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Honda, Acura recall 1.1M cars over Takata airbags... for a second time

The first round of replacement parts were also deemed defective.

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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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Honda

If at first you don't succeed, recall 'em again.

has issued a recall for approximately 1.1 million Honda and vehicles. The list is positively huge, spanning a wide variety of cars both new and old, in varying body styles. The full list can be seen at the bottom of this article.

The issue stems from the airbags. All the vehicles mentioned in this recall were part of an earlier wave of Takata airbag inflator replacements. These vehicles were repaired with desiccated Takata inflators that were not subject to recall. Those replacements, however, were eventually deemed faulty as well, after Honda received a report of a person being injured by shrapnel from a replacement inflator.

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If you're not sure if your call falls under the recall or not, give your dealer a ring -- they can help you out.

 Honda

Thankfully, a remedy can be had quickly. Honda has replacement parts at the ready -- this time, from alternative sources -- so owners need only head to the dealership, where technicians will swap out the faulty parts. To give you an idea of the Takata scandal's scope, Honda alone has had to deal with 21 million recalled Takata inflators across 12.9 million Honda and Acura vehicles.

The desiccant, or moisture-absorbing material, is central to understanding this deadly defect. The first batch of airbag inflators that spurred the recall used ammonium nitrate to inflate the airbag but lacked a desiccant. Over time, exposure to humidity could cause the inflator to fail, shooting out shrapnel instead of inflating the airbag as intended. There have been both deaths and injuries linked to these parts, which Takata sold to a significant number of automakers. Takata offered replacement parts with desiccants, but that clearly did not resolve the issue in its entirety. Thankfully, these new replacement parts come from different suppliers altogether.

Here's the full list of vehicles included in this latest recall:

  • 2002-2003 Acura 3.2TL
  • 2003 Acura 3.2CL
  • 2004-2006, 2009-2014
  • 2013-2016 Acura ILX
  • 2003-2006
  • 2007-2016
  • 2010-2013
  • 2001-2007, 2009 Honda
  • 2001-2005
  • 2002-2007, 2010-2011 Honda CR-V
  • 2003-2011
  • 2007 Honda Fit
  • 2002-2004
  • 2003-2008
  • 2006-2014

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Originally published March 12 at 7:42 a.m. PT.
Update, at 1:54 p.m. PT: Clarified the underlying issue with Takata's airbag inflators.