The defect
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2002-2005 Lexus SC and Toyota Sequoia, 2003-2005 Toyota Corolla and Tundra, and 2003-2007 Pontiac Vibe vehicles. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger frontal air bag, these inflators may explode due to propellant degradation.
The risk
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
The remedy
Toyota will notify the Toyota and Lexus owners. General Motors will notify the Pontiac Vibe owners. Depending on the vehicle model, dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, or replace the air bag assembly that includes an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began January 23, 2019. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371, Lexus customer service at 1-800-255-3987 or Pontiac customer service at 1-800-762-2737. Toyota's numbers for these recalls are J0A (Zone A Toyota), J0B (Zone B Toyota), J0C (Zone C Toyota), JLI (Zone A Lexus), JLJ (Zone B Lexus), and JLK (Zone C Lexus). Note: This recall includes vehicles that have had their air bag previously replaced under an earlier air bag campaign.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by ODI
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Lexus SC | 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 |
| Pontiac Vibe | 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 |
| Toyota Corolla | 2003, 2004, 2005 |
| Toyota Sequoia | 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 |
| Toyota Tundra | 2003, 2004, 2005 |
Components: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lexus SC | 2002 | 5 | 3 |
| Lexus SC | 2003 | 4 | 3 |
| Lexus SC | 2004 | 2 | 3 |
| Lexus SC | 2005 | 3 | 3 |
| Pontiac Vibe | 2003 | 298 | 8 |
| Pontiac Vibe | 2004 | 266 | 7 |
| Pontiac Vibe | 2005 | 301 | 5 |
| Pontiac Vibe | 2006 | 177 | 5 |
| Pontiac Vibe | 2007 | 172 | 5 |
| Toyota Corolla | 2003 | 720 | 9 |
| Toyota Corolla | 2004 | 477 | 9 |
| Toyota Corolla | 2005 | 854 | 6 |
| Toyota Sequoia | 2002 | 666 | 6 |
| Toyota Sequoia | 2003 | 565 | 6 |
| Toyota Sequoia | 2004 | 380 | 6 |
| Toyota Sequoia | 2005 | 352 | 9 |
| Toyota Tundra | 2003 | 399 | 7 |
| Toyota Tundra | 2004 | 466 | 8 |
| Toyota Tundra | 2005 | 377 | 12 |
Other air bags recalls in 2018
85 of the 912 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2018 concerned the air bags; Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing filed 245 campaigns in all.
| 18V912000 19 Dec 2018 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 18V905000 19 Dec 2018 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 18V887000 13 Dec 2018 | Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing |
| 18V868000 6 Dec 2018 | General Motors LLC |
| 18V838000 27 Nov 2018 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 18V836000 27 Nov 2018 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 18V806000 14 Nov 2018 | Ford Motor Company |
| 18V776000 1 Nov 2018 | Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2018