With the Takata air bag recall continuing on like a bad soap opera many readers don't understand the gravity of the problem. The risk of injury increases with the age of the airbag due to the break down of the internal components. The fix is to replace the airbag with an identical unit that will also have the same issue in another 6-10 years. The recall as many know is a band-aid and there is no easy solution. Today Automotive News reported an injury of a driver piloting a 2002 Honda Accord. Only the airbag that was replaced in the vehicle had come from the junkyard instead of a Honda dealer.
This raises a larger question, with millions of vehicles affected by this recall how is a consumer supposed to know if the air bags in the vehicles are even legit? Better yet with the age of the airbag being the largest question mark how do regulators get control of the used parts market to fix these issues in the future?
