jim_c

I apologize if this has been discussed elsewhere. I saw a few posts from Canadian TL owners in the general discussion but I wonder if our situation is different?
I got the recall/advice letter recently in relation to my 2010 TL.
They (Acura) suggested they will do something in the fall when parts are available. There was no indication that we should not drive the car and nothing about alternate arrangements.
Since I think the risk is very very low we will continue to drive the car and wait patiently for the followup.
I'm not asking for advice here (thanks anyway) but I'm curious what other Canadian owners have been told and your plans for handling this. Merci.

Jerry"O"

You are not alone here in Canada on that recall. I also received the letter and I am keeping driving my 2012 tl every day. I got the same answer from acura here in London, Ontario as you did. Parts will be available late summer or beginning of the fall.

RDXtremist

same. both my RDX and TL are affected. i called my dealership at the end of march and they advised me that the replacement parts will arrive in aug which is when they will call me to make appointments. in the meantime, i've decided to continue driving both cars instead of having to go thru the hassle of getting rental cars.

Edward'TLS

^^^^^

I made a visit to the Acura dealership today, and was told the same thing, which is around August.

I even asked the service adviser if the car was safe to be driven, and the answer was "yes, since they haven't heard any Acura driver who has been injured by the exploding air bags in Canada".

DoubleF

I received a letter that they'd call in the summer to book an appointment for Aug/Sept when the parts are in. I think the letter says I don't have an affected vehicle or something (just scanned it), but Honda is doing this as a precautionary measure as an over encompassing recall. If there was a blurb about the car being ok to drive or not ok to drive... I missed it.

I'm in Alberta.

RDXtremist

good to see another active local 4g owner on this forum

yeah, i don't feel like leaving both my cars out on the dealer lot exposed to the weather elements until aug/sept, would rather take the risk in that sense.

yvr_tsx

Is Acura going to provide rental cars, or are we expected to pay for the rental car if we choose not to drive our cars?

Edward'TLS

^^^^^

If the Canadian Acura dealerships (at least mine) don't consider this air bag recall as a high risk safety issue, it is highly doubtful that they will provide you with anything, i.e., no rental car, no rental reimbursement, nothing.

Edward'TLS

But honestly, is it really true that no one Canadian, who drive the Canadian-spec 4G TL, has been injured by the Tanaka airbag deployment ?

jim_c

I'm sure the service advisor has no real knowledge - it's not the airbag per se, it's the inflator which will be replaced. The inflator uses ammonium nitrate which is the stuff that that wacko used to blow up the building in Oklahoma a few years back!


There is more info on the Acura.ca website.
Very vague references to possibility of rental car replacement.
I imagine they might offer that if you threatened them with a front page story on the Toronto Star, but who wants to drive a Focus or Dodge for 6 mos.?

dordale

Actually per this Takata Airbag video update (originally posted by EE4Life in the "Takata Airbag Recall" thread, there have been no injuries, not only in Canada, but anywhere related to any of the Takata airbags included in the February 2016 recall. Honda/Acura is being ultra cautious.

Airbag Inflator Recall Update - 4/7/16

Statement about no injuries related to the recent recall made at approximately the 2:20 mark.

Edward'TLS

Ummmm. Interesting.

There have been no injuries anywhere related to the Takata airbags, but there are only deaths.

Link :
Honda says new Takata air bag death reported in Texas | Reuters

Polaren

I have a 2012 TL, ended up parking it and acura provided a rental. Now driving a Infiniti Q50.
Saves me wear and tear and kms on my car, so I don't mind.

dordale

Edward--look more closely--the link you posted to was death in a 2002 Honda Civic. There have been no injuries or deaths in Hondas or Acuras that were included in the most recent February 2016 recall (which included the 2009-2014 Acura TL's). The 2002 Civics were included in an earlier recall.

csmeance

the issue with the airbag (over-pressurizing and sending shrapnel) was caused by extremely humid conditions. (such as those along the south of the US) Excess humidity interacted the chemicals that react to create the "explosion" to inflate the airbag that cause them to inflate more than what they are designed to do.

I'm not discounting that there is an issue in canada, just that parts are going to go to the southern USA first and humid areas before it reaches canada.

Edward'TLS

How different are the Takata airbags between the 1st recalled Honda's and the recent recalled Honda's/Acura's ?

Also, why recalls the 2009-2014 TL airbags, if they don't cause injuries or deaths, like the rest of the earlier recall ?

acupower

A service adviser at the dealership told me last week that they expect the parts to be in late November. I don't know how accurate his information is but I suspect there might be massive delays.

dordale

Don't have the answers to your questions--except to say that there must be differences between the types used otherwise the 2009-2014 would have been included in the first round of recalls.

And I'm sure there are flaws in the way the 2009-2014 TL airbags are constructed, otherwise they wouldn't have been recalled. That being said--and this is all speculation on my part--the airbags are probably safer than older models because changes were made.

Personally, I'm continuing to drive my 2013 TL and am not worried about it--but when parts become available, I will bring it in to the dealership to have it fixed.

lbotez

Hate to tell you, but there have been many injuries. A woman just died last week from her accident in a 2001 Honda Civic in 2014 that left her paraplegic. 160+ here's an ambulance chaser law firm posting something when there were only 6 deaths (now 11 in the US). Other people lost their eye...

Takata Airbags: Death & Injury Toll Mounting - | Ashcraft & Gerel


Yeah, I know a Honda Civic isn't an Acura, but only the deaths have been publicized. There is no data on the injuries that have been released. The Acura and Honda are kissing cousins, and use a lot of the same parts.

csmeance

some newer iterations of the airbags have vents to help bypass excessive pressure from the airbag in the event it "explodes" and inflates with too much force to reduce the chance of death and injury.

Edward'TLS

A factory recall campaign is a major undertaking, not only involving mega dollars and tarnished reputation, but also indirectly accept the responsibility of fault.

Therefore, an automaker will try everything necessary in order to avoid issuing a voluntary recall.

You know, I have a gut feeling that the 09-14 TL airbags will also potentially harm the occupancies inside the car, even though none has documented so far.

Otherwise, Acura will not have issue this voluntary recall on the airbags.

In comparison, the 3.7L-V6 engine is also faulty and burns oil big time, but Acura outright refuses to acknowledge the problem, let alone issuing a recall on the piston sealing rings; just because this problem is not SAFETY related, unlike the Takata airbags.

jim_c

Not to be pedantic (moi?) but it is not the airbag that is the problem, it is the inflator.
The explosive that inflates the airbag can be "too powerful" so it shreds and expels the canister that it's in. The shrapnel from the exploding canister is what is injuring and in rare cases killing people. Some airbags deploy relatively easily some are reluctant to deploy. There was a lady killed several years ago in an Integra while she sat in her parked car. (I believe she was a prof at Ryerson.) Another parker bumped her car.
The airbag deployed and crushed her because she was "too close" to the steering wheel.
She was very petite so had pulled her seat up as far as possible. Moral of that story is don't sit so close to your steering wheel. I see many drivers doing this, but if you can, sit back a bit, not right on top of the wheel.

Edward'TLS

In most fatal Honda vehicle cases, the metal inflator shrapnel punctured the air bag, cut into the driver's neck, and ripped open a major artery.

But if the steering wheel is set too low, then the driver's chest (and heart) becomes the most venerable area.

So maybe a stop-gap remedy is to wear a thick metal dog collar and a bulletproof vest to ward off offending shrapnel, while driving the cars.

lbotez

LOL! That thought had crossed my mind. Mainly the dog collar. Ridiculous, though.

Pearson4G

When I went in to the local dealership here (Acura East Ajax) they told me that the vehicle was safe to drive and the parts should be here/ready late July/early August and that they'd provide a loaner if anything. But they also the job itself to replace everything shouldn't take more than 2-3 hours. I could be wrong though. I'm going there today with my parents. Mom might be getting an RDX.

jim_c

"the issue with the airbag (over-pressurizing and sending shrapnel) was caused by extremely humid conditions"


I believe this is their hypothesis.
Sounds possible and may even be true.
They don't know for sure.

dip10

which dealership did you go to? I'd like to park my '09 and get a Q50 as well.

Polaren

Acura Erin Mills.
I had to get Acura to bump me up on the rental fee to get something "equivalent". It wasn't very hard though. It was either 2016 RDX or Q50. I don't care for SUV's so Q50 is what I took.
Still missing my 6MT but saving kms, wear and tear on it.

Edward'TLS

It seems that the US Acura dealerships are starting to receive shipments of the 4G TL replacement airbags.

I checked with my local Canadian dealership, but they said they still haven't.

My question is that has any Canadian 4G TL owner who is getting his/her faulty airbag replaced.

Marmbo

I'll get mine replaced once they have the part in (Expected this fall I believe)

mark00s

Imported my vehicle from U.S. to Canada recently and can't get the vehicle licensed because of the recall. Spoke with Acura USA on expediting the replacement part to Toronto since I have no alternative forms of transportation and they said there was nothing that they can do for me. For what its worth, they confirmed that late summer is the best case for when I can expect parts to be available.

mark00s

The rep also said that Acura Canada should be offering rentals to those that request one and was going to make a call on my behalf. I will let you guys know the outcome.

mark00s

I am picking up a rental this week from a dealer in Toronto. Anyone with 4G TL whether it be in the U.S. or Canada is entitled to a rental vehicle.

Duct_Taper

I'm in Ottawa, dealing with Camco Acura for the recall and I got the call yesterday that my inflator is in... so obviously Canadian dealers are getting some shipments in.


I'm going in on Thursday to get it replaced.




Edit to note: I've been in a rental since March 28 so I assume I was near the top of the list...

Polaren

I got a call yesterday as well to make an appt to get mine replaced.
Been in a Rental since mid march.

Cdn_Aspec

I get my rental this week. I was also told parts would be in this fall.....

wmahmud

I have a check airbag light that intermittently will come on ..been doing so from last
Year..could it be related?

sockpuppet

No, that would be a different issue. But I would assume that the problem would likely be remedied once the recall work is done. But even that is uncertain.

mark00s

Got a call today from the dealer today that they have an inflator for me. Im in the GTA.

wreak

I'm betting they will call the people that have requested rentals before they call the ones that didn't.