The U.S. Department of
Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has
issued a consumer safety advisory to alert vehicle owners and repair
professionals to the dangers of counterfeit air bags.
NHTSA has become aware of a
problem involving the sale of counterfeit air bags for use as replacement parts
in vehicles that have been involved in a crash. While these air bags look
nearly identical to certified, original equipment parts—including bearing the
insignia and branding of major automakers—NHTSA testing showed the
airbags often malfunctioned or deployed dangerously.
NHTSA is not aware of any
deaths or injuries connected to counterfeit air bags.
Subaru vehicles are no more
likely to experience counterfeit airbags than any other make’s.
To assist owners Subaru will
direct customers to their corporate customer service hotline (i.e. CDS: 1-800-SUBARU3
or 1-800-782-2783) rather than their local dealer. Likewise,
Subaru dealers should direct concerned customers to the CDS hotline. The
CDS representative will assist the customer in determining if a dealer
inspection and/or air bag replacement is necessary.
In the near future, Subaru
dealers will be provided with a specific inspection protocol for vehicles that
may be at risk.
Key Points
·
NHTSA believes that consumers could be at risk if their vehicle’s
air bag has been replaced within the past 3 years. Vehicles
repaired at an independent body shop on behalf of a new vehicle dealer
may also be considered at risk.
·
It has been reported that some independent body shops provided
inaccurate documentation to the insurance company that a genuine OEM airbag was
installed when, in reality, a counterfeit one was used instead. Thus, the
dealer cannot simply rely on the documentation the body shop provides to verify
that a genuine OEM replacement bag was used. The airbags need to be
inspected.
·
According to NHTSA, the supplemental restraint system fault
detection system/warning lamp may have been deceived/deactivated using
resistors or diodes. Therefore, SSM3 (or other diagnostic equipment) CANNOT
be used to reliably determine whether the air bag installed on a vehicle is
counterfeit. Again, the airbags need to be inspected.
·
If the customer purchased the vehicle used and does not know
the vehicle’s history, NHTSA suggests verification by commercial Web-based
service (e.g. CARFAX®, AutoCheck®, etc.) to see if vehicle was involved in a
crash where the air bags deployed. NOTE: Commercial vehicle history reports
are good indicators of a vehicle’s history but may not capture all crashes.
·
NHTSA believes customers should bear the costs of inspection
and/or air bag replacement. If a customer is unwilling or cannot bear the
cost, NHTSA recommends, as one option, that the customer speak with their
insurance company.
·
NHTSA strongly advises technicians NOT to electrically
probe counterfeit air bag connecting terminals because of the risk of
detonation and possible serious injury.
·
While the scope of NHTSA’s announcement focuses on frontal
(driver- and front passenger-) air bags, dealer inspection and/or
replacement should include ALL air bags (as necessary), including knee,
seat-mounted side, and roof-mounted curtain air bags to determine if they are
counterfeit.
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