Aussie airbag recall blows out to 850K vehicles

Mazda, Nissan add another 195K cars – some more than a decade old – to a growing list of Australian vehicles with potentially dangerous safety systems.

ALMOST 850,000 vehicles – the equivalent of 1 in every 15 cars on our roads – have now been scooped up as the tally to fix potentially dangerous airbags in Australia continues to grow.

Mazda and Nissan today added their tally to the biggest recall in Australian history related to a single component – airbags supplied by Japanese car parts maker Takata – identifying almost 195,000 vehicles on top of the 640,000 already identified by carmakers.

The new batch of Australian recalls comes only weeks after the number vehicles related to airbags in the US blew out to more than 33 million, as more manufacturers were identified. The global number, which is still growing, is estimated to be beyond 50 million.

Mazda’s Australian recall count, announced today, numbers 79,451, with most of them related to the Mazda 6 mid-size sedan, hatch and wagon dating back to as early as 2002.

Other Mazda models scooped up include the rotary-engined RX-8 sports coupe, and the E-, T- and B-Series trade utes.

Mazda Australia spokeswoman Karla Leach told Wheels that the carmaker had worked with Takata to identify which vehicles in Australia were affected by the faulty airbags, which can either split when they inflate, or shoot dangerous amounts of shrapnel into the face of the people they are designed to protect.

She said the two-week delay in announcing the Australian recall in the wake of the expanded US one was because Mazda Australia did not know which cars sold here were affected.

“It was important to identify the right vehicles with Takata before we contacted owners,” Leach said. “We’re now working with our internal customer lists in conjunction with the recall to ensure we contact every customer affected.”

She said the company was confident that it could contact all affected owners despite some of the cars now being more than a decade old.

Mazda says it will need to replace either the driver’s or front passenger airbag, and in some instances both.

Nissan, meanwhile, has added more than 115,000 vehicles to its tally, including the X-Trail mid-size SUV, Nissan Pulsar small hatchback, Patrol large off-roader, Navara trade ute, and Maxima large sedan.

Most of the recalls relate to the X-Trail, although the Pulsar and Patrol both feature in significant numbers.

Last year resulted in a record for the number of vehicles recalled in Australia, which nudged past the 1.1 million mark for the first time. It also meant that one car was recalled to fix a potential safety issue for every new vehicle sold during 2014.

The year's record run of recalls varied from malfunctioning windscreen wipers, which had the potential to severely restrict vision while driving through rain, to engines and gearboxes falling out of cars.

Does your vehicle need to be recalled? Here's the full list of Mazda and Nissan recalls announced today:

MAZDA

Contact Mazda Australia on 1800 034 411

Mazda 6 (GG1031) Sedan, Mazda 6 (GY1031) Wagon/Hatch, RX-8 (FE1031) Coupe, E-Series (SK) Van, T-Series (SY) Cab Chassis, B2500 (UN) Ute/Cab Chassis & B2600 (UN) Ute/Cab Chassis sold between 22nd August 2002 - 19th November 2007

VIN
JM0 GG1031 00 101238 - JM0 GG1031 00 177625
JM0 GY1031 00 100008 - JM0 GY1031 00 104582
JM0 FE1031 00 100007 - JM0 FE1031 00 105664
JM0 SKW082 00 301824 - JM0 SKW082 00 303809
JM0 SKX0E2 00 301825 - JM0 SKX0E2 00 303931
JM0 SKY0E2 00 301835 - JM0 SKY0E2 00 303934
JM0 SYEAT1 00 200206 - JM0 SYEAT1 00 200620
MM0 UNY062 00 361395 - MM0 UNY062 00 412063
MM0 UNY0W2 00 362122 - MM0 UNY0W2 00 433739

Mazda 6 (GG1032) Sedan/Hatch, Mazda6 (GY1032) Wagon sold between 29th July 2005 - 19th November 2007

VIN
JM0 GG1032 00 500011 - JM0 GG1032 00 522282
JM0 GY1032 00 300007 - JM0 GY1032 00 301989

Mazda 6 (GG1032) Sedan/Hatch, Mazda6 (GY1032) Wagon, Mazda6 Diesel (GG10R2) Hatch & Mazda6 Diesel (GY10R2) Wagon sold between 28th April 2006 - 30th March 2009

Identifying features

JM0 GG1032 00 522007 - JM0 GG1032 00 554710
JM0 GY1032 00 302020 - JM0 GY1032 00 306600
JM0 GG10R2 00 531178 - JM0 GG10R2 00 554710
JM0 GY10R2 00 303070 - JM0 GY10R2 00 306480

NISSAN

Contact Nissan Australia on 1800 988 334

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