MBUSA Ooops- Recall Notice Error
 

Did anyone else receive the official MBUSA notification in the past few days indicating that airbag replacements were available now and to schedule immediately? I dutifully contacted my dealer and they looked it all up and the nice lady said that's weird, our system says no parts available. So I read her the letter. She can't figure it out but offered to investigate. I scanned her the letter I received and she contacted MBUSA. Turns out the letter was somehow sent in error. There are NO PARTS available, they haven't even been manufactured yet...

Someone really screwed this up and I was left wondering how many thousands of people got a letter and what a headache this would be!!

LOL!

SMDH, hopefully MB and Takata sort this airbag mess out. Wonder if Takata or different co will manufacture the replacement airbags

Some people with their regular w204's got their replacements. I believe they were from Texas...

I am from India and even I got this letter! LOL

I got the letter yesterday, but keep forgetting to call my dealer. I'll give them a ring tomorrow and let you all know what the situation is for us in Southern CA.

Anybody heard of Takata "Alpha" airbags? I read this earlier in 2018 from Australia (ABC). Perhaps they're just the oldest airbags...or maybe not.

ACCC chairman Rod Sims said people who had already replaced airbags under the voluntary recall last year would need to check again to see if their car was listed on the new recall.

This is because in some cases, faulty Takata airbags were replaced with like-for-like, which only delayed the risk of the airbag exploding.

All defective Takata airbags will need to be replaced by December 31, 2020.

Cars with 'Alpha' airbags should not be driven at all

The ACCC chairman said it was not clear how many of these cars were still on Australian roads, but urged consumers to check the list and immediately stop driving their cars if they found it on the "critical" list.

"I think there's about 27,000 still around, but we suspect most of them are in junk yards," Mr Sims said.

"For those airbags we're saying to people don't drive the car again, just contact the manufacturer, they are obliged to come out and fix it."

Consumer watchdog Choice's spokesman Tom Godfrey said it was crucial people check the new list.

"See if your car is affected, because if you have one of the lethal Alpha inflators then your airbag can fail in up to 50 per cent of deployments," he said.

"That's almost 1 in 2 chances your airbag will fire shrapnel at you and your family when it's deployed."

Looks like alphas were in Honda's and Acura's:

https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls/takata...increased-risk

To follow up, I called Beverly Hills MB and they also told me no airbags are available (according to their database). SMH.

When I spoke to MBUSA in late June, they said the new projected date to be supplied with some parts is in Sept. When I asked why repairs were made in 2016 for a number of regular W204 C Class cars and how the order was determined when clearly top priority (meaning two airbag, hot climate) cars apparently were not being notified first, they said that the Feds had now taken over sequencing the repair order rather than M-B. In any case it's abundantly clear that repairs will extend past 2020.

Yeah, that sucks. I confirmed with MBUSA that the recall letter was sent in error. Honestly, I'm surprised they replied so quickly to my email.

We are starting to get batches of 204 airbags in. It's gonna take time but they are coming in now which is a good sign.

The replacements are also from Takata/TK holdings. The inflator design was the only issue, and the new ones don't use the same style with the susceptibility to moisture intrusion.

Great, replacement parts from the bankrupt company that caused the problem...

As opposed to what? Another company that will provide free airbags? Takata was bankrupted and bought out, still produces many parts for many companies so they can afford to replace the 80 million airbags, many of which were voluntarily recalled.

Please, provide your better solution.

Dealer performed recall "campaign 2017120024" a couple of weeks ago.
49335 RECALL
Check steering column (02-2083) Includes: Disconnecting and connecting the battery, removing and installing the steering wheel and airbag.
Rework electric steering column (02-2085)

Different recall. That has something to do with the grounding of the steering column, in the event that the clock spring was broken, it could short out and potentially deploy the airbag.

Got it. Thanks. Will keep watching for the next one.

Your car is 5 years newer than the ones that are being done now. They are starting with the highest risk cars, so oldest and in hot/humid climates. I believe they are on phase 4 of 10 right now.

No parts available here in the Fresno area :( I really want this steering wheel IED to be gone.

Really not that serious. There have been exactly ZERO cases of an MB airbag failing to deploy as designed due to this takata inflator issue. This is strictly preventative.