Almost 12,000 Toyota cars recalled over airbag concern

Almost 12,000 Toyota vehicles have been recalled by the company due to a serious safety issue with airbags.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, in a statement on Tuesday, said Toyota Ireland was carrying out a voluntary recall of certain Avensis, Corolla, Avensis Verso, and Yaris passenger vehicles.

The vehicles were produced between February 2001 and July 2008.

It said a safety issue had been identified whereby it is possible that the vehicles are equipped with front passenger air bag inflators that may cause metal fragments to pass through the air bag and into the vehicle interior at high speed.

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The airbags were fitted as a “like-for-like” replacement under a prior recall, and are believed to contain a “non-desiccated, phase stabilized ammonium nitrate propellant”.

Factors

According to reports from airbag manufacturer Takata, a defect related to motor vehicle safety may arise in the inflators due to propellant degradation occurring after prolonged exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures, and high temperature cycling.

“Activation of a non-desiccated ammonium nitrate inflator with degraded propellant may result in an inflator rupture,” according to the statement.

“An inflator rupture may cause metal fragments to pass through the air bag and into the vehicle interior at high speed, which may result in injury or death to vehicle occupants.”

The recall affects 11,943 vehicles in the Republic of Ireland.

Toyota Ireland said it will be contacting all affected customers directly by mail to arrange to have their vehicles checked by their local Toyota dealer or authorised repairer at a time convenient to them, and at no cost to the owner.

Alternatively, a customer may log-on to Toyota's website to check if their vehicle is affected and can avail of an online booking facility with their local Toyota dealer or authorised repairer.