LOS ANGELES — California has more vehicles than any other state tagged with “do not drive” or “park outside” safety recalls that haven’t been fixed, according to new data from the vehicle history report company, CARFAX. About 245,000 vehicles in the state have urgent but unfixed recalls.
“Despite efforts by state and federal governments and the auto industry itself, too many customers are driving in vehicles that have been deemed too dangerous to drive, or that shouldn’t be parked in or near a home for fear of a fire,” CARFAX general manager for data Faisal Hasan said in a statement Wednesday.
About 200 separate models from a variety of automakers and model years are currently subject to urgent recalls for safety problems. Issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and individual automakers, 83 models have active “do not drive” recalls for owners to refrain from operating their vehicles because of a serious safety issue that could lead to a crash or bodily harm. Another 119 models have “park outside” recalls because they are at high risk of causing a fire.
One of the most common reasons for do not drive recalls: unrepaired Takata airbags. NHTSA says 24 people have been killed and more than 400 people have been injured in the U.S. because of exploding Takata airbags that can send shrapnel through a car’s cabin. More than 42 million vehicles in the U.S. were affected. NHTSA began what it called “the largest and most complex safety recall in U.S. history” in 2016. Still, many vehicles remain unfixed.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles U.S. is one of five automakers that has issued urgent warnings, telling the operators of some of their older model vehicles with unrepaired defective driver-side airbags to stop driving them and immediately schedule a free repair. Affected models include 2005-2010 Dodge Magnums, Dodge Challengers, Dodge Chargers and Chrysler 300s. Nationally, more than 258,000 Dodge and Chrysler vehicles have not been fixed, despite replacement airbags being available for free since 2015.
“FCA U.S. LLC wants to take this opportunity to reiterate just how serious the Takata air bag recall is,” the company said in a statement released Wednesday. “The longer these particular vehicles remain unrepaired, the greater the risk of an airbag rupture, which can cause serious injury in the event of a crash if the airbag deploys.”
Earlier this month, BMW issued a stop-drive order for 90,000 vehicles because of defective Takata airbags. Affected models include 2000-2006 BMW 3 Series, 2000-2003 5 Series and 2000-2004 X5s.
“These inflators are two decades old now and, with every day that passes, they become even more dangerous as they can rupture even in a minor crash,” NHTSA deputy administrator Sophie Shulman said in a May 4 statement.
Many other vehicles are subject to "park outside" recalls. In March, Hyundai Motor America and Kia America issued recalls for more than 570,000 vehicles telling owners to park their vehicles away from homes and structures because an electrical short could potentially start a fire. The affected vehicles include the 2022-2023 Hyundai Santa Cruz, 2019-2023 Hyundai Santa Fe, 2021-2023 Santa Fe Hybrid, 2022-2023 Santa Fe Plug-in Hybrid and 2022-2023 Kia Carnival.
Of the models subject to park outside recalls, NHTSA said more than 3,100 Hyundai and Kia models under recall have caught fire nationally. One person has been killed and more than 100 have been injured.
Nationally, 2.5 million vehicles tagged with do not drive and park outside recalls have not been repaired as of May 1, CARFAX said. Rounding out the Top 5 states with the most urgent, unrepaired recalls are Texas, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania.