Recall wrap: Urgent recall for Toyota Corolla

A recent rear-end collision in Sydney involving a 2004 Toyota Corolla caused two occupants to suffer burns and cuts from flying shrapnel blasted out of a faulty Takata airbag, and has prompted an urgent recall of more than 6000 Corollas built in the 2003-2005 model years.

These Toyota Corollas are already part of a voluntary recall issued to replace faulty driver’s airbags, but the Sydney incident, which occurred in late August, involved the front passenger’s airbag and now sees a total of 6260 affected vehicles subject to what is now a compulsory recall.

According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the recall concerns 5475 Corolla (ZZE122) and 785 Sportivo (ZZE123) variants built between April 30, 2003 and September 30, 2004.

A VIN list can be found here and affected owners are urged to take their car to a Toyota dealership for a free inspection and airbag replacement, if required.

More than three million vehicles have been impacted by the Takata airbag recall in Australia, with the faulty airbags known to have killed one driver and injured three people in this country.

Worldwide, an estimated 100 million vehicles are involved, with at least 29 deaths and 320 injuries related to the faulty airbags, which plunged the Japanese auto parts supplier into bankruptcy. It was subsequently sold to US company JSS.

All car owners should check the ismyairbagsafe website to see if their vehicle may contain the potentially fatal airbags.

“These Takata airbags are dangerous and can explode with too much force which can send sharp metal fragments into the vehicle cabin at high speed, potentially killing or seriously injuring its occupants,” said ACCC deputy chair, Delia Rickard.

“As other vehicles may be added to the existing compulsory recall list from time to time, please check if your vehicle is affected even if you have checked before, by visiting ismyairbagsafe.com.au. It takes less than a minute and could save lives.”

Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz has issued a recall notice for 6116 examples of its X-Class ute for a steering-related fault.

Impacting MY2018-19 vehicles, the hydraulic line connection on the steering gear has been found to potentially allow fluid to leak.

If enough fluid is lost, it could cause the steering assist function to stop working and make the steering difficult to operate, thereby increasing the risk of an accident and injury of vehicle occupants.

A VIN list of affected vehicles can be found here.

Mercedes is asking owners to contact their local dealer, which the company says will arrange for an additional relay circuit to be installed “to avoid an increase in electrical resistance”.

The German car-maker has also issued a recall for the G300 off-road wagon, impacting 2909 vehicles across the MY2011-19 model years and relating to a potential fault that could cause the headlights to fail.

According to the recall notice, “the contacts of the steering column switch may be impaired by sand settling on the contacts, leading to increased electrical resistance”.

This has the potential to cause the plastic plug housing of the headlight contacts to deform and separate, rendering the headlights inoperable and in turn seriously reducing visibility at night for drivers and other road users.

The recall notice makes it clear that “these conditions will result in an increased risk of an accident that could lead to injury or death of vehicle occupants and other road users”.

Click here for a VIN list.

Owners of the affected vehicles are advised to contact a Mercedes-Benz dealership to have the issue repaired, free of charge, via the installation of a relay circuit.