2005 Toyota Tacoma

MY DRIVER SIDE AIR BAG LIGHT HAS BEEN ON FOR SOME TIME. THERE WAS A RECALL FOR A HARNESS IN THE STEERING COLUMN BUT THAT DID NOT REPAIR IT. THEN THEY TESTED THE ONE THING AND ANOTHER AND SAY IT IS A COMMON ISSUE WHERE IN THE FENDER IT CAN RUB AND CAUSE THE AIR BAG TO NOT DEPLOY. I HAVE SEEN A RECENT RECALL ON VARIOUS MODELS WHERE THEY CALL THIS A SAFETY CONCERN AND CAN ONLY WONDER IF IT IS ALSO THE CASE ON THE TOYOTA TACOMA PRERUNNER I DRIVE. *TR

THE AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT CAME ON AND HAS MOSTLY STAYED ON FOR QUITE A WHILE. TOYOTA ISSUED A RECALL FOR THE SPIRAL/CLOCKSPRING CABLE ON MY VEHICLE IN MARCH 2012, WHICH ADDRESSED THIS PROBLEM. HOWEVER, MY VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL. THE PROBLEM ON MY VEHICLE HAS GOTTEN WORSE. I TOOK IT TO A TOYOTA DEALER SHOP AND THEY INDICATED THAT IT WAS PROBABLY THE SPIRAL CABLE, AS WELL. SINCE THAT TIME, TOYOTA JUST ISSUED ANOTHER RECALL (APRIL 2014), AGAIN FOR THE SAME PROBLEM ON THE TACOMA AND OTHER VEHICLES. AGAIN, MY VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE SECOND RECALL. I CONTACTED TOYOTA HQ TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM. THEY NOTED IT, BUT HAVE TAKEN NO ACTION. MY VEHICLE HAS THE PROBLEM IDENTIFIED IN BOTH RECALLS FOR THE SAME VEHICLE, YET MY VIN IS NOT INCLUDED. I'M CONCERNED ABOUT MY SAFETY AND OTHERS SINCE THIS PROBLEM CAN PREVENT THE AIRBAG FROM DEPLOYING IN AN ACCIDENT. I BELIEVE THERE COULD BE A GAP IN THE SCOPE OF TOYOTA'S RECALL FOR THIS PROBLEM. PLEASE HELP. *TR

LIKE MANY OTHER TOYOTA TACOMA OWNERS, MY AIRBAG DASHBOARD LIGHT INTERMITTENTLY ILLUMINATED LAST YEAR. AFTER RESEARCHING IT, TOYOTA HAD ISSUED A PRESS RELEASE ACKNOWLEDGING A PROBLEM WITH THE "SPIRAL CABLE" AND INDICATED THEY WERE GATHERING THE PARTS AND WOULD SEND LETTERS TO OWNERS. I NEVER RECEIVED A LETTER AND AFTER INQUIRING, MY VIN WAS EXCLUDED FROM THE RECALL CAMPAIGN. AFTER RESEARCHING A BIT MORE, IT APPEARS MANY TACOMA OWNERS HAVE THE SAME ISSUE AND WERE EXCLUDED FROM THE RECALL CAMPAIGN. THE AIRBAG DASHBOARD LIGHT NOW ILLUMINATES CONTINUOUSLY. THE DEALERSHIP SAID IT WOULD BE $106 TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM (WE ALL KNOW IT'S A SPIRAL CABLE ISSUE) AND FROM ALL ACCOUNTS, THE SPIRAL CABLE REPLACEMENT COST IS NORTH OF $500 (EVEN THOUGH TOYOTA'S PRESS RELEASE INDICATED IT IS A 30 MINUTE FIX). BY THE WAY, THE DEALERSHIP TOLD ME THE AIRBAG WOULD NOT DEPLOY IN THE EVENT OF A FRONTAL CRASH AS LONG AS THE AIRBAG DASHBOARD LIGHT IS ILLUMINATED. THE COST OF REPAIR IS OUT OF RANGE FOR MOST AND IT WAS OBVIOUS THE DEALERSHIP HAD LITTLE CONCERN FOR THE SAFETY OF THE OCCUPANTS. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE AND THE NHTSA IS FAILING TO ANALYZE THE DATA AND MAKE A COMPELLING CASE TO TOYOTA TO EXPAND THE AFFECTED RANGE OF VINS INCLUDED IN THE RECALL CAMPAIGN. IT IS YET ANOTHER BLACK EYE FOR TOYOTA FOR DEMONSTRATING A LACK OF CONCERN FOR A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE THAT COULD END UP SERIOUSLY INJURING OR KILLING A VEHICLE OCCUPANT, UNNECESSARILY. GIVEN THE RECENT PUBLICITY OF THE FINE LEVIED AGAINST TOYOTA AND THE GRILLING GM IS NOW TAKING, YOU WOULD EXPECT THE AUTOMAKERS TO STEP UP THEIR GAME. MY OBSERVATION IS THAT THEY SIMPLY DON'T CARE. IF NHTSA IS NOT FORCING THEIR HANDS ON SAFETY ISSUES, IT'S OBVIOUS CAR MANUFACTURERS NO LONGER HAVE INCENTIVE TO DO THE RIGHT THING. NHTSA, WE'RE COUNTING ON YOU TO ANALYZE THIS DATA FOR SAFETY SAKE. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS AS 2005 TOYOTA TACOMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT REFERENCED NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 12V092000 (AIR BAGS) HOWEVER, THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL CAMPAIGN. THE MANUFACTURE AND DEALER WERE BOTH MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 55,000.

DRIVER'S AIR BAG WARNING APPEARED, LATER DISAPPEARED. THIS HAS HAPPENED OFTEN OVER THE LAST YEAR. ACTIVATION OF THE TURN SIGNAL SOMETIMES CAUSES THIS. OTHER TIMES THE WARNING LIGHT JUST APPEARS BY ITSELF. A BLOW TO THE STEERING COLUMN SOMETIMES CAUSES THE LIGHT TO GO OUT. THIS SEEMS TO BE THE PROBLEM ADDRESS IN RECALL NHTSA # 12V092000 BUT TOYOTA SAYS MY TRUCK DOES NOT HAVE A RECALL FOR THIS. IS MY TRUCK COVERED OR NOT? *TR

THE VEHICLE HAS NEVER BEEN IN AN ACCIDENT AND IS NOT MODIFIED IN ANY WAY. THE VEHICLE IS 8 YEARS AND HAS 64,000 MILES. AIR BAG INDICATOR LIGHT CAME ON. DEALER DIAGNOSED FAULTY SPIRAL CABLE, $500 REPAIR. AFTER REPAIR, CONDITION RETURNED. SUBSEQUENTLY A RECALL WAS ISSUED BY TOYOTA FOR THE SPIRAL CABLE. NEW SPIRAL CABLE WAS INSTALLED BY DEALER. AIRBAG INDICATOR LIGHT RETURNED WITHIN 1 WEEK. RETURNED TO DEALER, NEW DIAGNOSIS: NEED TO REPLACE ENGINE WIRING HARNESS. COST $2300 + TAX. DISPUTE STARTED WITH TOYOTA USA. TOYOTA SUBSEQUENTLY OFFERED TO PAY FOR 1/2 OF THE COST OF THE REPLACEMENT PART, LEAVING ME TO PAY THE OTHER HALF AND THE REPLACEMENT LABOR. TEXT OF RECALL: "DUE TO COMBINATION OF FACTORS, A PART IN THE STEERING WHEEL ASSEMBLY IN YOUR VEHICLE CALLED THE SPIRAL CABLE MAY BECOME DAMAGED. IF DAMAGE OCCURS, THIS CAN AFFECT THE ELECTRICAL CONNECTION TO SEVERAL SYSTEMS, INCLUDING THE DRIVER'S AIR BAG. SUCH DAMAGE WOULD CAUSE THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT TO STAY ON AFTER STARTING THE ENGINE, AND THE AIR BAG MAY NOT WORK. THIS COULD INCREASE THE RISK OF INJURY TO THE DRIVER IN A CRASH IN WHICH THE AIR BAG IS DESIGNED TO INFLATE." THE CRITICAL PART OF THE RECALL NOTICE IS "THE SPIRAL CABLE MAY BECOME DAMAGED. IF DAMAGE OCCURS, THIS CAN AFFECT THE ELECTRICAL CONNECTION TO SEVERAL SYSTEMS, INCLUDING THE DRIVER'S AIR BAG". IT APPEARS THAT TOYOTA RECOGNIZES THE EFFECT OF A DAMAGED SPIRAL CABLE (THE ISSUE OF THE RECALL) ON OTHER SYSTEMS BUT REFUSES TO REPAIR ANY SUCH DAMAGE WHEN FOUND. THE SPIRAL CABLE HAS BEEN REPLACE TWICE, THE AIR BAG LIGHT IS STILL ON, AND ACCORDING TO NYS LAW THE VEHICLE WILL NOT PASS INSPECTION BECAUSE OF THE FAILURE OF A FACTORY INSTALLED SAFETY COMPONENT. *TR

2005 TOYOTA TACOMA. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO SAFETY RECALL NOTICE. *TGW THE CONSUMER STATED HE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER, WHERE THEY FOUND THREE OTHER THINGS WRONG WITH THE VEHICLE, WHICH DID NOT PERTAIN TO THE RECALL. THE CONSUMER STATED IS SEEMED THE DEALER WANTED TO GET PAID FIRST, FOR OTHER THINGS, THEY CLAIMED WERE WRONG WITH HIS VEHICLE. UPDATED 02/06/13

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 TOYOTA TACOMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT AFTER HAVING REPAIRS PERFORMED ON THE VEHICLE UNDER NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 12V092000 (AIR BAGS:FRONTAL), THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED SPORADICALLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHO DIAGNOSED THAT THERE WAS AN ECM AIR BAG MALFUNCTION. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE WHO DID NOT OFFER ANY ASSISTANCE AND REFERRED HER TO THE DEALER. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 110,000.

JUST STARTED MY TRUCK UP TO GO TO WORK AS USUAL AND AFTER ABOUT 1/2 A MILE THE AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON. MY TRUCK HAS NEVER BEEN IN AN ACCIDENT AND THE AIRBAGS HAVE NEVER BEEN DEPLOYED BEFORE SO I WANTED TO GET IT CHECKED OUT WHEN I GOT TO WORK. AS AN ASE CERTIFIED TECHNICIAN I HOOKED UP MY SCAN TOOL AND PULLED CODE B1801-OPEN IN D SQUIB CIRCUIT. SO I EXAMINED IT MORE AND PULLED UP AIRBAG OPERATION DATA PASSENGER BUCKLE SW (SEATBELT) UNPLUGGED=UNSET PLUGGED IN=SET D SEAT POS WITH SEATBELT UNBUCKLED=BKWRD BUCKLED=FRWRD DRIVER BUCKLE SW UNPLUGGED=UNSET AND PLUGGED IN=UNSET. I FOLLOWED THE TOYOTA MOTOR SALES USA INC TROUBLE TREE FOR THIS DTC AND CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THE SPIRAL CABLE NEEDS REPLACED. WENT ONLINE AND GOOGLED THE DTC AND HAVE FOUND SEVERAL COMPLAINTS AND QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS DTC. SEVERAL FAILURES OF THE SPIRAL CABLE. THIS SEEMS LIKE IT IS A MANUFACTURING DEFECT THAT HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO FAIL. I FEEL TOYOTA NEEDS TO STEP UP AND CORRECT THE DEFECTIVE PARTS. *TR