9th Generation Corolla News and Notes

Toyota is recalling 65,000 vehicles to replace the front passenger airbag inflators … again.

Although the previous recall used new replacement Takata airbag inflators, this latest recall will use inflators supplied by a company other than Takata. Those previous replacements were still using ammonium nitrate, a propellant that breaks down and explodes unpredictably when exposed to humidity and moisture.

Takata's inflators has been a long-running nightmare for millions of owners, hopefully this is the last time you'll have to bring your car in for service related to these exploding chunks of metal.

Toyota. Takata. Recall.

Those are three words that I'm tired of typing and you're sick of hearing about. Yet here we are with another recall of 543,000 Toyota and Lexus vehicles that have ticking time-bombs for airbags. Some vehicles are being recalled for the second time. You probably know the script by now.…

It's Friday, so in the immortal words of Loverboy I feel I can say that "everybody is working for the weekend."

That is, unless you're one of the defective airbags in over 2.1 million vehicles. Those suckers don't work at all. The airbags have a nasty tendency of randomly deploying due to electrical noise and have been recalled. If that sounds familiar, it's because they've been recalled before. Unfortunately 40 of the recalled vehicles still had a random deployment after they were "fixed", according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). That's unacceptable, even by government standards.…

Last April, Toyota was involved in a worldwide recall of over 3 million vehicles with defective airbag inflators from parts supplier Takata.

The inflators have been rupturing and sending hot shrapnel all over the cabin, resulting in severe burns and cuts for owners. All affected cars were recalled and their inflator serial numbers were checked against a list of defective parts provided by the supplier. If the number was on the list, the inflator was replaced and it seemed like we could all get back to enjoying our summer.…

Toyota is taking part in a massive 3-million vehicle recall of inflators that can explode and send shards of metal throughout the cabin during an airbag deployment.

Takata said the propellant wafers produced at a plant in Moses Lake, Washington, between April 13, 2000 and September 11, 2002, may have been produced with an inadequate compaction force. The propellant could deteriorate over time and cause too much combustion, which could cause the body of the inflator to rupture during air bag deployment.

Toyota announced plans to recall the 2001-2003 Corolla, Matrix, Sequoia, and Tundra along with the Lexus SC 430.