The defect
Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (Porsche) is recalling certain 2016-2017 911 and Boxster, 2016 Cayman and Panamera vehicles. The air bag Electronic Control Unit (ECU) may have a defective power supply capacitor that can result in air bag deactivation or inadvertent deployment of the air bags.
The risk
Deactivated air bags increase the risk of injury. Inadvertent deployment of the air bags increase the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Porsche will notify owners, and dealers will install new software and replace the air bag ECU as necessary, free of charge. Interim notices informing owners of the safety risk were mailed September 13, 2019. Owners received a second notice and the recall began February 12, 2020. Owners may contact Porsche customer service at 1-800-767-7243. Porsche's number for this recall is AKB4.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Porsche 718 Boxster | 2016, 2017 |
| Porsche 718 Cayman | 2016 |
| Porsche 911 | 2016, 2017 |
| Porsche Panamera | 2016 |
| Porsche Redundant Boxster | 2017 |
Components: AIR BAGS: AIR BAG/RESTRAINT CONTROL 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Porsche 718 Boxster | 2016 | 0 | 1 |
| Porsche 718 Boxster | 2017 | 3 | 6 |
| Porsche 718 Cayman | 2016 | 7 | 1 |
| Porsche 911 | 2016 | 2 | 2 |
| Porsche 911 | 2017 | 4 | 3 |
| Porsche Panamera | 2016 | 3 | 4 |
| Porsche Redundant Boxster | 2017 | 0 | 1 |
Other air bags recalls in 2019
76 of the 880 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2019 concerned the air bags; Porsche Cars North America, Inc. filed 109 campaigns in all.
| 19V910000 19 Dec 2019 | Subaru of America, Inc. |
| 19V892000 16 Dec 2019 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 19V885000 12 Dec 2019 | Chrysler (FCA US LLC) |
| 19V868000 6 Dec 2019 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 19V862000 4 Dec 2019 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 19V852000 26 Nov 2019 | BMW of North America, LLC |
| 19V853000 26 Nov 2019 | BMW of North America, LLC |
| 19V851000 26 Nov 2019 | BMW of North America, LLC |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2019