Last week, Toyota re-issued a recall for approximately 780,000 vehicles due to a previous recall fix that did not adequately address the issue. The fix involved nuts to readjust tire alignment that were determined to not have been tightened enough. Toyota, and other main vehicle manufacturers who sell new vehicles in the U.S. have seen a handful of recalls this year. This week, an auto manufacturer who is in the process of ending its sale of new vehicles in the U.S. is issuing a recall. Specifically, Suzuki issued a recall for almost 200,000 Grand Vitara SUVs and SX4 crossovers due to a defective airbag sensor.
According to Autoblog, the recall affects approximately 193,936 model year 2006 to 2011 Grand Vitara and model year 2007 to 2011 SX4 vehicles. A press release by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that “the [occupant classification system] sensor mat installed in the front passenger seat may fail due to repeated flexing of the mat from use of the seat.” Due to this issue, the airbag may deploy in a crash whether or not the passenger is an adult or a child. If the airbag deploys with a child in the passenger’s seat, then the child might be at an increased risk for injury. Suzuki has not received any reports of accidents or injuries due to the problem, according to Fox News.
In June, the NHTSA initially launched an investigation into the recalled vehicles after the agency received approximately 128 complaints about the airbag sensors, Autoblog reports. The investigation covered about 205,000 vehicles. According to the NHTSA, the recall stemming from the investigation doesn’t include “vehicles which previously had a countermeasure occupant classification system (OCS) sensor mat installed under the special coverage campaign conducted by Suzuki distributors in the United States.”
Suzuki will begin notifying owners and dealers about the recall in October. Additionally, owners will receive another notification when the necessary parts to repair their vehicle become available. Dealers will replace the front passenger seat cushion assembly. Consumers may contact Suzuki at 800-255-2550 with the recall campaign number VD.