- Dodge Durango, Magnum, and Charger among vehicles still listed.
- Takata airbags have killed 28 and injured 400 people in the US.
- NHTSA urges owners to stop driving until repairs are completed.
Hundreds of thousands of vehicles across the Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, and Mitsubishi brands are now under urgent “do not drive” warnings in the United States due to unrepaired Takata airbag inflators. These vehicles have not yet undergone recall repairs, despite multiple earlier notices issued over the years.
The Takata airbag inflator recall began back in 2013 and has become the largest safety campaign in automotive history. Since then, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) says it has replaced more than 6.6 million defective inflators in its vehicles.
Read: BMW Sounds Alarm On Takata Airbags That Could Explode Without Warning
Still, around 225,000 remain unrepaired in the US. Owners of those vehicles are being told to immediately contact their local dealership to arrange a free fix. Until then, the message is clear: “Do not drive the vehicle until it is repaired.”
Which Models Are Affected?
A wide range of FCA models are included in the warning, with a single Mitsubishi model also on the list. Dodge alone accounts for five separate nameplates. These include 2003 to 2010 Dodge Ram trucks, 2004 to 2009 Dodge Durangos, 2005 to 2011 Dodge Dakotas, 2005 to 2008 Dodge Magnums, and 2006 to 2015 Dodge Chargers.
The warning also applies to several other vehicles, including the 2007 to 2009 Chrysler Aspen, the 2008 to 2014 Dodge Challengers, and 2005 to 2015 Chrysler 300 sedans.
Jeep is represented by the 2007 to 2016 Wranglers, and Mitsubishi is impacted as well, though only by one model. That’s the 2006 to 2009 Mitsubishi Raider, which may seem like an outlier until you realize it was essentially a rebadged Dodge Dakota, built by Chrysler in two US factories.
How to Check Your Vehicle
If you’re not sure whether your vehicle is affected, the best step is to check using the NHTSA’s Recalls Lookup Tool. Just enter your license plate number or VIN to see if there are any active recalls. Alternatively, you can download the SaferCar app, which will monitor your vehicle and send alerts if new recall information becomes available.
In the United States alone, more than 67 million Takata airbags have been recalled. The danger they pose is well documented. To date, there have been 28 confirmed fatalities in the US caused by these defective inflators. In each case, the airbag exploded during deployment and sent metal shrapnel into the cabin. At least 400 additional injuries have also been linked to these devices.
