Waiting for airbag parts

Parts on back order for some models

Despite danger, airbag parts are still on back order for some car models. Drivers are frustrated by continued delays.

With an estimated 1.4 million Florida vehicles still on the road with potentially deadly Takata airbags, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently issued urgent calls for affected motorists to have them replaced.

But it’s not that easy for owners of cars with replacement parts still on back order.

About 37 million cars have been recalled in the past three years to prevent inflator malfunctions that have killed 23 people, including three Floridians, by puncturing them with shrapnel. The highway traffic safety agency has been prioritizing repairs — and manufacture of replacement parts — so the oldest airbags that pose the biggest threat to safety are fixed first, according to its website.

Although replacement parts now exist for 90 percent of recalled passenger vehicles, according to a spokesman for AutoNation, owners of some vehicles that have been waiting years to have their airbags replaced say they are frustrated by the continued delays.

After reading about the agency’s latest call for drivers to replace their airbags, Charlotte Ruttenberg of Boynton Beach said she called her dealer about her Lincoln MKZ but was told the parts wouldn’t be available for a few weeks.

Carolyn Bierman of Parkland wrote, “I have been getting notices for three years that my car is unsafe to drive: ‘Don’t let anyone [ride] in the front passenger seat.’ I have been trying to get it fixed for three years.’”

Bierman said she headed to her dealer after reading a statement by AutoNation spokesman Marc Cannon in a June 8 Sun Sentinel story that a long-running backlog was over and dealers are now well-stocked with parts.

“I was encouraged by your article that maybe a fix was now available. Not so. I brought my car to Lincoln this morning and they can’t fix it.”

The Lincolns owned by Ruttenberg and Bierman are among models with recalls on the passenger-side airbags. Risks associated with the Takata airbags include the possibility that high heat and humidity will trigger a malfunction of the airbags’ inflators and injure the driver, front-seat passenger or both.

According to its website, the

highway traffic safety agency believes 65 million to 70 million airbags will be affected by 2020.

Parts availability has been complicated by the decision to prioritize the most atrisk regions and models, the agency has acknowledged.

But the Consumers Union, the advocacy division of Consumer Reports, in February called on automakers to more aggressively market recalls and make fixes easier for consumers.

“In 2018, the size and complexity of the Takata airbag recalls are no excuse for leaving so many consumers at risk or failing to pull out all the stops to get these deadly airbags off the road,” said William Wallace, the union’s senior policy analyst.

Lincoln Motor Co., a division of Ford, said on its website that no parts are available yet to repair four of its models, including the MKZ. But the company is offering loaners “in circumstances where replacement inflators are not available for certain vehicles that fall under the Takata recalls.”

Lincoln spokeswoman Elizabeth Weigandt said the company expects to repair additional models in the second half of 2018, but she did not specify which models. Loaners will be available indefinitely at no charge, apart from insurance and fuel, until parts are available, she said.

Ruttenberg said she was offered a loaner but did not accept it. She did not want to leave her vehicle at the dealer during the wait, and does not have space at her condo building to park two cars, she said.

Cannon said about 90 percent of recalled models have sufficient parts to make repairs. Owners should call their dealers to find out whether parts are available for their cars, and if so, make an appointment to replace them, Cannon said.

Readers who have been told that parts for their car are still under backlog may report their cars’ year, make and model, plus the dealership that told them about