Takata Bankruptcy

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No surprise here, now who makes good all on the bad airbags still in millions of cars?
 
I take it Takata had nothing to do with GMs mid 1970s airbag experiment in certain high buck full size models...they actually worked and saved lives! And people say the Japanese make things better than the US can....I guess not necessarily in the 1970s!
 
I got mine fixed. I just have to deal with the weird ordering methods we have to do to get Mazda ones. I think sending smoke signals would be more efficient.
 
What was the malicious extent of the airbag issue? Did they willingly know the mechanism was not right, or was it just bad design?
 
Well, one usually wishes for them to rectify their mistakes, but bankruptcy is a far stretch
smirk.gif
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
I got mine fixed. I just have to deal with the weird ordering methods we have to do to get Mazda ones. I think sending smoke signals would be more efficient.


Mine is a 2016 awaiting an airbag replacement recall. IIRC they don't have replacement airbags for it yet, and they have a few years [3 I think?] after the in service date to get it squared away. My question is if Takata does go belly up, does the vehicle mfg. have to pay out of pocket for the replacement airbags, or does the vehicle owner have to eat it, or opt to continue to drive with defective airbags when the replacements become available?
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
I got mine fixed. I just have to deal with the weird ordering methods we have to do to get Mazda ones. I think sending smoke signals would be more efficient.


Mine is a 2016 awaiting an airbag replacement recall. IIRC they don't have replacement airbags for it yet, and they have a few years [3 I think?] after the in service date to get it squared away. My question is if Takata does go belly up, does the vehicle mfg. have to pay out of pocket for the replacement airbags, or does the vehicle owner have to eat it, or opt to continue to drive with defective airbags when the replacements become available?


That is a good question. Unfortunately I am only a parts droid. You would have to refer to a lawyer droid to get a proper answer.
 
Considering the sheer number of recalls, I'm surprised they held on as long as they did.
Just remember that when a company declares bankruptcy, it does not necessarily mean that they will stop producing a product, it just means that their debts are forgiven.

Quote from a news source from the internet: "Takata said in February it was negotiating the sale of its business to Detroit-based Key Safety Systems, which is owned by a Chinese company."
Great....
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
I got mine fixed. I just have to deal with the weird ordering methods we have to do to get Mazda ones. I think sending smoke signals would be more efficient.


Mine is a 2016 awaiting an airbag replacement recall. IIRC they don't have replacement airbags for it yet, and they have a few years [3 I think?] after the in service date to get it squared away. My question is if Takata does go belly up, does the vehicle mfg. have to pay out of pocket for the replacement airbags, or does the vehicle owner have to eat it, or opt to continue to drive with defective airbags when the replacements become available?


That is a good question. Unfortunately I am only a parts droid. You would have to refer to a lawyer droid to get a proper answer.

LOL I'm going to be a wait and see droid. I have a feeling the car makers are going to be forced to eat it.
 
They will make up for it on cost of a new car going up as long as the market will sustain it. New cars are quite expensive especially if you add all the things you would really want to have.
 
Originally Posted By: spk2000
They will make up for it on cost of a new car going up as long as the market will sustain it. New cars are quite expensive especially if you add all the things you would really want to have.


New cars are dirt cheap, especially when you consider all of the toys they come with as base equipment.
There was a day when you actually paid extra for things like air conditioning, power windows, power door locks, a tilt steering column, a fob for remote unlock, a security system, a CD player and the list goes on.
We paid about 17K new for our '99 Accord 5spd sedan. We paid about 19K for our '12 Accord and it is an automatic and has a CD player, remote lock/unlock, a security system as well as a power driver's seat and alloy wheels.
It also has a timing chain engine, which will save us a few hundred bucks at 100K or so as well as more power in a much more spacious car that yields about the same fuel economy in typical use.
All in all, new cars are quite a bargain as compared to their earlier iterations.
WRT to Takata and liability for airbag replacements, that's the OEM's problem, just as it always has been. The demise of a supplier in no way excuses an OEM from liability to complete a recall.
 
Key Safety will buy them out after bankruptcy.
They knew they had big problems for a long time. At one point they were trying to move to outsourcing all their inflators production to stop the impending doom. It was a matter of time.
When a mass-produced explosive device a foot away from your head is sold for less than a medium pizza there will be corners cut. Takata is not the only one out there.
I am so glad to be away from that business.
 
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
What was the malicious extent of the airbag issue? Did they willingly know the mechanism was not right, or was it just bad design?

Anyone thats worth their salt in the explosive industry could have told you that ammonium nitrate has issues being highly hydroscopic along with other storage issues, Old addage you get what you pay for applies. Issue started showing up in the warm humid south.
 
when the airbag case shows up to the public, i already predict this would happen slowly or fast. it just needs time for media blowing up the news
 
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
What was the malicious extent of the airbag issue? Did they willingly know the mechanism was not right, or was it just bad design?


The first couple years (Alpha recall) were due to bad design due to lack of a desiccant in the charge. Takata used sodium nitrate in the charge, which gets more powerful when exposed to moisture. The rest were recalled due to poor quality control at their Mexican plant that they tried to cover up.

So yes, it was willingly known.
 
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In bankruptcy the courts take the available assets, figure out what they are worth and divvy them up between all that the Company owes money to. If the assets are worth less than what is owed, the people owed the money get a haircut on what they are owed. If the lawsuits lost end up costing many times what the assets total, then the haircut is a large %.
 
Originally Posted By: SeaJay
In bankruptcy the courts take the available assets, figure out what they are worth and divvy them up between all that the Company owes money to. If the assets are worth less than what is owed, the people owed the money get a haircut on what they are owed. If the lawsuits lost end up costing many times what the assets total, then the haircut is a large %.


To be clear, creditors will not get a percentage back of what is owed to them but a percentage of the company's assets divided between them. Also, the larger the creditor amount owed, the more percentage they will get with many of the lower amount creditors possibly getting nothing.
 
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