Oh, What A Recall! Toyota Calls In 30,000 Scion tC Over Random Side Airbag Deployment
Toyota's bringing ScionBack (yeah!) — 30,000 Scion tCs to be specific, produced from March 2004 to early March 2006 — over a problem involving side airbags randomly deciding to deploy (under certain conditions, anyway). According to the NHTSA alert bulletin:
"The seat-mounted side airbag and side curtain airbags on certain tCs may inadvertently deploy if the door for that side of the vehicle is closed very forcefully while the tC's ignition is in the "ON" position or within 90 seconds of turning the ignition key from the "ON" position to the "OFF" position. There have been 17 cases of this condition reported."
Nothing quite like an airbag exploding to the side of your face to let you know your door is fully closed, eh? Full bulletin after the jump.
TORRANCE, Calif., Oct. 24, 2006 – Scion, from Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., will launch a voluntary Safety Recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) involving approximately 30,000 tC sports coupes from the 2005 and 2006 model year. The affected tC sports coupes were produced from March 2004 to early March 2006. There have been no accidents, deaths or injuries reported related to this condition. The Scion tC is only sold in the U.S. market.
The seat-mounted side airbag and side curtain airbags on certain tCs may inadvertently deploy if the door for that side of the vehicle is closed very forcefully while the tC's ignition is in the "ON" position or within 90 seconds of turning the ignition key from the "ON" position to the "OFF" position. There have been 17 cases of this condition reported.
Scion will mail owners of the involved vehicles a Safety Recall notification via first class mail early next month. Owners are requested to contact their local Scion dealer for replacement of the driver and passenger side airbag sensors upon receiving their notification. Replacement will be done at no charge to the owners of the vehicle.
Customers with questions or concerns should contact the Scion Customer Experience Center at 1-866-707-2466.
Related:
Toyota Gets A Rear End NHTSA Probe; Toyota Initiates Massive Recall [internal]