Takata airbag recall expands to include Subaru Baja, Legacy and Outback

The Takata airbag recall is the largest in the history of automobile safety recalls and is growing daily. The recall not only includes 2003-2007 Subaru Impreza models, that will likely include WRX, but it now includes 2003-2005 Subaru Baja, 2003-2005 Subaru Legacy and 2003-2005 Subaru Outback models. This comes from a report by MLive.com.

Subaru, Mazda and Mitsubishi are Japans smallest automakers and now join fellow Japanese brands Honda, Nissan and Toyota who recalled 11.5 million vehicles last week. The massive recall involves 53 million-plus vehicles worldwide. The recall also involves other automakers like...read more.

Why are the vehicles being recalled?

The defective Takata air bags explode too violently and shoot shrapnel into vehicles and have been linked to six deaths and more than 100 injuries worldwide. The Subaru Impreza recall is related to defective airbag inflators fitted to the front passenger airbags. New York Times reports Takata said on Tuesday that propellant in the inflaters could degrade over time if exposed to high humidity and temperature changes, making it prone to “overaggressive combustion.”

What’s next for Subaru owners?

Subaru Australia is the only country with an official statement regarding the Takata recall. Subaru Japan has made no official statement thus far. Subaru AU is telling 2004-2007 Impreza owners that potentially affected customers will be contacted in the near future by Subaru Australia, “Advising them of the recall.”
 
What will be done?

Right now, replacement parts are being prepared in Japan for this recall. Due to the volume of vehicles across multiple brands affected globally, it is currently estimated that sufficient parts to enable recall repairs will be available by early next year. Subaru AU says relevant customers will again be contacted regarding the repair procedure when replacement parts are available. All repairs will be made free of charge and estimated to take approximately 1.5 hours.

Subaru Australia reports that to the best of their knowledge, there have been no reported incidents of failure in Subaru vehicles in that country. SLT Today says Takata will need 33.8 million inflators for the repairs for all manufacturers in the enormous recall, so far it has made 3.8 million. At Takata's estimated rate of production, it will take 2 1/2 years to crank out enough inflators to fix all the affected vehicles.

At this time, Subaru has Impreza, Baja, Legacy and Outback models on the recall list. Subaru U.S. has not released any official recalls. Stay tuned.

Image source: Subaru by way of owner Gary Simington