No timetable on recall work
Dealerships prepare for air-bag fixes, but manufacturers moving slowly
As alerts over faulty automobile air bags mounted, John Eagle Honda of Houston started hiring additional mechanics to make the mandatory repairs and new staff to schedule the work. With this week’s expansion of the recall to record levels, the dealership is “ramping up” for an especially busy summer.
“Is it taxing on our service department?” asked Mac DeLaup, president and managing partner. “You bet it is.”
The stunning announcement that nearly 34 million vehicles equipped with Takata air bags face a manufacturer’s recall in the wake of at least six deaths and other serious injuries worldwide didn’t spark an immediate run on local dealerships. That’s perhaps not surprising since, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, automakers have not provided a complete list of vehicles affected by the expanded recall.
The effort to replace driver- and passenger-side
air bags is going to be rolled out in phases and many owners do not know yet whether their Honda or Mazda — or BMW, Chrysler, Daimler Trucks, Ford, General Motors, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru or Toyota — is one of those affected.
The work could get started earliest in humid areas like the Texas Gulf Coast. The Japanese manufacturer has found air-bag inflators to be affected after years of exposure to high humidity, potentially in combination with other factors, and so humid states likely will be included in the first phase of the recalls. Older vehicles also get early attention.
DeLaup and others in the industry say they do not expect people to ignore the recall notices once they start showing up.
“Sooner or later we’re going to see an increase,” said Keith Haptonstall, service manager for Sterling McCall Nissan.
Haptonstall said the dealership receives inquiries about the Takata recall daily. Once notices are sent out for the expanded recall, he expects the volume to increase.
RoShelle Salinas, spokeswoman for the Houston Automobile Dealers Association, agreed that dealers are getting increased calls on the matter, but she said consumers aren’t panicking. Automobile recalls have become commonplace, she said, and people tend to be lax about getting recall repairs.
“Drivers are used to receiving recall notices,” she said. “So I don’t see any panic.”
Yet Carroll Lachnit, a consumer advice editor at Edmunds.com, said the news that the Takata air bags can inflate with too much force, blowing apart a metal inflator and sending shrapnel toward the driver and passengers, has generated enough public attention to counter any potential recall fatigue among consumers.
“I think it’s likely to perk people’s ears up a little bit,” she said.
But the Takata-related auto recall, now the largest in U.S. history, could test their patience. Lachnit predicted many consumers will “take action now and then wait.” It could be months before parts arrive at dealerships. Then it might take even longer to make the repairs as they juggle staffing schedules, parts availability and customer requests for immediate attention.
Hudson Reed of southwest Houston is already aggravated. The 61-year called his Honda dealership about a month ago after receiving a recall notice for his 2006 Ridgeline pickup. The dealership didn’t have the parts needed for the repair, he said, and it still hasn’t been made.
“I’m frustrated, to say the least,” he said.
Reed said he is nervous about driving to his country home near Round Top.
“If you have a wreck, the bag’s going to blow up in your face,” he said.
DeLaup said John Eagle Honda has replacement inflators coming in every day and is not seeing any backlog. He also said John Eagle customers who feel unsafe driving their car can get a free rental vehicle.
Salinas said she didn’t have information on backlogs at other dealerships.
But in a car-dependent city like Houston, she said, drivers should always keep up with their vehicle maintenance and repair.
“No matter what, Houstonians drive a lot,” Salinas said. “And you should always have a car in safe condition.”