DALLAS — I stumbled across some YouTube clips recently and couldn’t quit watching.
They showed instances where drivers have very accurately described to mechanics what their broken cars sound like.
Potentially deadly silent problem in some vehicles
The "sounds like" descriptions are often how we describe problems with our vehicles. But there's another potentially deadly problem that could be affecting many Texas vehicles, and this one doesn’t make any warning sounds.
This problem has to do with counterfeit airbags.
This can happen when a car is wrecked and an airbag or multiple airbags deploy. The car is then repaired. But where do the airbag replacements come from?
CARFAX says when a counterfeit is used, it is usually pulled from a salvage vehicle.
Just because the replacement comes from another automobile doesn't mean that the transplanted inflatable cushion is defective, but it is also definitely not new. If you bought the car used after a non-genuine replacement airbag was installed, you might not know it.
But consumer beware: CARFAX tallied the number of vehicles that are back out on the roads following an airbag deployment in the last two years. Certainly, plenty of those automobiles may have had original equipment manufacturer airbag replacements.
But since it isn’t always obvious that they have had an airbag replacement and it can be unclear sometimes where airbag replacements came from, those vehicles could have counterfeit airbags.
CARFAX found 206,000 Texas autos being driven that have had airbag replacements. That’s the most in the country. In fact, it equals the combined number from the second and third placers in CARFAX’s top 10 states for vehicles that have previously had an airbag deployment and that are now back out on the roads.
Again, just because an auto is in that group doesn’t mean it has a counterfeit airbag, but it could.
If a used vehicle is listed at CARFAX.com, the site allows you to check for free whether it has previously had an airbag deployment reported. The site also says car buyers might want to consider having a mechanic examine a car’s airbags. CARFAX recommends you scrutinize any replacement airbags before they're installed in your car.
Click here for more info on what to look for or when to seek the help of a mechanic with this.
A potentially growing risk with some airbags
On the subject of airbags. In 2015, Takata acknowledged defects and moved forward with the federal government to eventually recall millions of Takata airbags which were prone to possibly explode on deployment and send shrapnel through the cabin of the vehicle.
To date, the government says dozens have been killed and hundreds allegedly injured by those airbags.
Consumer beware: CARFAX reports that many years after the recall, Texas drivers still have the most unfixed vehicles with recalled Takata airbags inside them. They estimate 788,000 of them potentially driving around the Lone Star State.
Significant delays in getting a recalled item remedied are already a bad thing. But even worse in this case is that a lot of time has gone by and many of the unrepaired vehicles could be in Texas.
Here is why those are troublesome details - Regulators say testing shows the recalled Takata airbags tend to become more likely to explode as they get older and that they are especially a risk in places with hot, humid weather.
There have been strides in getting more vehicles repaired. Years ago, Houston and nearby Fort Bend County worked diligently to get the word out and the rate of repairs there jumped hundreds of percentage points higher than in the rest of the state.
But you don’t hear much about the Takata recall anymore. So, consider this article to be some noise. Here is a page with urgent advice and a link to check your vehicle to see if it is subject to this recall.
The repair costs you nothing. Not having it repaired could cost your life or your passengers’ lives.