The Wall Street Journal reported this week that a settlement stemming from a federal probe into criminal wrongdoing by airbag supplier Takata is expected early next year?perhaps as soon as January?and could approach $1 billion. While that news might gratify some people angered by the defective inflator design that prompted the largest automotive safety recall in U.S. history, owners of affected cars may be more interested in simply getting repairs done.
Many have received notice of the recall and taken their cars in to dealers for a remedy, only to hear that replacement parts for the recalled airbag inflators made by Takata are not available.
Automakers and federal officials organizing the response to the huge recall insist that the supply chain is churning out replacement parts. ?We get that it is a frustrating experience,? said Bryan Thomas, communications director of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). ?What we tell folks to do is get on the list at their dealer.?
How long you’ll have to wait most likely depends on where the vehicle lands on the agency?s list of 12 ?priority groups,? based on the urgency of getting the vehicle fixed. Aside from the make and model of the vehicle, its geographic location and age play a big role in how likely it is that a faulty inflator would rupture.
NHTSA has deemed warmer states, including the Deep South and California, ?high absolute humidity? regions. Independent testing found that the faulty airbag in...