Volkswagen of America is recalling 143,053 of its 2018–2021 Atlas and 2020 Atlas Cross Sport SUVs to repair a defect within the passenger-side entrance airbag system. The occupant detection system within the affected autos may erroneously fail to detect a passenger is current and deactivate the airbag. It will then not deploy within the occasion of an accident.
Because the NHTSA recall report describes the problem, the car’s passenger occupant detection system, referred to as Physique Sense, is related with the seat’s heating system by a wire underneath the entrance passenger seat. A contact fault on this wire may trigger the entrance passenger airbag to change off. It will then not deploy within the occasion of a crash. The issue just isn’t occurring in newer Atlas autos as a result of a brand new cable with a protect was launched to manufacturing in October 2022, the report says.
The NHTSA report says an instrument panel mild with an error message and an audible warning ought to alert house owners if the airbag switches off. The security company says house owners mustn’t carry front-seat passengers till the issue will be fastened.
The 2021 Atlas has been recalled twice earlier than for unrelated airbag issues, as soon as in November 2021 for a water leak subject that would trigger undesirable airbag deployment and as soon as in March 2022 for a entrance facet airbag that would expertise delay when deploying.
VW will notify sellers and Atlas house owners concerning the present recall by Could 26. Within the meantime, Atlas house owners can examine whether or not their car is affected on the NHTSA remembers web site.
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Laura Sky Brown has been concerned in automotive media for a really very long time, and he or she sees it as her calling to protect the legacy and assist make sure the continued prime quality of Automotive and Driver. She was one of many first staffers at Car Journal within the ’80s and has labored for a lot of different automotive magazines and web sites as a author, editor, and duplicate editor ever since. It has been her privilege to edit most of the greats of automotive journalism through the years, together with those who at present write for C/D.