Airbag recall: Anybody done yet? in US.
#26
From what I have read, most all the replacement inflaters are just new, made the same as the old and will some years down the road need replacement again. Please correct me if this is not true.
IMO those are incorrectly designed devices, and all the dangerous ones in cars now should be removed, a letter that says they don't have a replacement now, does nothing to address the potential danger.
IMO those are incorrectly designed devices, and all the dangerous ones in cars now should be removed, a letter that says they don't have a replacement now, does nothing to address the potential danger.
This may give you some hope...
Takata has agreed not to sign any more contracts to sell ammonium nitrate inflators and phase it out of manufacturing by the end of 2018.
#30
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2010 C300 4MATIC........ 2011 C63 AMG.............. 2015 CLS400 4MATIC.....
Mercedes is at one of the lowest risks, I don't think you guys should be pulling fuses, as most seem to be working fine. Mercedes has 0 records of deaths versus Honda and Lexus which were the highest risk and did have deaths.
#31
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1999 CLK320 (Sold), 2011 GLK350, 2014 C63
Dealership got back to me a few days ago and said the part has come in for my wife's GLK. Scheduled an appointment to drop the car off tomorrow for the repair. Looks like it's legit just not sure when they'll get to the C63s.
#32
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Disabling the airbag is a really bad idea. Lots of lives have been saved when a Mercedes airbag deploys. Zero lives have been lost due to shrapnel from a Mercedes airbag deployment. Disabling avoids an extremely small risk by replacing it with a much bigger risk. What's your liability - both legal and mental - if your passenger dies or is severely injured because you disabled their airbag?
#37
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W204 C63 Coupe, W166 ML350 BlueTEC, 928GT, C5 Z06 & IS300 race cars, EQE 4Matic+ on order
^ +1. The only affected airbag on the W204 C63 is the front passenger one. Letter says they don't even have a solution yet but that they are working on it.
#38
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Repairs were originally scheduled to prioritize older cars that had been in hot and humid environments. Not sure if that's still the case, but my "parts are now available" letter arrived last week and I had the repair done last Thursday. My car is a 2012, was originally in Phoenix but has been in hot-n-humid Houston most of it's life.
#39
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Just to chime in, I had mine replaced a couple of months ago (Los Angeles). They broke my glove box in the process, smh.
#41
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Overall I think this airbag deal is a lot of hype. Sounds to me like more people die from ebola (2199) or crocodiles (It has been estimated that about 1,000 people are killed by crocodilians each year.) than these airbags. People die in car wrecks all the time. They are always looking for the someone to blame. My wife had a 2010 slk300 that got T boned and totalled out with no airbags deployed. Naturally her mom said the car was faulty lol. Based on the impact there was no need for any bag to be deployed thus none went off. She walked away with minor bruises. Best chance to not die in a car wreck is don't get in one in the first place and avoid at all costs. Stay off your ****ing phones and drive. That article posted about states the explosion is "violent" lol. I can't say i've ever seen a soft gentle explosion haha. Im also tired of seeing so many recalls on older cars. Cars have an age and life cycle, vastly dependent on the owner and how they care for it. 12 year old car and free replacements should not exist.
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Adi-Benz (12-24-2019)
#42
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They're under pressure to minimize the cost of labor.
So they engineer a different procedure.
I had this with my Alfa 164. The gears for the stepper motors for the heater flaps were plastic and the teeth wore down. As a result there was no way to adjust the temperature.
To replace you'd have to remove the dashboard.
So a procedure was taped by the factory for a partial removal.
So my car was out of warranty, bought the tape and made my special tools per the video and dis the replacement in about 6 hours.
The video and procedure were good enough, if you took the time to follow them.
But if you're a mechanic that is fed up with working in tight spaces and doesn't like complex procedures, you'll get frustrated and eventually break something.
As far as airbags, I was in a borderline serious accident with my w126 420 SEL.
A Porsche guy jumped his car out of a gas station, closing the lane in front of me on a Main Street, as I was doing 40. The w126, at 2 tons does not stop on a dime. So o tried to swerve to the center lane but the Porsche guy thought that he is so fast thy he'll avoid by just keeping it floored and not trying to brake.
So we met in the center lane ....
The W126 first generation airbags from 1988,were the size of a bucket.
I was so nervous that this bucket of explosive is going to blast me into the back seat.
But was a dud at this point ....
And I walked away unharmed because of the vast crumple zones designed into the W126 and the solid sheet steel used.
I think airbags should be replaced and with the right mechanic, nothing should be broken.
If the dealer does break my glovebox, I will want them to replace it.
So they engineer a different procedure.
I had this with my Alfa 164. The gears for the stepper motors for the heater flaps were plastic and the teeth wore down. As a result there was no way to adjust the temperature.
To replace you'd have to remove the dashboard.
So a procedure was taped by the factory for a partial removal.
So my car was out of warranty, bought the tape and made my special tools per the video and dis the replacement in about 6 hours.
The video and procedure were good enough, if you took the time to follow them.
But if you're a mechanic that is fed up with working in tight spaces and doesn't like complex procedures, you'll get frustrated and eventually break something.
As far as airbags, I was in a borderline serious accident with my w126 420 SEL.
A Porsche guy jumped his car out of a gas station, closing the lane in front of me on a Main Street, as I was doing 40. The w126, at 2 tons does not stop on a dime. So o tried to swerve to the center lane but the Porsche guy thought that he is so fast thy he'll avoid by just keeping it floored and not trying to brake.
So we met in the center lane ....
The W126 first generation airbags from 1988,were the size of a bucket.
I was so nervous that this bucket of explosive is going to blast me into the back seat.
But was a dud at this point ....
And I walked away unharmed because of the vast crumple zones designed into the W126 and the solid sheet steel used.
I think airbags should be replaced and with the right mechanic, nothing should be broken.
If the dealer does break my glovebox, I will want them to replace it.
#43
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That article posted about states the explosion is "violent" lol. I can't say i've ever seen a soft gentle explosion haha. Im also tired of seeing so many recalls on older cars. Cars have an age and life cycle, vastly dependent on the owner and how they care for it. 12 year old car and free replacements should not exist.
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BLKROKT (12-24-2019)
#44
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Originally Posted by Vladds
I think airbags should be replaced and with the right mechanic, nothing should be broken.
If the dealer does break my glovebox, I will want them to replace it.
If the dealer does break my glovebox, I will want them to replace it.
#45
^this guy gets it. After you take your car in for the recall just make sure everything is put back together nicely.. like others have said, they will take a part your glove box, interior trim panels, etc...
#47
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#48
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... the likelihood of which is about the same as you winning the lotto 6/49 jackpot 3 times in a row. While there have been a total of 24 deaths worldwide from defective Takata airbag inflators (and some 240 injuries) in total, there are ~800 deaths a year in the US alone from people getting tangled in their bed sheets. Extrapolating that to 10 years, do you still use bed sheets seeing as you're 40 times more likely to die from your bed sheets suffocating you than get a few scratches on your face from a Takata airbag (and 400 times more likely to die from bed sheet strangulation than a faulty Takata air bag)? You'd change your tune too if you find yourself gasping for air in the middle of the night with a bedsheet over your face or around your neck.
Sorry... no clue what you're getting at with this reply.
#49
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W204 C63 Coupe, W166 ML350 BlueTEC, 928GT, C5 Z06 & IS300 race cars, EQE 4Matic+ on order
No - I am just saying that everything needs to be taken in context. The whole Takata airbag issue has indeed been blown way out of proportion. Yes, they may be faulty, and yes, they should be replaced, but the possibility of someone getting a faceful of shrapnel as a result of a faulty inflator is so remote that it is negligible compared to other everyday activities that are 1000 times more likely to injure or kill you. It needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
#50
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No - I am just saying that everything needs to be taken in context. The whole Takata airbag issue has indeed been blown way out of proportion. Yes, they may be faulty, and yes, they should be replaced, but the possibility of someone getting a faceful of shrapnel as a result of a faulty inflator is so remote that it is negligible compared to other everyday activities that are 1000 times more likely to injure or kill you. It needs to be taken with a grain of salt.