The Takata airbag recall began over 10 years ago and many manufacturers had to recall millions of vehicles all over the world to replace the defective airbag inflator module that could break up during inflation. When it broke up, metal parts would shoot at the driver or front passenger at high speed, causing severe injuries as well as death.
All carmakers fulfilled their responsibility for the safety of their customers and made every effort to get vehicle owners to bring their vehicles to service centres for a free replacement. Some, like Honda Malaysia, put in an exemplary effort to locate and inform every owner who had an affected vehicle, even to the extent of asking personnel at service centres to visit homes nearby where there were Honda vehicles. The company still provides support on the Takata airbag recall issue, if required.
However, there are rare cases where owners have been without the vital support service to make the replacement because there is no longer a distributor in the country. This is the case with Chevrolet as Naza Quest stopped selling its products at the end of 2018.
Many Chevrolet models sold in Malaysia were fitted with Takata airbags and those airbags are potentially dangerous and have to be replaced as soon as possible. As a responsible manufacturer, Chevrolet will make it possible for Malaysian owners to obtain the replacements. The company has no aftersales facilities here and has arranged with Honda Malaysia to use its authorized service centres to carry out the work on affected Chevrolet vehicles.
The choice of Honda Malaysia could be that General Motors, Chevrolet’s parent company, has a close relationship with Honda. The two companies have already signed agreements to work together to develop, build and sell affordable electric vehicles during the second half of this decade. So it may be that there was a request from GM and Honda’s headquarters asked Honda Malaysia to assist.
What models are affected?
The affected models are the Cruze (2010 – 2015), Orlando (2013 – 2015) and Sonic (2013 – 2015). The company has also listed the SAAB 9-3 (2007) and Chevrolet TRAX (2017) on its recall list for Malaysia, perhaps having detected these models sold here.
Get the VIN first, then make appointment
Before visiting a designated Honda service centre, the owner must first obtain the Vehicle Identification Number or VIN which is somewhere on the vehicle. Once the number is noted, it has to be provided to the service centre for verification and if the vehicle is on the recall list, then an appointment can be made to make the replacement. It should be noted that the service centres will not entertain walk-ins, so you will need to call or e-mail there first.
Full information, including the list of designated Honda service centres and how to locate the VIN on the vehicle, can be found at this website concerning the Chevrolet recall. A call-team has also been set up to contact customers who may have difficulty connecting to the internet. To reach this team call 011 3129 9963 or 011 3129 9965 during working hours (9 am to 6 pm) daily, except Saturdays, Sundays and national public holidays. The number is only for the Takata airbag recall and not for any other matters related to Chevrolet vehicles or services.
