Concerned drivers can check if their vehicle is affected by visiting ismyairbagsafe.com.au and entering their state/territory and registration plate number or by texting 0487 AIRBAG (247224) and following the prompts.
List of 'Critical' vehicles
Holden 1,843 vehicles 2010 Holden Cruze
Honda 6,043 vehicles Honda City MY2012, CR-V MY 2011, Insight MY2012-2013, Jazz MY2012-2014 & Jazz Hybrid MY2012-2013, Honda Civic MY2006-2011, Jazz Hybrid MY2012 and Legend MY2007-2012, Honda Accord MY2001-2007 and Honda MDX MY2003-2006
Toyota 582 vehicles 2003 2005 Toyota Echo and Rav4
BMW 7,909 vehicles BMW 5 Series (E39) MY2002-2003, BMW 3 Series (E46) MY2001-2006 & BMW X5 (E53) MY2003
Mitsubishi 3,254 vehicles 2007 2014 ML & MN Triton.
The airbags are now classified as being "critical", meaning that if they are activated during a crash they could cause serious injuries or death to the driver.
ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard urged owners of these cars to have their vehicle towed to their nearest dealership to have the airbags replaced as a matter of priority.
"Cars with airbags listed as 'critical' should not be driven. Classification as 'critical' means manufacturers have assessed these airbags as being particularly unsafe," said Ms Rickard.
Australia's consumer watchdog is warning the owners of 20,000 vehicles to immediately stop driving their car because the airbags have a potentially deadly flaw.
The new warning affects BMW, GM Holden, Honda, Mitsubishi and Toyota vehicles that have already been recalled for having defective Takata airbags, but which have not had them replaced.
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Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan
Sent from my imperial66 typewriter using carrier pigeon, message sticks and smoke signals.
If your car is affected, you are entitled to have it towed to the dealership by the manufacturer and may be entitled to a loan vehicle while the airbag is being replaced.
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Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan
Sent from my imperial66 typewriter using carrier pigeon, message sticks and smoke signals.
You can of course pull the airbag circuit relay to disable the airbags so that you can drive it to the dealership without the risk of them going off, but the caution with this is that you will not have functional airbags in the event of an accident so would limit any drive to the trip to the dealership only if you do this at all.
You can of course pull the airbag circuit relay to disable the airbags
It would be considered illegal to disable air bags, further you would most certainly void your warranty, so not recommended. Dealer's problem let them fix it - ACCC advices must be adhered to by Dealer.
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Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan
Sent from my imperial66 typewriter using carrier pigeon, message sticks and smoke signals.
I am not sure that a lot of these vehicles are still covered by warranty, but you are quite right in saying that the disabling of the airbags is in itself illegal as it technically makes the car unroadworthy.
However, if there was no other alternative, I personally would rather do that for the drive to the dealers than having what is a potential shotgun aimed at me by way of a faulty airbag cartridge that has proved fatal in a number of cases and caused serious injury in quite a few others. People can make their own decisions on what they must do and if there is a free tow from where they are, then that is probably the best way to go for the majority.