Monday, August 3, 2015

Dodge Charger Recall: Side Airbags May Deploy If the Doors Are Slammed

2012 Dodge Charger SRT8

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Don’t slam doors—it’s rude. And definitely don’t slam doors if you’re entering or exiting a 2011–2014 Dodge Charger, as doing so can cause overly sensitive side-curtain or side-impact airbags to deploy or the seatbelt pre-tensioners to engage, according to an expanded recall announced by Fiat-Chrysler over the weekend.

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The Detroit News reports that the automaker is hauling back 322,000 Chargers worldwide from the 2011–2014 model years, 284,000 of which are in the U.S. The new action expands last week’s recall of more than 1 million Ram pickup trucks for the same side-airbag issue. FCA says the airbags and pre-tensioners in affected Chargers can deploy if vehicle doors are slammed, the doors are kicked with excessive force, or the cars experience a heavy road input (we take this to mean, as one example, encountering a large pothole).

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FCA blames the defect on door-pressure sensors that are too sensitive, and recommends that drivers and their passengers treat affected vehicles gingerly until the repair can be made. The automaker acknowledges three minor injuries and 25 complaints related to the defect, but no crashes. Dodge Challenger and Chrysler 300 models, which share a platform with the Charger, are not included in this expanded recall.

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