UAE dealers rev up car recall: Additional 16,000 vehicles need repairs due to safety issues

Dubai: More cars fitted with faulty parts, including potentially deadly airbags, are being recalled in the UAE, with local dealers adding thousands more units to the list.

In the latest round of notifications released recently, automobile distributors across the country confirmed that at least 16,000 vehicles are being called back to fix safety issues.

This brings the total number of units requiring inspection and repairs since July 2018 to more than 35,000. The Ministry of Economy has an ongoing safety campaign requiring vehicle dealers to review all their products.

As of Gulf News’ previous report, more than 4,900 cars were being recalled around the UAE.

Cars covered by the latest round of recall include certain Chevrolet, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Honda and Mercedes-Benz units. Issues that need to be fixed range from faulty softwares to defective airbags and braking systems. The dealers said that all repairs will be carried out for free.

General Motors announced it has rolled out a maintenance campaign to inspect a “limited number” of 2018 Chevrolet Impala and Equinox and 2018 to 2019 GMC Terrain vehicles effective October 21, 2018.

“In these vehicles, the rear-brake caliper pistons may contain trapped hydrogen gas that could be released into the vehicle’s brake system. If gas is present in the brake system, rear-brake performance may be reduced, increasing the risk of a crash,” the distributor said in a statement.

From November 11, 2018, the company has also recalled some 2016 to 2018 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vehicles due to risks of overheating and fire. The dealer, however, pointed out that the affected units are still safe to drive.

Arabian Automobiles and Al-Masaood Automobiles said that from October 14, 2017, they have carried out a recall campaign for 13,818 Nissan vehicles manufactured between 2013 and 2018 in order to replace the passenger airbag inflators. The affected cars are Nissan Patrol Y61 (2013 to 2018) and Nissan X-Trail T30 (2013).

“There is some possibility that the passenger airbag module [might] not perform well due to the effect of environmental moisture and fluctuating high temperatures,” the dealer said.

At Gargash Enterprises and Emirates Motor Company, owners of certain Mercedes-Benz units have been urged to bring their cars to the workshop. Affected units are E-Class (213 platform), CLS (257 platform).

In a separate notice, the car manufacturer had said that the occupant classification system in certain Mercedes-Benz units may not have been properly calibrated, and as a consequence, the airbag for the front seat may not activate if a child seat is placed in front.

Al Habtoor Motors, the distributor of Mitsubishi vehicles, said they are also recalling at least 1,104 Mitsubishi ASX, Outlander and Eclipse Cross in Dubai, northern emirates, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. The units were manufactured between January 2017 and October 2018.

Mitsubishi had said it is recalling certain vehicles due to concerns about the autonomous emergency braking systems.

Emirates Trading Enterprises has also just confirmed that effective September 29, 2018, it started a safety recall campaign on 411 units of 2014 Honda YM Jazz in the UAE.

“In the subject vehicles, there is a possibility of airbag inflator rupturing due to abnormal combustion of propellants when airbags deploy,” the dealer said.

The Honda distributor has also started a recall campaign for 24 units of 2014-2015 YM Accord Crosstour and 1,230 units of 2014 to 2015 YM Pilot.