This weekend, the Detroit Free Press published a bombshell report alleging that Ford “is working to re-inspect more than a quarter-million vehicles after the company discovered flawed work and false billing by dealership technicians during the required replacement of dangerous Takata airbags.”
The Free Press, citing “internal company documents, dealership memos, federal regulatory filings, and court papers,” reports that Ford has ” fined some dealerships whose repair techs billed the automaker for replacing Takata airbags despite installing the devices incorrectly or not doing the work at all.”
History’s Largest Recall
The Takata airbag recall affects tens of millions of cars. Takata inflators appeared in cars sold under 34 brand names on at least five continents. Nearly every automaker that sells cars in the U.S. has cars affected by the Takata recall.
An airbag inflator is a small metal capsule containing chemicals that combine to create a rapidly expanding gas. In an accident, the inflator should squirt that gas out of a nozzle, quickly inflating a folded airbag so that it can cushion occupants from hitting collapsing car parts.
However, some inflators produced by the now-defunct Takata company can explode instead. Their capsule sometimes bursts under the sudden pressure of the chemical reaction. That can send hot metal fragments flying into the cabin like shrapnel. The chemicals inside the devices grow more volatile with age, meaning the risk grows over time.
Takata airbag inflators have reportedly claimed at least 32 lives worldwide, 23 in the U.S.
BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, General Motors, Honda, and Toyota have all issued “do not drive orders” in the past two years, asking drivers to park older cars immediately and not drive them until dealers can replace their inflators.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates automakers installed the defective inflators in 67 million cars sold in the U.S. As of late 2022, the agency reported that about 50 million units have been repaired or removed from use.
Fake Repairs, Incorrect Repairs
Additionally, some technicians installed replacement inflators backward in some Ranger pickups, forcing Ford to issue a second recall to fix the problem.
“No one — not the drivers, Ford or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — knows exactly which vehicles” have incorrect repairs, the Free Press Reports.
So far, about 1.5% of the vehicles Ford has re-inspected have had “incorrect or unfixed airbags.”
Some Ford dealers, the Free Press reports, “billed Ford for repairing defective airbags that were not actually fixed at all. A federal whistleblower complaint alleges that Ford invited the trouble by easing repair standards — which the automaker adamantly denies.”
Neither the Free Press, Ford, nor the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have issued any recommendations for concerned Ford owners. We would urge owners who believe they have had their airbag inflator replaced to call Ford’s Customer Relationship Center at (866)436-7332 to ask for instructions.
Note: This article has been updated for accuracy since its original posting.
