Hundreds of 2010 Mitsubishi Endeavors Recalled Due to Airbag Problems

Defective welding on metal brackets that hold airbags in place has led to the recall of 531 Mitsubishi Endeavors from the 2010 model year, company officials and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

Vehicles built between May 26 and July 28, 2009 are involved in today’s recall. A retainer bracket used for the seat-mounted side airbag frames on the both the driver and front passenger seats may not have been properly welded, officials said.

The defect could cause the front seat-mounted airbags not to deploy as designed in a side-impact crash, which can result in death or serious injuries to occupants, the NHTSA said.

The Endeavor is classified as a midsize crossover vehicle with room for five.

Mitsubishi said it will notify owners of the recalled vehicles and dealers will inspect the welding on the airbag retainer brackets to determine if the weld is sufficient. Dealers will replace the seatback assembly as needed free of charge to owners, officials said.

Other Airbag-Related Vehicle Recalls

Defective airbags have been linked to other recent vehicle recalls.

Just last month, Honda Motor Company expanded an earlier recall to include another 440,000 vehicles due to a potential airbag defect that had already been linked to six injuries and one death. The recall involved 2001-2002 Honda Accords, 2001 Civics, and 2002-2003 Acura TLs models.

It was determined that over-inflated airbags might rupture and allow metal fragments to shoot through the bags, striking occupants and potentially causing injury and deaths.

In August 2008, about 200,000 BMW model vehicles were recalled because faulty airbags might fail to properly deploy in the event of an accident.

That recall involved front passenger airbags in the 2006 3 Series, the 2004-2006 5 Series and the 2004-2006 X3 compact sport utility vehicles in the United States. Wiring in the vehicles designed to activate the passenger-side airbag only when the passenger seat is occupied could be faulty and fail to detect a person in the passenger seat, officials said at the time. The NHTSA had begun an investigation into the possible defect in September 2007.

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