What Cars Have Takata Airbags?

If you own a car made after the turn of the century, it likely has an airbag. Airbags are standard equipment in all cars these days, especially in the US, where airbags have been mandated since 1998. Countless studies show that airbags save lives and reduce the severity of injuries in accidents.

Unfortunately, manufacturers do not make all airbags the same way. Additionally, some airbags have defects that make them more dangerous. In particular, Takata airbags have a record of failure, resulting in multiple recalls of vehicles equipped with them.

If this is the first you have heard of this, you are probably wondering what cars have Takata airbags, and more importantly, do you own one of those cars? Thankfully, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) maintains a list of recalled cars, allowing you to easily look up that information.

Of course, just because you should be able to easily determine whether you are affected by a recall doesn’t mean your problem is solved. You could have been seriously harmed by a defective product and never been aware of it. That product could still be a danger to you now, even if you just found out about it.

If you believe a defective Takata airbag has harmed you, contact the attorneys at Morgan and Morgan immediately to schedule a free case evaluation.

How to Determine What Cars Have Takata Airbags

There are two easy ways to determine whether your vehicle has a Takata airbag. First, you can consult a product defect lawyer at Morgan & Morgan. Our attorneys are familiar with these cases and can quickly identify whether your car is one of the millions of cars affected by a recall.

Alternatively, you can go to the NHTSA website and enter the VIN of your car. The website then determines whether your car is affected by any recalls. If you don’t know your vehicle’s VIN, your mechanic should be able to help you find it.

Not All Takata Airbags Have Been Recalled

Unfortunately, both of these methods will only determine whether your car has a Takata airbag that the manufacturer recalled. At this point, some cars have Takata airbags that have not been recalled. They may be affected by safety notices in the future, but there is no way to know until that happens.

The reason that some Takata airbags haven’t been recalled yet is that they are a different design than the ones that the manufacturer previously recalled. The manufacturer believes the new design prevents the defect that required the recall of the original design. Unfortunately, only time will prove that to be true or false.

The original airbags were defective because the inflator could explode due to heat and humidity. When moisture got into the chemical mixture in the airbag, it made that mixture unstable and volatile.

The new airbags have a moisture-absorbing substance known as a desiccant that should prevent the chemical mixture from becoming unstable. However, there is no way to know whether this will work for the lifespan of the airbag until more time has passed. Safety authorities are monitoring the situation and will issue a recall if necessary.

How to Determine Whether Your Car Has a Takata Airbag With a Desiccant

Determining whether your vehicle has this type of airbag requires a little more effort on your part. The most effective way is to contact your vehicle's manufacturer, provide them with the exact make, model, and year, and ask them which type of airbag your vehicle has. They should be able to give you a definitive answer.

Automakers typically are not willing to answer this question broadly but should provide direct answers to car owners. Some of the auto manufacturers and models that were still using these types of airbags as of 2016 include:

• Subaru in Legacy sedan and Outback wagon models
• Volkswagen in Beetles
• Ford in Fusion, Edge, and Mustang models
• Lincoln in MKZ and MKX models
• Honda in the CR-V model
• Acura in the RLX and RDX models
• Jaguar in undisclosed models
• Nissan in undisclosed models
• BMW in undisclosed models

However, just because you don’t see the make and model of your vehicle on this list doesn’t mean you can be certain that it doesn’t have a Takata airbag.

Should You Be Concerned About the Takata Airbag With Desiccant?

If the Takata engineers are correct, the desiccant should solve the problem with the original airbags. This means that moisture shouldn’t get into the chemical mixture, and it shouldn’t explode.

However, the severity of the original issue can make it difficult to trust that this solution will live up to the hype. It is possible, for example, that the desiccant will prevent moisture from entering the mixture for a while but may eventually fail.

Furthermore, multiple designs of Takata airbags have been recalled. While the other recalls were for similar reasons, they weren’t for identical defects. Given the manufacturer's track record of creating defective airbags, it is understandable if you are uncomfortable trusting them with your family’s safety.

If you are concerned, you should speak to a Morgan and Morgan attorney to learn more about your options. At the very least, that will make it easier to bring a case against the manufacturer if something happens in the future.

Keep an Eye Out for a Recall

If the NHTSA eventually requires Takata airbags with desiccants to be recalled, the manufacturers of affected vehicles will reach out to owners to make them aware of that fact. This is a complicated process because manufacturers don’t always know who owns a car, and they don’t always have up-to-date contact information for those owners.

Typically, they will reach out by phone or mail. If you are concerned about a potential recall, you should watch for mail from the manufacturer of your car. The envelope might look like bulk mail, so you should be careful not to accidentally throw it away.

You might also receive a phone call, but only if the manufacturer has the correct number for you. You are most likely to hear about the recall by phone if your phone number hasn’t changed since you purchased the car. Although, if the car is old enough, it could be a call to a landline that you mostly ignore.

Finally, you can also request the NHTSA to notify you if your car ends up on a recall list. Requesting this notification is about as simple as determining whether your car is currently on a recall list and requires most of the same information.

Why It Matters What Cars Have Takata Airbags

While not all defective products will fail spectacularly, if you own a car with a defective Takata airbag, there is always a risk that it will explode while you are in your vehicle. This explosion can cause serious injuries, either directly or by initiating an accident.

If you suffer an injury due to a defective airbag, you are entitled to compensation from the manufacturer of the airbag or the vehicle in which it was installed. However, no one is going to volunteer to pay you the money you are owed. You need to take legal action to pursue the compensation you deserve.

If you or a loved one has been injured, you must determine whether that injury was due to a defective product as quickly as possible. There are time limits on nearly all civil lawsuits. While determining whether your car had a Takata airbag won’t prove it was responsible for your injuries, it is the first step toward demonstrating the connection.

What to Do if You Suspect a Takata Airbag Was Responsible for Harming You

The easiest way to prove your suspicion is to speak to a skilled defective product attorney at Morgan & Morgan. Our attorneys will investigate your injury and determine the cause of the incident. If a Takata airbag were responsible for your injury, we would immediately start the process to get you the compensation you deserve.

There is no downside to contacting our law offices. If a Takata airbag wasn’t responsible for your injury, we might still be able to help with your case. And if it was, you will have gotten a quick start on the process of seeking compensation. Regardless, we won’t charge you anything for that initial case evaluation.