Advice has changed December 2014, Please read first post in this thread...

I was looking over this list and hoping not to see the RX8 on it.

Consumer Advisory: Vehicle Owners with Defective Airbags Urged to Take Immediate Action | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

So if you have a 2004, you may be getting a recall notice in a mailbox near you. The damn Honda is on the list too!

 

it's been a known recall with specific vin ranges, updated over the last year as it expands, I'll merge the thread when I get home

Posted From RX8Club.com Android App

 

Advice has changed December 2014, Please read first post in this thread...

http://www.safercar.gov/vinlookup

link to check by vin if your subject to recall

Posted From RX8Club.com Android App

 

@ Andrew, which dealer did you call?

And yeah, i am in the first batch of vins. sept 2003 build.

 

I spoke with Daytona Mazda, in the auto mall..

I haven't done anything further yet, though.. Just been waiting to see what happens next. I assume that I'll get something in the mail sooner or later.

 

The mazda site shows my 6 and 8 have the recall. I am going to call fairbanks mazda later today.

Anyone know if we get the cover addressed with this?

 

i just called my dealer and they haven't heard of the recall yet. i heard it on the news and facebook. i checked the website that was given out to check vins and mine is included. (2004 rx8)

it looks like i'll be waiting for the recall service bulletin thru the mail. thankfully, this isn't my daily driver and usually gets garaged for the winter.

yamajj

 

Advice has changed December 2014, Please read first post in this thread...


http://www.roadandtrack.com/go/news/...?src=soc_fcbks

Consumer Advisory: Vehicle Owners with Defective Airbags Urged to Take Immediate Action | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

Originally only 2004 models were affected.

 

Does anyone know if Mazda has expanded the recall beyond the original Florida, Puerto Rico, etc?

Everytime I read about this it sounds worse and worse.. especially the bit about hot and humid.. it's not like this happens in the midwest during the summer or anything..

 

If you read the last few posts....

 

Hey RIWWP you earlier had posted the vin numbers on these air-bagged troubled RX8s and the numbers had included Rx8s made through 2007. Has that changed, because even my Mazda dealer had heard about RX8s thru 2007 that could be affected, not just 2004's.

Also one of the supposed key factors was cars sold in hot, humid areas being more prone to this failure. But what, if like me, a car was not bought in one of these hot, humid states, BUT is often driven or even was moved to a hot humid areas? My 2008 was just outside the vin numbers originally posted here, but if I was a 2004 owner (or any other year on the list) whose car is even just used or driven a lot in any hot humid climate I would get Mazda to change out my airbag. These things explode and often send metal shrapnel into drivers and passengers. I read a story (don't have personal proof if true or not) where one women had her throat slit and bled to death. Her family is suing.

 

I'm not an NHTSA or Mazda rep. All that is being posted is links, and the only thing I'm really doing is merging threads about the same topic to the same thread.

Note that the thread title notes "Series 1", so it isn't just 2004, and that has been true for a while.


I can't make any comment or decision for you on what a dealer will or will not do. I'm just a forum moderator!


I personally think that the panic is far far far too overblown. For example, people see "hot and humid", and that means something different to different people. Sure, NJ gets hot and humid for people from NJ or farther north. However someone from Florida would never agree that NJ gets "hot and humid", just "temperate". The media is pushing the fear factor of this recall by not definine what "hot" means, and what "humid" means. Considering that the original issue was for the caribean, I struggle to see how anything north of ~SC could possibly be considered to have the same degree of problem potential.

ON TOP OF THAT, how widespread the recall has become is a result of paperwork problems, where they don't know where the tiny fraction of airbags went. Lots of the fear and panic I keep seeing is from people that think that it was millions of faulty airbags. It wasn't. They just can't track where the relatively small handful actually went, so because of liability reasons, they have to cover everything.

Yes, having the airbag explode incorrectly in a way that could be fatal is certainly a problem. But the chances that you have one of the bare handful of airbags that is a problem is so unlikely that I believe panicing about it is just a waste of time, energy, and focus. Plenty of other stuff in the world to spend the energy on.

For your specific case, You keep bringing up that your VIN is just outside the range specified, but have you considered that the reason your VIN isn't included is because it got an airbag from a different manufacturer, that DOESN'T have the manufacturering flaw?

 

 

When there's a recall, it's usually a small fraction of the cars that actually have the problem, so rarity isn't unique. Hard cheese if you've got one of the bad ones, though. There have been some deaths and injuries, and the accounts are pretty grisley.

I was startled to see this mentioned as a big deal on national news a day or two ago, when it's been out for a while. I guess NBC et al waited until they had suitably gory pictures to show.

No reports (yet) of any of the air bags containing Ebola, so I would concur with "Don't panic."

Ken

 

Yeah, the problem is actually very very very small, just the airbag maker didn't keep proper records of where those airbags went, so erring on the side of caution means that the media gets to play with as much big-fear language as they can.

 

My 2006 is effected apparently. The car was originally sold in Florida but a year after being sold it has been in central Illinois it's entire life so I'm not sure how dangerous it would be to continue driving it. (probably would be fine)

This is what I get from the MazdsUSA website when I put in my VIN.

Mazda Recall #: 7914J
NHTSA Recall #: 14V-344


Recall Description: In the subject vehicles sold in, or currently or previously registered in Puerto Rico, Florida, Hawaii, or the U.S. Virgin Islands, continued exposure to high levels of humidity may cause the front air bag inflator housing to rupture if the vehicle is involved in a crash where the front air bag is designed to deploy.

Safety Risk: If this occurs, it may increase the risk of injury to the vehicle occupants.

Repair Description: Dealers will replace the potentially affected air bag inflator with a new one, free of charge.

Recall Status: Incomplete


For any additional questions regarding a Mazda Recall or Special Service Program, please contact your local Mazda Dealer or contact Mazda.

 

IF, and only if, you have one of the faulty airbags, then yes, you would be at risk. Your car is under recall simply because it fits the other criteria and MIGHT have gotten one of the faulty air bags. Mazda doesn't really know, because Takata (the air bag maker) doesn't know where the faulty ones went. If your 8 is covered by the recall, then yes, you should go get the airbag replaced, if for no other reason than to cover future value of the car.

 

All of us owning 04-08's should be aware that are airbags are on the government recall list released for faulty airbags.Call your Mazda dealer and make an appointment to get this fixed ASAP!

 

I've yet to find a website with a valid link to the Mazda RX8s with the applicable vin #s

 

I do believe mine will also fall under this. Comes from Japan, to florida then TX where i purchased it..

Since it's in various sections of my garage at the moment.. I wonder if i just take them the airbag if they will give me a new one...HA yea right.

More recalls.

Everyone call Mazda with your VIN just to be safe.

Travis

 

Advice has changed December 2014, Please read first post in this thread...

Well, one way of looking at it is to plug in your vin into one of the lookups linked. You aren't really interested in all the VINs, just yours, right?

Alternatively: Mazda USA Media - News

Doesn't note vin listing, but does note build dates.

 

Thanks, I tried various Mazdausa, not this one.

 

Thanks RIWWP thats what I meant, RX8s from more years than 2004 ARE affected, but recent media posts only mention 2004 RX8s. RIWWP I am not panicking here, just wanted our members of 2005-late 2007 models to be aware and do some research and stay on their dealers and Mazda to get these airbags replaced. BTW my dealer tells me my 2008 RX8 does have airbags from the SAME supplier (how do they know this, they have replaced a deployed one on a accident damaged 2008 40th anniversary edition like mine) , so please don't suggest I haven't done my research into this for my car.

As a longtime journalists I have covered many automotive recalls and seen results of many recalls where the government and auto makers listed certain vehicles, ONLY to have to come back later and list more affected cars AFTER some more folks got into accidents or became injured with their defects. RIWWP just stating that it is a small percentage that you have a bad airbag does nothing to help you if yours explodes later. In stories that I have covered over decades, the auto industry and the government agencies tasked with protecting the public are too often late and ineffective in doing a good job here, and people are injured and even killed because of it.

 

Generation of safety recalls is more like epidemiology than proactive engineering. People die, they look for reasons, then try to fix things. Unlike disease, where the medical community has a strong interest in finding cures, the auto industry has a strong interest in minimizing cost.

Ken

 

gwilliams, note that I'm not advising people to do nothing. I am advising them not to panic. Panicing solves nothing and just heightens the over all culture of fear that the media uses to make money. Calmly and logically approach the risks and problems, and it will produce better results than panicing.