2009-2010 Pontiac Vibe Recalled Over Defective Airbag Inflators

An airbag inflator recall from Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing also impacts the Pontiac Vibe.

The background: essentially a badge-engineered Toyota Matrix, the Pontiac Vibe was developed and manufactured by Toyota for General Motors’ Pontiac brand when the two automakers shared the NUMMI plant in Fremont, California. GM shut down the Pontiac brand as part of its 2009 bankruptcy, and the NUMMI plant was shuttered in 2010.

The faulty airbag inflators responsible for this recall were supplied by automotive supplier Takata. The defective inflators have been responsible for millions of vehicle recalls around the world.

The defect: affected vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules, and used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the front air bags, these inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.

The hazards: an inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Affected vehicles:

Vehicles are being recalled if they were sold or ever registered in either Zone A or Zone B.

Zone A includes:

• Alabama
• California
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Louisiana
• Mississippi
• South Carolina
• Texas
• Puerto Rico
• American Samoa
• Guam
• The Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan)
• The U.S. Virgin Islands

Vehicles included in the Zone A recall include:

In addition, unless included in “Zone A” above, Toyota is recalling certain units of the following vehicles that were originally sold or ever registered in Zone B, or:

• Arizona
• Arkansas
• Delaware
• District of Columbia
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Maryland
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• North Carolina
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Pennsylvania
• Tennessee
• Virginia
• West Virginia

Vehicles included in the Zone B recall include:

• 2008 Scion xB
• 2008 Lexus IS F
• 2007-2008 Toyota Yaris
• 2006-2008 Lexus IS250 and Lexus IS350
• 2007-2008 Lexus ES350

Vehicles of these model years and models that were not originally sold or ever registered in either Zones A or Zone B are not subject to this safety recall.

Number of vehicles affected: 1,654,713 vehicles (United States figure, includes Toyota, Lexus, Scion, and Pontiac).

The fix: General Motors will contact the Pontiac owners while Toyota will notify the Toyota and Lexus owners. Depending on the model, dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator or the air bag assembly, free of charge. An interim notification to owners will be mailed by July 22^nd, 2016.

Owners should: customers looking to find out if their vehicle is included in this Pontiac Vibe recall should visit recalls.gm.com. There, owners will be able to enter their Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) to see any open recalls as well as customer satisfaction programs. If the vehicle is part of the recall, customers should take it to a dealer for repairs.

Owners can also contact GM, Toyota or Lexus customer service, as appropriate, with questions by using the following information.

Contacts:

• GM Customer Service: 1-800-955-9007
• Toyota Customer Service: 1-800-331-4331
• Toyota Recall Numbers:
  • Interim Notification:
    • Toyota Zone A: G1P
    • Toyota Zone B: G1R
    • Lexus Zone A: G2G
    • Lexus Zone B: G2H
  • Final Remedy:
    • Toyota Zone A: G0P
    • Toyota Zone B: G0R
    • Lexus Zone A: GLG
    • Lexus Zone B: GLH
• NHTSA Toll Free: 1-888-327-4236
• NHTSA (TTY): 1-800-424-9153
• NHTSA Website: www.safecar.gov
• NHTSA Recall Number: 16V340000