No manufacturer recall for city’s cars

POLOKWANE – BMW owners in Polokwane who might have wondered whether their cars were affected by the international recall due to exploding airbags supplied by Takata Corporation can rest assured that no such action is required as yet in the city.

The BMW model that is being recalled is the 3-Series that was produced between May 1999 and August 2006. According to BMW South Africa, about 1,6 million cars in total are affected, with 47 000 in South Africa.

Dealer principal and owner of BMW Modern Autohaus Polokwane, Johan van der Walt, says the dealership was not aware of such defaults, but encouraged owners to make an appointment with them if they are in doubt.

“Owners are most welcome to contact us for a booking and we will gladly look if there are any defaults on that specific model range,” says van der Walt.

Other car manufacturers which use the same kind of Takata airbags and are affected by the recall are General Motors, Ford, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota and Honda.

Karel Ferreira, dealer principal at BB Nissan Polokwane, says he is not aware of any recalls which affect any of their models, and none of their vehicles are affected.

Internationally, Honda has 13 models which are affected, with the Jazz and Accord models the only ones affected in South Africa.

BB Honda dealer principal, Riaan Smit, says they have received no word about this recall and trust none of these Honda models are affected in Polokwane.

At Toyota, Corollas produced between April 2002 and June 2003 are apparently affected, which is 4 349 units according to Toyota South Africa. Adri Malan, workshop manager of Limpopo Toyota, says they are not aware of any affected Corollas in this region although they have minor recalls on Corollas with side-front airbag issues, but nothing related to exploding airbags.

People who drive the affected BMW model and are in doubt can contact their nearest dealership.