Hillary ought to have all auto air bags made in the US for all cars sold in the US.

[glennward]

Why should we be buying this faulty air bags for Japan?

[scscholar]

1. It would help with recalls

I have several friends with cars that Honda is refusing to replace the Takata airbags on despite the fact there's a recall. Takata considers themselves above the law.

[rjsquirrel]

4. Refusing?

Are you sure? Or saying they do not yet have the part or are lower priority? I have a relative waiting for a Honda airbag recall and the part just isn't in the chain yet. They are targeting high humidity zones first since the explosion risk goes up with humidity.

Honda is breaking the law already if they refuse outright to repair a formally recalled vehicle. This stuff is taken very seriously. I've never seen a car company play loose with a mandated recall. Their liability risk is too high even with a voluntary recall.

Ask Fiat/Chrysler about the transmissions in Jeep
grand Cherokees.

[scscholar]

6. Car makers refuse to do recall work all of the time

Honda especially. My boss has an FJ Cruiser, and there's an issue with the rear door that can cause a problem with the seatbelt. That seems like a serious safety issue. I've been with her a couple of times to the local dealer, and they won't agree to do the recall work unless she agrees to do several hundreds of dollars worth of other repairs.

[rjsquirrel]

8. Wait is it an actual mandated recall?

And is there maintenance that is your friend's responsibility necessary for the recall service to work?

I've been driving newish Japanese cars for 30 years and experienced quite a few recalls in those years. Never once have I had a dealer refuse to do a mandated (or for that matter voluntary) recall service. Dealers are reimbursed by the manufacturer for it. And if it's a real formal "recall" the company faces serious liability and other risks (including legal ones) for not doing it.

Not sure what you're talking about.

[scscholar]

9. It is a mandated recall

One CNN article about it:

http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/15/autos/toyota-fj-cruiser-recall/

IIRC the dealer wanted a minimum of $600 worth of other work done first. After the government has been gutted by the Republicans, there is no enforcement so car companies can get away with refusing to do recall work now. I have only one example from Toyota, but several friends with Hondas have had a much, much worse experience.

[rjsquirrel]

10. Go to a different dealer

I've literally not heard of this happening. I doubt it's due to lack of enforcement. It's civil liability they'd be worried about.

Unless the other work was required to make the recall work do-able (hard to imagine) and it's the owner's responsibility.

Honda and Toyota both have excellent reputations for consumer service. Your friend should complain to regional corporate. Dealers are private businesses not owned by the corporate entity.

ETA That I just did a Google search and I'm sorry, but this is not really "A Thing" in the sense of a common or widespread complaint. Yes it happens and there is plenty of advice online but actual complaints of dealers refusing to do mandated recall service are quite rare. The legal liabilities are too serious to mess around with. Something doesn't add up in your story.

My dad was a dealer mechanic for Ford. Granted this was in the 60s and 70s, before the modern recall system was in place. But as it's a family thing (and I'm a car buff as a result) I stay abreast of the industry.

Bad dealers are definitely a thing. But a dealer that refused recall service without a defensible reason (something else needs to be done at owners expense to render a car safe?) would not stay licensed by the manufacturer for long.

There has to be more to your story.

[Duckhunter935]

2. so how can she do that?

[marybourg]

5. Well, I guess she can declare a national emergency and

nationalize an auto parts manufacturer and order them to produce air bags. Short of that, I can't imagine how she could do it in our capitalist society. Only in centrally planned socialist societies (of which there are few remaining) does the government tell capitol what to produce.

[rjsquirrel]

3. American automotive parts suppliers

don't have an overall better record for safety or recalls than Japanese. Takata is a serious problem. So was the GM ignition switch problem which I believe killed more people (so far) than the Takata issue. With American made parts.m

The idea that American auto parts are made to a higher spec than Japanese ones is false as a generalization. Japanese engineering and craftsmanship and fabrication are every bit as good as the US. Better overall for automotive safety and reliability. That's why you see more Camrys than Malibus. It's why I would rather have a 5 year old Subaru (made in America!) than a 3 year old Ford. The Japanese have car design and fabrication down.

In other words the Takata problem could have happened to a US supplier. It's a design problem.

And auto engineering is globalized anymore anyway, as is the supply chain.

[NWCorona]

7. What did I miss?

Japanese products are high quality. Unfortunately we are dealing with one manufacturer.

[Travis_0004]

11. Japan makes good stuff

Sure, they occasionally have their problems, but so does every manufacturer.

[DeltaLitProf]

14. On this scale?

Airbag Recall Widens to 34 Million Cars as Takata Admits Defects
By DANIELLE IVORY and HIROKO TABUCHIMAY 19, 2015

By Carrie Halperin on Publish Date November 6, 2014.

For more than a decade, the Japanese company Takata, one of the largest suppliers of airbags, denied that its products were defective even as motorists were killed by exploding airbags and automakers around the world recalled millions of cars equipped with its products.

But on Tuesday, in an about-face, Takata admitted that its airbags were defective and agreed to double the number of vehicles recalled in the United States, to nearly 34 million — or about one in seven of the more than 250 million vehicles on American roads — making it the largest automotive recall in American history. The airbags can explode violently when they deploy, sending shrapnel flying into a car’s passenger compartment. Six deaths and more than 100 injuries have been linked to the flaw.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/20/business/takata-airbag-recall.html?_r=0

[Travis_0004]

15. They make airbags for a lot of cars

So when there is a recall, its on a larger scale.

GM had some ignition switch issues, but those were only used on GM, so the recall was smaller. had that same switch been installed on 34 million cars, the recall would have been just as large.

[DeltaLitProf]

12. Lots of these large-scale everyday injustices . . .

. . . Democrats could mention and call for solutions on. This one affects millions of car owners.

Another one I've been calling for prominent mention of: the cost of insulin and supplies for diabetics. There is no rational reason these life-sustaining drugs need to be priced so high.

[Zynx]

13. Protectionism makes domestic producers lazy.

This has been proven over and over and over again. I'd be willing to entertain a domestic producer bonus that manufacturers have to consider in considering who to contract with, but the general principle is misguided.