2009, 2012 Lexus IS-F
  • 2007-2009, 2012 Lexus ES350
  • 2012 Lexus GX460
  • 2012 Lexus LFA

Takata ended up in this mess because it chose a cost-cutting material inside its airbag inflators. In the presence of high humidity and high temperatures, the non-desiccated propellant has a chance to degrade. If that happens, instead of inflating the airbag, the inflators may explode in a cloud of shrapnel.

Multiple injuries and fatalities have been linked to Takata's faulty inflators and the company is shelling out boatloads of money to try and remedy the issue. This is somewhat ironic, considering it went with the non-desiccated material in the first place to save costs.